• News

    Fifteen of the Most Unique Stays You Can Book Around New Zealand

    Spend a few nights in a leafy treehouse, a beautifully restored truck perched right on the bay or even a mountaintop cabin with views for days.

  • News

    The Best Dog-Friendly Hotels, B&Bs and Self-Contained Getaways in Victoria

    Accommodations where both you and your pet can sit and stay all around Victoria.

  • News

    Now Open: The CBD's Newest Luxury Hotel Melbourne Place Is Home to Three Knock-Out Hospitality Venues

    The new 14-storey hotel is home to a Med-inspired restaurant, Portuguese diner and late-night basement bar.

  • Feature

    The Luxury Traveller's Guide to Brisbane to Inspire Your Next Indulgent Escape

    From helicopter wine tours to luxury hotel stays, there are plenty of ways to live the high life in Brisbane.

  • Feature

    Your Essential Guide to Memphis, Tennessee

    Memphis is a veritable playground for music fans. It's not only the home of blues and soul music but also the birthplace of rock 'n' roll.

  • Feature

    Nine Luxury Experiences in Tropical North Queensland That Are Also Environmentally Responsible

    Head north for an eco-friendly escape that doesn't skimp on luxury.

  • Feature

    Into the Wild: Go off the Beaten Path at These Fascinating Regional Destinations

    Get out of town — literally — and do your weekend differently.

  • Feature

    Taste of Tasmania: Discover the Delicious Charm of the Apple Isle

    Australia's island state boasts the perfect conditions for producing top-quality, flavour-filled produce — and an exceptionally talented roll call of passionate people doing spectacular things with it.

  • Feature

    A Southern Edge Road Trip: Follow a CP Writer's Ambling Foodie Adventure in Tasmania's South

    "While I love a scenic road trip with good company as much as the next person, this road trip truly rivalled almost every journey I can recall."

  • Feature

    A Northern Forage Road Trip: Follow a CP Writer's Tasting Tour Across Tasmania's North

    Proceed with an empty stomach, an open mind and a readiness to build a more meaningful relationship with what’s on your plate.

  • News

    Meet The Culinary Tastemakers Championing Tasmanian Produce

    Meet the passionate advocates and entrepreneurs who deal in flavours of the wild and tastes of terroir with the finest produce the earth and sea can offer.

  • News

    A Weekender's Guide to Kangaroo Island

    The South Australian island's wineries, beaches, oyster farms and accommodation are as beautiful as ever.

  • News

    A Weekender's Guide to Queensland's Bundaberg Region

    Watch baby turtles hatch, swim at the Southern Great Barrier Reef, then sample award-winning local gin and rum.

  • News

    A Weekender's Guide To Bowral and the Southern Highlands

    Stay at a country estate, taste locally produced wine and whisky, peruse a whole heap of art and feast at a hatted restaurant — all in just one weekend.

  • News

    A Weekender's Guide to Daylesford

    Spend a few days wrapped in nature, natural mineral springs and a blanket of good food and wine.

  • News

    A Weekender's Guide to the Mornington Peninsula

    Just an hour out of Melbourne, the Peninsula provides the perfect combo of coastal parks, prime produce and pinot noir.

  • News

    The Best Dog-Friendly Hotels, B&Bs and Self-Contained Getaways in Victoria

    Accommodations where both you and your pet can sit and stay all around Victoria.

  • Guide

    The 14 Best Hotels In Melbourne

    Whether you're vacationing or staycationing, this lineup of the best hotels in Melbourne will help you live your best life — fine restaurants, premium spas and pillow menus await.

  • Hotel

    Lanson Place Parliament Gardens

    502 Albert Street, East Melbourne

    This new Melbourne hotel houses a 20-metre lap pool, gym, all-day diner and cocktail bar, and 137 rooms.

  • News

    Ten Next-Level Australian Stays with Outdoor Baths for the Ultimate Relax and Rewind Getaway

    Whether you fancy relaxing in a private Japanese bathhouse, a rustic metal tub perched on a farm's timber deck, or a spa-bath in a mountain cave — we've got you covered.

  • News

    The Best Places to Go Glamping in New Zealand

    Choose from seaside glamping spots, campsites in the mountains and tents scattered about countryside farms full of roaming sheep.

  • News

    The Eight Best Places to Go Glamping in Victoria

    All these luxury Victorian glamping experiences are under two hours away from the Melbourne CBD — so you can easily have your weekend wilderness adventure and goose-feather down quilt, too.

Travel

Get Concrete Playground's take on the latest travel news, events, places and trips
  • Travel & Leisure

    One of Australia's Most Beautiful Beaches Has Been Washed Away

    Coastal erosion has seen Stockton Beach gradually lose its coveted patch of sand over the last decade — but a recent storm has closed the beach almost entirely.

  • Travel & Leisure

    You Can Spend a Night at Downton Abbey Thanks to Airbnb

    Highclere Castle, the English country house where the series was filmed, will welcome two guests for a one-night stay.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Melbourne's Tram Network Is Gearing Up for Another Two Days of Strikes

    The two four-hour, network-wide strikes follow failed negotiations between Yarra Trams and the Rail Tram and Bus Union.

  • Food & Drink

    Six New Zealand Luxury Experiences to Plan If You Have Cash to Splash

    From fancy retreats to helicopter tours, here are the best New Zealand experiences to book when you want to treat yourself.

  • Travel & Leisure

    An Environmental Protest Is Set to Cause Traffic Havoc in Melbourne's CBD Tonight

    Police are suggesting you get out of the city "as quickly as you can" before the protest.

  • Travel & Leisure

    The Best Places to See Wildflowers Around Australia This Spring

    Spot colourful blossoms in the wild while hiking through alpine meadows or picnicking in wattle fields.

