One of the greatest pleasures of a visit to Melbourne is the opportunity to sample its cosmopolitan offerings. Where else in the world can you sip an espresso in Little Italy, shop in Chinatown and wander through Little Vietnam all in one morning? And you still have the rest of the day to dine at Greek restaurants and savour Turkey, India and the Middle East in the Brunswick district.

To say that Melbourne is cosmopolitan is an understatement. For one thing, Australia’s second-largest city is home to more people of Greek descent than any other city except Athens. In fact, nearly a third of Melbournians were either born overseas or have parents who were born overseas. What this means to you the holiday maker is the chance to savour a uniquely international Australian experience. So what are some of the more interesting ethnic quarters?

The city’s Greek Precinct situated in and around Lonsdale Street has its origins in the 1930s. Today the area is home to Greek restaurants, cafes and cake shops along with travel agents, book and music stores, and specialised shops that provided wedding and christening garments..

Melbourne’s Chinatown is Australia’s oldest, dating back to the 1850s gold rush years. It began as a few shops and boarding houses in Celestial Avenue to cater for arrivals from southern China. Today’s Chinatown is a vibrant, colourful place jammed with shops and restaurants.

There’s a Chinese Museum in Cohen Place with five floors of exhibitions and the Tianjin Garden houses a Chinese pavilion, rockery and water garden.

Italian immigrants once favoured the inner-city suburb of Carlton. Though many have moved to the suburbs, this leafy stretch lined with Victorian terraces still house scores of Italian shops, cafes and restaurants. It’s a fine place to go for an espresso or a full Italian meal.

The Vietnamese have made Victoria Street into their community and the area’s famed for its good, cheap food including pho (noodle soup) and spring rolls.

If you arrive in Melbourne during one of these many festivals you’re in for a special treat. Chinese New Year is a time of gongs, fireworks and gambolling dragons, Divali the Hindu festival of lights a time of flickering candles and oil lamps, and the Lao have their own dignified Buddhist celebrations. Melbourne’s Italians hold the Lygon Street Festa every October which features the Italian waiters’ race and a spaghetti-eating contest.

If you want to learn more about Melbourne’s cosmopolitan history, visit the Immigration Museum. Here you can find out all about the city’s multicultural past and present. The museum is located in the restored Old Customs House building which was formerly the gateway to a new life for those who aspired to make Melbourne their home. Melbourne’s multicultural makeup adds a tremendous zest to the city.

Another of the city’s joys is the fine range of accommodation. Among the fine range of Melbourne City hotels are the Comfort Inn and Suites Flagstaff City Melbourne and the HarbourView Apartment Hotel Melbourne.

St Kilda is the perfect place to head for when you need to get away from Melbourne and breathe in that ozone. You can relax in one of the cafes or historic pubs, have a great meal, build sandcastles, and swim or surf in the waters of Port Phillips Bay. But what makes St Kilda special is that it’s an authentic seaside resort with esplanade, fun fair, and pier, just the place to enjoy the grand old style holiday experience.

What would a beachside resort be like without an esplanade to stroll along and take in the evening air? St Kilda’s grand esplanade forms one of the suburb’s most enticing thoroughfares along with Acland Street.

It’s home to the famed Esplanade Hotel known as The Espy to insiders. The Espy offers the best views in the whole area, especially from the upper floors. There are also pool tables, a restaurant, and rooms offering musical performances such as the Gershwin Room. The Espy tends to get packed out on weekends when popular bands are playing.

The Esplanade is also home to the St Kilda Esplanade Arts & Crafts Market. Held every Sunday, the market features around 150 stalls hawking a variety of original art and handcrafts.

As for fun fairs, St Kilda is home to the daddy of them all, Luna Park with its renowned gaping mouth entrance. Located on the Lower Esplanade just a stroll from the beach, Luan Park features a historic roller coaster, the Scenic Railway, which is the world’s oldest continually running roller coaster. Ride this roller coaster and enjoy amazing views over the bay.

The park opened in 1912 and has undergone many a facelift, the most recent in 2001. Now it offers a total of 16 attractions including G Force, Shock Drop and Pharaoh’s Curse. One of the most popular rides is the Carousel, originally constructed in 1913 for an amusement park in Sydney. It was moved to Luna Park in 1918.

Another essential component of an authentic seaside resort is a pier. St Kilda Pier is a local landmark that also features grand views of the bay and the Melbourne skyline. It’s the setting for a range of fun activities such as strolling, cycling, roller blading and fishing. It’s also the place to get a ferry to Williamstown.

Finally we’ll look at the pier, without which no seaside resort would be complete. A pier was originally built in 1859 here after a storm destroyed the Fitzroy Street jetty, and the kiosk was completed in 1904. In 1970 the pier was torn down and replaced with reinforced concrete.

Then in 2003 the kiosk was burned down. It was restored over the following years from original plans with a new café at the back with a public viewing deck on top. Interactive panels along the pier’s length outline the pier’s history. The kiosk is open daily from 8 am until dark and the restaurant from noon until 11pm.

St Kilda makes a great place to base yourself during your Melbourne holiday. You’ll find plenty of great St Kilda hotels including the Cosmopolitan Boutique Hotel Melbourne and the Easystay @ The Bayside Motel Melbourne.

Go France? Don’t forget to stay at Villas in France

Preparing for a Brisbane holiday can be an easy task in this day and age. From booking a flight to Brisbane International Airport to reserving the perfect Brisbane accommodation, you can be ready for your Brisbane in no time at all. Through this article you are provided with some basic information about flying into Brisbane International Airport and about booking the best Brisbane accommodation.

When all is said and done it is very easy to book a flight into the Brisbane International Airport. The Brisbane International Airport is the third busiest airport in Australia, following the airports located in Sydney and in Melbourne. With this in mind, it is easy to find a flight into Brisbane on a day and at a time that is convenient to you.

The Brisbane International Airport is one of the most “user friendly” or “traveler friendly” airport in the world. Indeed, the Brisbane International Airport has been designated the Best Privatized Airport in the world in 2005 by the International Air Transport Association.

The number of people that are using the Brisbane International Airport as part of the Brisbane holiday plans is increasing dramatically. Of course, more and more people consider Brisbane to be the ideal destination for a holiday each passing year. In any case, the rise in traffic through the Brisbane International Airport is as follows:

2000-01 - 13,051,798 2001-02 - 12,087,266 2002-03 - 12,040,670 2003-04 - 14,059,998 2004-05 - 15,623,155 2005-06 - 16,208,976 2006-07 - 17,592,548

If you desire to take a Brisbane holiday, there are some tips that you will want to keep in mind. First, if you are interested in a Brisbane holiday, you might want to take a look at what is available in the way of a Brisbane holiday package. In this regard, you can obtain a Brisbane holiday package that includes airfare into Brisbane International Airport as well as the Brisbane accommodation of your choice. In regard to both a plane reservation and a Brisbane accommodation, you will have a variety of different options available to you - both in regard to timing of your Brisbane holiday and cost. However, you need to know that you will have the best variety of choices if you take the initiative to book your v holiday package early.

Second, take advantage of Internet travel sites that are in operation today. Through these travel sites you will be able to make flight arrangements to Brisbane International Airport. In addition, you will also be able to reserve your Brisbane accommodation through these online travel sites as well. Keep in mind that if you are interested in trying to save as much money as possible on your flight and your Brisbane accommodation, take a look at what is available at one or another (or several) of the online discount travel sites. In many cases you will be able to find an excellent “deal” on your plan flight and your Brisbane accommodation by using a discount travel site.