Flinders Street Station

Lonely Planet review

Melbourne's first railway station, Flinders Street was built in 1854. Two railway workers won the design tender. This might explain why the station contained such fabulous facilities for railway workers, now, sadly, in disrepair. In its heyday the building buzzed with a concert hall, a library, a creche, meeting rooms, even a ballroom.

Community groups, including the Chihuahua Club, Collingwood Cheer Squad and the Women's Action Committee, used some meeting rooms. The ballroom held regular dances, including 'Saturday Dances for Lonely People'. Stretching along the Yarra for a block, the station is a city landmark. You'd be hard pressed to find a Melburnian who hadn't uttered 'meet me under the clocks' at one time. On any weekday, over 110,000 people weave through the station's underpasses, escalators, stairs and platforms. The grand old dame's underground tendrils connect the city's north with its south, with art-filled underpasses (such as Campbell Arcade) linked to Southbank via a pedestrian bridge.

Opposite the station is the city's iconic pub Young & Jackson's. Apart from being really old - having operated as a pub continuously for over 140 years - it's famous for the naked young lady who hangs around upstairs. The nude portrait Chloe, painted by Jules Lefebvre, caused an outcry in the pursed-lipped Melbourne of 1883. Public opposition saw the painting taken down from the National Gallery of Victoria and subsequently bought by the hotel in 1908.