How to immerse yourself in Melbourne culture

Despite being Sydney’s little brother, Melbourne has grown up to become what is oft considered the culture capital of Australia. Artsy, independent, and very unique, Melbourne is envied by other cities for its offering of a plethora of unique cafes, restaurants and bars to foodies, hipsters and beer lovers everywhere. It is a status it warmly embraces as it draws people from afar and keeps the population sane.

Melbourne is surprisingly low on “attractions”, and in fact come to think of it I can’t remember anyone saying “I’m going to Melbourne to do x y and z’, unless that ‘x y and z’ was a selection of their favourite hangouts. The best way to really experience Melbourne is to wander and to wander down alleys. Cute cafes are hidden down alleys, while other alleys are overflowing with sidewalk tables, gas heaters and busy waitstaff. And I haven’t even mentioned the shopping possibilities. Australians (read: ‘Australian women’) often flock to Melbourne for the sole purpose of a shopping trip. As a manly man, this would never be planned for, however, that’s not to say that this couldn’t (read ‘didn’t’) accidentally happen. With the combination of H&M opening in the beautiful GPO building, Spencer Street Outlet mall and the discovery of Uniqlo, this is precisely what happened between lattes.

The first place I visited with my wife and our couple friends was a place called Manchester Press, a cafe in an alley off Little Bourke Street known for gourmet bagels. Mine was absolutely divine, but I guarantee you it wouldn’t matter what you ordered, you will enjoy it. Our only problem was, this was our first meal of many: we had set the bar real high, real early.

Also on our hitlist was Hopetoun Team Room. They have a variety of exotic teas on offer and the most amazing cakes in the window. Not to mention incredibly green and yellow swirly wall paper makes you think you are actually in a garden. A garden of tea. I didn’t eat any cake, I just enjoyed the colours that their cake window blasted into the Block Arcade.

Moving on to my highlight of the weekend (and in the process skipping over detailed descriptions of the incredible burgers of Huxtaburger II; a throw back to my England days in the Sherlock Holmes pub and dropping cash at the extravagant H&M) was a bar in Collingwood called Forresters. Unassuming from the outside, but full of delicious beer on the inside, Forresters boasts over 40 taps of incredible craft beer from all over the world and are broken up into sections of style to easily pinpoint what it is exactly you want to drink. After 3 or 4 beers I was reluctantly dragged away because it was approaching 8pm and dinner was yet to be eaten.

And so followed 2 more days of this routine. I could (but I won’t) list out all the places we visited, suffice it to say that the Melbourne coffee and foodie scene is the envy of the east coast. If the food and coffee doesn’t get you, the unique decorations will.

With all this in mind though, this is only half the fun. Melbourne is often compared to European cities and this is well reflected in its architecture. Sydney architecture is dominated by beautiful romanesque and classical architecture, whereas Melbourne displays a much more prominent Victorian theme, which is a beautiful contrast to the modern skyscrapers. (I’ll be honest, I had to Google these styles to ensure I had the comparisons right).

Finally, if you visit Melbourne you must, must must visit a ‘puzzle room’, where they lock you in a themed room and you have to find and solve clues to get out. We visited Exitus and played the prison puzzle. It was very challenging but we did manage to escape. Despite being exorbitantly expensive for a 45 minute game ($38 each! plus cab ride to Port Melbourne) it was a lot of fun and it money is no object definitely, definitely give it a whirl. You can also try Escape Room, which is a similar concept. I recommend you book in advance though as it is very popular.

Got a recommendation? What must do places did I miss?