What to Do in Melbourne: Laneways, Coffee and Live Rooms

Daytime: The Laneway Crawl

Start with the classics: Hosier Lane's ever-changing street art, Degraves Street's café strip, and the arcades — Block and Royal — that make the CBD feel Victorian. Queen Victoria Market earns a full morning (night market on summer Wednesdays), the NGV is Australia's best free gallery, and the state library's La Trobe Reading Room is the city's most photographed interior. Then tram south to St Kilda: beach walk, Luna Park's creepy-grin gate, and the little penguins that surface at the pier breakwater at dusk.

Coffee and Food First

Melbourne's café culture is the national religion — Fitzroy (Brunswick Street, Gertrude Street) and Carlton's Lygon Street do the flat-white-and-brunch morning properly. For dinner, Chinatown's Little Bourke Street has fed the city since the gold rush, and the CBD's rooftop bars start pouring at knock-off time — Melburnians drink early and often outdoors.

The Night: Gigs and Hidden Bars

• Live music: The Corner Hotel (Richmond), The Tote (Collingwood) and Northcote Social Club anchor the world-famous pub-rock circuit.
• Hidden bars: the CBD's basement and rooftop speakeasies reward exploration — follow the unmarked doors.
• Club nights: Fitzroy/Collingwood for the alternative scene, CBD for house and techno rooms — see our Melbourne nightlife guide.
• Late license: many venues run past 3 AM, and 24-hour public transport covers Friday and Saturday nights.

Getting Around

Trams within the CBD's Free Tram Zone cost nothing; elsewhere touch on with a myki card. On weekends, trains and trams run all night on core routes — a genuine rarity. St Kilda is 20 minutes by tram 96; Fitzroy is a walkable 15 from the CBD's north edge.