Things to do in Melbourne
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EDITOR'S PICK
Queen Victoria Market
Chaotic, friendly, multicultural – the Queen Victoria Market is one of the largest open-air markets in the southern hemisphere and the grand dame of all Melbourne markets. Over 600 traders hock their wares here and it’s been pushing trade for more than 125 years. You’ll find everything from perfectly ripe brie to perfectly rank moccasins. An organic corridor in the fruit and vegetable section is stocked with fresh produce grown without a hint of chemicals or pesticides. The bustling night market runs between late November and mid-February.
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- All things to do
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Great Ocean Road 2-Day Adventure Tour from Melbourne
by Viator
Take an extra day to enjoy one of the world's great coastal drives - The Great Ocean Road in Victoria on a two day guided coach tour. With its dramatic scenery…Not LP reviewed
from USD$348.31 -
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Rockpool Bar & Grill
The Melbourne outpost of Perry’s empire offers his signature seafood raw bar, but it’s really all about beef, from grass-fed to full-blood wagyu. This darkly masculine space is simple and stylish, as is the menu. Even a side of humble mac’n’cheese is done with startlingly fab ingredients. The bar provides a respite from the formality of the dining room, but offers the same level of food service.
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Little Creatures Dining Hall
With free wi-fi, community bikes and a daytime kid-friendly groove, this vast drinking hall is the perfect place to spend up big on pizzas and enjoy local wine and beer.
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Syracuse
White-shirted workers steal a few luxurious lunchtime hours in here. Hardwood floors, round marble tables and columns holding high ceilings provide a soft landing from a busy morning. Fabulous deal-sealing mains plus a fine-looking wine list act as a springboard into the afternoon. Those not here on business can linger long after the others have left, or come later for the evening menu of tapas.
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Wilsons Promontory Day Trip from Melbourne
13 hours 30 minutes (Departs Melbourne, Australia)
by Viator
On a day trip from Melbourne, be amazed by the natural beauty of Wilsons Promontory National Park, the largest coastal wilderness area in Victoria. Known…Not LP reviewed
from USD$125.14 -
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Cafe Segovia
The menu changes like Melbourne weather at this long-running, lively laneway café. Segovia is so familiar to its army of regulars who stop in for coffee or to grab a pasta or focaccia that they've hardly noticed the standard is slipping. Token service and slap-dash dishes are this old-faithful's foibles. It still pulls the punters though, and there are worse places to watch the city go by.
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St Jerome’s & Shit Town
Tiny St Jerome’s does great coffee and toasties all day for the students that flock here. Come sundown, its time for longnecks and beats in the cloistered back alley. It’s also time for Shit Town, its twisted next-door sister, to open the door (actually a hole in the wall). Here the 80s crack-house aesthetic is fully realised and the music is loud and left-field.
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Great Britain
This big corner pub does the dingy local thing with panache. Noted for its own brand of beer called 'Piss' and a low-alcohol version called 'Piss Weak', there are few other pubs where you can ask for a pot of Piss without anyone batting an eyelid. The GB will even call in a pizza from across the road. This gladly gloomy stalwart livens up later in the week, with a clubby basement - open late.
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Lost & Found Market
Housed in the shabby but definitely not chic remains of a legendary live venue, this market has a nice variety of vintage traders. You’ll find everything here from Penguin classics to Finnish enamelware to frill-front shirts that last saw the light of day at Shazza and Bazza’s wedding c 1973. On the last Friday of each month, the doors stay open until 10pm with a live soul DJ spinning discs.
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Nicholas Building
The Nicholas Building, designed by Harry Norris in 1926, is a classical palazzo (grand building) in terracotta tile. Built as a demonstration of the wealth of the Nicholas family, the building today is full of artists’ studios and designers. Having managed to escape being turned into apartments, it’s one of the few unrenovated buildings of its type left in the city.
reviewed
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Saint
Good-looking young things crowd the two levels of this cocktail and wine bar. Kittens are smitten with the Saint's nouveau-St Kilda fitout, which is sparsely furnished to optimise space. There are a number of little nooks to settle into and a large number of beverages to choose from. Visiting the Saint feels like crashing a wealthy friend-of-a-friend's home: it's comfy and kind of familiar.
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Blue Diamond
This ‘social salon and cabaret’ is ostensibly a private club, but nonmembers do make it in, especially on Thursday and Sunday nights. It’s a dark, dramatic space but the main attraction is the view; it’s as good as it gets this side of the Rainbow Room. There’s live entertainment from 10.30pm Friday to Sunday, with live soul and funk acts taking the stage.
