Things to Do in Melbourne

Laneways street-art walk

Start at Hosier Lane's technicolor murals, where spray-paint fumes still linger, then duck into AC/封DC Lane to hear your footsteps echo off brick while chrome portraits of Bon Scott glare down. Duck into Tattersalls Lane at lunch hour for the sizzle of dumpling steam mixing with clove cigarette smoke from curtained doorways.

Queen Victoria Market night market

On Wednesday evenings the sheds fill with smoke from Thai rotisserie stalls, oud-infused candles and the first crack of pepper on wagyu sliders. Buskers trade didgeridoo drones for electric violin loops while you sip mulled wine that steams in the cool air.

St K's Beach and Palais Theatre

Catch the 96 tram to St Kilda, step onto sand that squeaks underfoot, and watch kite-surfers skim teal water while the Palais's faded dome blushes pink at sunset. The boardwalk smells of vinegar-soaked chips and sunscreen. Fairy penguins waddle from rocks at dusk.

National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) Ian Potter Centre

Inside Federation-cut sandstone you'll hear the soft click of heels on concrete floors and smell fresh wall paint backing Indigenous dot paintings that pulse with ochre. Fed Square's trams rattle outside. But the upstairs windows frame the Yarra like a moving canvas.

Rooftop Cinema on Curtin House

Ride a rattling lift to the seventh floor, step onto fake grass that prickles bare ankles, and watch old Melbourne neon blink against a purple sky while the smell of truffle popcorn drifts over deckchairs. Below, Swanston trams ding like xylophones through the canyon of shops.

Fitzroy backpackers along Nicholson Street - old pubs turned hostel with iron lace balconies, tram bells at dawn and share-kitchen smell of Vegemite toast

Carlton warehouse conversions on Gertrude Street, where you'll wake to warehouse ravens tapping skylights and cafes pouring single-origin two doors down

Southbank high-rise: river views, helicopter pads humming above Crown Bridge, ten-minute walk to NGV and free city-loop trams

St Kilda Esplanade art-deco apartments - salt wind through sash windows, cake shops piping vanilla slices below

Collingwood brewery lofts - night smell of malt drifts up from the valley, lan cap factories turned galleries outside your door

CBD pocket studios down hardware lane - midnight jazz seeps through bricks, espresso starts at 6 am sharp