Australia's Best Emerging City Experiences

From sky-high architecture and big-city dining to connecting with Country through bush foods and cultural walks.

Journey with our writers as they take you into Australia’s best 6 emerging city experiences from our 100 Emerging Destinations and Experiences series.

1. The new precincts revitalising Brisbane

Travelling with: Emily Murphy

With the 2023 summer Olympics on the horizon, Brisbane is soaring to new heights as striking precincts enliven the city. In the CBD, Queen’s Wharf Brisbane precinct will merge state-of-the-art contemporary architecture with heritage buildings, securing itself as a world-recognised destination.

a steak dish on the table at Low n Slow Meat Co. — Relish in your steak favourites at Low n Slow Meat Co.

Four new luxury hotels, more than 50 wine-and-dine experiences, a new pedestrian-only bridge connecting to South Bank and a 100-metre-high Sky Deck are just the beginning. Rivermakers Heritage Quarter in the city’s east, a once-hidden gem, has transformed into Brisbane’s newest lifestyle precinct.

an overhead shot of Rivermakers Heritage Quarter — Head to the newest lifestyle precinct at Rivermakers Heritage Quarter.

It’s a hub of dining, entertainment and creativity with Low n Slow Meat Co , Revel Brewing Co , Bavay Distillery and Mas & Miek Ceramics calling it home.

pottery making at Mas & Miek Ceramics — Witness how pots are made at Mas & Miek Ceramics.

2. Canberra’s newest village

Travelling with: Christine Aldred

On Ngunnawal Land in a place once reserved for car yards and industrial warehouses, Fyshwick’s Dairy Road precinct on the edge of Canberra has surfaced as a funky and fun place, rethinking how creative businesses and community can combine. A small village has been fashioned within transformed warehouses from the 1970s, alleyways with soaring ceilings and exposed timber trusses now leading the way through a string of eclectic enterprises, some with windows to peer through to witness the action.

External Dairy Road featuring LESS artwork — Soak up sky-high architecture at External Dairy Road. (Image: Christine Aldred)

Dairy Road is a place to gather with friends over coffees or craft beers, to pick up a freshly distilled gin, browse an art gallery or to pick up everything from mid-century treasures to chocolate treats. But it is also where business is done. You can test your muscles bouldering, reset with a yoga or wellness session or indulge in a night of drama at the tiny but thoroughly professional Mill Theatre. Perhaps top it off with pre-theatre dinner and drinks, belly-warming ramen and sake from Japanese-inspired Canteen or casual pizza by the fire in front of indoor ski slopes. It’s an intriguing mix.

dining interior at Outside Canteen, Dairy Road — Order up a warm bowl of ramen at Outside Canteen. (Image: Christine Aldred)

Outside, the kids will relish exploring the running stream and garden spaces or run among a towering concrete art installation. If your timing is right, the professional entertainers employed on site may be around to inspire small people with open-ended and creative play while you relax. Watch out for regular community events and markets showcasing local produce. With planned residential accommodation, it’s a forward-thinking place worth visiting and watching.

outside Dairy Road Building Capital Brewing Co Garden — Mingle over a beer at Capital Brewing Co.

3. A new cultural walk in nipaluna/Hobart

Travelling with: Elspeth Callender

A fresh new walking tour in nipaluna/Hobart takes place along the bush tracks and unsealed roads of piyura kitina/Risdon Cove. This land, with its hilltop views to kunanyi/Mt Wellington, was fought long and hard for by the palawa community and finally returned in 1995. The name palawa refers to Aboriginal people of lutruwita.

kipli takara piyura kitina-ta, which means ‘bush foods walk at Risdon Cove’, is a one-hour tour led by palawa guides. Walkers sample lots of seasonal plants such as kangaroo apple, native clover, native cherry, kunzea and bracken fern while also learning the area’s true history.

a tour guide leading guests during Kipli Takara Tour — Kitana Mansell leads a kipli takara tour. (Image: Palawa Kipli)

The tour is connected to palawa kipli – the island’s only palawa-owned-and-operated catering company. Proud palawa woman Kitana Mansell, who manages palawa kipli, created and often leads kipli takara.

“I have so much passion for my culture and history," says Kitana, “and for making history by bringing it all back from what was stolen and taken from us and putting it back into the community’s knowledge and in our hands."

All the edible leaves, fruits, berries, flowers, roots and seeds within this abundant natural pantry aren’t framed as purely traditional foods and medicines. As Kitana explains: “kipli takara helps people understand how all the bush tucker we have on the property can be introduced into our modern diet as more sustainable food options."

