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As the capital of the state of Victoria and the largest city in Australia, Melbourne of one of the world’s best-loved tourist destinations, it’s packed full of rich history and is home to a variety of major sporting and cultural events.
Popular sights include Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Shrine of Remembrance, Melbourne Zoo, and the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. If you’d prefer to escape the crowds and venture away from the beaten path, rest assured that Melbourne has plenty of quiet and quirky attractions to explore.
This travel guide highlights 19 of Melbourne’s hidden gems to help you discover a different side to this lively city.
1. Coop’s Shot Tower
- Address: Melbourne Central, 211 La Trobe Street, VIC 3000
- Website: www.visitmelbourne.com/coops-shot-tower
- Opening Hours: 9 am – 6 pm, daily
Melbourne Central shopping center has been constructed around Coop’s Shot Tower, a 19th-century structure that serves as evidence of Australia’s industrial history. The tower is one of just three remaining in Australia, and it’s incredibly well-preserved thanks to its sheltered position inside Melbourne Central’s impressive glass dome.
2. Meat Market Stables Performance Space and Art Gallery
- Address: 3 Blackwood St, VIC 3051
- Website: meatmarket.org.au/event-spaces/stables/
The Meat Market was once the heart of the wholesale meat trade in Melbourne, but it ceased operating in 1974 after almost 100 years. Soon after, it became a hub for artists and art businesses. A hidden gem is the building’s Stables, a lesser-known performance space with high ceilings and concrete floors that make it perfect for hosting visual art exhibitions.
3. Old Treasury Building
- Address: 20 Spring Street, VIC 3000
- Website: oldtreasurybuilding.org.au
- Opening Hours: Sunday – Friday, 10 am – 4 pm
The Old Treasury Building is where gold bullion was stored in vaults during Australia’s Gold Rush era. It’s one of the country’s best examples of Renaissance Revival architecture. Having long been used as a government office, it’s now open to the public and houses permanent exhibitions about the Gold Rush and Victorian Australia.
4. Easey’s Rooftop Train Carriage Bar
- Address: 3/48 Easey Street, Collingwood, VIC 3066
- Website: easeys.com.au
- Opening Hours: Sunday – Thursday 11 am – 10 pm/ Friday & Saturday 11 am – 11 pm
There’s no shortage of great bars and eateries in Melbourne, but Easey’s offers dinner and drinks in a truly unique setting. The beer and burger bar is housed in a series of old railcars on a roof five stories up, so you can enjoy an impressive view of the city skyline with your meal.
5. Rutledge Lane
If you love street art, be sure to seek out Rutledge Lane, which sits just behind Hosier Lane. The narrow laneway is covered with colorful graffiti murals painted by talented locals, and the artworks are changing all the time.
6. Melbourne’s Hidden Bars
You can find fabulous pubs, wine bars, and cocktail bars throughout Melbourne, but here are some hidden gems that are worth hunting for.
Ponyfish Island
- Address: Underneath Evans Walker Bridge, Southbank, VIC 3006
- Website: ponyfishisland.com.au
- Opening Hours: 11 am – 1 am, daily
This floating bar, hidden beneath the Southbank pedestrian bridge on the Yarra River, serves Asian-inspired cuisine and cocktails.
Chuckle Park
- Address: 322 Little Collins Street, VIC 3000
- Website: chucklepark.com.au
- Opening Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 3 pm – 11 pm / Thursday – Saturday 3 pm – 12 am
This caravan cafe is nestled in a narrow alleyway and serves pulled pork rolls and jugs of sangria.
Fall From Grace in State of Grace
- Address: 27 King Street, VIC 3000
- Website: stateofgracemelbourne.com.au
- Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday 12 – 11 pm / Friday & Saturday 12 pm – 12 am
This secret bar is hidden behind a bookshelf in a popular European-style bistro in Melbourne CBD.
