AUSTRALIA (Melbourne)

         

MELBOURNE

        Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia.

       Melbourne is a maze of hidden laneways, opulent bars, exclusive restaurants and off-the-beaten-track boutiques. Here you can soak up culture, hit the sporting grounds, taste the dynamic food and wine scene, dance till dawn or wander the parks and leafy boulevards.  Visit Federation Square, the city’s landmark cultural space, and enjoy a sunset beer on the St Kilda promenade. Shop till you drop on funky Brunswick Street or upmarket Chapel Street. Wander Southbank’s cafes, bistros and bars and get a world tour of cuisines in Carlton, Richmond and Fitzroy. Take an Aboriginal Heritage Walk through the Royal Botanic Gardens and cheer with a capacity crowd at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Whatever you fancy, Melbourne is a city of choices.

        There’s no time for sleep in Melbourne, a city where culture buffs, sport nuts, fashion lovers and foodies all have their niche. Discover cafes, bars and boutiques in city laneways sprawling secretly off ordered streets. Soak up the vibrant riverside atmosphere from Southbank and visit Federation Square, where creative and café culture meet. Cruise down the Yarra and wander the lawns and lakes of the Royal Botanic Gardens. Soak up the unique energy of the city’s diverse precincts, from upmarket South Yarra to beachside St Kilda and edgy Fitzroy. Then, we have a day trip to the beaches, wineries, galleries and golf courses of the Mornington Peninsula.

Melbourne’s hidden laneways

   

You never quite know what’s in store when you wander off Melbourne’s grid of city streets into the maze of gothic laneways behind them. Even the locals find surprises here, where the venues for food, fashion and art are small, quirky and sometimes hidden.  Discover a late-night jazz bar or watch the world go by from a tiny trattoria, browse the boutiques and check out urban art. You can unlock the city’s real secrets in these distinctively Melbourne streets.

Melbourne’s lively laneways wind unpredictably between the wide, ordered streets where bullock carts hauled goods in the 19th century.  Today you can escape Melbourne’s modern-day traffic in these charming backstreets.

Check out the funky boutiques and flagship stores clustered around Little Collins Street. Hunt down a piece by a local fashion designer in Manchester or Flinders Lane, where the city’s rag trade began. For true retail elegance, visit the heritage-listed Royal and Block Arcades, with their mosiac-tiled floors and opulent finishing.

Beyond the buildings, Melbourne’s laneways have increasingly become spaces for artistic expression. See colourful, constantly-changing graffiti murals in Hosier Lane and along Union Lane. Cocker Alley features the work of graffiti artist Banksy, while Jane Bell, Rutledge and Spark lanes have been tattooed with local street culture. 

Melbourne’s laneways bustle with little bars, offering every type of ambience. The fun is in finding them tucked away in secret alcoves and behind unassuming doors. Meyers Place, the city’s nightlife hub, has everything from stylish cocktail bars to a 1920s-style speak easy. Visit Melbourne’s oldest running pub, which straddles Bank Place and Mitre Lane. Or seek out the well-concealed nightlife secrets of Croft Alley, Sniders Lane, Presgrave Place, Goldie Place and Warburton Lane.

From old-fashioned café culture to vibrant street art, you’ll find lots of surprises in the Melbourne’s secret laneway heart.

Melbourne's Rooftop Life

   

For inventive use of city space, look no further than Melbourne, where bars, cinemas and restaurants roll out across the rooftops each summer.  Drink in the city skyline from all angles as you listen to live music, relax in balcony bars and watch movies beneath the stars. Combining modern innovation with the sophistication of a bygone era, Melbourne’s growing rooftop venues are perfect places to spend a languid summer afternoon or evening. Many also convert to undercover spaces so you can soak up the city views across the seasons.

The live music plays on whatever the weather, with the popular Happy Mondays event that hits a Melbourne rooftop bar from December until the end of January. The intimate, open-air venue is a great place to see Australian and international bands.  Enjoy the city panoramas and snack on gourmet burgers and fries delivered by one of Melbourne’s funkier burger trucks.

