It’s in Melbourne’s inner suburbs that you’ll really get a feel for what life in this city is all about. Many have quite distinct characters, whether as ethnic enclaves or self-styled artists’ communities. Browsing through markets and shops, cruising across Hobsons Bay, sampling the world’s foods and, of course, sipping espresso are the primary attractions. Café society finds its home to the north among the alternative galleries and secondhand shops of Fitzroy, while the Italian cafés on Lygon Street in nearby Carlton fuelled the Beat Generation with espresso, though these days boutiques far outnumber bookshops. Grungy Richmond, to the east, has both Vietnamese and Greek enclaves, is home to a number of good Middle Eastern restaurants, and has a diverse music scene in its many pubs. South of the river is the place to shop until you drop, whether at wealthy South Yarra, self-consciously groovy Prahran or snobby Toorak. To the south, St Kilda has the advantage of a beachside location to go with its trendy but raucous nightlife. To firm up your itinerary with something more concrete, make for the well-designed zoo in Carlton, or Scienceworks, a hugely enjoyable interactive museum in Spotswood. The outstanding Heide Museum of Modern Art is in Bulleen and, a bit further along in the same direction, Eltham hosts the artists’ colony of Montsalvat.
Carlton
Carlton lies just north of the city but, with its university presence and long-established Italian restaurant scene, it could be a million miles away. Lygon Street is the centre of the action, and it was here, in the 1950s, that espresso bars first opened in Melbourne; exotic spots such as Toto’s Pizza House had an unconventional allure in staid Anglo Melbourne, and the local intelligentsia soon made the street their second home. Victorian terraced houses provided cheap living, and this became the first of the city’s “alternative” suburbs. These days, Carlton is no longer bohemian; its residents are older and wealthier and Lygon Street has gone definitively upmarket, though the smart fashion shops still jostle with bookshops and an abundance of Italian restaurants and cafés.Lygon Street itself is the obvious place to explore, but the elegant architecture also spreads eastwards to Drummond Street, Carlton Gardens, Rathdowne and Nicholson streets. Running along the western side of the university, Royal Parade gives onto Royal Park, with its memorial to the explorers Burke and Wills, from where it’s a short walk through the park to the zoo.