The Garment Den in Trinket
- Address: 87 Flinders Lane, VIC 3000
- Website: trinketbar.com.au
- Opening Hours: Monday & Tuesday 4 pm – 10 pm / Wednesday 12 pm – 10 pm / Thursday 12 pm – 12 am / Friday & Saturday 12 pm – 1 am / Sunday 12 – 9 pm
You can access Trinket’s secret bar by sneaking through the eatery’s decorative wardrobe.
Berlin Bar
- Address: Level 2, 16 Corrs Lane, VIC 3000
- Website: berlinbar.com.au
- Opening Hours: Sunday – Thursday 5 pm – 12 am / Saturday & Sunday 5 pm – 1 am
Ring the doorbell to access this cool concept bar that offers two distinctive experiences depending on whether you choose West or East Berlin.
Eau de Vie
- Address: 1 Malthouse Ln, VIC 3000
- Website: eaudevie.com.au
- Opening Hours: Tuesday – Thursday 5 pm – 1 am / Friday & Saturday 4 pm – 1 am
Eau de Vie boasts a prohibition-style cocktail bar and a whisky room hidden behind a bookshelf.
1806
- Address: 169 Exhibition Street, VIC 3000
- Website: www.1806.com.au
- Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday 5 pm – 12 pm / Friday & Saturday 4 pm – 1 am / Sunday 4 pm – 12 am
This vintage-style bar is one of Melbourne’s best cocktail bars having won the World’s Best Cocktail Menu in 2008.
Jungle Boy in Boston Sub
- Address: 96 Chapel Street, Windsor, VIC 3181
- Website: jboy.com.au
- Opening Hours: Daily, 5 pm – late
This secret tiki bar is hidden behind a sandwich shop’s refrigerator door and serves delicious tropical cocktails.
Bartronica
- Address: Basement, 355 Flinders Lane, VIC 3000
- Website: bartronica.com.au
- Opening Hours: Tuesday & Wednesday 4.30 pm – late / Thursday & Friday 3.30 pm – 1 am / Saturday 2.30 pm – 1 am / Sunday 3.30 pm – late
This retro arcade/bar serves a variety of cocktails inspired by 1980s movies.
Goldilocks
- Address: Denyers Building Level 5, 264 Swanston Street, VIC 3000
- Website: goldilocksbar.com.au
- Opening Hours: Sunday – Thursday 1 pm – 1 am / Friday – Saturday 1 pm – 3 am
This rooftop bar is hidden behind a Chinese restaurant and offers incredible views of the city alongside its delicious food and drink menu.
Gin Palace Cocktail Bar
- Address: 10 Russell Place, VIC 3000
- Website: ginpalace.com.au
- Opening Hours: 4 pm – 3 am, daily
Considered Melbourne’s original gin bar, Gin Palace has a reputation that goes back more than 100 years as a place to indulge in delicious gin martinis in luxurious surroundings.
8. Queen Victoria Winter Night Market
- Address: Queen Street, VIC 3000
- Website: winternightmarket.com.au
- Opening Hours: Wednesday 5 pm – late (June through August)
Queen Victoria Market is renowned as Melbourne’s fresh produce hub, but it also hosts lively events after hours. Its Winter Night Market is less popular than the summer variety, but nothing beats its cozy atmosphere on chilly Wednesday winter nights. Expect street food stalls, mulled wine, open fires, live music, and more.
9. Koorie Heritage Trust Cultural Walk
- Address: Federation Square, Corner Swanston & Flinders Streets, VIC 3000
- Website: koorieheritagetrust.com.au
Head to Federation Square at 1 pm each day to join a Koorie Heritage Trust guide for a tour of the local Aboriginal street art installations. This is a great opportunity to learn about the significance of this region of Melbourne for the Aboriginal Peoples of the Kulin Nation.
10. Parliament House
- Address: Spring Street, VIC 3002
- Website: parliament.vic.gov.au/visit
- Opening Hours: Monday – Friday, 8.30 am – 5.30 pm
Parliament House was constructed in the Gold Rush era, which means it was luxuriously decorated with gold leaf, ornate chandeliers, ornamental plasterwork, and mosaic floors. You can take guided tours on days when parliament is not in session or watch proceedings in the public galleries when parliament is sitting.
