Melbourne/CBD

The central business district of Melbourne is the city's cultural, entertainment and financial heart. Locally called the CBD, or simply "the City", it is where most international and interstate visitors spend the bulk of their time. Most must-see attractions sit within the city's grid-planned centre, as does much of the accommodation and nightlife.

Understand
The main visitor information centre is in the Melbourne Town Hall, right near the intersection of Swanston and Little Collins Streets. There's another information centre near Cooks' Cottage in Fitzroy Gardens and a small information booth is in the Bourke Street Mall. Additionally, volunteer city ambassadors dressed in a distinctive red uniform are stationed along Swanston St and the Queen Victoria Market on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to help tourists with enquiries and directions.



Precincts

 * Southbank and South Wharf — This major entertainment precinct spans the southern bank of the Yarra River, opposite the CBD. The riverfront features a large number of fantastic, but generally expensive, restaurants. The area is a hub of activity and movement, complemented by its family-friendly landmark, the Crown Casino and Entertainment Complex.
 * Docklands — Just west of Spencer Street in the CBD, the old shipping yards have been redeveloped into a mixed-use residential, commercial and entertainment district perched upon the waterfront. A variety activities, sights and shopping facilities exist throughout the area. While it used to be a fairly stoic area, it has begun to shake its reputation to become a more lively and inviting waterfront precinct.
 * Chinatown — Melbourne's Chinatown is the longest continuous Chinese settlement in the Western world. It dates back to the times of the Victorian Gold Rush of the 1850s, which saw mass Chinese immigration. The locality has only grown since then and is still bubbling with activity and good food. Most of Chinatown is on the eastern part of Little Bourke Street.
 * Greek Precinct — Famous for its good food and Hellenic architecture and culture, the precinct is in the general area surrounding the intersection of Lonsdale and Russell Streets.
 * Paris End — The eastern part of Collins Street, from Swanston Street to Spring Street, has long-been named after the French capital due to its generally strong European flavour. Grand plane trees, lit in pink at night, line the street famed for its historic connection to the city's rich and famous, grand European architecture and numerous designer labels such as Louis Vuitton, Emporio and Giorgio Armani, Prada and many others.
 * Legal and banking precinct — A number of new and old court buildings are based around the intersection of William and Lonsdale Streets, traditionally known as the city's legal centre. Historically, the area around Collins Street further south, near William and Queen Streets, was known as a banking precinct, with a number of grand Victorian-era buildings remaining, including the Gothic-style ANZ Banking Museum.
 * Government Precinct — The state's politicians and public servants frequent the area around Spring Street in the east, with major sights including Parliament House, the Old Treasury Building, the grand Windsor Hotel and a number of bars where various decision makers are known to have a drink during sitting weeks.
 * Arts Precinct — The area of Southbank around St Kilda Road is home to many of the city's art institutions, including the iconic Arts Centre spire, the National Gallery of Victoria (International), the Melbourne Recital Centre and the Victorian College of the Arts (part of the University of Melbourne).

There are also a number of cultural precincts outside the CBD, including Melbourne's Little Italy in Lygon St (Inner north) and various others.

Get in
The CBD is Melbourne's hub of public transport. Every train line and most tram routes pass through or terminate in the city. All suburban trains stop at Flinders Street Station, the city's busiest interchange. Country trains terminate at Southern Cross Station. Trams mostly run east to west along Bourke and Collins Streets, and north to south along Swanston Street.

Much of Melbourne's freeway network is designed around moving cars into the city, with the major citybound freeways being the Eastern, Monash, West Gate and CityLink. Most locals leave the car at home and use public transport to reach the city, owing to congestion (often all day), very high parking rates and the ease of getting in by public transport.

By tram
Most major thoroughfares in the inner city are serviced by a tram and it is the simplest and most traditional way to get around. The north-south routes are Spencer, William, Elizabeth, Swanston and Spring Streets. La Trobe, Bourke, Collins and Flinders Streets are the major east-west routes.

