MELBOURNE – THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLER GUIDE

Upmarket cheese is the main course in these fabulous Melbourne eateries. Richmond Hill Café & Larder Cool, old school fromagerie harbouring ‘barnyardy’ smells and maturing cheeses of varied shapes, sizes and origins. We love the Langres, a traditional soft cheese from the Champagne region, with orange-coloured squiggly rind, washed in champagne during the maturation process. The cheese staff here know their stuff. Order a picnic cheese hamper, or a cheese tower for a big occasion. 48–50 Bridge Road, Richmond; rhcl.com.au La Latteria Melbourne’s mozzarella Mecca – aficionados cross town for their fix of the best fiore di burrata and buffalo...

Surely, asks Margaret Barca, food-mad Melbourne is the only city where a late night, licensed cheese shop would not just be considered... but considered necessary? A picket fence on the footpath in St Kilda’s ever-trendier Fitzroy Street? Holy cow! We’re full of cheese jokes as we wander along one evening looking for Melbourne’s newest fromagerie, Milk the Cow. When we get a little closer we see that as well as outdoor tables there’s a rocking chair, and two cattle feeders (complete with plastic teats) hanging on the pickets. We’re starting to wonder if this is going to be just a...

Fancy a stunning view across Melbourne's city skyline from the comfort of your own spa? Try Olsen Penthouse then; Justin Bieber did. Sleek. Contemporary. Stylish. This is the epitome of the Olsen Penthouse, positioned on the 14th floor of The Olsen: a collection of five-star suites located on Melbourne’s iconic Chapel Street in South Yarra. This Art Series Hotel takes inspiration from its namesake and renowned Australian artist, John Olsen. The property was designed with Olsen’s conceptual style in mind: from the architecture to the décor. His artworks and sculptures are displayed throughout the hotel – even screen printed on...

Inside Melbourne’s 2013 Restaurant of the Year. By Angeline Nicholas Our maitre’d looks like a secret service agent. Grey suit, earpiece, cropped hair. He silently leads us through a dark, chilled wine cellar and presses a concealed button beneath the counter. A glass door swings open and we walk into a room flooded with light, the city of Melbourne 55 floors beneath our feet. Theatrical? Perhaps. But truth be told, such theatrics make the dining experience at Vue de Monde a lot of fun. Don’t expect starched white tablecloths at this establishment. Sure, the silverware is from Christofle, but weathered...

Who can resist the lure of the sun on their skin and the scent of spring in the air? Take a blanket and a book to these little sanctuaries and do as the bees do – breathe in that honeysuckle and grow blissfully drunk from your efforts. By Clementine Ford   The System Garden Unlike a usual recreation garden, the System Garden at the University of Melbourne was constructed in 1856, and planned according to a unique evolutionary system of classification. There are some curios remaining from the garden’s original construction - some brick paving from the circular and radial paths...

A shiny new hotel chain has arrived here in Australia – so Clementine Ford does her patriotic duty and checks in   Melbournian weather can have a terrible effect on the soul. After a long, cold winter, you might find yourself celebrating the arrival of spring, when suddenly everything is cold and damp once more, and staring at the third blanket laid across your sad little bed makes you want to cry. So what better way to give you a little skip in your step than to check out of your humble dwellings for a night and into a place where...

The Como Hotel is once again the new kid on the Chapel Street block – and just in the nick of time, writes Georgia Rickard. Bruce Springsteen. Kylie Minogue. Michael Buble. Robbie Williams. Since The Como’s grand inception some 22 years ago, it’s played host to visiting rock stars, Hollywood royalty and the movers and shakers of the globe. But I can also exclusively confirm that the Como was visited by one less glamorous guest, back in its heyday: a wide-eyed, 13-year-old me. I had begged and nagged and beseeched my mother for a shopping trip to Melbourne; staying at...

Crown Hotels Melbourne Melbourne’s award-winning Crown trifecta is comprised of Crown Towers, Crown Metropol and Crown Promenade, all of which have been dubbed by readers as stylish, modern, luxuriously-appointed stays with decadent touches and memorable service. The flat-screen bathtub televisions, central location, high-end restaurants and otherworldly spas also had a lasting impression on many of you. One reader voted for Crown for “the glamourous feeling – the next best thing to being in Las Vegas”, while another said “it was pure heaven. I had a two-hour soak in the bath with lovely toiletries, followed by a fluffy bathrobe and room...

Melbourne stalwart The Como Hotel has been a favourite of ours for the past 22 years – and it’s just undergone a multi-million dollar renovation. Officially now part of the MGallery collection, we reckon it’s just what Chapel Street’s been needing. mgallery.com

One stomach. Two days. All the latest and greatest in Melbourne eateries. By Georgia Rickard Ah, Melbourne: our undisputed culinary capital. Food-lovers may espouse the wonders of Australia’s various rural food trails, or wax lyrical about our growing farm-to-fork phenomenon, but when you’re after a weekend with it all – food, festivities and fash-tastic boutiques – Melbourne is your Mecca. And with a(nother!) restaurant revolution well underway, we went on a city-wide mission to find the best flavour experiences. Naturally, we came back with a few new favourites… and a couple of old ones. Mama Babas This is Melbourne’s answer...

Georgia Rickard checks in at one of Melbourne’s lesser-known hotels... But is it an undiscovered gem, or a nightmare stay?  “So where are you staying?” asks a Melbourne-based friend, when I announce my impending arrival in her town. “The Lyall,” I reply triumphantly, “in South Yarra.” It’s one of Melbourne’s best, its website reckons, and I’ve been looking forward to gloating about it for a while. But she remains silent. “In South Yarra?” she finally asks, confused. “That’s where I live. I’ve never heard of it.” Oh. When two more Melburnian mates give me the same response, I start feeling...

The Pensione Melbourne is a funny place. And we think it will disappoint some people, but keep others perfectly happy. And there is a very good reason why we make such a contradictory assertion. Rooms at the Pensione are small. Very very small. On the plus side the rooms are well presented, and reasonably new. The hotel underwent a substantial refurbishment a couple of years ago. This means great looking images online for you our humble readers. But it doesn’t give you any concept of scale. Or my precisely a lack of scale. Because the rooms at the Pensione are...

 Melbourne’s beloved food market is a tourist destination in its own right. By Fiona Negrin  Melbourne’s iconic Queen Victoria Market sprawls over two blocks on the edge of the city, and it’s a testimony to its sumptuous wares that almost a quarter of a million people visit each week. On a sunny Saturday, the footpaths outside bank up with shoppers refuelling with coffee and jam doughnuts. In winter, the patter of raindrops on the roof and smell of wet asphalt are the market’s distinctive hallmarks. Such a palette of smells, sights and sounds can’t be found in a supermarket and...