Discover Melbourne

Melbourne is a city best discovered by those willing to get a little lost. Some of its finest offerings are deliberately difficult to find: an excellent restaurant at the far end of a graffiti-covered laneway, a cocktail bar concealed behind an anonymous doorway (finding it is half the fun), or an intimate art gallery tucked into a building you might otherwise walk straight past.

Melbourne takes its pleasures seriously, sometimes comically so. Coffee is less a beverage than a matter of principle, securing a table at a popular restaurant can require the planning skills of a military strategist, and sporting loyalties are defended with a passion that outsiders may find both admirable and mildly alarming. Culture, meanwhile, refuses to stay within the respectable confines of galleries and theatres. It finds its way onto building facades, into public squares, and along the walls of laneways that have become attractions in their own right.

For all its enthusiasm for the new and unexpected, Melbourne has never quite let go of its past. Victorian-era buildings, elegant shopping arcades, and old neighbourhood pubs sit comfortably alongside contemporary architecture, inventive restaurants, and an ever-changing cultural scene. As the sun goes down, the city takes on another personality: laneways come alive, restaurants hum with conversation, and theatre crowds spill onto streets already busy with people making an evening of it.

We are, of course, delighted to offer recommendations for your visit. But our strongest advice is to leave some room in your itinerary for having no itinerary at all. Walk a little further than you intended, follow an enticing smell or an intriguing sound, and take the occasional turn simply because you wonder what lies around the corner. In Melbourne, the best discoveries often begin when you stop looking for them.