11. Yarra River Walking Trails
Yarra River cuts right through Melbourne and it holds significant cultural significance to Aboriginal peoples. It’s common to take a cruise on the river, but fewer tourists are familiar with the many walking trails surrounding it. Head east out of the city to find the best routes. Popular trails include:
- Capital City Trail
- Dights Falls Loop Trail
- Main Yarra Trail
- Merri Creek Trail
- Pound Bend Reserve
- Yarra Bend Park Walk
12. Punting on the Lake
- Address: Royal Botanic Gardens, Corner Alexandra Avenue & Anderson Street, South Yarra, VIC 3004
- Website: puntingonthelake.com.au
- Opening Hours: 11 am – 5 pm, daily (September – May)
Punts are flat-bottomed boats typically used in shallow waters, such as those of the decorative lake in Melbourne’s Royal Botanic Gardens. You can enjoy a peaceful punting expedition with a skipper who provides a history of the gardens and the lake’s ecosystem.
13. Childers Cove and Sandy Cove
The 12 Apostles — a series of huge off-shore limestone stacks — are one of the Great Ocean Road’s most impressive sights, but if you’re looking for a hidden gem on this route, visit Childers Cove and Sandy Cove. These twin inlets are hemmed in by huge limestone cliffs and offer plenty of opportunities for impressive photos.
14. Rose Street Artists Market
- Address: 60 & 75 Rose St, Fitzroy VIC 3065
- Website: rosestmarket.com.au / thefitzroymills.com
- Opening Hours: Saturday & Sunday, 10 – 4 pm / Saturday, 9 am – 2 pm
Rose Street Market is a hub for local artists and the perfect place to pick up handmade crafts from talented Aussies. The work of up to 120 artists is showcased every Saturday and Sunday, with everything from paintings and furniture to clothing and jewelry on offer.
15. The Johnston Collection
- Address: 192 Wellington Parade, VIC 3002
- Website: johnstoncollection.org
- Opening Hours: Wednesday–Sunday, 10 am – 4 pm
This award-winning museum has an incredible collection of English Georgian, Regency, and Louis XV artworks gifted to Victoria’s people by William Robert Johnston, a prominent Melburnian antique dealer and collector. You must book your visit in advance and can only access the museum via a courtesy bus from Wellington Parade to ensure its location remains undisclosed.
16. The Nicholas Building
- Address: 37 Swanston St, VIC 3000
- Website: nicholasbuilding.org.au
The charming Art Deco Nicholas Building, accessed via Cathedral Arcade, was built in the 1920s and houses a series of quirky shops and studios. Despite its location near bustling Flinders Street Station, it’s fairly obscured and remains relatively quiet.
17. Melbourne Observatory
- Address: Birdwood Ave, VIC 3004
- Website: asv.org.au/melbourne-observatory
- Opening Hours: 9 am – 5 pm, daily
Although Melbourne Observatory was decommissioned in 1945, much of its telescopes and equipment are still functional. This gives it the sense of being trapped in time, and it’s a joy to take a walking tour of its fascinating buildings.
18. Model Tudor Village
- Address: Fitzroy Gardens, 30 Wellington Parade, VIC 3002
- Opening Hours: 24/7
In 1948, citizens of the London district of Lambeth gifted this model English Tudor village to the citizens of Melbourne to thank them for donating food packages during World War II. It’s a quirky attraction well worth hunting out if you’re in Fitzroy Gardens, where it’s situated.
19. South Lawn Car Park
It might seem strange to recommend a parking lot as a tourist attraction, but South Lawn Car Park has a smart design that includes mushroom-shaped columns with pipes to drain the soil of the plants above. The underground car park has a fascinating ambiance, and it has been featured in many films and television shows, including the first Mad Max movie.
Plan Your Visit to Melbourne’s Secret Spots
Now you know of all the best Melbourne hidden gems, be sure to squeeze as many as possible into your visit to this vibrant Australian city.
