12 Best Sights in Melbourne, Victoria

Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

City Center Fodor's choice

The Aboriginal and modern Australian art collection of the National Gallery of Victoria hangs on the walls of this gallery in Fed Square. Key pieces include pioneering Indigenous artist Emily Kam Kngwarray's vast work, Anwerlarr Anganenty (Big Yam Dreaming) 1995, as well as paintings from the famous Heidelberg school, such as Frederick McCubbin's Lost and Tom Roberts's Shearing the Rams. Other displays include textiles, sculpture, and photography. A gallery highlight is the Indigenous collection, which changes every six months and includes both traditional and contemporary art.

Acland Street

St. Kilda

An alphabet soup of Chinese, French, Italian, and Lebanese eateries—along with a fantastic array of cake shops dating from the 1930s—lines the sidewalk of St. Kilda's ultrahip restaurant row. The street faces Luna Park.

Bridge Road

Richmond

Once a run-down area of Richmond, this street is now a bargain shopper's paradise. Track down factory outlets selling fashion and leather goods, refuel at independent brewery Burnley Brewing or Oster Italian osteria. Take Tram 48 or 75 from the city.

Recommended Fodor's Video

Carlton Gardens

Carlton

Sixty-four acres of tree-lined paths, artificial lakes, and flower beds in this English-style 19th-century park are the backdrop for the outstanding Melbourne Museum, and the World Heritage–listed Royal Exhibition Building, erected in 1880.

Buy Tickets Now

CERES Community Environment Park

Brunswick East

On the banks of the Merri Creek in East Brunswick, this award-winning sustainability center is home to a permaculture and bush-food nursery. Buy local produce and crafts here, eat at the Merri Table Cafe, and explore the green technology displays. The Merri Creek bike path passes CERES.

Federation Square

City Center

Encompassing a whole city block, the bold, abstract-style landmark was designed to be Melbourne's official meeting place, with a variety of attractions and restaurants within it. The square incorporates the second branch of the National Gallery of Victoria (Ian Potter Centre), which exhibits Aboriginal and modern Australian art, as well as the Australian Centre for the Moving Image; the Edge amphitheater, a contemporary music and theater performance venue; and the Koorie Heritage Trust, which runs exhibitions and programs relating to Aboriginal Melbourne, and sells Victorian Aboriginal products and designs. Regular events are held in the square and along the path beside the Yarra River. Crowds often gather to watch live performances and events televised on the giant "Fed TV" in the center of the square.

Buy Tickets Now

Fitzroy Gardens

City Center

This 64-acre expanse of European trees, manicured lawns, garden beds, statuary, and sweeping walks is Melbourne's most popular central park. Among its highlights is its 90-year-old Conservatory and the Avenue of Elms, a majestic stand of 130-year-old trees, one of the few in the world that has not been devastated by Dutch elm disease.

Flinders Street Station

City Center

Much more than just a train station, Flinders Street Station is a Melbourne icon and a popular meeting place. The term "meet me under the clocks" is widely used, indicating the timepieces on the front of this grand Edwardian hub of Melbourne's suburban rail network. When it was proposed to replace them with television screens, an uproar ensued. Today there are both clocks and screens.

Buy Tickets Now

National Gallery of Victoria

City Center

This massive, moat-encircled, bluestone-and-concrete edifice houses works from renowned international painters including Picasso, Renoir, and Van Gogh. Its Winter Masterpieces series of international blockbuster exhibitions require tickets. In the Great Hall, it's considered perfectly reasonable to stretch out on the floor in order to properly appreciate the world's largest stained-glass ceiling, by Leonard French. A second campus of the NGV, in nearby Federation Square, exhibits Australian art only.

Royal Botanic Gardens

South Yarra

Within its 93 acres are 8,000 species of native and imported plants and trees, sweeping lawns, and ornamental lakes populated with ducks and swans that love to be fed. The Children's Garden is a fun and interactive place for kids to explore. Summer brings alfresco performances of classic plays, usually Shakespeare, and children's classics like Wind in the Willows, as well as the popular Moonlight Cinema series. There is also a garden shop and several cafés including The Terrace, which serves high tea. The present design and layout were the brainchild of W.R. Guilfoyle, curator, botanist, and director of the gardens from 1873 to 1910. Take an Aboriginal Heritage walk through the gardens, a significant site for the local Kulin Nation. Your Aboriginal guide will identify native plants and describe their use and the connection to Country (A$35).

State Library of Victoria

City Center

On a rise behind lawns and heroic statuary, this handsome 1853 building was constructed during the gold-rush boom and houses more than 1½ million volumes as well as bushranger Ned Kelly's famous armor. Large reading areas—including the splendid domed reading room up the grand staircase—make this a comfortable place for browsing, and three galleries display works from the library's Pictures Collection.

Buy Tickets Now

Victoria Street

Richmond

One of Melbourne's most popular "eat streets," this 2-km (1-mile) stretch has restaurants ranging from simple canteens to tablecloth-and-candlelight dining spots. The street is packed with Vietnamese grocers, kitchenware stores, several art galleries, and a handful of chichi drinking spots and historic neighborhood hotels. Once a year at Tet, Vietnamese New Year (in January and February but the exact date varies from year to year), the street comes to life with a daylong Lunar Festival, with dragon dances, music, and more food!