Dinner In An Igloo In Melbourne

Sitting along the bank of the Yarra River you might be surprised to find a bunch of igloos looking back at you. It might just be the cutest experience you can have in Melbourne this winter, these igloos are actually decked out with comfy chairs, fairy lights, fluffy cushions and faux fur blankets and are the perfect place to spend an evening in Melbourne.

It kind of felt like we were having a real date night when we visited the Igloo Wonderland. The kind of date nights we had before we lived together. Because Thom has been working right in the city we actually met at the Wharf Hotel after work during the week (it didn’t make sense for him to come all the way home and then go right back in), and it actually felt like such a special night.

If you’re looking for the perfect way to spend a chilly winters evening in Melbourne, this is the spot for you.

The Igloo Wonderland Experience

With a couple of options to choose from, the Igloo Wonderland lets you check out of regular life for a couple of hours and enjoy some great food and drinks in a very cute wintery setting. The igloos are decked out with some super cute decor and fairy lights and candles around the igloo really set the mood.

We were booked into a mini igloo, which meant we had a whole little igloo just to ourselves and it was a lovely spot to watch the sun set and watch the lights of the city start to come to life.

There are two different kinds of igloos you can choose for your experience –

The mini igloo is available to be booked for 4 to 8 guests and is the perfect way to have a private experience. The mini igloos are a little smaller and cosier and offer beautiful views over the rive and all the way over to Southbank.

The second option is the mega igloo which is meant for more communal dining. If you’re a smaller group or couple the mega igloo is the place to choose! Or, if you have a big group you can actually book out the whole mega igloo for your group.

Both the mega and the mini igloos are absolutely gorgeous, so no matter which option you go with you’re sure to have a great time.

Food in the Igloo

Food and drinks are included in your reservation price and the Wharf Hotel really puts on an amazing spread. During our igloo session we grazed on one of their epic sharing platters, that had way more food included than we could finish!

We chose the Wharf Platter which included – flatbread, dips and pickled veggies, fried calamari with lemon wasabi aioli, pork and chive dumplings, chicken ribs with sriracha plum sauce (these were super spicy for me, but were Thom’s absolute favourite), pork belly in chilli caramel sauce and veggie spring rolls. If you have any dietary restrictions you could choose a gluten free or vegetarian platter instead.

Drinks are also included with the igloo experience and you can choose from a thermos of warm mulled cider, a bottle of house wine or a jug of Furphy.

If you want anything extra there’s also an extra igloo menu that you can choose from, including desert and the epic chocolate martini cocktail that we couldn’t recommend highly enough! It was like a melted chocolate cherry ripe with a vodka kick, it was actually so delicious.

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All the info about the Igloo Wonderland

If you’re thinking about booking in for an Igloo Wonderland experience, here’s the important stuff you need to know –

Address: The Wharf Hotel – World Trade Centre Wharf – Riverside, 18 – 38 Siddeley Street, Melbourne

Phone: (03) 9810 0097

Opening Hours: Open from 11:30am until late Monday to Friday and 12pm until late on the weekends

Bookings: The igloos book out for almost all sessions, especially the night and weekend sessions. Make sure you make a reservation so you don’t miss out.

Price: The Igloo experience costs $49 AUD per person for the two hour session. There are four two-hour sessions each day from 12pm until 10pm.

Igloo Season: The igloos will be available to be booked at the Wharf Hotel until the 31st of August.

For more information check out the Igloo Wonderland website here – wharfhotel.com.au/igloo-wonderland/

More winter fun in Melbourne

The igloos at the Wharf Hotel are only one part of the winter wonderland that Australian Venture Co. has brought to Melbourne this year! After your igloo experience wander down to Federation Square to check out their Winter Village to experience more of the fun.

The Winter Village sits on the roof of the Federation Square car park and as well as having some more igloos to check out (with a different menu to the Wharf Hotel) there is also an ice-skating rink with an epic city backdrop as well as it’s own mega igloo where you can grab something from the feast kitchen food truck and sit down for a little bit.

Check out the sip bar for some seasonal themed cocktails including the Spiced Cherry Spritz and the Caramel Apple Hot Toddy. On Fridays and Saturdays you can also catch the hot gin pop-up bar between 5pm and 9pm, where you can try some delicious gin cocktails.

For the ultimate winter experience it also snows in the winter village every 15 minutes or so. Be standing in between the ice-staking rink and the mega igloo to experience a little bit of a snow shower.

The Winter Village can be found on the car park rooftop on the corner of Flinders Street and Russell Street. Enter off the Russell Street Extension or from Batman Avenue if you’re coming off City Link.

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We visited the Igloo Wonderland as guests of Australian Venture Co. All opinions are, as always, our own.

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