Breakfast on the beach

Melbourne has universally excellent coffee but is also rather taken with new trends, which is how Matcha Mylkbar, a vegan cafe in the coastal suburb of St Kilda that serves bright-blue algae lattes, became a popular destination. (“It wasn’t disgusting,” was the faint praise from the Good Food website.)

Brightly coloured vegan food at Matcha Mylkbar. Photograph: Nic Davidson

Two out of the three Hemsworth brothers approve, but iIf your tastes run to a more regular coffee, nearby Carlisle Street can oblige. Galleon Cafe is a local favourite. Then take a post-breakfast stroll along St Kilda Esplanade, which Australian songwriter Paul Kelly once said was worth the whole of Sydney harbour.



Take in some culture

Indigenous art by Madigan Thomas at the National Gallery of Victoria

The National Gallery of Victoria at Southbank hosts international artists and designers in a listed building designed by Australian modernist Sir Roy Grounds. The building opened in 1968 and was refurbished and rebadged as NGV International in 2003. A new gallery in nearby Federation Square, the Ian Potter Centre, picks up local shows, including frequent exhibitions by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. The two galleries are separated by the Yarra river and close to the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI). Large screens go up in Federation Square for sporting and cultural events.



A quick lunch

Italian pork based options at Saluministi, Flinders Lane

Staff at Saluministi work in a sort of well, half a floor below the waiting customers, which makes ordering slightly disconcerting. Nevertheless, this cafe on Flinders Lane (there’s another in Docklands) is a good lunch option. It began life as a stand at the Melbourne Salami Festa and remains true to theme, offering mainly pork-based options in fresh, chewy Italian rolls – a slow-roasted pork, artichoke and pecorino panini costs A$12 (£7.30). The food is authentically Italian while the coffee and the line-art pig logo are pure Melbourne. The sunken kitchen gives a bird’s-eye view of brisk staff preparing the panini, but there’s minimal seating, so collect your sandwich in its needlessly large paper bag and wander down to Southbank and eat overlooking the Yarra.

Meet the original owners

Burrinja Gallery

An hour east of the city is the beautiful bushland of the Dandenong Ranges, where the Wurundjeri people offer walking tours. The Wurundjeri are the “traditional owners” of the Melbourne area, part of the Woiwurrung language group, one of five groups that make up the Kulin nation. T heir Bullen Bullen cultural tours begin with a Tanderrum welcoming ceremony. After guests have walked through the sacred smoke, guides lead them around the bushland, explaining how people lived traditionally. On the way back to the city is the Burrinja Cultural Centre, the place to see Fish and Leaves, a work by famous Yorta Yorta artist Lin Onus, plus temporary exhibitions, music, and theatre.

• One- hour guided tours run at 11am and 2pm Tues, Fri, Sat and Sun, £18pp, wurundjericulturaltours.com.au

Dinner and dessert



Tokyo Tina

The northern end of Chapel Street in South Yarra is one of Melbourne’s main shopping destinations, but its other end can be much more interesting. Catch a number 78 tram 1½ miles south to Windsor for dinner at Tokyo Tina, a Japanese fusion restaurant, with a bar to drink at while you wait for a table. Kingfish sashimi cones (£4 each) and miso ramen (from £6) are particularly good. After dinner, walk back up Chapel Street, weaving through street diners, for award-winning ice-cream from Gelato Messina at number 171. It’s very hard to choose from the 40 flavours (they offer free samples) but I can’t resist the macadamia crunch. Pay by cash (or mobile – they don’t take cards.



Drink with the band

Cherry Bar Photograph: PR

Melbourne has great live music and the best place to bump into musicians after a gig is Cherry Bar, on appropriately named AC/DC Lane particularly after shows at the nearby Forum. The narrow bar hosts a full calendar of artists and DJs, and on Mondays the stage is open to anyone with their own drumsticks. The darkened windows and loud music make it feel like the wrong side of 5am any time of day. Down the alley is a brand new doorway cut into a wall that until earlier this year hosted one of the last Banksys left in Melbourne.



Go exploring

Street art on the wall of the Night Cat music venue in Fitzroy. Photograph: Richard I'Anson/Getty Images

Put on a pair of walking shoes and explore the inner-city Fitzroy district. In the late 19th century, this became a haven for Aboriginal people trying to escape the clutches of the Half-Caste Act, which aimed to separate families of mixed descent. Pick up or download a map of the Fitzroy Aboriginal Heritage Walking Trail and follow the story of black activism. Fitzroy has some of the best street art in the city and lots of vintage boutiques, bars and coffee shops. Keep the history theme going at Stagger Lee’s at 276 Brunswick Street, a cafe named for the American outlaw named in that Nick Cave song. It’s owned by the same people as Fitzroy coffee shop Proud Mary but, in an important distinction, is licensed to serve alcohol.



Have a picnic

Fitzroy Gardens Photograph: Getty Images

The 36-hectare Royal Botanic Gardens on the banks of the Yarra have more than 8,500 plant species on display and regular guided tours. But if you’re feeling more like flopping on the sunny grass than indulging your inner botanist, head to Fitzroy Gardens. Named for Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, governor of the Australian colonies in the mid-19th century, the gardens are also home to a cottage once inhabited by the family of Captain James Cook, which was purchased by the state of Victoria in 1933 and transplanted from North Yorkshire in 253 packing cases.



Take a day trip

Rosebud pier and the coastline of Mornington peninsula. Photograph: Alamy

The Yarra Valley is the famous wine region but a combination of great cellar doors (tasting rooms) and restaurants, and proximity to the beach makes Mornington peninsula a better day out. (Plus, just quietly, I think the wine’s better, too.) Head to Stonier Wines, one of the oldest estates in the region, and ask if they have any single vineyard chardonnay for tasting. (The region is also known for its pinot noir.) A little way north in Red Hill is Foxeys Hangout, where winemaker Tony Lee matches tapas of locally grown produce – such as mushroom sausage rolls or braised leeks with goat’s curd – with his own wines.



Hire a bike

Pick up a bike from one of the many Bike Share stations around the centre and head out along the 38km Yarra Trail, which begins at the river mouth at Docklands and follows the Yarra on a winding path through the northeastern suburbs. The path was originally designed for pedestrians, so there is the odd flight of stairs requiring a minor detour, but the stream of cyclists make it difficult to get lost. Helmets are compulsory when riding a bicycle in Australia, so remember to pick up a (free) helmet with your hire bike or face a hefty fine.



Calla Wahlquist is a reporter with Guardian Australia