You can climb stairs all across the city to experience more of Melbourne’s bustling rooftop life.  Peer over the city’s lively, winding laneways, the Yarra River or grand old city buildings. Above Bourke Street you can dine alfresco on authentic Italian or embrace tropical kitsch in a bar where waiters in Hawaiian shirts serve your pina coladas.

Overlooking the Yarra are stylish eateries that serve sparkling drinks and wood fired pizza and offer a bird’s eye view of the riverside action. In the city centre, relax with sunny DJ beats on the stylish, Ibiza-inspired deck above the State Library. Or grab a pre-theatre cocktail in one of the balcony bars above Melbourne’s theatre district between Exhibition and Russell Street. Many Melbourne hotels have also embraced the upward trend, with rooftop swimming pools, spas, sundecks and bars for the enjoyment of guests and their friends.

Bohemian Brunswick Street

   

Find art, fashion and food on Melbourne’s Soho strip.

      Boredom isn’t an option on Brunswick Street, the vibrant Melbourne strip where people from all walks of life go to shop, eat, drink, meet and dance.

 Here in Fitzroy, the city’s bohemian heart, you’ll see long-haired urban nomads sipping lattes next to the clean-cut businesspeople and second-hand stores next to high-fashion boutiques.  It will take you a good day to trawl all the stores, a colourful line up of pop and alternative cultures that stretch between Victoria and Alexandria Parade.  Have your tarot cards read or your nails done.  Buy an esoteric book or a best-seller bag a retro clothing bargain or a designer dress. Try on fetish clothing, browse fringe art galleries or listen to live music in an old-style pub. This is a street where anything goes, as long as it’s in a vaguely artistic spirit.

Stop at a cute, colourful cafe when the shopping bags get too heavy or you want to discuss the artworks and hairstyles you’ve seen. Or lunch at one of Melbourne’s best gastro pubs or cheap ethnic eateries, an eclectic mix of Malaysian, Vietnamese and Thai. You’ll also find organic vegetarian restaurants, hamburger joints, souvlaki cafes and tapas bars. After dark, the party continues in the restaurants and legions of lively nightspots. As well as clubs, pubs and hip wine bar bars, you’ll find venues for jazz and salsa.  From September to October, Brunswick Street also comes alive with circus, cabaret, music, dance and comedy acts during the Melbourne Fringe Festival.

Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix

Albert Park, Melbourne

   

Thrill to the roar of the most expensive cars as the world’s finest Formula One drivers race each other around an incomparable lakeside street circuit in Melbourne’s beautiful Albert Park. The location, midway between the towering centre city skyline and Port Phillip Bay, guarantees spectacular TV images – but it’s even better being there.

If you can only make it to one day of the event, Saturday is a must. With the most on-track racing, including two Formula One sessions, it’s your chance to see everything the event has to offer. Of all the exclusive parties, the Red Bull Racing season launch party is renowned as the place to be...if you can wrangle an invitation. Just minutes on foot from Gate One of the Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit is the Middle Park Hotel, which insiders recommend as perfect for a refreshing beverage once the race is won.

Three designated Grand Prix tram routes operate during the four days of the event, free to ticket holders. There is also a free bus service from Crown Casino. Taxis and limousines deliver spectators close to various entry points. Walking is another option: Albert Park is only 3km from Melbourne’s CBD.

Federation Square

   

Federation Square is Melbourne's meeting place. It is a unique cultural precinct which brings together a creative mix of attractions, museums and galleries, along with many restaurants, cafes and bars.

Federation Square is also Melbourne’s events centre, with more than 2000 events held annually, including multicultural festivals, markets, film screenings and sporting events. It can hold up to 10,000 people at a time.

Comprising an entire city block and paved in sandstone cobbles from Western Australia’s Kimberley region,     Federation Square rises slightly above street level offering spectacular views of the City of Melbourne, Southbank and the Yarra River.

Federation Square is also home to the Ian Potter Centre, part of the National Gallery of Victoria; the Australian Centre for the Moving Image; and the National Design Centre.

The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia is the world's first major gallery dedicated exclusively to Australian art and includes photography, prints and drawings, fashion and textiles, decorative arts, and a suite of galleries dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.