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.

Abandoned mills and forgotten paper plants are finding second lives – and helping redefine a city long underestimated.

Just 15 years ago, Federal Mills was a very different place. Once among the most significant industrial sites in Victoria, the historic woollen mill was one of a dozen that operated in Geelong at the industry’s peak in the mid-20th century, helping the city earn its title as ‘wool centre of the world’. But by the 1960s global competition and the rise of synthetic fabrics led to the slow decline of the industry, and Federal Mills finally shuttered its doors in 2001. Within a few years, the abandoned North Geelong grounds had become makeshift pastoral land, with cows and goats grazing among the overgrown grass between the empty red-brick warehouses. It was a forgotten pocket of the city, all but two klicks from the bustle of the CBD.

Geelong cellar door wine bar — Geelong has shed its industrial identity to become an innovative urban hub with reimagined heritage spaces. (Image: Ash Hughes)

Federal Mills: from forgotten factory to creative precinct

Today, the century-old complex stands reborn. The distinctive sawtooth-roof buildings have been sensitively restored. An old silo is splashed with a bright floral mural, landscapers have transformed the grounds, and the precinct is once again alive with activity. More than 1000 people work across 50-plus businesses here. It’s so busy, in fact, that on a sunny Thursday morning in the thick of winter, it’s hard to find a car park. The high ceilings, open-plan design, and large multi-paned windows – revolutionary features for factories of their time – have again become a drawcard.

Paddock Bakery andPatisserie — Paddock Bakery and Patisserie is housed within the historic wool factory. (Image: Gallant Lee)

At Paddock , one of the precinct’s newer tenants, weaving looms and dye vats have been replaced by a wood-fired brick oven and heavy-duty mixers. Open since April 2024, the bakery looks right at home here; the building’s industrial shell is softened by ivy climbing its steel frames, and sunlight streams through the tall windows. Outside, among the white cedar trees, families at picnic benches linger over dippy eggs and bagels, while white-collar workers pass in and out, single-origin coffee and crème brûlée doughnuts in hand.

Geelong: Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design

Paddock Bakery can be found at Federal Mills. (Image: Gallant Lee)

“A lot of people are now seeing the merit of investing in Geelong,” says Paul Traynor, the head of Hamilton Hospitality Group, which redeveloped Federal Mills. A city once shunned as Sleepy Hollow, and spurned for its industrial, working-class roots and ‘rust belt’ image, Geelong has long since reclaimed its ‘Pivot City’ title, having reinvented itself as an affordable, lifestyle-driven satellite city, and a post-COVID migration hotspot.

And the numbers stand testament to the change. In March 2025, and for the first time in its history, Greater Geelong became Australia’s most popular regional town for internal migration, overtaking Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. Current forecasts suggest Geelong will continue to outpace many other Australian cities and towns, with jobs growing at double the rate of the population.

Tourism is booming, too. The 2023-24 financial year was Geelong and The Bellarine region’s busiest on record, with 6.4 million visitors making it one of the fastest-growing destinations in the country. It’s not hard to see why: beyond the city’s prime positioning at the doorstep of the Great Ocean Road, Geelong’s tenacity and cultural ambition stands out.

As Australia’s only UNESCO City of Design, Geelong is swiftly shaking off its industrial past to become a model for urban renewal, innovation, sustainability and creative communities. The signs are everywhere, from the revitalisation of the city’s waterfront, and the landmark design of the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre and Geelong Arts Centre, to the growing network of local designers, architects and artists, and the burgeoning roster of festivals and events. That’s not even mentioning the adaptive reuse of storied old industrial buildings – from Federal Mills, to Little Creatures’ brewery ‘village’ housed within a 1920s textile mill – or the city’s flourishing food and wine scene.

The rise of a food and wine destination

Restaurant 1915 is housed within a restored former boiler house. (Image: Harry Pope/Two Palms)

Traynor credits now-closed local restaurant Igni, which opened in 2016, as the turning point for Geelong’s hospo industry. “[Aaron Turner, Igni’s chef-patron] was probably the first guy, with all due respect, to raise the bar food-wise for Geelong,” he says. “People now treat it really seriously, and there’s clearly a market for it.” While Igni is gone, Turner now helms a string of other notable Geelong venues, including The Hot Chicken Project and Tacos y Liquor, all within the buzzy, street art-speckled laneways of the CBD’s Little Malop Street Precinct. Many others have also popped up in Igni’s wake, including Federal Mills’ own restaurant, 1915 . Housed within the cavernous boiler house, 1915’s interior is dramatic: soaring, vaulted ceilings with timber beams, exposed brick, a huge arched window. The share plates echo the space’s bold character, playing with contrast and texture, with dishes such as a compressed watermelon tataki, the sweet, juicy squares tempered by salty strands of fried leeks, and charred, smoky snow peas dusted with saganaki on a nutty bed of romesco.

