Melbourne
A grid city that keeps its best rooms up staircases and down laneways, and changes its mind about the weather hourly
Browse Melbourne
Melbourne hides itself on purpose. The good bars are up unmarked staircases or behind a door in a laneway, the coffee is taken seriously to the point of comedy, and the street art on Hosier Lane will be different by the time you get there. Beyond the grid, Fitzroy and Collingwood carry the record shops, the makers’ markets and a genuinely strong set of social enterprises, while the trams take you out to St Kilda and the bay. Our local picks run from the pasta counters and laneway bars to First Peoples cultural organisations and the day trips down the Great Ocean Road.
Melbourne at a glance
- Ideal stay: 4 to 5 days
- Best time to visit: March to May and September to November
- Highlights: the laneways, Fitzroy and the Great Ocean Road
- Where to stay: the CBD, Fitzroy or St Kilda for the bay
- Getting around: trams, with a Free Tram Zone across the CBD
- Local picks: 32 hand-chosen places across the city
Where to stay in Melbourne
The CBD sits inside the Free Tram Zone and puts the laneways at your door. Fitzroy and Collingwood are the better base for bars, records and markets, ten minutes out by tram. St Kilda trades the centre for the bay and the foreshore. Compare live prices and availability on the map. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Find hotels in MelbourneBook tours and experiencesMelbourne questions, answered
How many days do you need in Melbourne?
Three days covers the laneways, the markets, the northern suburbs and a night out. Add a fourth and fifth if you want the Great Ocean Road and either Phillip Island or the Yarra Valley, since each of those takes a full day once travel is counted.
Do you need a car in Melbourne?
No. The tram network is extensive, the CBD has a Free Tram Zone, and trains reach the outer suburbs. A car only makes sense for the Great Ocean Road, the Mornington Peninsula or the Yarra Valley, and organised day trips cover all three without the driving.
What is the Free Tram Zone?
Trams are free within a marked zone covering most of the CBD, Docklands and the Queen Victoria Market. Travel beyond it and you need a Myki card, which you touch on when boarding outside the zone. Stops inside the zone are signed, so check before you assume.
When is the best time to visit Melbourne?
Autumn, from March to May, and spring, from September to November, give the most reliable weather and the fullest events calendar. Summer can swing from mild to over forty degrees in a day, and winter is cold and grey by Australian standards, though the city is built for it.
Is the Great Ocean Road doable as a day trip?
Yes, and most people do it that way, though it is a long day of roughly twelve hours with a lot of it on the coach. If you would rather not rush, driving it over two days with a night in Apollo Bay or Port Campbell gives you the lookouts in better light and far fewer people.
Where do you find the bars everyone talks about?
Up staircases and down laneways, usually behind a door with no sign on it. In the CBD, start around Tattersalls Lane, Meyers Place and the Flinders Lane end of the grid; in the north, Gertrude Street and Brunswick Street in Fitzroy. If a doorway looks like nothing, that is often the point.