Melbourne is Australia’s second largest city and is considered Australia’s capital of food, culture and sport. It might not have a world-famous icon like the Opera House, but there is much more to do in Melbourne beyond the famous street art and cafe culture.

If you had just three days in Melbourne, I’d recommend spending a day each in the CBD, the southside and the northside.

Explore More: Melbourne Travel Guide

Friday: City Centre

NGV International

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is the best art museum in Australia, and luckily, it’s also free which means there are no queues to get in. The NGV has two locations, the NGV International on St Kilda Road (my favourite) and the NGV Australia at the Ian Potter Centre in Fed Square. At the NGV International, you can check out artefacts from the Ancient world (Greece, Italy and the Americas), marvel at Medieval masterpieces and precious Renaissance paintings and sculptures, as well as art from Asia, India and modern times. There are free guided tours twice daily too. I definitely recommend visiting the NGV on a weekday if you can, when you’ll have the museum nearly to yourself.

Flinders Street Station & Fed Square

After the NGV, head across the beautiful Princes Bridge into the Melbourne CBD. As you walk along the bridge towards the city, you’ll have views of Melbourne’s two most iconic sights: Flinders Street Station and Federation Square. Fed Square’s design ruffled a few feathers when it opened in 2002, but it’s since become a well-loved part of Melbourne’s unique skyline. Behind Fed Square is the iconic, towering St Paul’s Cathedral. Three major sights, down!

Check out Melbourne’s famous street art

Melbourne is famous for it’s street art, particularly in the laneways in the CBD. Hosier Lane is the most famous laneway for street art, but they can be found all over the city. You’ll find the most dense collection of street art in the laneways off Flinders Lane (like Hosier Lane, ACDC Lane), but also off Little Bourke Street.

Laneway wanderings

Melbourne’s laneways aren’t just splattered with street art, they’re also crammed with bars, restaurants and cafes. Degraves Street & Centre Place are the most famous laneways for eating and drinking, but keep in mind that these are the most touristy. My picks for the two connected streets are Shandong Mama Mini in Centre Place and the French baguette window in Degraves.

Dinner & drinks in the city

My favourite cocktail bars along Melbourne’s laneways are Eau De Vie and 1806. Don’t forget to check out some of the city’s rooftop bars: Siglo is simply gorgeous and  The Duke Rooftop is one of Melbourne’s newest rooftop bar, perched on top of the city’s oldest pub, and has views out to Fed Square and the historic Forum building.

Chin Chin and MoVida are the most popular restaurants for tourists, but my favourite restaurants in the Melbourne CBD are Trattoria Emilia and San Telmo. Check out my full list of the best restaurants in the Melbourne CBD for more ideas.

See a show

Take advantage of Melbourne’s cultural capital and see a show. There are three major theatres in the CBD, as well as at Hamer Hall & the Arts Centre, just across the Yarra (next to the NGV). There is always something on, check out the Arts Centre website to check upcoming shows for your visit. If you’re seeing a show in Southbank at the Arts Centre, Fatto is a great spot for a pre or post show drink, with beautiful views of the Melbourne skyline.

Saturday: Melbourne’s Southside Neighbourhoods

Breakfast at the market

Melbourne has dozens of markets, but there are three major food markets which rule the roost.

The Queen Victoria Market is the largest covered market in the Southern Hemisphere, and is the oldest in Melbourne. It’s in the northern end of downtown Melbourne, and is the busiest.

The Prahran Market and South Melbourne Market are smaller, but are my favourites. They’re less touristy, and have more of a community atmosphere. I used to do my weekly shopping at the South Melbourne Market when I first moved to Melbourne, and now I live closer to the Prahran Market, so I do my shopping there. Both markets have plenty of stalls and cafes serving breakfast and lunch – my favourites at the Prahran Market are the gozleme stand, the grilled cheese cart and the occasional mushroom burger BBQ pop up outside the coffee shop. At the South Melbourne Market, I can never resist the $10 fish sandwich from the bread & fish peddler outside Claypots Evening Star – if you’d rather sit at a table than on a crate, eat inside at Claypots, which is also fantastic.

Shop on Chapel Street

Chapel Street is Melbourne’s famous shopping & nightlife precinct, which runs through four neighbourhoods on the southside. Chapel Street gets progressively grungier as you work your way down from South Yarra in the north, through to Prahran, Windsor and, then finally, St Kilda in the south.  If you’ve gone for breakfast at the Prahran Market, you’ll be a block away from Chapel Street.

The best places to eat on Chapel Street:  Lucky Penny for cafe-style fare, Oriental Teahouse for modern Chinese and Leonard’s House of Love for down and dirty Southern USA-style comfort food. Start in the northern end, so you wind up in St Kilda in the afternoon.

Bayside beauty in St Kilda

St Kilda is one of my favourite neighbourhoods in Melbourne, and it’s a must-visit for any first time travellers to the city. This bayside neighbourhood is full of cool bars, shops and fantastic food.

If it’s not too cold, head down to St Kilda Beach (not to swim), but to watch the sunset over the water. You can walk down St Kilda pier at dusk to spot Little Penguins as well, which you can spot climbing all over the rocks at the end of the pier.

Best places to eat in St Kilda: Radio Mexico and Las Tapas.

Sunday: Northside Neighbourhoods

Brunch in Richmond

Brunch is big business in Melbourne, and those avocados aren’t going to eat themselves. Try one of Richmond’s best brunch spots, like Pillar of Salt  or St Thomas (the most relaxed of the bunch) on Church Street, or Fifty Acres or Touchwood, both on Bridge Road. After breakfast and coffee, check out the shops along Church Street, Swan Street & Bridge Road.

Wander Fitzroy

Head to Fitzroy for lunch and wander around Smith St & Gertrude St, which have the best cafes & shops in the area. Some of my favourite spots in Fitzroy are Transformer (upscale vegetarian dining), Panama Dining Room and Bad Frankie, which specialise in jaffles (toasted sandwiches).

Tick off a UNESCO World Heritage Site

Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building is the city’s only UNESCO World Heritage site, and one of the few manmade sites in Australia that has made the cut. This 19th century pavilion is the centrepiece of the beautiful Carlton Gardens, which are a great place for a picnic or just a break from the city.

If you’re so inclined, the Carlton Gardens is also home to the Melbourne Museum.

Over indulge in Melbourne’s Little Italy

Be warned: it’s impossible not to overindulge in Carlton. Carlton is Melbourne’s famous Italian neighbourhood, which centres around Lygon street. Milk the Cow is one of my favourite places to take visitors in Melbourne – you can order cheese flights matched with sparkling or still wine, whiskey or beer. While you wait for a table, have a glass of wine next door at Heart Attack & Vine.

Dodge the Lygon Street tourist trap trattorias and enjoy the real deal for dinner at DOC pizza, followed by a sweet treat from Italian food emporium Brunetti.

What’s your favourite thing to do in Melbourne? What would you like to do on your first time visiting the city?