After a 45-minute stroll that also takes in the palawa kipli garden, walkers sit down to a personal tasting box. This includes pepperberry pickle, pepperberry guacamole, kunzea relish, kunzea butter, wattleseed brie, pepperberry cheese, smoked wallaby, bread and native crackers, and comes with a revitalising wattleseed iced coffee.

a close-up photo of Kunzea plant — Stroll down the Palawa Kipli garden. (Image: Palawa Kipli)

4. Melbourne’s little sister has come of age

Travelling with: Laura Waters

There’s a reason why I upped sticks and moved an hour west from Melbourne to Geelong recently. It’s got everything you could want in a city but with palm trees and no parking issues. It’s a sunny, north-facing slice of the good life and it’s fast getting even better.

a photo of the Old Geelong Post Office Clock Tower — Admire the stunning landscape at Old Geelong Post Office Clock Tower.

Consider the six AGFG hatted restaurants, with new contenders regularly springing up. Little Malop Street and Pakington Street have long been thriving dining and shopping precincts, but locals know that Belmont is the latest hip hood, where French pastries can be bought from That Place or Friday drinks from Archive Wine Bar. And when the architecturally stunning Geelong Arts Centre opens in full later this year with multiple theatres, it’ll be the largest regional arts centre in Australia. Yes, Geelong’s star is rising.

a person jumping off the Geelong waterfront — Jump off into the Geelong foreshore. (Image: Ben Savage – We Are Explorers)

5. Food theatre stars in Albury

Travelling with: Sue Wallace

Albury now boasts a whimsical food theatre experience on its roster of reasons to visit; the NSW-Victorian border city that sits on the banks of the Murray River is the winner of Wotif’s recent Aussie Town of the Year Award.

Shiny new Glenbosch on Dean is a restaurant and wine and gin bar. Here, executive chef Chris de Jongh creates a nine-course degustation feast that reflects his love of molecular cuisine, inspired presentations and tastes that pop such as sago crisp, tuna tartare and a ‘smoking’ oyster on dry ice.

a table-top view of the food at Glenbosch on Dean — Fuel up at Glenbosch on Dean. (Image: Grant Hardwick)

Owners Dirk and Nika Bester, who arrived from the Western Cape of South Africa in 2019, also own Glenbosch Wine Estate, home to a restaurant, distillery and luxe eco cottages at Everton, near Beechworth. Dirk, a passionate distiller, makes Rooibos Gin with botanicals and tea from South Africa and Golden Granite Gin with floating gold flakes as a nod to the region’s gold rush days.

a scenic view of the Murray River in Autumn from Noreuil Park Foreshore, Albury — Bask in warm sunshine at Noreuil Park Foreshore. (Image: Destination NSW)

6. Salt of the earth in Darwin’s CBD

Travelling with: Elizabeth Whitehead

Darwin sits on Larrakia Country, the land of the Saltwater People. Heeding the instruction of Larrakia Elder, Bilawara Lee, I head down to the city harbour to wash my sweat into the water. “Let the Earth taste you and get to know you; she’ll look after you while you’re here," she tells me.

a Kakadu plum served on granola at Aboriginal Bush Traders — Consume healthy grains at Aboriginal Bush Traders. (Image: Tourism NT)

Here, Indigenous culture is woven into the fabric of the city and ancient tradition thrives in modern iterations. Aboriginal Bush Traders is a bustling urban cafe that features native ingredients like Kakadu plum served on granola and bush-spiced pies. The connecting gallery has a selection of art from across the Northern Territory as well as homewares and skincare made with bush medicine. One street over, trendy Austin Lane is filled with murals, cafes, bars, weekly markets and the Indigenous social enterprise/apparel label, House of Darwin .

guests visiting an indigenous art gallery at Aboriginal Bush Traders — Appreciate aboriginal art. (Image: Tourism NT)

Keep reading our 100 Emerging Destinations and Experiences series for more.

Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

A curtain is slowly winched from the placid, teal waters just off Portarlington , like a floating garland beside our boat. The ropes heave with blue mussels, the star attraction of our tour. But as we reach to pluck our own, it’s quickly clear they’re not alone; a mass of weird and wonderful creatures has colonised the ropes, turning them into a living tapestry. ‘Fairy’ oysters, jelly-like sea squirts, and tiny, wriggling skeleton shrimp all inhabit this underwater ecosystem.

