36 Hours
36 Hours in Melbourne, Australia
Melbourne, long seen as Australia’s second city, is runner-up no more after officially edging past Sydney in population for the first time in more than a century. But if Sydney is the extroverted showboat full of grand gestures (opera house! beaches!), arts- and food-loving Melbourne plays it cool. Visitors will discover odd and wonderful surprises, sometimes hidden in the laneways (or alleys), including spaces like a church caretaker’s cottage turned cocktail bar or a limestone art gallery tucked amid rustling gum trees. Get swept up in the city’s sports obsession at the Australian Open in January, as well as its coffee addiction: Knowing the lingo — like the difference between a magic (a smaller, stronger flat white) and a long black (double espresso poured over hot water) — is just one way to get a dose of Melbourne’s leisure-loving culture.
Recommendations
- Caretaker’s Cottage, a cocktail bar in a former church caretaker’s quarters, has exceptionally warm hospitality and freezer-cold martinis.
- Heide Museum of Modern Art, an art museum and a sculpture park, feels like a secret piece of bushland northeast of the city.
- National Gallery of Victoria, better known as the NGV, is Australia’s most visited museum, with walls made of bluestone, the same volcanic rock used to pave Melbourne’s cobblestone streets.
- Manzé is a Mauritian restaurant and natural wine bar that amps up flavors with fruity, fermented chile sauces and spiced chutneys.
- Soi 38 is a Thai-street-food kitchen hidden in a parking garage.
- Thai Baan draws diners to line up for its boat noodles, a Thai dish with a dark, aromatic broth originally sold by vendors in canals.
- One or Two, down an alley in Chinatown, is a welcoming cocktail den that offers a brief respite from the city.
- Stalactites is a long-standing Greek restaurant where families and late-night revelers come together for the love of a midnight souvlaki.
- Cathedral Coffee is a cafe by day, wine bar by night in a historic arcade in the city.
- Gimlet at Cavendish House, with its charming, light-filled dining room, is the kind of place where you can order lobster, caviar or a late-night cheeseburger.
- ShanDong MaMa is a mother-and-daughter-run dumpling house in a Chinatown shopping arcade.
- American Doughnut Kitchen, a food van parked at the Queen Victoria Market, is where your obsession with hot jam doughnuts begins.
- Pidapipó is a popular, neon-lit gelateria with seasonal flavors, warm Nutella on tap and gorgeous gelato cakes in the fridge.
- Cibi is a Japanese cafe, design store and grocer in a sunny warehouse space.
- Royal Botanic Gardens sprawls over 94 acres just south of the Yarra River, with green lawns, a rainforest walk, lakes and a new arid garden. There is also an open-air cinema in the summer.
- Museum of Chinese Australian History is a small, four-story museum in a former furniture warehouse in Chinatown.
- The Forum is a beloved live-music hall in a grand and slightly bizarre-looking 1920s cinema palace.
- Northcote Theater, which opened in the inner-north neighborhood last year, is another ornate former cinema transformed into a live-music space.
- Alpha60, a Melbourne brother-and-sister fashion label, has a stunning shop in a cathedral-like hall in the Chapter House building on Flinders Lane.
- Craft Victoria is a subterranean gallery and shop that shows experimental ceramics, textiles and fashion pieces from Australian designers.
- Queen Victoria Market, open since 1878 and encompassing 17 acres, is the city’s favorite food market. There is also a summer street-food market on Wednesday nights.
- Books for Cooks is a home cook’s dream, with thousands of new and secondhand cookbooks, food memoirs and culinary histories lining its shelves.
- Readings is a much loved independent chain of bookstores that spotlights Australian literature and nonfiction.
- Nicholas Building is a 1926 landmark whose 10 floors have been taken over by creative tenants, including tattooists, tailors, milliners, clairvoyants, booksellers and jewelers.
- United Places, a luxury boutique hotel in the South Yarra neighborhood, offers a sleek spin on Brutalist architecture, offset by the lush green of the Royal Botanic Gardens at its doorstep. Its 12 suites have textured concrete walls, rain showers and private terraces. One- and two-bedroom suites available, starting from 695 Australian dollars, or about $460.
- QT Melbourne, recognizable from the outside by its reflective copper double doors, is a 188-room hotel whose striped, gold-accented and neon lobby encapsulates its quirky industrial vibe and maximalist décor. Its central location is unbeatable for convenience. Rooms from about 300 dollars.
- Zagame’s House, a once faded motel that was gutted and modernized, has 97 rooms with dark tones and gold accents. The hotel is a few minutes’ walk from both the city center and the lush Carlton Gardens, popular for its green lawns and the grand Royal Exhibition Building. Rooms from about 229 dollars.
- For short-term rentals, the city center has listings for mostly modern, boxy condo apartments. You’re more likely to find homes with more character, and to get the flavor of local life, in suburbs like Fitzroy, East Melbourne, Richmond, South Yarra and South Melbourne.
- Melbourne’s train network is safe and easy to use, although services are minimal after midnight. Trams are slower but may drop you off closer to your destination. Both require a physical or digital Myki card before you board (although trams are free in the city center). Be warned: Inspectors are vigilant and hand out fines of up to 288 dollars for traveling without a valid ticket. Taxis and ride-hailing services like Uber and the Chinese-owned DiDi are available.
Itinerary
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