If travelling only within the central grid, there is often no need to work out what tram route or number you need to catch. Trams typically travel along the entire length of a street in the city, and do not turn (apart from the edges of the grid at Spencer, Spring, Flinders and La Trobe Streets). Therefore, simply get on a tram that is going in the direction you want to go, and get off at the stop you want.

Although the frequency of trams is high, they can be very slow for even a short distance. In busy periods, you may see pedestrians moving faster! Trams are often crowded; make sure you hold on to the rails, as the trams often accelerate and brake suddenly.

All of the CBD sits within the Free Tram Zone, where you can catch trams for free and do not need to touch on your myki. The zone stretches to Docklands in the west, Spring St in the east, up to Queen Victoria Market in the north and only as far south as the Yarra River. Be cautious, as you must touch on your myki if you leave the zone, and many attractions such as Crown Casino, the Arts Centre and Cooks' Cottage lie just outside the boundary and you may want to walk the last few hundred metres across the river. The City Circle tram line (route 35) travels exclusively within the Free Tram Zone.

By foot
The CBD has an excellent network of footpaths and crossings, making it safe, simple and easy for people of all ages and abilities to walk around. It is not unheard of to be fined by the police for jaywalking (legally considered as crossing against a red light) as they often conduct "blitzes" on enforcing crossing rules. Victoria Police often give on-the-spot fines to jaywalkers in the CBD.

Note that the crossing between Flinders Street and Elizabeth Street in front of the station is a scramble crossing, where all vehicle traffic stops and pedestrians may cross in any direction, including diagonally.

The Melbourne Visitor Centre has seven self-guided walking tours which are useful to discover the city and its history. Guides for the walks can be found here.

By bicycle
Melbourne has had a major shift towards becoming a bicycle friendly city. New bike lanes and infrastructure are constantly under construction in the inner city. The main bike routes in the CBD are:
 * Swanston Street, north-south, lanes all the way down past St Kilda and up to Melbourne University in the inner north. Parts are segregated by concrete with right of way, others are on-road lanes right next to traffic and parked cars. In the centre of the city, remember to stop behind boarding trams at the new shared superstops.
 * William Street, north-south, marked lanes
 * La Trobe Street, east-west, segregated from parking and traffic
 * Various bike lanes and routes in the Docklands precinct
 * Trails including the Capital City trail along the Yarra and past Southbank

To borrow a bike, you will need a valid credit/debit card; cash is not accepted. Simply follow the instructions at a station. You are legally required to wear a helmet, sometimes available to share for free on the bikes, or else can be purchased for $5 from vending machines at Southern Cross Station or Melbourne University (can be returned for $3). There is an unavoidable base cost of $2.90 to subscribe for a day, or $8 for a week, along with a refundable $50 deposit. There may be an additional cost depending on the time you use a bike between stations. If you hire and return a bike within 30 minutes, there is no additional fee. If you spend up to an hour, it is an extra $2; up to 90 minutes, $7, before it starts becoming fairly expensive. The cheapest option is to simply return the bike every 30 minutes, meaning you will only pay $2.90 for the day. After docking a bike, you are free to rehire a bike after waiting 2 minutes by reinserting your credit card at no extra base cost.

By train
The City Loop forms the backbone of the entire Melbourne train network and serves the city. It runs around the edges of the grid layout, with a mix of sunken, elevated and underground sections. The iconic Flinders Street Station in the south serves as the hub of all suburban rail travel throughout Melbourne, while the also iconic Southern Cross Station in the west is the hub of rural and interstate rail and bus travel. Parliament, Melbourne Central and Flagstaff stations are all underground, located in the east, north-east and north-west respectively. Melbourne Central station is located beneath a major shopping centre.

There is no single service that continually runs around the Loop, but rather a selection of suburban services that pass through. Each station in the CBD has a TV display of popular stations, including the next two train services and the platform they depart from. Trains are frequent enough that there isn't a need to plan intra-CBD travel and you won't have to wait more than 5 minutes. However, most trips within the CBD are more simply accomplished by tram.

