What to Do in Melbourne: A Local’s Favourites

If you are wondering what to do in Melbourne, start with a long brunch and go from there. I have lived here long enough to have opinions (many), and these are the things I send every visiting friend off to do. Some are touristy. Some are a little nerdy. All of them are very Melbourne.

What to Do in Melbourne, From Brunch to Steam Trains

1. Ride Puffing Billy
Puffing Billy is a heritage steam train that chugs through the Dandenong Ranges, and yes, you get to sit on the window ledge with your legs dangling out. It feels like being a kid on a school excursion, in the best way. Take the Belgrave line from the city to the end (about an hour), and the station is a short walk from Belgrave train station. Book ahead on weekends and school holidays, and bring a jacket because the hills are always colder than the city.

2. Dig Through a Zine Store
Sticky Institute lives in the Campbell Arcade underpass at Flinders Street Station, and it is the kind of place you could walk past a hundred times without noticing. Inside are walls of handmade zines about everything from grief to cats to public transport complaints. Bring cash and small notes, as most zines cost a few dollars, and give yourself more time than you think. You will end up reading half of them standing up.

3. Spend a Day at a Winery
You are never far from good wine in Victoria. The Yarra Valley is about an hour’s drive northeast and is famous for sparkling wine and pinot noir, while the Mornington Peninsula pairs cellar doors with beaches. If nobody wants to be the designated driver, book a winery tour with pickup from the city. Eat a proper lunch between tastings (trust me on this one).

4. Do a Proper Coffee Shop Crawl
Melbourne takes coffee seriously, so treat it like a sport. Start in the CBD laneways around Degraves Street and Centre Place, then head to Fitzroy, Collingwood or Brunswick for the specialty roasters. Order a flat white like a local, or a magic if you want to look like you really know. Pace yourself, because three coffees before noon is a lesson I have learned the hard way.

5. Go Out for Brunch
Brunch is practically a religion here, and Melburnians will happily queue for it on a Sunday. Yes, there is smashed avo, but the fun is in the cafés that bring their own culture to the plate, so look out for menus with Japanese, Middle Eastern or Southeast Asian twists. Many popular spots do not take bookings, so go early or on a weekday to skip the line. Order something savoury and something sweet to share, because that is the rule.

6. Eat a Cuisine That Is New to You
This is the real reason I love living here. Melbourne is a city of immigrants, and you can taste it suburb by suburb. Try Ethiopian or Vietnamese in Footscray, Afghan in Dandenong, Sri Lankan in the south east, or Greek in Oakleigh. Pick a cuisine you have never tried, ask the staff what they would order, and order exactly that.

7. Watch a Live Sports Game
Melburnians are sport obsessed, and a live game is the fastest way to understand the city. AFL season runs from March to September, and a game at the MCG is a rite of passage even if you do not know the rules (nobody around you will explain them, they will just yell). In summer, swap footy for cricket at the MCG or tennis at the Australian Open in January. Wear a scarf in your team’s colours and pick a side, any side.

8. Have Tea at Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Tucked inside the Block Arcade on Collins Street, Hopetoun Tea Rooms has been pouring tea since 1892, which makes it older than Australia as a nation. You will recognise it by the window stacked with towering cakes and the crowd of people photographing them. Inside, it is all green wallpaper, etched mirrors and fine china, very grandma’s best tea set. There is almost always a queue, so go on a weekday or late afternoon, and pick your cake from the window before you sit down.

Melbourne doesn’t show off. It hides its best bits in underpasses, up in the hills and behind unmarked café doors, and it rewards people who are curious. So queue for brunch, take the steam train, read the weird zine, drink the wine, order the dish you cannot pronounce and scream at a game you barely understand. That is what to do in Melbourne, and that is how you fall in love with it.

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