Highlights of Melbourne | Australia

My time in Melbourne was a whirlwind! After arriving on the Overland Train from Adelaide, I had a work-week in the city, with five afternoons/evenings to explore, before departing again at the weekend. It also turns out I know more people in Melbourne than anywhere else in Australia, so I squeezed in plenty of socialising. Fortunately, one of the big draws of this city is its food & drink scene, so it was perfect to have some company to show me around. Strap in for my whistle-stop week around the highlights of Melbourne!

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City Walk

Just like in Adelaide, I started off by getting my bearings and a bit of context about the city with a self-guided app-based walking tour. Melbourne’s city centre (or CBD – central business district) is a large grid. My first and lasting impression of the city was how big it was, and I barely saw any of its suburbs! Australia’s population is actually relatively small compared to its size, so I forgot just how many of those people are concentrated in Melbourne and Sydney (though the latter was the size I expected of it). The CBD is packed with people, traffic and buildings, many of them vast skyscrapers stuffed with offices. There are also some older buildings dotted throughout, which is always an interesting contrast alongside the more modern ones.

Melbourne has a a big shopping scene too, mainly along Bourke Street Mall. Tucked in between, you’ll find old-fashioned indoor arcades including Royal Arcade and The Block Arcade. These feel like they’re trapped in time with their glamorous turn-of-the-century or Art Deco designs. I also popped into St Paul’s Cathedral, which was a quiet moment of respite from the chaos of the city. Across the road sits Flinders Street Station, one of the most iconic stations in Melbourne which thousands of commuters flood through daily. Both are close to Fed Square, home to many events, venues and the ACMI, a museum dedicated to film, TV and moving pictures, which I took a quick lap of too. It ended up being a pretty lengthy walk but covered a lot of the city centre sights in one afternoon.

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Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

The next day I crossed a bridge and headed to the other side of the Yarra River. I had plans with an old school friend later, but a bit of time to spare beforehand. I ended up wandering through a couple of smaller parks, before ending up at the Botanic Gardens. They’re free to enter and large enough to roam for an hour or two. The small lake in the centre has boat rides available, and it looked like a guide accompanies you as well. The gardens undulate over some small hills, which allow for views of the city skyline peeking through the plants.

I set out with a vague route to loop around most of the gardens, but wasn’t paying heaps of attention to which plants I was passing. Fern Gully was a pretty spot, a dense thicket of green ferns surrounding a small creek. I snapped a few birds along the way too, including Australia’s infamous swamp hens. They are prettier than the name gives them credit for, in my opinion! While I could still hear traffic throughout the garden, it was definitely a nice change of pace to being in the city centre the day before.

Southbank

Leaving the garden, I wandered back through the other parks again, heading for the Southbank area of the river. The Yarra is pretty brown in colour, but the city seems to have tried to make it more appealing with lots of eateries along its shores. The Southbank has an esplanade running along the river bank next to a shopping/dining centre, where crowds of people spill out from the many bars and restaurants. I did feel a bit like I had to be on alert to not get hit by a bike though! It seemed like a popular after-work spot for city centre office workers, particularly with the many happy hours available.

We made use of one ourselves, starting with happy hour beers at Hophaus, a beerhouse style venue inside the Southgate shopping centre. Our second location was a bit more unique though, Yarra Botanica. This floating bar sits on the river itself, a small barge decked out with flowers and lights. It was dark already when we got there, but I could see this being very popular on a sunny day! It felt like a wine or cocktail spot to me as well with the decor, so I switched over from beer to finish up the evening here.

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Queen Victoria Market

The Queen Victoria Market popped up as one of the highlights of Melbourne in every list or article I read. Unfortunately, it’s only open certain days and times of the week, all of which clashed with work for me. The good news though, was that I was visiting in late September, just before the Melbourne Fringe Festival started. As part of the festival, the market was open on Wednesday evenings, with some Fringe performers doing samples of their shows. So, I seized the opportunity to visit with another friend for a few hours!

The main market hall had dozens of food and drink vendors dotted around the sides, alongside a few others selling jewellery or trinkets. Large balloon-like lights illuminated the venue in shades of purple and blue overhead. We did a couple of laps of the hall, browsing the menus to get an overview of all of our options. In the end, we got a couple of options to share – some perogis and a large Italian stuffed pastry – and managed to nab seats before it all got too busy. Later on, we also got some doughnuts and a margarita for dessert.

