Melbourne city centre
Melbourne’s city centre on the
Yarra River’s north bank is an orderly grid of tree-lined streets overseen by a serrated skyline of Victorian office buildings and skyscrapers of steel and glass. The main artery, Swanston Street, stretches north from the city’s main intersection dominated by the Gothic spire of
St Paul’s Cathedral, the yellow and red Edwardian architecture of
Flinders Street Station and
Federation Square’s angular prisms and shards. The main shopping thoroughfares,
Collins Street and
Bourke Street Mall, run east-west, mirrored by smaller streets linked by covered arcades and laneways. It’s in these hidden byways that you’ll find apartment-style Melbourne hotels, fashion boutiques and chandelier-lit bars.
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The streets radiating from
Spring Street, on central Melbourne’s eastern border, lead to East Melbourne. This tranquil, highly sought-after residential area of Art Deco apartment buildings and elegant terrace houses with iron-lace balconies is best known for its gardens. On the city’s edge, the landscaped
Treasury Gardens run into the
Fitzroy Gardens, where elm-lined avenues lead to quaint
Captain Cook’s Cottage. A pedestrian bridge takes sports fans over the rail lines to the
Melbourne Cricket Ground, or you can continue walking to Bridge Road in
Richmond, with its discount fashion outlets and multicultural restaurants.
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Nudging the city’s northern edge on
Lygon Street, Italian-flavoured Carlton is where to stay in Melbourne if you’d like a good supply of restaurants, delicatessens, bookstores and shops. It’s only a short walk to the city centre or the sandstone cloisters of the University of Melbourne. Carlton’s skyline of immaculate terrace houses is lit by the illuminated dome of the Victorian-era
Exhibition Building crowning
Carlton Gardens. Head a few streets east to
Brunswick Street and you’re in the heart of Fitzroy, where the original workers cottages have been gentrified and the designer shops, energetic eateries and live-music pubs have an earthy, bohemian flavour.
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South Melbourne heads south from the thronged banks of the Yarra River to the beaches lining Port Phillip Bay. Luxury hotels and restaurants on the
Southbank boardwalk have postcard views of Melbourne’s skyline reflected in the Yarra River, lit by jets of fire shooting into the air from the
Casino boardwalk.
St Kilda Road leads to the Arts Centre, National Gallery of Victoria and
Royal Botanic Gardens. Several tram routes wind south to the
South Melbourne Market and the residential beaches of
Port Melbourne and
Albert Park, favourites with joggers, dog-walkers and kite-boarders.
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Follow beachfront
Beaconsfield Parade south from Albert Park and you reach Melbourne’s seaside playground, St Kilda. A heady mix of red-gabled Edwardian houses, Art Deco flats and modern high-rises, St Kilda is Melbourne’s relaxed seaside destination, with the focus on
Fitzroy Street and
Acland Street. It’s a particularly lively part of town at weekends, with a beachfront
Sunday market, the
Luna Park funfair, hedonistic bars and restaurants. Shades of its former life as a mecca for musicians, poets, artists and bohemians add spice to the mix.
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