Melbourne

Stretching for 38 glorious hectares on the south bank of the Yarra River, the Royal Botanic Gardens are one of the best examples of Victorian-era garden landscaping in the world. Alongside wonderful displays of Australian native flora are mature exotic trees and themed gardens devoted to roses, succulents, herbs and ferns. During the day, picnickers sprawl on the extensive lawns while the kids race around. On summer nights people return to the gardens to watch cinema or theatre under the stars.

Nothing screams Melbourne quite as loudly as a graffiti-covered lane – preferably one hiding a cafe, basement bar or sought-after restaurant. The most famous (and most photographed) of them all is Hosier Lane, with little Rutledge Lane jutting off it like a separate wing of the same gallery. There are plenty of other such street art–bedecked stretches to sniff out (some of them are genuinely whiffy) all around the central city. Juxtaposed with the rough beauty of the lanes, dainty Victorian arcades tempt shoppers into their rarified confines.

The state gallery's extraordinary collection is too big to fit into its magnificent modernist home in Southbank and has had to be split into two. NGV Australia occupies the Ian Potter Centre in Federation Sq, bringing significant local art right into the city's civic heart. In the main Southbank building, NGV International displays treasures from a who's who of art history, past and present, stretching back into antiquity and to all parts of the globe. Aside from special exhibitions, both galleries are free.

It's not the prettiest or the most architecturally interesting stadium, but the MCG is sacred ground for many a Melburnian, carrying within its bulky frame the treasured hope of Grand Final glory for their beloved local Aussie Rules footy team. If you can't make it to a cricket or Australian Football League match, entertaining guided tours are available, visiting many nooks you wouldn't otherwise have access to. Cap it off with a visit to the excellent National Sports Museum, which lies within.

Taking the form of an ancient Greek temple, this secular shrine is a prominent and fitting civic memorial to those who lost their lives during WWI. It's the focus for Anzac Day commemorations on 25 April, while on Remembrance Day a shaft of light shining through an opening in the ceiling illuminates the word 'love' at precisely the same time as the signing of the armistice (11am on the 11th of the 11th). The views from the top of the monument are outstanding, and there's a museum beneath.

Victoria's cultural, social and natural history are given their due at this highly interesting museum, occupying a striking modern building at the heart of Carlton Gardens. There's an excellent Indigeous section, a forest in the atrium and the highly venerated remains of Australia's favourite equine, NZ-born Phar Lap. The museum shares the gardens with the exquisite Royal Exhibition Building, built in 1880 for an international show and repurposed in 1901 as the venue for the sitting of Australia's first-ever parliament.

The beach is nothing to write home about (it's barely worth an Instagram post), but the seaside suburb of St Kilda has a roguish charm, symbolised perhaps by the slightly menacing but strangely mesmerising creepy clown face forming the entrance to Luna Park. A stroll along St Kilda Pier offers a wonderful panoramic view of the Melbourne skyline, but, better still, you might catch a glimpse of one of St Kilda's most charming denizens, the little penguins that nest between the rocks of the breakwater.

No nuns remain – singing, flying or otherwise – at this 19th-century convent, but there are plenty of artsy types to be found lurking amid the historic buildings, which have been converted into studios, galleries, cafes, a bakery and a bar. Melburnians flock here for the regular markets and to stroll the riverside grounds. The neighbouring Collingwood Children's Farm brings junior city slickers face-to-face with all manner of farm animals and better aquaints them with the business end of a cow.

Melbourne is well known for its exceptional dining scene, shaped by immigrants from all over the world and enthusiastically embraced by a discerning populace. While there are memorable cheap eats to be had in suburbs far and wide, Melbourne is also home to a handful of top-end places that are the equal of any in the world. Top of the bunch is Attica in Ripponlea, currently ranked among the world's top 50 restaurants in the prestigious San Pellegrino list.

It may have been Italian immigrants who first brought a passion for quality coffee to these shores, but now the tide has turned, and Aussies and Kiwis lead the world in the dark arts of the espresso machine. Declaring it may risk an international incident, but Melbourne is the coffee capital of the Antipodes, and hence the world. You can get a first-rate cup anywhere these days, but a stalwart of the scene is Seven Seeds, with top-notch cafes in Carlton, the city centre and Docklands.