As we wandered, there were some performers doing sample snippets of their shows in various corners of the hall. However, the main stage was in the middle, where an MC was introducing acts doing longer sets. We stopped to watch a drag queen, who actually performed her own original songs live! The lyrics were pretty funny too, and it reminded me so much of the Edinburgh Fringe, being exactly the sort of creative, interesting, slightly odd show you’d expect from a Fringe festival. Definitely a fun evening all around!

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National Gallery of Victoria

I was honestly a little unsure what to do the next day. I had plans for tomorrow which would conclude my main sightseeing list, so there wasn’t anything else I was desperate to do. My friend last night had suggested the LUME, which has an immersive Da Vinci exhibit that looked pretty cool. I went to a similar Van Gogh one in Edinburgh a few years ago. But last entry was too early for me to make it on time after work, and it’s a bit expensive. So, I took her other suggestion, the National Gallery of Victoria (or NGV) in the Southbank area again.

The Gallery has a few temporary, paid exhibits which I skipped, but the main permanent collection is free. It’s broadly split into world regions, such as Australian, Asian and European art. The latter was also divided by time period, moving through history between the galleries. It’s a pretty extensive and varied collection overall, which I just roamed, stopping to admire whatever caught my interest.

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Carlton & Fitzroy Gardens

The sun was out, so off to the gardens I went! It was also a Friday public holiday (not for me since I take NZ holidays) meaning everywhere was busy too. Carlton Gardens was just a short walk from my hostel, a vast green space full of trees. Its star attraction is the Royal Exhibition Building, one of Australia’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It was built in the 19th century during the time when international exhibitions were sweeping the globe. Australia’s cities are all relatively modern, so examples of older architecture are a bit more special and this one is certainly a striking centrepiece to the gardens.

I wandered down past the Parliament of Victoria and into Fitzroy Gardens next. Where Carlton Gardens felt quite classical and symmetrical, Fitzroy seemed more whimsical and eclectic. Winding paths led this way and that, with bright flower beds and gnarled trees scattered throughout. There was a fountain here, a gazebo there, and the historic Cooks’ Cottage. This is quite an unusual addition, as it was the home of Captain Cook’s parents… in Yorkshire, England! The property was purchased in the 1930s by an Australian philanthropist. He had it taken apart, shipped to Australia, and reconstructed brick by brick in its present location!

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Fitzroy & Collingwood

As the sun went down, the weather turned cool, and I left my grassy perch in the gardens to wander onwards again. I was meeting a friend for dinner in Collingwood this evening but still had a bit of time to spare. Taking a leisurely route to get there, I made my way up through Fitzroy along Brunswick Street. I then cut across a few blocks and came back down Smith Street through Collingwood. This area was a welcome relief from being in the CBD all week! It’s full of record and vintage shops, pretty wine bars and independent restaurants, which made for some good window browsing as I wandered. Most of the buildings are older and just a couple of storeys high, unlike the towering skyscrapers of the CBD.

We went for a quick drink in Kent St Bar first, a quirky, friendly little place with a good range of beer options. Then our dinner reservation was at Smith + Daughters. Their menu is entirely plant-based, and it’s a popular spot amongst vegans in Melbourne, according to my friend. The menu may not sound vegan at first, with dishes like corn dogs and fish cakes. But I promise, they’re all plant-based substitutes! We got the tasting menu to share and it was simply wonderful. Then we popped into one of the aforementioned wine bars, Glou, for a final drink before hitting the road.

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Highlights of Melbourne

While Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city, after Sydney, and I was certainly overwhelmed by its size all week, it’s not got all that many tourist attractions. Everyone says it’s a very liveable city (aside from rising housing costs) and there’s definitely no shortage of dining and shopping opportunities. But from a tourist perspective, there just isn’t quite as much to see and do. Which meant the quick week I had there was probably time enough to cover the highlights of Melbourne.

I enjoyed wandering the parks, and I was glad to get to see the Queen Victoria Market. The biggest highlight for me was getting to catch up with so many people that I haven’t seen in years! And them introducing me to local dining and drinking recommendations was an added bonus. While the city itself wasn’t so much my cup of tea, it was a worthwhile stop for that reason alone. Plus, I still had some weekend plans in Victoria ahead of me…