Melbourne, Australia is one of the country’s two largest cities and attracts visitors with its vibrant cultural offerings. We were really excited to visit the city because we had heard such great things about it from fellow travelers, especially Australians who live in the city. And we have found that when locals rave about their own city, it’s often a place that is full of culture but may not be blatantly obvious why the city deserves so much hype. It takes time to integrate, engage, and infiltrate into the culture enough to feel the city’s energy, especially when you need to get out of the tourist center to fully feel what locals are talking about. (This is very different from Sydney where its beauty is more obvious in its beaches and iconic architecture.)
We got to spend over a week in the city, diving into different neighborhoods, sitting at a variety of restaurants and bars, shopping at boutiques, attending a concert, sitting at the beach and more just to scratch the surface of all the vibrancy that this city has. We found it to be an incredibly livable city because of all the different cultural offerings it provides its residents. It’s hard to get bored in a place that has so much to offer and such variety to explore.
We also got the chance to get out of the city a bit. We talked about our road trip to the Great Ocean Road, Grampians National Park, and Kangaroo Island over the last few weeks. Beyond that road trip, we also had the chance to visit the unique Phillip Island, which has an enormous colony of little penguins that can be spotted coming to shore every night in large numbers. Yes, it’s as cute as it sounds to see the smallest penguins in the world (literally!) scuttle ashore as fast as possible in groups to keep themselves safe in a nightly event called the penguin parade!
Between the beach, the international communities, the small businesses, the culinary variety, international sports offerings, the world-class museums, and the beautiful nature outside of the city, we found that Melbourne, Australia truly had something for everyone.
Destination Overview
Melbourne, Australia and Phillip Island
Melbourne, Australia is the capital of the state of Victoria, and former capital of Australia until 1927. It gained the nickname “Marvelous Melbourne” in the 1850’s when gold found nearby led to extreme prosperity and many of the homes from this era are still around modern Melbourne. It’s a distinctive architecture that continues to define different neighborhoods in the city and the surrounding towns, such as South Yarra in the Melbourne metropolitan area or the small towns on the Great Ocean Road.
Today the city is famous for its cultural diversity such as excellent dining, sports experiences, and remarkable art. The range in these activities is amazing. For example, as an international city, there is any cuisine you could imagine and many restaurants have young chefs that are modernizing, fusing, and innovating with different cuisines. When it comes to sports, you can find cricket, Australian rules football, tennis, and more at the highest level. Art in the city can be very accessible in the unique laneways (alleys) that define the downtown area and free art museums or more exclusively appreciated in the art galleries in different neighborhoods.
There is a bit of a rivalry between Melbourne, Australia and Sydney for which is the better city, but residents of Melbourne, Australia were proud to tell us that they rank higher than Sydney on the 2024 EIU Global Liveability Index. In addition to being a world class city, it is the most common place to depart for the incredible Great Ocean Road drive. Other popular places to visit near Melbourne include the Yarra Valley for wine, Mornington Peninsula for nature, Grampians National Park for hiking, and Phillip Island to see the little penguin parade.
Where to Read More
The Best Starting Itinerary for Exploring Melbourne, Australia
A sample itinerary for visiting Melbourne, Australia with ways to see the highlights and options for how to spend your time exploring the culture hub of the country.
An Interesting Fact
Melbourne, Australia Is Known as Australia's Culture Capital
Melbourne, Australia hosts many of Australia’s biggest sporting events such as the Australian Open (the first grand slam tennis tournament of the year), Melbourne Cup (a horse race that stops the nation – seriously, it’s a vacation day), and Australian Rules Football Championship Game (Australia’s favorite sport). During our visit to the city, it was not the right season for any of these major events, but we were still excited to experience Melbourne’s other cultural offerings.
