Melbourne Travel Guide: Where to Eat, What to See, and the Best Day Trips Nearby
- Dr. K.
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
I flew into Melbourne from Cairns — our last stop after a stretch that began in Sydney. Sydney had felt incessant: ferries, crowds, constant motion. Cairns, by contrast, was humid, relaxed, and slow. With Melbourne coming next, I didn’t know what to expect.
Melbourne sits on Australia’s southern coast, nearly three hours by air from Cairns. It was July — summer back home in LA, winter here. I packed for warmth and landed in cool, 55F air that required just a light jacket. Snow is rare in the city, and though the weather changed throughout the day, it stayed manageable.
The city looked immediately different: wide streets, clean architecture, tall office blocks standing next to early-morning cafés. It reminded me both of London — in its historic buildings and public parks — and of New York in its grid and pace.
We stayed near the centre, where weekday life was visible: professionals with takeaway coffees, diners lining up for breakfast, and a major shopping street a few blocks away.
The Centre of the City
Melbourne’s city centre unfolds naturally around Flinders Street Station, a 19th-century landmark still used by thousands of commuters every day. Just across the street, Federation Square blends public space with culture — home to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), small galleries, cafés, and large outdoor screens that broadcast everything from sports to film festivals.
A short walk from the square brings you to the Yarra River, where broad pedestrian paths run along both banks. Crossing one of the low bridges leads to Southbank, a lively stretch of dining and performance spaces. Here, Arts Centre Melbourne anchors the skyline with its spire, while Hamer Hall and The Edge, a glass-fronted venue overlooking the water, host concerts, dance, and theatre year-round.
Taken together — station, square, river, and arts district — this part of the city captures what Melbourne does best: layering work, design, and public life within walking distance. It’s an easy place to spend a day without ever leaving the city centre.
Sport and Public Life
East of Melbourne’s city centre lies one of the most active sports precincts in the world. The Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) anchors it all — a 100,000-seat stadium surrounded by Yarra Park, where locals jog, walk their dogs, and take stadium tours year-round. Built in 1853, the MCG remains Australia’s most important sporting venue, hosting international cricket, AFL Grand Finals, and large-scale events that fill the stands season after season.
A short walk away, Rod Laver Arena hosts the Australian Open every January, drawing fans from around the world. Next door, AAMI Park brings in rugby and soccer crowds under its distinctive bubble-dome roof, while Olympic Park connects the entire area through open paths, greenery, and easy tram access.
Between these stadiums, you’ll find some excellent food spots — not just fan fare, but real dining. Il Duca on Wellington Parade has long been a local favorite for Italian dinners before and after matches, while Geppetto Trattoria, Richmond Social, and The Press Club Grill all sit within walking distance.
The Garden Square redevelopment near Rod Laver Arena now includes St Andrews Brewery, a casual restaurant and taproom that has become a post-match hangout for tennis and concert-goers alike.
The area’s strength is its flow — everything is walkable, connected, and consistently alive. Even without a game on, this part of Melbourne stays busy with commuters, runners, and locals grabbing a late lunch on Olympic Boulevard.
Shops, Food and Routine
Melbourne’s dining culture stretches from early-morning coffee to meals that finish past midnight — and quality holds steady all the way through.
One notable spot is the O3 Café & Space in Southbank — a local study and hangout spot. Students and freelancers fill the long tables with laptops and flat whites, making it one of the few places that feels both calm and connected at once.
A few blocks away, The Waiters Restaurant on Meyers Place remains a Melbourne classic. Founded in the 1940s as a club for Italian waiters, it still serves generous pasta dishes and carafes of wine in a no-frills dining room that has barely changed in decades.
If you’re planning a celebratory meal, Melbourne’s fine-dining credentials hold strong. Attica in Ripponlea consistently ranks among The World’s 50 Best Restaurants for its modern Australian tasting menus and use of native ingredients. In the city, Vue de Monde pairs elevated cuisine with skyline views from the Rialto Tower, while Cutler & Co — set in a converted metalworks building in Fitzroy, Melbourne’s creative inner-north neighbourhood — delivers one of the city’s most reliable high-end dining experiences.
Indian cuisine has its own moment here. Atta in Albert Park has earned multiple Australian Good Food Guide Chef Hat awards for its refined, spice-forward dishes, while Tonka, tucked off Flinders Lane, modernises Indian flavors with local produce and Melbourne’s design sensibility.
For late dinners, Henry & The Fox on Little Collins Street is one of the rare kitchens in the central city that stays open well into the night — a dependable find after returning from long day trips to Phillip Island or the Mornington Peninsula. Locals sometime head to Supper Inn in Chinatown — an institution serving Cantonese classics until nearly 2:30 a.m.
Between meals, Collins Street and Bourke Street Mall cover global fashion, while laneways like Degraves Street, Hardware Lane, and Centre Place remain Melbourne’s signature — independent cafés, boutiques, and ever-changing street art within a few blocks of one another.
Day Trips and Short Stays
One of Melbourne’s best features is how easily you can leave it. Within a few hours in any direction, the city gives way to coastlines, vineyards, or small towns that feel entirely different.
An hour south, the Mornington Peninsula offers a slower rhythm — rolling vineyards, coastal drives, and the geothermal pools at Peninsula Hot Springs, where visitors move between mineral baths, saunas, and quiet hilltop pools overlooking the valley. Staying overnight on the peninsula makes the trip feel like a complete reset rather than a day escape.
About two hours southeast, Phillip Island remains one of Victoria’s most dependable wildlife experiences. The Penguin Parade draws visitors nightly to see hundreds of little penguins return from the sea at dusk — a natural ritual that feels remarkably uncommercial despite its scale.
For those with extra time, the Great Ocean Road is one of Australia’s most scenic routes — a 240-kilometre stretch of highway running along the southern coast through surf towns like Lorne and Apollo Bay. The drive is long but worth doing slowly: lookouts over limestone cliffs, ocean spray over the Twelve Apostles, and stretches of farmland that fade back into forest. An overnight stop breaks up the distance and lets you enjoy the region without rushing.
Each of these trips reveals a different version of Victoria: the peninsula’s calm, the island’s wildlife, the coast’s vastness — all connected back to Melbourne by easy highways and good coffee at every stop.
Planning Details
Getting around Melbourne is straightforward once you know the system. The city’s trains, trams, and buses all run on a single network using a myki card, which you can buy and top up at stations, 7-Elevens, or online. Trams within the Free Tram Zone in the city centre require no ticket at all — just hop on and off. Outside that zone, or when using trains and buses, you’ll need to tap your myki on and off.
Credit-card tap payments aren’t active yet, though Victoria plans to roll them out in the coming years.
For short distances, Uber and local taxis remain easy backups, especially at night.
Best time to visit: November–March for warm-weather events and outdoor life; April–May for fewer crowds and cool skies.
Suggested stay: Three full days in Melbourne, plus one or two days for one of the nearby escapes.
Local tip: Weather changes quickly during winter. Pack a lightweight jacket and dress in layers.
🎟️ Book with Viator
