S tylish, cosmopolitan and fabulously eclectic, Melbourne is urban Australia at its most inspiring. Forget glittering surf and endless sunshine: this moody, bluestone city is a well-read, macchiato-guzzling beast more akin to Berlin than Bondi. In a few short decades, the feverish Victorian gold rush of the s transformed Melbourne β Naarm to its traditional owners, the Wurundjeri and Bunurong people β from a dusty settlement into a wealthy, worldly metropolis.
In sharp contrast is contemporary Melbourne β an edgy, ever-evolving hotbed of creativity, where boundaries are constantly pushed, from couture to cocktails and cuisine. March and April see Melbourne at its meteorological best. Daytime temperatures are generally warm and stable, and evenings are cool. The wintry chill of low season June to August is countered by Australian Rules Football mania a veritable religion and major cultural events, including Melbourne Winter Masterpieces and arts festival Rising.
Read more on Australia travel :. Among the latter is artist-run Blindside , championing emerging and cutting-edge creatives. Even more spectacular is Collins Street.
An architectural Kinder Surprise, its Gotham-esque office tower β built in β encases a 19 th -century banking chamber complete with neo-Baroque cupola. Just off Smith Street lies arts precinct Collingwood Yards , home to one of the few surviving murals by American pop artist Keith Haring. From here, Chapel Street shoots south into edgier Prahran and Windsor in a sweep of cafes, boutiques, clubs, vintage shops and street art; look out for the metre-high robot mural by Welsh artist Phlegm.
Further south on Chapel is the iconic Astor Theatre , a go-to for cult classic films. The art-deco cinema lies in bohemian, bayside St Kilda, speckled with Victorian and Spanish Mission architecture, legendary live-music venues like The Espy, Palais Theatre and Memo Music Hall , and an eponymous pier famed for its skyline view. Plush, understated rooms underscore sultry Next Hotel. Part of the upmarket 80 Collins dining and retail precinct, the room address includes sexy, modern Italo-Australian restaurant-bar La Madonna and its barrel-aged cocktails.
