Places to Eat and Drink
Not in any way an exhaustive list. Melbourne generally has great food, and is well known for its excellent coffee!
Cafes
- Wide Open Road Coffee Roasters, 274 Barkly St, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Great for food and coffee, relatively near Princes Park
- Acústico, 32 Union St, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Just north of Jewell railway station
- Capulus & Co, 9 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Nice coffee very near Princes Park
- Apollo Café, 109-111 Hawke St, West Melbourne VIC 3003
- On the edge of the CBD towards North Melbourne
- Patricia Coffee Brewers, Rear of, 493-495 Little Bourke St, Melbourne VIC 3000
- Iconic café located in a laneway across from the Supreme Court in the CBD – no seating
- Culpa Espresso, 91 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000
- Nice coffee in the CBD – no seating
- Lune Croissanterie: Fitzroy (119 Rose St, Fitzroy VIC 3065) and CBD (16/161 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000)
- Great and interesting croissants and coffee. No real seating!
Pubs and Bars
- Drunken Poet, 65 Peel St, West Melbourne VIC 3003
- Directly across from Victoria Market, nice Irish pub
- Charles Dickens Tavern, 290 Collins St, Melbourne VIC 3000
- In the CBD, downstairs and cooler in the heat
- The Green Man’s Arms Bar and Restaurant, 418 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
- Vegetarian and vegan pub in Carlton
- Heartattack and Vine, 329 Lygon St, Carlton VIC 3053
- Nice wine bar with good snacks in Carlton
- Bergy Selzer, 68 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Tasty burgers
- The Brunswick Green, 313-315 Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Nice beer garden
- The Hotel Railway, 291 Albert St, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Tasty food
- The Sporting Club Hotel, 27 Weston St, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Nice food, beer garden
- The Cornish Arms Hotel, 163A Sydney Rd, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Bonehead Brewing, 86 Parsons St, Kensington VIC 3031
- Berlin Bar, Level 2/16 Corrs Ln, Melbourne VIC 3000
- Berlin under the Iron Curtain – East/West themed
- Pizza Pizza Pizza, 16 Meyers Pl, Melbourne VIC 3000
- Takeaway pizza place with hidden ‘prohibition’ cocktail bar inside
Restaurants
- Pho Victoria, 372 Victoria St, North Melbourne VIC 3051
- Cheap and good Vietnamese food
- D.O.C Pizza and Mozzarella Bar, 295 Drummond St, Carlton VIC 3053
- Laksa King, 6-12 Pin Oak Cres, Flemington VIC 3031
- Hacienda, M28/3 Southgate Ave, Southbank VIC 3006
- Contemporary Mexican, on the water across from Flinders Street Station
- Munich Brauhaus, 45 S Wharf Promenade, South Wharf VIC 3006
- Abbotsford Convent, 1 St Heliers St, Abbotsford VIC 3067
Green Spaces in the City
Really beautiful to walk around. The garden is open 7.30am to 7.30pm in summer.
The esplanade is famous and a nice place to walk, and the beach is nice (from a non-Australian perspective).
Royal Park
There are nice routes to walk as well as some wetlands. There are many birds, too, so good for birdwatching, and the Zoo is also in Royal Park.
Princes Park
Just east of Royal Park and south of Brunswick it’s another nice place to walk.
This is where the Melbourne Museum is and also Exhibition Hall. Not too far away from the university.
In Fitzroy North it’s a small but nice garden in the city.
A big park north-east of the CBD with nice hilly trails and the Yarra River running through it. It’s next to the Abbotsford Convent, so could be combined with a trip there.
Museums/Galleries
Located in Carlton Gardens with a huge range of exhibitions from Lego Star Wars, to Treasures of the Viking Age.
An impressive building, the state library is definitely worth a visit to see their domed reading room, but also their ongoing World of the Book exhibition (free). Just take the train to Melbourne Central or a tram to the CBD.
The museum of screen culture, we went to the Game Worlds ($30) exhibition and it was good fun! Lots of other free exhibitions too. Located in Fed Square, so just a train trip to Flinders Street.
National Gallery of Victory (NGV)
Free entry with some ticketed options. Exhibitions include Women Photographers 1900-1975 (ticketed) and Extraordinary Women (free). The gallery is across the river near the Botanical Gardens, so easiest is to take the train or tram to Flinders Street and walk across the bridge.
Another university museum! Open Monday to Friday, 10am-5pm.
The Royal Exhibition Building was built for the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition. You can do tours of the Dome Promenade for $29. Near the Melbourne Museum in Carlton Gardens.
Tickets are $15 but concessions may be free.
Built in the mid-1880s, the Old Melbourne Gaol is the oldest in Victoria and closed in 1929. You can get there via the train (to Melbourne Central) or a tram to the CBD.
City Sites and Activities
1hr sightseeing cruises along the Yarra River from the CBD.
Located in Royal Park and accessible by the 58 tram. There are also other wildlife sanctuaries outside of the city: Healesville Sanctuary, Kaybram Fauna Park, Werribee Open Range Zoo.
The grounds are particularly nice on a sunny day and the restaurant is also meant to be very nice with local and seasonal menus.
A big covered market with meats, cheeses, coffee, pastries, as well as fresh produce and other items.
A popular wellness spa that does treatments but also has a bathhouse with a warm pool, cold plunge pool, sauna and steam room.
Melbourne is known for its city art and graffiti. The most famous site is Hosier Lane near Fed Square. There’s also a great tapas restaurant called MoVida there!
Fed Square, in the CBD, often has free shows and music and cultural events going on.
Staying a Few Extra Days?
Car rental: https://www.sixt.com.au/
Phillip Island is home to the largest little penguin colony in the world. You can experience the penguins as they head home from the ocean to their burrows any night of the year from viewing platforms and boardwalks. You need to drive there or you can get tours that take you for the day and bring you back.
A coastal strip south of the city of Melbourne. Places to visit include McClelland Sculpture Park and Briars Community Forest. There are also a number of wineries.
Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges
Lots of nature, wildlife, national park, as well as towns and other tourist spots including Puffing Billy Railway, lots of wineries, chocolateries.
An area made up of villages and backcountry 1 hr drive from Melbourne. Key features include Hanging Rock, the basis for the 1967 novel Picnic at Hanging Rock.
A historic town about a 2hr 30 drive outside of Melbourne.