The Melbourne Supremacy

From vintage shopping to al fresco bars, world-class coffee and cutting-edge street art, Laura Millar takes a walking tour of Australia’s second city and discovers why it’s the newest hotspot for the cool crowd

- Laura Millar

Subways and taxis may be the quickest way to navigate the world’s busiest cities – I’m looking at you, London and New York – but I’ve always felt that being underground or sightseeing from a cab is somewhat limiting, which might explain the current boom for ‘urban walking’. To remedy my FOMO, I’m taking a walking tour of Melbourne to find out why the city has been voted the ‘world’s most liveable city*’ for the seventh year in a row.

When it comes to Australia, Sydney gets all the headlines but over the past few years, I’ve heard from people in the know that Melbourne is a bit of a player its own right. Despite it being a somewhat exhausting 22-hour flight away, it is well worth the journey in order to discover its European-sounding appeal. Bursting with art galleries and museums? Check. Home to a vibrant food scene? Check. Street art on almost every corner? Check. And no need to worry about the jet lag – this city runs on caffeine, boasting hundreds of coffee shops and roasters.

For the first leg of the tour, it’s just me and my guide, Daniel Platt, a passionate native of the city and founder of Localing Tours. I’ve come on my own because a buzzing metropolis like Melbourne is the perfect place for the solo traveller. For a start, there’s no language barrier and, I later discover, as I stop at Market Lane Coffee, people are only too keen to strike up a conversation if you’re in a bar or restaurant on your own.

We start with a stroll of the hip Fitzroy neighbourhood. As we pass vintage clothing shops, bars and cute terraced houses decorated with intricate ironwork, it feels like Brooklyn Down Under. I earmark the brilliantly named Naked for Satan tapas and cocktail bar for a pit stop later. There’s also, inexplicably, a bar entirely dedicated to George Costanza from