Things to Do in Melbourne

The Kings Domain Gardens are a free, soothing retreat from the whirling energy of the nearby city centre.

Within Melbourne’s Domain Parklands, the Kings Domain is well placed to take a relaxing wander through hectares of natural peace. Visitors can enjoy lush lawns perfect for napping upon, spread picnics beneath mature trees, and wander into a fern gully of serene green.
 
The Kings Domain Gardens border onto the Royal Botanical Gardens, and there are multiple gardens within the Kings Domain area. The Queen Victoria Garden features roses, manicured flower beds and a statue of the monarch after which is it named. The Alexandra Gardens skirts the Yarra River and Alexandra Avenue, and features some barbecue areas with impressive city line views.  

Fitzroy Gardens is one of several gardens established during the nineteenth century with a mind to creating and preserving green spaces within the city.

Hugging the eastern side of the CBD, Fitzroy Gardens is seen as the finest garden in the city’s large collection of green spaces, which include Flagstaff, Treasury, Carlton, Alexandra Gardens and the Kings Domain. Dominated by sweeping avenues of English Elms, and full of deciduous and native Australian trees, Fitzroy Gardens looks particularly beautiful in autumn (April to June).

Points of interest within the gardens include Captain Cooks Cottage (transported from England in 1934), a fairy tree, a model Tudor village and a conservatory that exhibits stunning floral displays throughout the year.

Free-guided tours of Fitzroy Gardens take place every Wednesday at 12.30pm. To get to the gardens on foot, walk east from Spring Street until you reach Lansdowne Street (which forms the gardens western edge) or alternately catch a tram along Flinders Street into Wellington Parade.

Melbourne’s historic racecourse has been the city’s premier horse racing venue since it first opened in 1840 and plays an important role in the history and identity of Melbourne and its people.

A hive of activity during Melbourne’s Spring Racing Carnival in November each year, Flemington Racecourse (or ‘Flemington’ as it is more commonly called) is best known as the venue for the Melbourne Cup, the city’s internationally renowned horse race that attracts over 100,000 visitors each year and is the world’s richest turf race.

Owned and run by the VRC (Victoria Racing Club), Flemington hosts racing events throughout the year and is recognised by the Victoria Heritage List as the most significant racing heritage site in Australia.  

Situated on the Maribyrnong River, Flemington has clear views of the city skyline and a rose garden that is believed to be the biggest in the southern hemisphere. There is a heritage center and a shop onsite and walking tours are available daily during business hours.

Flemington Racecourse is located 6km northwest of the CBD on Epsom Road. The No. 57 tram (departing Elizabeth Street) provides the most direct access to the racecourse.

Appreciate Melbourne’s best street art and graffiti in Hosier Lane, one of the city’s ‘hidden’ laneways.

Once forgotten but now very much on the Melbourne cultural map, Hosier Lane is a small cut through between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane, filled with regularly changing graffiti and a series of light boxes that exhibit the work of up and coming contemporary artists.

Jutting out from the center of Hosier is Rutledge Lane; walk past the (graffitied) garbage bins until you hit the Until Never gallery, which displays work by emerging Australian artists (open Wed-Sat).

Hang out in Misty Bar or enjoy excellent tapas in the compact but excellent Spanish bar, Movida Next Door (Cnr Flinders St & Hosier Ln). If you want to eat at the more spacious and original Movida (1 Hosier Ln), you’ll need to book at least two months in advance.

Everyone wants a gift from vacation, and the Harbour Town Outlets are a practical place for finding a really good deal. Here on the city’s bustling Docklands just outside of West Melbourne, visitors might find that special gift at one of the 90 outlets. Start the adventure with coffee or tea from one of the cafés on site, and peruse the sprawling retail maze in search of the perfect fit. If visiting Melbourne from overseas, swing by the center’s Tourism Lounge for a second round of deals, since tourists often receive bonus discounts not available to other shoppers. Additional features include a Ferris wheel and occasional outdoor ice rink, and Harbour Town can be a family outing—not just another shop.

Just north of Melbourne’s CBD, is Lygon Street, the main street in the city’s old Italian quarter.

Still referred to by some as ‘little Italy’, Lygon Street was once the epicenter of Melbourne’s café culture and more than part way responsible for the city’s enduring caffeine obsession. Victorian terraces still line the street and several Italian restaurants continue to beckon passers-by to eat and drink at their street-side tables.

As you walk along Lygon Street you get a sense of its diversity: Italian-influenced restaurants, cafes, cake shops and gelati bars still dominate the scene but you will also discover a whole swathe of mainstream and boutique clothing stores, one of Melbourne’s best independent bookstores (Readings Books & Music); La Mama Theatre and Cinema Nova, Melbourne’s largest and most treasured arthouse cinema.

Faraday Street intersects Lygon Street at its northern end and it’s here that you’ll find Brunetti’s, a long-standing Carlton institution that serves the best cakes and gelato in town.

Enter through the iconic mouth of Mr Moon to experience the innocent joys of Melbourne’s Luna Park in St Kilda.

This ultimate city fair has brightened St Kilda’s Lower Esplanade for more than a century, featuring a classic Ferris Wheel, the Jewel in the Crown Carousel, the Silly Serpent Rollercoaster and a haunted Ghost Train, as well as many other family-fun and thrilling rides.

The most famous Luna Park ride is the Scenic Railway Roller Coaster, which has delighted passengers with paramount views of Port Phillip Bay since the Park opened in 1912.

The Great Ocean Road is one Victoria’s most naturally stunning sights, and Loch Ard Gorge is a dramatic highlight of an already dramatic journey. It was at this spot in 1878 where a ship carrying settlers from England to Melbourne was tragically wrecked on the rocks. Of the 54 passengers aboard the ship only two of the passengers survived—a teenage boy who heroically rescued a fellow teenage girl. After spending the night in a coastal sea cave, the duo found help with local settlers after scaling the rugged cliffs. Today those cliffs have a set of stairs that lead to the golden sands, where a protected beach is tucked beneath the towering, time-sculpted bluffs. Though the weather can be spectacularly stormy in winter, summer days are an invitation for picnicking, swimming, and sunbathing, and the striated cliffs form a natural amphitheater of coastal beauty around you. The gorge is located just a ten minute drive from the famous Twelve Apostles, which are arguably the most popular and visited site on Australia’s Great Ocean Road. At the top of the cliffs above the gorge, a modest cemetery has a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Loch Ard shipwreck—just one of an estimated 700 ships that have sank off this southern coast.