On our first day exploring the city, we joined a walking tour of the Central Business District (CBD) led by Tom who grew up in the city and came from a family that had a strong history in Victoria. We learned more about the disputed founding treaty of John Batman in 1835, the 1850s gold rush which led Melbourne to becoming the richest city in the world during the 1880s, the 1890s Australian depression caused by Melbourne’s financial crisis, and the post World War 2 immigration which was the start of it becoming the global city it is today. While learning the great historical context, we were able to see many of Melbourne’s important cultural landmarks such as The Royal Exhibition Building, Parliament House, Flinders Street Station, and Federal Square. Most importantly we received culinary and art recommendations for ways to continue experiencing Melbourne’s culture during our stay.
One of our favorite cultural activities was walking around the CBD’s numerous laneways and viewing the unique street art. While we stopped at well known laneways such as Hosier Lane, some of our favorite laneways were found while walking between destinations. Besides great art, the CBD also offered top restaurants and bars reflecting the international mixture of the city. One of our favorite meals was at By Korea located in Chinatown, which was packed with locals and served delicious Korean food. It wasn’t only the downtown area that contained the vibrant culture and many of the surrounding areas of the city had the energy as well.
Fitzroy was a nearby suburb that had a variety of nightlife offerings that we enjoyed such as Naked for Satan (a bar with a beautiful rooftop patio overlooking Melbourne), Black Pearl (a speakeasy cocktail bar located above a kitchen), and the Napier Hotel (a long standing traditional Australian Pub).
Southbank was an area just south of the CBD with many of the most important art institutions such as the Arts Center of Melbourne, Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank Theatre, and The National Gallery of Victoria. We were able to visit the National Gallery of Victoria to appreciate one of the formal art galleries in the city, which was a nice contrast to the street art we saw around the city. There were many more cultural events we did while in town such as seeing a concert at Marvel Stadium, visiting the Night Market at Queen Victoria Market, learning about Victoria wartime service at the Shrine of Remembrance, and relaxing at Melbourne’s southern beaches.
Travel Tip of the Week
The Central Business District (CBD) of Melbourne, Australia Is a Great Place for First Time Visitors to Stay
There are numerous areas to explore in and around Melbourne, Australia, which makes it difficult to pick the best place to stay during a first time visit to the city. We stayed for over a week and were able to check out a few different neighborhoods based on recommendations we had read from guidebooks, discovered on blogs, and received from locals.
We found that if you want to visit many of the great neighborhoods during your visit, Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) is the optimal place to stay. It is centrally located in the city which makes it easy to walk to nearby areas such as Fitzroy for nightlife, Docklands or East Melbourne for sporting events, Carlton or Royal Botanic Gardens for peaceful green spaces, and Southbank for cultural institutions. And a huge bonus for those long walking days is that most of the CBD is covered by the Free Tram Zone (so the tram system is free within this zone), which is a nice way to get between these other parts of the city seamlessly.
Additionally, the CBD contains both the Southern Cross Station and Flinders Street Station, which make it easy to get anywhere around the Melbourne metropolitan area. This means you can easily visit the hip neighborhood of South Yarra and make your way out to the beach areas of Brighton or St. Kilda with ease. The Southern Cross Station also has the SkyBus, which is an express route to the airport. There are even day tours that leave from the CBD to go further outside of Melbourne to places around Victoria such as Phillip Island to see the little penguins or the Great Ocean Road to see the 12 Apostles. (Although we recommend renting a car for a road trip and staying near both attractions if you have the time).
The nice part of the CBD is that it has many great restaurants and attractions that are located throughout the neighborhood. Whatever you end up doing during the day, there are always fun places to come back to after touring around Melbourne or Victoria. You can enjoy delicious international cuisine in Chinatown, explore the city’s Queen Victoria Market on Wednesday evenings in the summer, and wander throughout the laneways appreciating the street art or enjoying drinks at the many bars.
And if you are returning to Melbourne, Australia for a second or third or fourth time, then consider staying in the Fitzroy or South Yarra neighborhoods to dive deeper into the local culture and energy of the city outside of the tourism center.