Ask any Aussie and they’ll tell you: Melbourne is art, culture and coffee. They’ll say the phrase ‘four seasons in a day’ and allude to a gentle obsession with sport — Melbourne is, after all, the capital of the only state to offer two extra bank holidays on account of the Melbourne Cup horse race and AFL Grand Final. The ‘G’, as Melburnians affectionately call their flagship cricket ground, is practically a church.
It’s indicative of a city that thrives on its own rituals and quirks — a personality thrown into sharp relief when compared with Sydney, where pre-dawn beach runs in perfectly coordinated activewear would send the average Melburnian diving back under the doona (duvet). The city’s CBD (Central Business District) and locally loved suburbs are criss-crossed by a uniquely mega tram network, with carriages zipping between eminent art galleries, restaurant-lined laneways and boozy boats on the banks of the Yarra, the river which splices the city in two.
There’s a lot to cover, but follow our weekend-break guide below to fit in as much as you can on a 48-hour break in Melbourne.
FRIDAY EVENING
At 1 Hotel Melbourne, staff are inordinately helpful from the moment you step out of the Uber. This luxurious hideaway is Australia’s first ‘1 Hotel’ outpost and carries all the brand’s sustainable signatures: abundant plant life, a Bamford spa to bliss out in, earthy textures and low-impact materials. Plus, a roster of communally enriching excursions (tea-blending, anyone?) and mindful in-room touches (a yoga mat is merely the tip of a very green iceberg). For the jet-lagged among us, it’s straight up to the geranium-scent-misted massage beds on the 12th floor, where Bamford therapists will knead and gua sha you into the correct time zone ASAP.
Dinner begs a question: stay in the hotel, or make for the CBD? If it’s the former, book ahead at the hotel’s flagship restaurant, From Here by Mike, where namesake chef Mike McEnearney’s menu is on first-name terms with its producers (‘heirloom eggplants from Remi’s Patch’; ‘Meredith Dairy goat’s cheese soufflé’. Remi’s sugarloaf cabbage, alongside fried Brussels sprouts from Timbarra Farm, make spectacular sides to the roasted cockerel or house spaghettini, lovingly dressed in a crab-shell bisque.
If you are intent on getting out, hop on the tram and pray that wine bar Embla — just five stops away — is still serving its Black Angus T-bone with that moreish, spiced crust. Those pledging allegiance to ‘Team 1 Hotel’ can continue their night on the first floor, where Upstairs bar serves slightly more elevated cocktails than its counterpart in the lobby (we tried martinis at both, for journalistic integrity). Meanwhile, ‘Team CBD’ should walk five minutes north from Embla to every bartender’s favourite hangout: Caretaker’s Cottage — now with a new sister sherry bar, Three Horses, just next door.
Other stand-out Melburnian hotels include Lancemore Crossley St., home to one of the finest rooftops in the city; and The Interlude, a former prison that once held an incarcerated Ned Kelly, now a boutique hotel with a wine bar full of backlit booths, now luxurious cells and a yard for yoga or fireside drinks.
SATURDAY MORNING
In Melbourne, Starbucks is sacrilege — there’s a reason the chain has never managed to get a hold here. Instead, pilgrimage to one of the city’s speciality coffee houses. Ideally, you’ll snag a coveted window seat at Dukes Coffee Roasters, Captains of Industry, or 1851 Coffee Kitchen – the lobby café at laidback hangout and hotel Zagame’s House. If you’re on-the-go, Patricia has an old-school, standing-only policy. Wherever you go, Melbourne’s best coffee shops all have an off-menu, secret order: a ‘magic’ (double ristretto shot with steamed milk in a small, five-ounce cup) will get you instant respect from the barista.