By car
The design of the CBD's roads may look straightforward on a map, but it is a fairly different situation on the ground. The abundance of trams means that at many intersections vehicles have to make right-hand turns from the far left lane. Cars in the turning lane must wait until the traffic light of the street they are turning into changes to green before they can finish their turn. This infamous manoeuvre has come to be known as the "hook turn", and is sometimes touted as a unique Melbourne experience.

Other important things to note are to stay clear of the centre tram lane, unlike other cities like Sydney, Newcastle or the Gold Coast, trams are more frequent in Melb, watch for wayward pedestrians and bikes, and that most of Swanston and Bourke Streets are permanently closed to car traffic in favour of trams, bikes and pedestrians. Parking is mostly provided through multi-storey or underground garages, with some on-street parking, but can be very expensive on weekdays. Parking in Docklands is more reasonable, with $10 parking all day at Harbour Town and the option to catch a free tram into the city from there.

Galleries and the arts

 * The CBD has many alleyways known for street art – refer to Wikivoyage's article on Street art in Melbourne for an exhaustive list in the CBD.

Do

 * The Black Light Mini Golf is located at the Docklands. This is an 18-hole mini golf range designed around an Australian theme. It is under black light with a light and sound system and featuring fluorescent colours. It is located behind the Big Wheel Being located indoors means that you can play all year round, Admission pricing is $13 for an adult and $10 for a child. It takes around 1 hr to play. An attraction to the Black Light Mini Golf is "The Coffin Ride". This is as freaky as it sounds, you take a virtual ride in a coffin with the lid closed, there are sounds, smells and your mates can have a really good laugh watching you on TV.
 * The Melbourne Star observation wheel closed permanently in 2021.
 * The Melbourne Star observation wheel closed permanently in 2021.

Buy
Melbourne’s vibrant retail scene thrives with alluring labels, products and shopping experiences. It's an eclectic mix of high end fashion, funky boutiques and mainstream stores, all of which have a home in the city’s laneways, retail centres and tree-lined streets.

Shopping centres
Usually native to Melbourne's suburbs, a few new shopping centres (or malls) have been popping up in Melbourne's CBD. Emporium, Melbourne Central and QV are all located in the same area at the top end of Swanston St, connected by various walkways or crossings.



Souvenirs
There are souvenir shops on the southern end of Swanston St.

Cafes


Between Degraves St and Centreplace (which link Flinders St to Collins St, between Swanston St and Elizabeth St), you will find several breakfast restaurants. Most open from 7AM and serve all kinds of breakfasts. Competition is strong and keeps quality up so the range of choice is impressive.



Burgers
There are a number of burger joints in the Melbourne CBD.

Chinese
Melbourne's Chinatown district centred on Little Bourke St is filled with cheap Chinese options and some well-hidden (but excellent) Japanese alternatives. Search Tattersall's Lane for deliciously cheap dumplings. The CBD is also suffused with postmodern Oriental restaurants catering to the large Asian student market.



Greek
Melbourne has the largest Greek population outside of Greece and consequently has strong Greek connections.

Coffee
The CBD holds some hidden gems as far as coffee is concerned. You cannot go wrong with the hipster coffee cafes, but avoid the cafe chains. Avoiding the chains may not be hard -- international mega-chains like Starbucks have surprisingly little representation in Australia, and Melbourne's CBD has only a sparse few.

Bars




Budget




Splurge




Connect
Wi-Fi is plentiful throughout the CBD. Federation Square and the Melbourne Visitor Centre have free Wi-Fi, as does Flinders Street Station, the Crown Casino Complex, City Library and the State Library of Victoria. McDonalds outlets throughout the city will also offer free Wi-Fi with some moderate censoring. Local bars, cafés and restaurants sometimes offer their own password-protected Wi-Fi, which can be accessed on request (if you're a paying customer, of course). The City of Melbourne keeps a list of retailers with Wi-Fi access.

The State Library of Victoria has a Wi-Fi and a number of internet-connected computers available that can be used for free. Two may be used on-the-spot for up to 10 minutes, while it is also possible to book a computer for up to an hour in advance.