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Misuzu
The ground floor is a popular café, with a more formal restaurant upstairs. Misuzu’s menu includes whopping noodle, rice and curry dishes, tempuras and takeaway options from the neatly displayed sushi bar. Sit outside under lantern-hung trees, or inside surrounded by murals and dark wood. Pop next door to Umami for a drink and sample sake from a vast selection.
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Centre for Contemporary Photography
This not-for-profit centre has a changing schedule of exhibitions across a couple of galleries. Shows traverse traditional techniques and the highly conceptual.
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Circa at the Prince
This dining room has a persistent, all-pervading glamour and produces some of the city’s finest food. Exec Chef Andrew McConnell no longer mans the stoves nightly (at time of writing he was busy relocating his famed Carlton restaurant Three One Two to Gertrude St, Fitzroy) but his stamp is all over the menu in its precise, intense tastes and eclectic influences. Bookings required.
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NGV Shop at NGV International
Although not of the same calibre as the great museum shops of the world (OK, London’s V&A or New York’s Met), this stylish retail space offers some well-designed and thoughtful show-based merchandise, specially mixed CDs, an obligatory but beautifully produced range of posters, as well as an erudite collection of books. Also at Ian Potter Centre: NGVA.
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Manon
French homewares specialist Manon features pieces with a provincial earthiness and a contemporary twist. You’ll find lots of products you’ve not seen anywhere else before, as well as stylish staples such as Diptyque candles. The store is a little bit of a hike from the action, but all the more special in its wide corner Victorian shopfront. Also in Hawksburn and Armadale.
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Hoss
Hoss has saved many a St Kilda-ite from I-need-a-new-outfit-by-6pm meltdown. There’s a great range of jeans, shirts, knitwear and, yes, party dresses, as well as menswear. It stocks locals but keeps the St Kilda–Bondi bonding going with an emphasis on Sydney labels. There’s another branch on Barkly St so you’re never far from a fashion fix.
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Title
This cleverly designed corner store mixes things up with rare release CDs, including the complete Trojan catalogue, new local indie releases as well as a good collection of less-than-predictable world music artists. Its classic DVDs come in way-too-tempting box sets and there’s a small range of music books perfect for gifts. In-store music events happen upstairs from time to time too.
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Shag
This shop is jam-packed with super stylist-ordained vintage pieces, including shoes, furs and bags (and often jam-packed with the girls that love them). Those in the know also snap up the well-priced collection of frighteningly fashion-forward new dresses, jackets and tops shipped from Hong Kong. There are also branches in the city centre and Fitzroy.
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Pizza e Birra
The old train station’s great bones and the sharp, graphic fit-out make for a lovely night out. Sit under black-and-white photos straight from the Cinecittà archives and eat hand-stretched, wood-fired pizzas (both tradizionali, with tomato sugo, and bianche, without) or venture on through their mains of pastas, grills and tasty salads.
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Walk to Art
These walking tours take you to galleries, artists’ studios and artist-run spaces hidden in Melbourne’s buildings and laneways. The tour itinerary, around the CBD and inner neighbourhoods, is always changing and revealed on the day of the walk. The tours operate Wednesday and Saturday, in all weather conditions and last for three hours with wine and cheese afterwards.
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Rue Bebelons
For such a small space this bar's reputation is gigantic. It's been around a while (over 10 years), so in bar years it's considered ancient. But it's no relic. Affordable drinks, great coffee and an in-house vinyl collection never go stale. By day, grab yourself a slice of Brazilian bohemia and a salad roll to die for. By night, grab any space you can and contribute to the hubbub.
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Mirka’s at Tolarno
The dark dining room has a history (it’s been delighting diners since the early ‘60s) and Guy Grossi’s carefully tweaked, knowingly retro food – truffle poached eggs, steak tartare, duck à l’orange – adds to the sense of occasion. But you don’t get gravitas with your Chateaubriand. Beloved St Kilda painter Mirka Mora’s murals grace the wall infusing all with a rare joy de vivre.
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Empress Hotel
The Empress continues to grace the Melbourne music scene with its presence. This quintessential Fitzroy pub was one of the first to book Silverchair. It stages a variety of genres from folk to unplugged rock every night of the week. Monday to Wednesday and Sunday are free, admission Thursday through Saturday costs under around A$10. The Empress also serves decent counter meals.
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