Melbourne: plan every detail of your trip to the cultural capital of Australia

What to do in Melbourne? Well, there is a myriad of things to do in this marvellous city. Melbourne is blessed with various excellent restaurants, museums, and sports events, all of which make it the cultural capital of Australia. In general, a lot of people desire to travel to Australia. The best time to travel to Australia is mostly September and October. In these two months, the weather is warm enough to enjoy magnificent Australian beaches, and it is cool enough to go sightseeing in central areas.    

Cobbled laneways with amazing graffiti

As mentioned earlier, Melbourne is the cultural capital of Australia. So, when you travel to Australia, it is always a good idea to travel to Melbourne. Before deciding on paying a visit to this coastal city, one should make a plan by asking: What to do in Melbourne? Where to travel in Melbourne? Here are some guides and tips. Melbourne is immensely famous for its laneways. Most tourists love wandering through these unique cobbled laneways at the heart of Melbourne. You can start your journey at Flinders Street station, the busiest railway station in the Southern Hemisphere, wander down to Degraves Street and Collins Street. The laneways are home to street art, graffiti, and beautiful arcades. The most well-known laneways and arcades of Melbourne are AC/DC Lane, Centre Place, Degraves Street, Cathedral Arcade, etc. These notable laneways of Melbourne also host many cosy cafes, coffee shops, restaurants serving various culinary delights from all over the world, and shopping boutiques. When you travel to Australia, you will be mesmerized by the taste of coffee, especially in Melbourne. As the cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne is home to one of the best coffee shops and baristas in the world. Visitors can have every type of coffee, such as flat white coffee, cold brew, etc., in Melbourne.

Home to world-class restaurants and markets

Melbourne is also renowned for its unique markets and boutiques, where visitors can buy a multitude of local and foreign products of very high quality. Melbourne’s markets are also a place of hustle and bustle, featuring people from all around the world. Famous places to go shopping are the South Melbourne Market, Queen Victoria Market, and so on. Alongside buzzy markets, Melbourne’s laneways and streets are a happy hunting ground for world-class restaurants. For example, if you plan to travel to Melbourne, you better book in advance for Attica, the best in Australia and one of the best restaurants in the whole world, to taste delicious and unique food. Other famous restaurants in Melbourne include Matilda 159 Domain, Cutler & Co, and so forth. If you are a fan of sweets, you should not miss the opportunity of going to Acland Street to indulge in famous cake houses and bakeries. One ought to visit to try croissants of the best kind served by Lune Croissanterie. After such a “sweet” visit to Acland Street, you can take about a 10-minute walk to St Kilda Pier to watch little penguins. Besides watching penguins, one can hit the beach in St Kilda before going to Fitzroy Street to taste delicious meals and get cold drinks. If you are also a fan of high-quality wine, a world-famous wine-producing region, the Mornington Peninsula is located about 45 minutes away from the city to southern suburban areas. In these vineyards, you can taste one of the best white wines in the world.

Renowned for its rooftop bars

One of the reasons why the best time to travel to Australia are September and October is because of the chance to get the best out of Melbourne’s rooftop terrace and sporting events. Tourists can have their cocktails in hand while sitting and watching the sunset in these high-altitude rooftop bars. Well-known rooftop lounges are Naked in The Sky, Madame Brussels, Good Heavens Rooftop Bar, etc. To the north of the central business district, one can find amazing cafes and bars with live music at Brunswick Street. At the heart of Melbourne, on the seventh floor of Curtin House, there is a rooftop bar with delicious food and lovely music. But this is not all yet; in this place, people can also enjoy astonishing rooftop cinema with an outstanding city view.

Sport and cultural capital of Australia

Apart from being the cultural capital of Australia, Melbourne is also considered the sporting capital of Australia. If a question pops up in your mind as "where to travel in Melbourne?", you should definitely consider the Melbourne Cricket Ground, aka "The G". In the Melbourne Cricket Ground, visitors can watch Australian Football League and cricket matches. Australian football rules may seem peculiar to most outsiders; however, the atmosphere during the matches is unmatched. As highlighted above, another reason why the best time to travel to Australia is September is the chance you get to attend the Australian Football League Grand Final. If you are lucky enough to secure a ticket to the Grand Final, you will definitely get one of the most unforgettable experiences of your life.

Melbourne tourist places

Now it is time to talk about cultural places you can pay a visit in Melbourne - the hub for arts and culture in Australia. Australia’s oldest gallery, The National Gallery of Victoria, was founded in Melbourne in 1861. Visitors can explore the collections of more than 70,000 artworks, including European, American, Asian, and Oceanic art. If you are interested in the history of Australia, Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre is definitely a place you need to visit. Bunjilaka is a permanent exhibition co-curated by the First Nations. In this museum, through performance and art, the First Nation peoples tell their stories and history of Victoria. It is also recommended to go to the State Library of Victoria. This historic library was built in the 1850s, and today, it receives millions of visitors every year. You may also join a tour to the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria - Melbourne Gardens, organized by the Kulin Nation, to learn more about the history of Melbourne, its cultural heritage, and Victoria’s First Peoples.

A week in Melbourne

Here are some guides on how to spend a delightful week in Melbourne. On the first day, you can wander through the laneways to enjoy street artwork. At sundown, you can have a lovely picnic at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria while watching a movie presented by Moonlight Cinema Melbourne. Visitors are allowed to bring their own food, soft and alcoholic drinks. But first of all, before making a plan you should apply for Australia visa. On the second day, it is a good idea to start a day by taking the City Circle Tram to explore Melbourne tourist places with an audio commentary. By taking Melbourne Tram, you can visit the Federation Square, Parliament House, Melbourne Aquarium, the Old Treasury Building, and the Princess Theatre. While enjoying your time at Federation Square, you will also get a chance to walk 50 meters down the street to admire Flinders Street Station, which features great Victorian architecture. On the next day, let yourself enjoy the culture and history by visiting the National Gallery of Victoria, the Immigration Museum, the Melbourne Museum, and the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre. In the evening, having a wonderful dinner at Attica or Matilda 159 Domain would make the day unforgettable. On the fourth day, you can visit and enjoy the Fitzroy Gardens, which will take you to the 19^th century. After such a calm journey in the garden, you can spend a buzzing evening by attending the Australian Football League match. On the following day, you should visit St Kilda to hit the beach and enjoy watching little penguins afterwards at the pier. Very close to St Kilda, there is Acland Street, where you can immerse yourself in tasting different sweeties and cakes, such as Gugelhupf. If you are looking for nice nightlife, then you are in the right place because St Kilda is a mecca for thousands of bars and clubs. On the sixth day, you may take a trip to heaven-like Phillip Island, which is located about two hours away from the city. On the island, you can swim, get a tan while having a nice cold drink. At sunset, you will enjoy the beautiful scenery and observe little penguins' parade returning from the sea to their nests. After spending a night on Phillip Island, you can return to Melbourne in the morning and do some shopping at Queen Victoria Market; this inner-city market is a great place to shop for a wide variety of fresh and speciality produce. On your last night in Melbourne, have a very nice cocktail at the rooftop bar in Curtin House while enjoying an astonishing view of Melbourne.  All in all, Melbourne has it all - vibrant culture, fashion, one of the best cafes and restaurants, laneways with mesmerizing graffiti, sports events, and many more fun things to do. According to The Global Liveability Index 2019, Melbourne is the second most liveable city in the world. In this blog, I tried to answer mainly two questions: What to do in Melbourne? Where to travel in Melbourne? When you plan to travel to Melbourne, visiting the above-mentioned touristic attractions, historical places, cosy cafes, and restaurants is a must-do activity.