Things to do in Melbourne, splurging
Great coffee, destination dinners, and the best the CBD has to offer.
This is Melbourne for people who eat and drink seriously: long lunches that bleed into cocktail bars, mornings that start with genuinely good coffee, and evenings anchored by the kind of restaurants that justify the flight. The plan stays close to the CBD and East End, so almost everything is walkable and the city reveals itself at a pace that feels earned rather than rushed.
Day 1: East End, from coffee to Embla
The day moves from a sharp Korean-inflected coffee and a look at the Princess Theatre through a long Longrain lunch and a Fitzroy Gardens stroll, before Philippe and Embla close it out properly.
- 9:30 AM
- 10:15 AM
Princess Theatre
Ornate 1886 Princess Theatre, one of Melbourne's great landmarks, worth a slow look at the façade and foyer.
Map - 12:30 PM
Longrain Melbourne
Longrain is a Melbourne institution for bold South-East Asian sharing plates, buzzy room, strong cocktail list to match.
Map - 2:30 PM
Fitzroy Gardens
Fitzroy Gardens is a genuinely beautiful Victorian park, a perfect post-lunch wander before dinner.
Map - 7:30 PM
Philippe
Philippe Mouchel's Collins Street brasserie; order the rotisserie chicken or the duck, and a soufflé.
Map - 9:30 PM
Embla
Embla is Melbourne's best natural-wine bar, exceptional by-the-glass list and a cool crowd.
Map
Day 2: CBD: BBQ, Maha, and a pub
Vietnamese coffee at CHAM sets the tone, the State Library's domed reading room is the free detour, and the evening swings from Maha's Middle Eastern sharing plates to a nightcap at the Mitre Tavern.
- 9:30 AM
CHAM
Vietnamese coffee done properly: try the salted cream or egg coffee before heading up Swanston Street.
Map - 10:15 AM
State Library Victoria
Free: climb to the top balcony of the domed La Trobe Reading Room and look down on six storeys of desks.
Map - 12:30 PM
Mansae Korean BBQ - CBD QVM
Charcoal Korean barbecue cooked at the table; get the marinated short rib and the pork belly.
Map - 2:30 PM
Flagstaff Gardens
An old hilltop park on the CBD's west edge, big Moreton Bay figs and a lawn to lie on after lunch.
Map - 7:30 PM
Maha Restaurant
Shane Delia's modern Middle Eastern feast in a Bond Street basement; let them bring the banquet.
Map - 9:30 PM
Mitre Tavern
One of the CBD's oldest pubs, an 1860s bluestone house in a laneway off Queen Street.
Map
Day 3: Federation Square to Flinders Lane
Higher Ground coffee, the NGV's Australian collection, a long lunch at Gimlet, and an architecture browse through Block Arcade all build toward Serai for dinner and a late glass on Flinders Lane.
- 9:30 AM
Higher Ground
Breakfast under the soaring ceiling of an old power station on Little Bourke Street.
Map - 10:30 AM
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia
Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, the country's best collection of Australian art, free entry, right on Federation Square.
Map - 12:30 PM
Gimlet
Andrew McConnell's grand dining room in Cavendish House; order the raw seafood and a martini.
Map - 2:30 PM
Block Arcade
Block Arcade is Melbourne's grandest Victorian shopping arcade, beautiful architecture and boutiques perfect for a design-minded browse.
Map - 7:30 PM
- 9:30 PM
The Meatball & Wine Bar - Flinders Lane
The Meatball & Wine Bar on Flinders Lane, a great late-night wine bar to round off the evening, back in the heart of the East End.
Map
Where to stay
The Ritz-Carlton, Melbourne
The Ritz-Carlton sits right in the CBD grid, close to every dinner on this plan, and the room quality matches the spend elsewhere in these three days.
Ovolo Laneways
Ovolo Laneways puts you deep in the East End laneway culture that runs through this itinerary, with design-forward rooms and a strong bar of its own.
Make Melbourne your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App StoreBefore you go
Book ahead
- Melbourne Cricket Ground: weeks ahead
- St Kilda Pier: weeks ahead
- Great Ocean Road: weeks ahead
- Phillip Island Nature Parks - Penguin Parade: weeks ahead
- Royal Melbourne Golf Club: months ahead
- Kingston Heath Golf Club: months ahead
Skip these
- Rushed one day Great Ocean Road coaches listing 10 stops and general admission Penguin Parade viewing.
- Lygon Street restaurant spruikers, Eureka Skydeck as a must do, and Crown Casino as a night out in itself.
- Souvenir end of Queen Victoria Market and Docklands factory outlet shopping sold as local culture.
The full Melbourne travel guide: when to go, safety, getting around