  • Arts & Entertainment

    Five Out-of-Town Happenings That Are Worthy of a Road Trip This Spring

    As the weather starts to thaw, make the most of the sunshine with live music, blossoming flowers and art on the road.

  • Travel & Leisure

    You Will Soon Be Able to Glamp in a Vineyard on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula All Year-Round

    Rosebud's Blue Range Estate Wines will reopen its luxury glamping ground in October.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Qantas Will Run Trial Flights Direct From the East Coast to New York and London By the End of 2019

    The aim is to start running non-stop commercial flights from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane by 2022.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Escape to Canberra

  • Travel & Leisure

    Buses Will Replace Trains on Some of Melbourne's Train Lines Again This Spring

    Parts of the rail network will be closed throughout September and October to complete further upgrades for the Metro Tunnel.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Ten Weird and Wonderful Festivals to Track Down Around Australia

    Plan your next holiday around one of these out-there festivals with naked frisbee contests, beer-can boats, synchronised Nutbush dances and a surprising amount of ABBA.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Chinchilla

    Melonfest 2021

    This Queensland festival celebrating the humble watermelon is a pink, summery dream.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Maryborough

    Mary Poppins Festival

    Head north to the Fraser Coast for this supercalifragilisticexpialidocious festival.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Thoona

    Thoona Wheelie Bin Championships 2020 — CANCELLED

    The box car derby your childhood self dreamed about is an annual event in Victoria.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Maslin Beach

    The Pilwarren Maslin Beach Nude Games

    A day of naked competitions at a picturesque Adelaide beach.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Deniliquin, NSW

    Deni Ute Muster

    A rural festival complete with lawn mower races, wood chopping, whip cracking and, of course, utes.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Click Frenzy's Huge Travel Sale Is Kicking Off Tonight

    Bag bargain deals on airfares, holiday packages, cruises, accomodation and more — but only for 29 hours.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Google Maps' New Augmented Reality Feature Will Literally Point You in the Right Direction

    Now rolling out on iOS and Android phones, the beta feature deploys arrows and directions over street view images.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Melbourne's Tram Network Will be Disrupted by a Four-Hour Strike Later This Month

    The network-wide strike follows failed negotiations between Yarra Trams and the Rail Tram and Bus Union.

  • Travel & Leisure

    The Great Barrier Reef Is Set to Score Its First Underwater Hotel

    Sleep below sea level on a floating pontoon, with floor-to-ceiling views of the reef through your window.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Melbourne's Tram Network Could Soon be Affected by a 48-Hour Strike

    The news comes as Melbourne's train workers gear up for their own strike next week.

  • Travel & Leisure

    The Best (and Most Colourful) Flower Festivals Happening Around Australia

    Pack the Zyrtec and get ready to frolic through glorious fields of tulips and cherry blossom trees.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Hawthorn East

    Bike Gallery

    This Hawthorn East shop pairs bikes and coffee — an avid cycler's dream.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Melbourne's 48-Hour Train Network Strike Is Likely to Go Ahead

    The Rail Tram and Bus Union has voted to take industrial action, in the midst of tense negotiations with Metro Trains.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Japan's New Over-the-Top Theme Park Is Entirely Dedicated to Bubble Tea

    With tapioca-themed photo booths, tapioca foods and beverages, and even rides.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Five Cabins in Australia Where You Can Stay Right on Snow

    Here, you can wake up to Japanese-inspired onsens, friendly wombats and crackling fires — and head out for a ski right from your front door.

  • Travel & Leisure

    We're Giving Away the Ultimate Quick Escape to Bali

    Poolside cocktails and plenty of sunshine await.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Another Part of Flinders Street Is Closing Down for Up to Three Years

    Two lanes will close between Swanston and Elizabeth streets as part of the Metro Tunnel construction.

  • Food & Drink

    How to Experience the Best of WA's Food and Outdoors at This Sprawling Food and Wine Festival

    Eat your way around some of the state's most picturesque spots —from boats and beaches to lakeside cabins and woodland estates.

  • Food & Drink

    Western Australia Gourmet Escape

    The world's most famed chefs and wine experts are coming Down Under.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Camping Fees at Victoria's State and National Parks Have Permanently Been Halved

    You can now pay as little as $2.70 for a wintry getaway surrounded by natural beauty.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Australia's Next Art Series Hotel Will Feature a Towering 27-Storey-High Street Art Mural

    The new Perth site will pay tribute to Aussie artist Matt Adnate, with the big wall painter creating one of the world's tallest murals.

  • Travel & Leisure

    An Avocado-Shaped Tiny Home Is Popping Up in Circular Quay

    This could be peak millennial culture.

  • Travel & Leisure
    Wandin East

    CherryHill Blossom Festival 2019

    Yarra Valley's cherry orchard is opening its gates for two weeks while the trees are looking their best.

  • Travel & Leisure

    The Last Lunar Eclipse of the Year Visible from Melbourne Is Happening Next Week

    Here's when and where to see it — because there won't be another one until 2020.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Australia's Ancient Indigenous Budj Bim Region Has Been Added to UNESCO's World Heritage List

    It's among 21 new places added to the list, all during the World Heritage Committee's 2019 meeting in Azerbaijan.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Five Ways to Beat the Cold on a Winter Trip to Sydney

    Discover the sparkling harbourside city with a stay right in the heart of it all.

  • Travel & Leisure

    Buses Will Replace Trains on a Heap of Melbourne's Train Lines Again This Winter

    Parts of the rail network will be closed throughout July to complete upgrades for the Metro Tunnel.

  • Travel & Leisure

    A Huge NAIDOC Week March Has Shutdown Melbourne's CBD

    Expect a slew of road closures and limited trams until 3pm.

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