The Woolstore , one of The Hamilton Group’s most recent hospo projects, opened in February. It occupies a century-old riverside warehouse and exudes a more sultry, fine dining ambience. Much like Federal Mills, the blueprint was to preserve the original brickwork, tallowwood flooring and nods to the building’s former life. That same careful consideration extends to the well-versed, affable waitstaff as well as the kitchen. Head chef Eli Grubb is turning out an eclectic mix of ambitious and indulgent mod Oz dishes that deliver: strikingly tender skewers of chicken tsukune, infused with hints of smoke from the parrilla grill, and glazed with a moreish, sweet gochujang ‘jam’; nduja arancini fragrant with hints of aniseed and the earthy lick of sunny saffron aioli; and golden squares of potato pavé, adorned with tiny turrets of crème fraîche, crisp-fried saltbush leaves, and Avruga caviar, to name but a few stand-out dishes.

Woolstore menu — Woolstore’s menu is designed for sharing.

Breathing new life into historic spaces

On the city’s fringe, hidden down a winding side road with little fanfare, lies a long-dormant site that’s being gently revived. Built from locally quarried bluestone and brick, and dating back to the 1870s, the complex of original tin-roofed mill buildings is lush with greenery and backs onto the Barwon River and Buckley Falls; the audible rush of water provides a soothing soundtrack. Fyansford Paper Mill is one of few complexes of its time to survive intact. It feels steeped in history and spellbindingly rustic.

“We were looking for an old industrial place that had some charm and romance to it,” explains Sam Vogel, the owner, director and winemaker at Provenance Wines which moved here in 2018. When he first viewed the building with his former co-owner, it was in such a state of disrepair that the tradie tenant occupying the space had built a shed within it to escape the leaking roof and freezing winter temperatures. “To say it was run down would be an understatement,” he notes. “There was ivy growing through the place; the windows were all smashed. It was a classic Grand Designs project.”

Provenance Wines moved to Fyansford Paper Mill in 2018. (Image: Cameron Murray Photography)

The team has since invested more than a million dollars into their new home. Where paper processing machinery once sat, wine barrels are now stacked. Vaulted cathedral ceilings are strung with festoon lights, and hidden in plain sight lies a shadowy mural by local street artist de rigueur Rone – one of only three permanent works by the artist.

While the award-winning, cool-climate pinot noir, riesling and chardonnay naturally remain a key draw at Provenance, the winery’s restaurant is a destination in itself. Impressed already by whipsmart service, I devour one of the most cleverly curated and faultlessly executed degustations I’ve had in some time. It’s all prepared in a kitchen that is proudly zero-waste, and committed to providing seasonal, ethical and locally sourced meat and produce under head chef Nate McIver. Think free-range venison served rare with a syrupy red wine jus and a half-moon of neon-orange kosho, shokupan with a deeply savoury duck fat jus (a modern Japanese take on bread and drippings), and a golden potato cake adorned with a colourful confetti of dehydrated nasturtiums and tomato powder, and planted atop a sea urchin emulsion.

handcrafted pieces — Bell’s handcrafted functional pieces on display.

The complex is home to a coterie of independent businesses, including a gallery, a jeweller, and its latest tenant, ceramicist Elizabeth Bell, drawn here by the building’s “soul”. “There’s so much potential for these buildings to have new life breathed into them,” says Bell, whose studio is housed within the old pump room. “Even people in Geelong don’t know we’re here,” she says. “It’s definitely a destination, but I like that. It has a really calming atmosphere.”

A Melbourne transplant, Bell now feels at home in Geelong, which offers something Melbourne didn’t. “If this business was in Melbourne I don’t think it would’ve been as successful,” she notes. “It’s very collaborative in Geelong, and I don’t think you get that as much in Melbourne; you’re a bit more in it for yourself. Here it’s about community over competition.”

The 6 best emerging city experiences in Australia