The key addresses in Melbourne — verified and regularly updated. Clicking takes you straight to the location page.
Federation Square is Melbourne's living heart: an architecturally striking square made of glass and sandstone that serves as a meeting place for culture, festivals and events. Here you will find galleries, cafes and the moving image of the city. Opposite is the historic Flinders Street station, a perfect base from which to explore.
With its distinctive yellow façade and green dome, Flinders Street Station is arguably Melbourne's most photographed landmark. The station, which opened in 1910, is not only a transport hub, but also a classic meeting place in the city, the famous saying here is: 'We meet under the clocks.'
Queen Victoria Market has been Melbourne's beating heart of the market for over 140 years. In the spacious historic halls you will find fresh food, delicacies, crafts and souvenirs. In summer, night markets transform the place into a festival of street food, music and open-air bars.
The Royal Botanic Gardens are a green oasis on the banks of the Yarra River, just a stroll from the city centre. On spacious lawns, between lakes and over 8,500 plant species, you can relax wonderfully. In summer, picnics, open-air cinema and walks under old trees beckon.
Melbourne has only a few gay sights in the narrower sense, but queer culture can be combined well with the classic sides of the city. Today's center of the scene is Collingwood with Smith Street. But the history goes back even further: In St Kilda, one of Australia's first all-gay discotheques, the Mandate, opened in 1979, and Commercial Road in South Yarra was considered the heart of gay life for decades. If you're interested in the development of the scene, both areas are worth a walk.
The highlight of the queer calendar is the Midsumma Festival, which began in 1989 and now runs over several weeks in January and February. The emotional core is the Pride March, which has been moving through Fitzroy Street in St Kilda since 1996 and brings thousands of participants and tens of thousands of spectators to the track. Since the seventies, St Kilda by the sea has been known as a queer-friendly district and is also worth a trip with the beach, the old amusement park Luna Park and the Esplanade. All around, the big motifs of the city centre beckon: the laneways with street art and hidden bars, the Federation Square and the galleries can be easily built into a day. From queer history to beach scenery, the following locations will take you to the stops that are worth visiting.