Now you’re suitably caffeinated, head to Flinders Street Station, the country’s oldest rail hub, and once the busiest in the world. If a local says they’ll meet you ‘under the clock’, this is where they mean. Head east along the banks of the Yarra River from here and you’ll reach ACMI: a museum dedicated to screen culture with off-the-charts interactivity. It’s also next door to the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Australia, which has a powerful curation of Aboriginal, colonial and modern Australian art. Just across Princes Bridge, the larger NGV International, meanwhile, plays host to all the most headline-grabbing exhibits. Many a hand has toyed with the ‘water wall’ — a glassy shower that never stops pouring — on entering. And be sure to look up in the Great Hall, which has the world’s largest stained-glass ceiling.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Time to recharge? We know just the place. Hector’s Deli has long been a cult favourite in the city, now with five locations including the Richmond original. We like the one on Little Collins — most central to the CBD — where locals know to go for a rare, roast-beef sandwich and the kind of glazed doughnut you’d want on a 5am stakeout. But hold the coffee — your second cup of the day should be savoured around the corner at Palace: a gorgeous, hole-in-the-wall espresso bar made of oxide-red steel.
All of Melbourne’s coolest suburbs have long streets chock-a-block with gloriously grungy bars, independent theatres, artisanal ice-cream parlours, sprawling thrift stores and the occasional glimpse of Troye Sivan trying to enjoy a beer with his pals. In Fitzroy, head to the community market on Rose Street, where a varied array of 70-plus creators is overlooked by the lucky guests of The StandardX’s parasol-dotted rooftop bar, just across the road. In Collingwood, LP fans will love the vinyl selection at Happy Valley the kind of gift shop that makes it hard to remember that you’re looking for someone else — and Skydiver Records, where you can slip a record on and have a drink while you listen. The inner suburb of Coburg — at the top of Brunswick’s vintage-shop super-street, Sydney Road – is where you’ll find Pentridge Prison, now The Interlude hotel. Thornbury, meanwhile, has one of the certified coolest high streets in the city (Franklin’s Bar is one of the drinking-holes upholding that rep). If you’re a vegetarian, book in for Melbourne’s best meat-free fare at Ballard’s. And if not? Our next suburb, Carlton, awaits.
SATURDAY EVENING
Since it’s influx of Italian immigrants in the Fifties, Carlton has remained a major foodie hub. You can honour the ‘hood’s Euro roots at wood-panelled (and wood-fired) Leonardo’s Pizza Palace, lined with black-and-white pictures of Hollywood bombshells slurping spaghetti. Chinese communities have also put their stamp on Carlton, and thank God for that: Lagoon, with its lauded charcoal-roasted char siu, is possibly the hottest ticket in town.
If the night is young, Cinema Nova, an indie cinema with all the best new releases and one-off, classic-film showings, is but a short, digestive walk away. Then, warm up after a chilling thriller or dissect an auteur of your choice at one of the city’s best bars. Perhaps international darling, Byrdi; Backspace, which serves the coldest beer in Melbourne; Black Pearl (a stalwart for 23 years and counting); or intimate, minimalist joint, Above Board — all of which will bring you within striking distance of your bed. Otherwise, you’ll find underground comedy is alive, kicking, and often screaming, too, at the Basement Comedy Club (open Tuesday, Friday and Saturday, only).
SUNDAY MORNING
After all of yesterday’s gallivanting, Sunday calls for a slower pace and fresh air. A restorative breakfast awaits at 1 Hotel‘s From Here by Mike, where the buzz of its evening service is replaced by quiet tourists trying to tackle the day’s Wordle. You could also head straight to the South Melbourne Market — it gets packed by noon, so the closer to 8am you can arrive, the better. A worthy rival to the CBD’s Queen Victoria Market, this southern counterpart has an altogether more local feel, while still offering everything from pierogies to soaps to tarot cards. Market Lane Coffee — the go-to bean supplier of many a hotel, restaurant and café across the state — has a shop here, so get your flat white to-go before a mansion-spotting mission in nearby Albert Park, the Marylebone of Melbourne, with its lake, around which the Grand Prix zips each year.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
From Albert Park, you’re just a breezy stroll from the beach, where Pipi’s Kiosk opens its famous fish-and-chips hatch every weekend for lunch (it’s on the pricier side, but delicious enough to justify the cost). Remain south of the Yarra to continue Sunday’s theme of fresh-air escapades at the city’s beloved Royal Botanic Gardens, a 24/7 oasis of leafy pergolas, more species of oak trees than you knew existed, gullies of majestic ferns and an ornamental lake paraded by black swans. It’s also the neighbour of Melbourne’s leafiest stay: United Places Melbourne, where suites overlook the thick treetop canopy and a restaurant terrace spills onto the garden’s southern fringe — the perfect place to pause and join the long lunch parade.