We prize our bivalve bounty from the ropes, and minutes later the mussels arrive split on a platter. The plump orange morsels are served raw, ready to be spritzed with wedges of lemon and a lick of chilli as we gaze out over the bay. They’re briny, tender and faintly sweet. “This wasn’t originally part of the tour,” explains Connie Trathen, who doubles as the boat’s cook, deckhand and guide. “But a chef [who came onboard] wanted to taste the mussels raw first, and it’s now become one of the key features.”

A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

inspecting bivalve bounty from the ropes — Inspecting the bounty. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

It’s a crisp, calm winter’s day, and the sun is pouring down upon Valerie, a restored Huon pine workhorse that was first launched in January 1980. In a previous life she trawled the turbulent Bass Strait. These days she takes jaunts into Port Phillip Bay under the helm of Lance Wiffen, a fourth-generation Bellarine farmer, and the owner of Portarlington Mussel Tours . While Lance has been involved in the fishing industry for 30-plus years, the company’s tour boat only debuted in 2023.

holding Portarlington mussels — See how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

It took more than three years to transform the former shark trawler into a dreamy, Hamptons-esque vessel, with little expense spared. Think muted green suede banquettes, white-washed walls, Breton-striped bench cushions, hardwood tables, bouquets of homegrown dahlias, and woollen blankets sourced from Waverley Mills, Australia’s oldest working textile mill. It’s intimate, too, welcoming 12 guests at most. And yet there’s nothing pretentious about the experience – just warm, down-to-earth Aussie hospitality.

As we cruise out, we crack open a bottle of local bubbles and nibble on the most beautifully curated cheese platter, adorned with seashells and grey saltbush picked from the water’s edge that very morning. Australasian gannets soar overhead, and I’m told it’s not uncommon for guests to spot the odd seal, pod of dolphins, or even the occasional little penguin.

The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels

blue mussels off Portarlington — Blue mussels sourced just off Portarlington.

Connie and Lance both extol the virtues of mussels. They’re delicious. A lean source of protein and packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin B12, iron, selenium, and zinc. They’re cooked in a flash (Connie steams our fresh harvest with cider and onion jam). And they’re also widely regarded as one of the most sustainable foods in the world.

Portarlington mussels with lemon and chilli — Mussels served with lemon and chilli.

“Aquaculture is [often] seen as destructive, so a lot of our guests are really surprised about how environmentally friendly and sustainable our industry is,” Lance says. “[Our mussels] would filter 1.4 billion litres of water a day,” he adds, explaining how mussels remove excess nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. “And through biomineralisation, we lock carbon into mussel shells.”

a hand holding a Portarlington mussel — Mussels are a sustainable food.

Despite their glowing list of accolades, these molluscs have long been seen as the oysters’ poorer cousins. “It was a really slow start,” explains Lance, who says that in the early days of his career, “you could not sell mussels in Victoria”.

But word has slowly caught on. Chefs as globally acclaimed as Attica’s Ben Shewry and even René Redzepi of Noma, Denmark, have travelled to these very waters just to try the shellfish at the source, sharing only the highest praise, and using Lance’s mussels in their restaurants.

guests sampling Portarlington mussels onboard — Sampling the goods onboard. (Image: Visit Victoria/Hannyn Shiggins)

According to Lance there’s one obvious reason why the cool depths of Portarlington outshine other locations for mussel farming. “The water quality is second to none,” he says, noting how other regions are frequently rocked by harvest closures due to poor water quality. “We grow, without a doubt, some of the best shellfish in the world.” And with Lance’s bold claims backed up by some of the industry’s greatest names, perhaps it won’t be much longer until more Aussies uncover the appeal of Portarlington’s mussels.

The 6 best emerging city experiences in Australia

From sky-high architecture and big-city dining to connecting with Country through bush foods and cultural walks.

1. The new precincts revitalising Brisbane

2. Canberra’s newest village

3. A new cultural walk in nipaluna/Hobart

4. Melbourne’s little sister has come of age

5. Food theatre stars in Albury

6. Salt of the earth in Darwin’s CBD

Keep reading our 100 Emerging Destinations and Experiences series for more.

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This luxe trawler tour is redefining Victoria’s seafood experience

Victoria’s ‘mussel capital’ is the source of exceptional shellfish used by top chefs far and wide. Step aboard a beautifully refurbished trawler to see how these plump and juicy bivalves are sustainably cultivated.

A humble trawler turned Hamptons-style dreamboat

The sustainable secret behind Victoria’s best mussels