Melbourne belongs to the most popular cities in Australia, if not in the world. It’s vibrant, full of colour and offers so many exciting things to do. This blog post makes it easy for you to choose which things you definitely cannot miss when you visit this amazing city.

1. First things first: Coffee and Queen Victoria Market

Melbourne is known for a great coffee culture and some may say that the city offers the best coffee in the world. With coffee shops on every corner, it can become overwhelming to find the best coffee. These Melbourne coffee shops will bring your coffee experience to the next level:

• Patricia (CBD)
• Dukes Coffee Roasters (CBD)
• Monk Bodhi Dharma (Balaclava)
• St Ali (South Melbourne)
• Proud Mary (Collingwood)
• Everyday (Collingwood)
• Industry Beans (Fitzroy)
• Acoffee (Collingwood)
• Axil Coffee Roasters (various locations)
• Seven Seeds (Carlton)
• Ona Coffee (Brunswick)

The coffee is so good, there are even coffee tours if you just can’t decide where to go.

Since only coffee won’t get you through the day, you need to explore Queen Victoria Market, a paradise for foodies.

2. Visit the top sightseeing spots in “The Grid”

Melbourne’s CBD is very pedestrian-friendly and its layout represents a grid pattern, which is why it is called “The Grid”. However, if you your feet start to hurt, you can use the free tourist tram, 35 City Circle, to visit all the sights in this area.

The best things to visit in this area are:

• Flinders Street Station and Federation Square represent cultural icons of Melbourne. Flinders Street Station is Australia’s busiest railway station, offering many shopping options. You should definitely go inside to explore its interior. It’s just stunning. Opposite the railway station, you find Federation Square, the heart of Melbourne. Many events take place here and you can find a lot of dining options.
• Parliament House and Melbourne Town Hall are both impressive buildings you cannot miss.
• Bourke Street Mall was a former post office and offers a lot of popular retail stores for all shopping addicts.
• Melbourne is the city of laneways and street art. The most popular ones are Hosier Lane and Union Lane.

3. Escape the bustle of the city and explore Southbank

Walk from the Grid across Princes Bridge and be amazed by the stunning skyline. Keep walking along Southbank and Yarra promenades to find many dining options. This is a great area to escape the busy city life. Along Yarra River, you can find many gardens such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, where you can see the Shrine Of Remembrance, which commemorates World War I; or Alexandra and Queens Victoria Gardens. Finally, you cannot miss Eureka Tower. The 300m skyscraper is the third tallest building in Australia.

4. Have a beach day

Head to Melbourne’s south to explore Brighton Beach and St Kilda. Brighton Beach is famous for the 89 colourful Bathing Boxes. Make sure to take a photo here for your Instagram feed. Afterwards, you can go to St Kilda and take a stroll along the promenade, discover its historic buildings or awaken your inner child at iconic Luna Park. It’s especially beautiful here when the sun has set and all the lights of the amusement park are illuminating. But the highlight are the penguins. Yes, real penguins in Australia! Every evening after sunset, you can see the little penguins at St Kilda Breakwater.

5. Have a drink in one of Melbourne’s popular rooftop bars

What can be better on a warm summer’s evening? Melbourne is known for a great nightlife experience and especially for its many rooftop bars, which offer great views over the city.

The most popular ones are:

• Rooftop Bar (CBD)
• Siglo (CBD)
• Bomba (CBD)
• Good Heavens (CBD)
• Madame Brussels (CBD)
• Johnny’s Green Room (Carlton)
• The Espy (St Kilda)
• The Corner Hotel (Richmond)
• Naked in the Sky (Fitzroy)

6. Go to an AFL match and become a sports fan

Melbourne is a paradise for all sports lovers. For the ultimate Australian experience, you should attend a “footy” match at Melbourne Cricket Ground in Yarra Park or Marvel Stadium in the Docklands.

7. Discover Australia’s past

The Old Melbourne Goal is a prison that once held Australia’s most dangerous criminals but is now a museum that will get you creeped out.

8. Explore Melbourne Docklands

Docklands is a waterfront suburb in Melbourne. Here you can also find the Marvel Stadium. Ride the Melbourne Star, one of the 10 biggest Ferris wheels in the world, to get a spectacular aerial view of Melbourne. Or shop ‘til you drop at the District Shopping Centre.

Think we missed something? Let us know in the comments.