Melbourne
Australia
Backpacking Melbourne
Information on Melbourne, sights to see, nightlife, activities and more.
Sophisticated, edgy, cool and definitely a happening place, Melbourne is Australia's second largest city and the capital of the State of Victoria. It is also the self-appointed cultural, gastronomical and sporting capital of the nation. Melbourne and its suburbs sprawl around Port Phillip Bay and are divided into northern and western suburbs by the Yarra River. The central business district sits on the north bank of the Yarra about 5km from the Port Phillip Bay. Most places of interest are either within the central business district, or at nearby inner city areas. Melbourne is world renowned for its culture. There are many excellent galleries and museums, showcasing major exhibitions catering for all different tastes. In addition to this, there are many other major annual festivals and events. If you love food, you will love Melbourne. Many regard this as the food capital of Australia and there are countless excellent cafes and restaurants that provide food from every continent around the globe. You will find most of the best eating places either in the city center, or in nearby suburbs like St. Kilda. Shopping is also a favorite past time of local residents and Melbourne is regarded by many as the fashion capital of Australia. When the sun is out and the weather is warm, you only need to travel a few kilometers from the city center to find some nice bayside beaches. St Kilda is the most popular and gets very busy. If you like it a little less crowded, there are plenty of other beaches nearby. Surf beaches can be found outside of Melbourne toward either Mornington Peninsula or the Great Ocean Road Melbourne is a fun place for a night out. You can discover some amazingly cool and hip bars and clubs, which are often located in out of the way laneways and more obscure locations. There are also plenty of happening large nightclubs, quality pubs, thumping live music venues, as well as many events such as dance parties and music festivals. This is a great city to visit, as it is quite different to other cities in Australia. There is plenty to do and see and is one of the most popular destinations for backpackers travelling around Australia.
Must See
Flinders Street Station and Federation Square - The main entrance to Flinders Street Station is a picturesque cultural symbol of Melbourne you’ll find on many postcards or tourist brochures: this gorgeous building was opened in 1910, and it is listed on the Victorian heritage register. Across the road, Federation Square is another Melbourne icon, with a unique and fascinating architectural design, making the Square quite unlike anything you’ve seen before.
Street Art - Melbourne is very well-known for its street art, being considered one of the street art capitals of the world. The city council has designated certain areas as approved for street artists, and the street art here is of exceptionally high quality.
Must Do
Brighton Beach - Dive into Port Phillip Bay under the watch of 82 distinctive bathing boxes, a row of uniformly proportioned wooden structures lining the foreshore at Brighton Beach. Built well over a century ago in response to very Victorian ideas of morality and seaside bathing, the bathing boxes remain almost unchanged.
Hang at St Kilda - St Kilda is full of attractions for backpackers, from the delicious cakes of Acland Street to the community gardens and the thriving nightlife. There’s also a gorgeous beach and a pier; surprising to many, this busy suburb of Melbourne has some unexpected residents, a colony of the St Kilda penguins! This colony established itself in the 1970s on the St Kilda breakwater, and arrive just after sunset every night of the year, being particularly numerous in summer.
Nightlife
Melbourne’s nightlife scene might not compete with those of other larger cities, but it does know how to have fun after dark. Bars and clubs stay open until about 1 a.m. or 4 a.m. Melbourne nightlife has a little bit of everything—hidden bars, rowdy pubs, swanky nightclubs, and live music venues. Aussies know how to have a good time. (They also know how to drink.) There’s a lot of different types of bars in Melbourne, including cocktail bars, speakeasies, rooftop bars, karaoke bars, pubs, you name it. There are plenty of options for Clubbing in Melbourne and you’ll find It’s a mix of an older and younger crowd (the drinking age is 18), and you can find all kinds of music styles, like electronic, R&B, or rock and roll. A fun spot to check out is St Kilda which is a seaside playground 24 hours a day, especially when it comes to entertainment and live music. As the sun goes down, the volume is turned up in some of Melbourne’s most famous live music venues and in bars, pubs and clubs across St Kilda.
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