How to spend a day in Melbourne, from hip cafes to cocktails at a floating bar

Travel

Peel back the layers of Victoria’s state capital to find hidden laneways, Aboriginal history and some of Australia’s best museums, coffee shops and restaurants.

ByJustin Meneguzzi

Published December 9, 2023

• 6 min read

This article was produced by National Geographic Traveller (UK).

Cosmopolitan Melbourne is arguably Australia’s most exciting urban adventure. Famed for its food, sport and obsession with artisanal coffee, it’s a city that never stands still. The Central Business District (CBD) mixes Victorian architecture with the steely glint of a skyscraper skyline, carved up by tram lines and the Yarra River, making it a handsome place to wander and easy to travel around. You could try to catch an Aussie Rules match at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or pay your respects to Australia’s top artists at the National Gallery of Victoria — but many of the city’s greatest delights are hidden down its skinny laneways and ornate arcades, where locals nurse flat whites at hole-in-the-wall cafes splashed with street art, or while away hours dipping in and out of small independent shops.  

9am: Coffee and avo

Climb a rickety staircase off Somerset Place to find Captains of Industry, an achingly hip cafe that also operates as a bespoke bootmaker, unisex barbershop and purveyor of grooming goods. Enjoy a coffee and smashed avocado on toast while watching the morning crowds from large windows overlooking Elizabeth Street, near Melbourne Central station.

10am: Laneways & arcades

Melbourne’s architecturally stunning arcades are a great way to traverse the city under cover while exploring boutique fashion outlets, chocolate shops and homeware stores. Start at Royal Arcade — one of the oldest in the country — where you can see the giant, medieval-style, mechanical Gog and Magog strike their clock on the hour. Cross into the Block Arcade to admire the opulent 19th-century glass canopy and mosaic flooring, then follow Centreway Arcade until you emerge for refreshment in the narrow, cafe-lined Degraves Street. 

11.30am: Picnic in the gardens

Ride the tram to Spring Street Grocer, opposite Parliament House. There you can gather a gourmet picnic of dips, salads, pasta and cheeses sourced from independent dairy farms across Victoria. Look for a concealed staircase that leads down into the cheese maturation cellar — the first of its kind in Australia. When you’re done browsing, enjoy your feast in the shade of the nearby Treasury Gardens.

1pm: Take a walk on Kulin Country

The Koorie Heritage Trust at Federation Square is a bastion of Aboriginal history, culture and creativity. Their one-hour guided Birrarung Wilam (River Camp) walks by the Yarra River on weekdays offer insight into Melbourne’s past as an important meeting place for the Indigenous Kulin nation. After taking the tour, stick around to explore the crafts shop and rotating art exhibitions in the trust’s newly expanded headquarters, which are due to reopen in December across all three floors of Federation Square’s Yarra Building.

3.30pm: Sip cocktails at a floating bar

Stroll along Southbank until you reach the white arches of the Evan Walker Bridge. Huddled around the bridge’s southern pylon is Ponyfish Island, a floating bar suspended in the middle of the Yarra River. There, you can graze on pizzas and sip from an eclectic cocktail menu. The island takes its name from a mysterious equine creature rumoured to swim in the river, like a southern cousin of the Loch Ness monster.

6pm: Dine in a carpark 

Stroll down a side road off Bourke Street and you’ll hear the chatter echoing from Soi 38 before you find it. The small, brightly coloured Thai restaurant popped up beneath a car park in 2017 and its Bangkok-style boat noodles and aromatic soups have been winning Melburnian hearts ever since. In 2022, a ticket booth opposite the restaurant was converted into a natural wine shop, where you can select a bottle to enjoy with dinner.   

8.30pm: Embrace the kitsch

Kitschy, nostalgic and just a little bit strange, The Butterfly Club is a tiny theatre and bar at the end of the graffiti-splashed Carson Place. It’s inside a narrow-fronted, 130-year-old Victorian building, once occupied by various tailors, watchmakers, government offices and countless pigeon roosts before its latest incarnation hosting comedy, cabaret, offbeat musicals and tribute shows. Buy tickets online. 

10.30pm: Belt out a tune

Immigrants from Korea, China and Japan introduced Melburnians to karaoke in the 1980s and the city hasn’t looked back since. A dozen karaoke bars have sprung up in the Central Business District, so you can find your voice then lose it singing into the wee hours. It’s A$5 (£2.50) for three songs at the coin-operated Kono Coin Karaoke on Little Lonsdale Street, where you can perfect your power ballads in a closet-sized, disco-lit private booth.

How to do it
Trailfinders offers fly-drive packages to Victoria, including a 13-day ‘wildlife and wine’ tour for £1,493 per person. This includes three days in Melbourne, car hire and 12 nights’ accommodation, but excludes international flights.

Published in the November 2023 issue of National Geographic Traveller (UK).

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