It’s an easy hop from here back into the CBD for a final shopping spree. On QT Melbourne’s ground floor, Tanto is a Japanese boutique where you’ll find the queen of handcrafted knives: a Suisin Inox Honyaki, direct from Sakai city. Aussie beauty powerhouse, Mecca, has a behemoth of a store on Bourke Street (with interactive, AI-powered ‘Scentsorium’ diffusers to help you find your perfect perfume). Good things come in small packages here, too — on the same street, the Paperback Bookshop presents a pocket-sized curation of bestsellers. If you are of the bookish persuasion, a trip to the State Library’s grand reading room will make you wish you were writing some fascinating dissertation — everyone else in there seems to be.
SUNDAY EVENING
It’s not a trip to Melbourne without a deep dive into its many bustling laneways and covered arcades. Everyone here has their favourite (Royal Arcade is among the oldest of its kind in Australia, and there’s even a laneway named in honour of AC/DC), but whichever ends up being yours, they were all born from a clever project to turn skinny, lifeless streets into mini-cities unto themselves. Kirk’s Wine Bar on Hardware Lane is the spot for a pre-dinner digestif while watching life in the laneways go by.
Speaking of dinner, it’s round two of Italy vs China — Melbourne’s just so spectacularly good at both. Over in Chinatown, Flower Drum is an institution, serving up exceptional Cantonese sharing plates since 1975 — its five-course tasting banquet has all the biggest-hitters. Or, if you’re in the mood for all things tagliolini, fazzoletto and cappellacci, it’s off to Osteria Ilaria, where you should finish off your pasta feast with the black-olive ice-cream. Round off the night at Gimlet, where the martinis are famous enough to deserve a toast of their own.
NEED TO KNOW
Transport Melbourne is best served by two airports: Tullamarine and Avalon. The former is where all international flights, and most of the domestic routes, touch down, and is only a 20-minute-ish drive from the CBD. The latter can be a cheaper option for flights within Australia, but the pay-off is you’re 40 minutes out from the CBD. On arrival, sort yourself out with a Myki card as soon as you can; they’re available to buy at many train stations and 7/11 stores. Use the self-service machines dotted around tram and train stations to put cash onto your Myki card and remember to tap in on trams and before you get on trains (on buses, you’ll need to remember tap off, too). Uber is widely available, too.
When to go Melbourne is often mistakenly avoided in winter, despite weeks of crisp, blue skies and fewer tourists. It’s also the time to catch an AFL game — a quintessential Melbourne experience — since the season runs from March to late September. The end of Australia’s summer is your greatest chance to spot the glow of bioluminescent beaches along Victoria’s coast and catch the world’s best comedic talents at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, which takes place at the end of March. Spring and summer are obscenely lovely, but remember there are four seasons in a day.
What to buy Melbourne is close to many a reputable wine valley, so make the most of it. At a local wine shop, you can procure one of Victoria’s famous, cold-climate reds or crisp Chardonnays; if you prefer a sweet Muscat, look out for Rutherglen on the label — this valley is the best producer of fortified wines in the state. Around the city, including all the most popular markets, you can land yourself a pair of Uggs — the original Aussie surfer shoe — or a one-off Aboriginal art print. Just make sure to research the latter: profits should go back to the communities in question.
Good to know One of the best things about a trip to Melbourne is actually getting out of Melbourne. A reasonable drive away from the CBD can see you staring down jaw-dropping rock formations on the Great Ocean Road, dipping into thermal hot springs around the Mornington Peninsula, swirling glasses at the aforementioned wine valleys and even frolicking with the penguins on Phillip Island. So, once you’ve seen the city, grab a car and explore.
For more urban, Aussie adventuring, see our 48-hour guide to Sydney; or explore our full collection of hotels in Melbourne