Guide · Three days

Three days in Melbourne, done properly.

One day of the city, one day out, one day slower. The version that gives you a real sense of the place.

Skip the square. Find the lane.

GuideThree days3 picksChecked by hand

Start here

Three days in Melbourne is enough to get a genuine sense of the city — if you're deliberate about it. This itinerary skips Federation Square as a destination (it's a public square, not an attraction) and gets you into the parts of Melbourne that locals are actually proud of. One day of the city proper, one day out, one day slower.

Day 1 — The soul of Melbourne

CBD + Fitzroy + Collingwood

Start in the CBD laneways. Walk north. End the evening in Fitzroy.

Hosier Lane for the street art, Degraves Street for coffee at a laneway café. Walk north through the CBD to Fitzroy. Lunch on Smith Street in Collingwood. Afternoon: the NGV permanent collection on St Kilda Road (free, 30 minutes walk south, or tram). Evening: dinner in Fitzroy — Cutler and Co if you've booked ahead, or the eastern end of Brunswick Street if you haven't.

Local tipThe tram network covers all of this. Day Saver ticket ($11.60) covers unlimited trams all day.

Day 2 — Out of the city

Yarra Valley or Mornington PeninsulaCar required

Yarra Valley if you want wine country. Mornington Peninsula if you want coast. Both are an hour from the city.

Yarra Valley: Healesville Sanctuary in the morning (book ahead), lunch at Hargreaves Hill Brewing, one cellar door in the afternoon. Mornington Peninsula: Peninsula Hot Springs in the morning (book ahead), lunch at Pt Leo Estate (book ahead), Sorrento beach in the afternoon. Both require or strongly benefit from a car — book a hire car or a guided day tour from the CBD.

Local tipDon't try to do both in one day. Pick one and do it properly.

Day 3 — The slower Melbourne

South Yarra + Richmond + St Kilda

A slower day. Markets, Vietnamese lunch, the Yarra walk, the penguins at dusk.

Prahran Market on Commercial Road in the morning (better than QVM, open Saturday and Sunday). Walk or tram to Richmond — Vietnamese lunch on Victoria Street (Pho Hung Vuong, pho with extra brisket). Afternoon walk along the Yarra back toward the city. St Kilda in the evening — Stokehouse for dinner, or a walk to the pier at dusk for the little penguins (free, no booking).

The penguins at St Kilda Pier are free, take 30 minutes, and most Melbourne residents have never done it.

Local tipIf this is a Sunday, the Esplanade Market in St Kilda runs 9am–4pm along the beach — add it to the morning.

Want this built around you?

Tell me the occasion, the budget, who’s coming and where you are. One specific answer, not another list.

Personalise this itinerary