You'll find no shortage of grownup getaways in sunny Melbourne, where sunrise balloon flights soar overhead, tree-shaded lanes meander through charming neighborhoods and dozens of open-air festivals motivate a hand-in-hand stroll. Canoodling-specific getaways pepper the city as well as its dramatic surrounding bushlands, freeing couples to be as close to or as far from the action as tickles their fancies. Whether you're city-slickers, nature-lovers, gourmands or multiculturalists, Melbourne has a place for you to cuddle.
The lobby of The Royce, as posh as the name would imply, was once a showroom for the iconic luxury car after which the hotel is named. Romantic pairs need not wander far from their room -- or the in-house restaurant and moodily lit bar -- to reach the National Gallery of Victoria, the Melbourne Arts Centre, the Royal Botanic Gardens, St. Kilda's Esplanade, and the high-end shopping and dining at South Yarra. Snag a top-floor room for sweeping views overlooking the Melbourne skyline. The experience was hailed by the Sydney Morning Herald as one of the country's "Top Weekends Away." Alternatively, Conde Nast Travel's top pick in town is the Southbank's swanky, five-star Crown Towers Hotel.
Also named a "Top Weekend Away," the tucked-away retreat at Shack 14 puts a luxury spin on safari camping, complete with passing kangaroos. On about 10 acres of privately owned wilderness, the building's thoughtful, modern details have a sweetly rustic personality -- rainwater showers, for example -- that perfectly fit an outdoorsy couple with champagne taste. It's about 70 miles northwest of Melbourne, so fancy restaurants are too far away for an easy visit. However, the "shack" offers a well-appointed stainless steel kitchen with plenty of space for home-cooked meals. Alternatively, rent one of the safari tents at Wilson's Promontory National Park, where you and your squeeze can canoodle on Victoria's best beaches, stroll through the rainforest, mission to the top of cloud-circled peaks or sail to one of the neighboring islands.
Food-loving lovers, take note: the swanky Crown Metropol Spa Hotel, poised on the banks of the Yarra, sits within a stone's throw of some of the finest dining in the city. Start a late morning with a champagne breakfast at the hotel, then head across the river for coffee and patisserie at one of North Melbourne's several excellent cafes. From there, fill a few shopping bags on chic Gertrude Street before exploring the neighborhood's many wine-and-tapas spots. After that, it'll likely be dinnertime. Melbourne is filled with excellent dinner venues. To taste the widest selection of offerings, time your visit to coincide with the city's springtime Food and Wine Festival, when special menus, master cooking classes, symposiums and tastings abound.
Melbourne's closely neighboring Dandenong foothills are sufficiently verdant to double for tropical forests abroad. Several retreat centers take advantage of that fact, playing up the lush setting's sultriness with lantern-lit jungle footpaths, private waterfall lagoons, thatch-roofed sanctuaries and bamboo groves. Couples enchanted with tropical-island culture may rent the "private sanctuary" at The Balinese Spa Retreat, which can include a private Thai banquet and any of a full menu of spa treatments. The Japanese Mountain Retreat just a few minutes down the road, welcomes romantic Japanophiles with tranquil landscaped gardens in the style of a Japanese Onsen, complete with a mineral-water lagoon for a private dunk.
