5 years to use
Instant voucher delivery
Simple exchanges
14-day satisfaction guarantee
To exchange your experience, select a product, add it to cart and proceed to checkout.
Once there, enter your voucher number to exchange for a different experience.
Melbourne rewards people who go looking: a hiking trail past the Twelve Apostles, a steakhouse booth in the CBD, an off-grid cabin three hours out. The range covers dining, wellness, workshops and short breaks across the city and the coast, the peninsula and the ranges beyond it, so the right gift depends on whom you're picking it for, not what's nearby.
Melbourne's appeal for a gift experience is how little travelling it takes to change the scene entirely: a paint and sip class in the CBD one weekend, then a solar-powered cabin three hours out the next. The city holds the dining and workshops; the coast, the ranges and the peninsula hold the rest. Someone who already knows the CBD wants the escape, not another dinner booking; pick by what they haven't done yet, rather than working through everything nearby.
The 12 Apostles, Otways and Great Ocean Road hiking tour leaves Melbourne with return transfers and a guide, then covers Gibson Steps, the Twelve Apostles boardwalk and a grade 2 hike to a waterfall in the Great Otway National Park, never running past 10km for the day. For an overnight version, a two-night stay in an off-grid Great Ocean Road cabin is solar-powered, pet-friendly and about three hours from Melbourne, with a 650m walk in from the car park.
A two-course steakhouse lunch in the CBD comes with a glass of wine, beer or soft drink each, while out in Ringwood, Hunter & Barrel's three-course sharing menu pairs coal-roasted meats with barrel-aged wine by an open fire. For something less passive, a paint and sip session supplies the aprons and materials, and asks only that you bring your own bottle; no experience is required.
Choose between a lymphatic, remedial or pregnancy massage before a deluxe anti-ageing facial with LED light therapy at MYOMY Wellness, suitable for any skin type. On the Mornington Peninsula, Alba Thermal Springs & Spa's bathing and two-course dining package pairs a soak in the springs with a sit-down meal for two.
For something after dark, the Melbourne River Cruise with a 4 course dinner runs for three hours along the Yarra and doubles as the night's meal, so there's nothing else to book afterwards.
A Melbourne experience gets a date locked into the calendar, not another candle left on a shelf. Someone who already knows the CBD doesn't need another hamper; a day trip to the coast, a spa afternoon on the peninsula or a dinner they'd never book themselves shows you actually thought about it.
If you're not sure which one lands, a RedBalloon gift voucher lets the person choose between any of them, and works just as well for a last-minute gift as one planned weeks out. Pick an amount, and let them pick the Great Ocean Road, the CBD or the springs.
Melbourne's strongest gift experiences mix city dining and workshops with day trips along the Great Ocean Road, on the Mornington Peninsula or into the Macedon Ranges. For something reliably well received, a bathing and dining package at Alba Thermal Springs & Spa on the Mornington Peninsula is a popular option, pairing a soak with a two-course meal for two. For a Melbourne-only pick, the CBD steakhouse lunch or a paint and sip session suits a gift as easily as a treat for yourself.
Most weekends near Melbourne run from a single day trip to a full overnight stay. A Great Ocean Road hiking day tour covers the Twelve Apostles, Gibson Steps and a rainforest walk in a single day, with transfers from the city included, which suits a shorter weekend, while an overnight cabin stay further along the coast suits a longer one. Either pairs naturally with a Melbourne dinner booked for the trip back.
Some Melbourne dining experiences, like the CBD steakhouse lunch and Hunter & Barrel's set menu in Ringwood, need at least 48 hours' notice because the menu is fixed in advance. Others, including the paint and sip workshop, don't require lead time and can often be booked closer to the date.
Yes, the tour is graded a 2, meaning easy to moderate ground with nothing beyond 10km for the day, and it runs as a small group with a guide and return transfers from Melbourne, so it's suitable for beginners, and no transport of your own is needed.
The paint and sip workshop is built for it: BYO drinks and snacks, all art materials supplied, and no experience needed, so a hens group or work team can turn up and paint together with nothing to bring but drinks.
A day spa package is built around one afternoon of treatments in one place, while a wine tasting tour moves between vineyards and runs to a full day out. Pick the spa for a quiet reset and the wine tour if the day itself, not just the destination, is the gift.
Beyond this list, weekend getaways cover longer stays further from the city, while degustation dining and high tea sit at the fancier end of the meals above. For more of the trail the 12 Apostles tour covers, bushwalking and hiking tours run right across the state, and city escapes are the shorter, closer-to-home version of the same idea.