Why Melbourne is our best winter city

Come winter, Melbourne doesn’t hibernate – it elevates. Here’s how to make the most of this city’s cool-weather culture.

Melbourne wins winter

Look, many of our cities are good contenders for a winter escape. Hobart turns hot when the weather turns cold – with our southernmost city laying on the art, festivals and embracing hand-knitted beanies paired with weather-resistant jackets worthy of Everest’s Dead Zone.

Canberra’s enviable proximity to snowfields has an undeniable pull for quick, city-to-snow transitions. Meanwhile, “Winter?" says Darwin and Broome. Nah, we don’t do that. What about just hot and dry, instead of hot and wet? Also great, if your chills are multiplying.

And while Sydney has my heart, its needy dependence on sunshine and mild temperatures, is frankly, a bit embarrassing. Nobody knows what to do in Sydney when the mercury sinks below 16°C. Every year, it’s as if the arrival of winter is a complete and utter surprise.

Dine by candlelight at Spaghetti Club. (Credit: MAMAS Dining Group)

But Melbourne? Melbourne never lets a bit of weather get in the way of a good time. It’s a cultural thing as much as it’s stitched into the city’s built-environment and the population’s psyche. Conditions on Collins Street can mirror the Arctic tundra and Melburnians will just get on. Sure, life will angle toward the outdoors when the weather suits, but temperate days are a nice-to-have, not a requirement for living merrily.

Street art at Swan St in Richmond — Street art in Richmond awaits those willing to explore outside in the winter. (Credit: Visit Victoria/ Jesse Hisco)

So, we do declare, hands-down (but with Hobart hot on its heels – also the location of one of my most memorable trips), Melbourne wins winter. It’s the ideal mid-year minibreak because there’s so much to do. With everything from art exhibitions and events to cosy fireside pubs, ultra-cool listening bars, design-led hotels and adorable, wine-adjacent towns waiting just beyond the city limits, there is something to delight at every intersection of your interests. It’s a place to relish winter, not just hibernate through it. So if you’re looking for a mid-winter reset, don’t think twice about booking that sale flight to the Victorian capital.

Melbourne restaurants you need to visit in winter

Melbourne is a food-loving city. Maybe it even has more gourmands per capita than any other Aussie city. We’ll never know for sure (so relax, Adelaide, we see you, too). But we can be sure that there is no shortage of great restaurants, from hip new places to long-lived icons on the city’s dining scene. Add these to your itinerary.

Frenchie

Bucking all trends of French fare being high-and-mighty fine-dining, this laneway hit is all nouveau bistro style with rambunctious energy and a truly disruptive ‘everything $14’ classic menu. It takes walk-ins and is open for lunch and dinner until midnight – because the party doesn’t stop just because it’s a bit chilly.

France-Soir

From new a Frenchie to an old classic, France-Soir is a Melbourne institution that has been servicing the city with well-put-together dishes of steak tartare and bouef bourguignon for 40 years. It’s a settle-in-er, so take your time and linger over a post-dinner cognac.

Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.

Spaghetti Club

Melbourne knows Italian and this easy-going trattoria in Richmond with a proud nonna-core culture proves the point. It’s all good pasta, home-style vibes and affable service with Sicilian roots.

Melbourne’s listening bars are the perfect winter activity

Vinyl culture is strong in Melbourne and the city has the record (quite literally) of having more record stores per capita than any other city in the world. Yes, the world. So it tracks that listening bars are a thing here.

Bar Selecta

This Hawthorne listening bar has taken directly from the Tokyo playbook with dim-lit moods and vinyl grooves. There are well-mixed cocktails, lots of sake, BYO vinyl Sundays and other themed nights.

Waxflower

A bit of everything, Waxflower is a very Melbourne café by day, transforming into a Euro-style wine bar cross Japanese listening bar in the evening. Slide in here for lunch to aperitivo and evening listening sessions.

Does Melbourne offer winter events? You bet!

Melbourne keeps the events rolling out through the calendar year, from regular exhibitions at galleries across the city to dedicated winter events. You’ll have to be strategic about what you see, as there’s too much on to cram it all into one short break.

Winter Night Market

Cold nights are all part of the fun in Melbourne and the beloved Queen Victoria Market leans in through the winter months by staying open late every Wednesday night. There’s festoon lights, fire pits, warming drinks and, of course, plenty of morsels and stalls to sample.

Melbourne winter masterpieces at the NGV

A woman visiting the NGV Cartier exhibit — The NGV is never short on incredible exhibits. (Credit: Sean Fennessy)

The NGV is not short on engrossing and exclusive exhibitions. This winter, the gallery is hosting a 300-piece Cartier exhibition from 12 June to 4 October. All those dazzling gemstones are sure to put the shine in a winter’s day.

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Lightscape

Illuminating the Royal Botanic Gardens until 2 August, Lightscape is an outdoor exhibition of luminous art installations. It’s an after-dark experience that fits perfectly with a cold, winter’s night.

Where to stay in Melbourne during winter?

Melbourne is boutique-forward when it comes to accommodation, but it also spreads out across the spectrum, whether you’re looking for five-star-fancy or the edgy elegance of the W, you’ll find it all close the city’s best entertainment – so you can rug up and walk out. Here, we’re calling out these two for proximity and style that suits a minibreak.

StandardX

You’ll find this achingly cool hotel in the unshakeably hip Fitzroy. It’s close to plenty on foot or with an easy tram ride to the city’s hot tickets. Rooms are very Melbourne-coded with artful style that’s approachable. There’s a rooftop with a fireplace, all-day eatery Bistro X and an ultra-slick lobby lounge.

Hannah St

Levelling up the design-led luxe, this premium hotel is everything Melbourne does so well. It slots beautifully into a weekender with boutique rooms, a lap pool with city views, and five hospitality venues that tightrope timelessness and contemporary trends elegantly. It’s even been called, ‘a love letter to the city’.

Want to know where else to go near Melbourne in winter?

Have time for a country or coastal jaunt? Melbourne knows how to stoke the fire for cosy stays that don’t take you too far off-course. For wellness, wines and wonderful food, exit to the Mornington Peninsula, Yarra Valley, Daylesford and Healesville – all less than two hours away. For coastal extensions, Portsea, Sorrento, Geelong and Port Arlington are accessed within one-and-a-half hours from the city. All very doable day trips, but better to settle in and add an extra day.

Located just an hour north-west of Melbourne, the largely undiscovered Macedon Ranges quietly pours some of Australia’s finest cool-climate wines and serves up some of Victoria’s best food.

Mention the Macedon Ranges and most people will think of day spas and mineral springs around Daylesford, cosy weekends away in the countryside or the famous Hanging Rock (of enigmatic picnic fame). Or they won’t have heard of the Macedon Ranges at all.

But this cool-climate destination has been inconspicuously building a profile as a high-quality food and wine region and is beginning to draw serious attention from oenophiles and epicureans alike.

The rise of Macedon Ranges wine

liquid gold barrels at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — Barrels of liquid gold at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

With elevations ranging from 300 to 800 metres, Macedon Ranges vineyards are among the highest in the country. This altitude, combined with significant day/night temperature swings, makes for a slow ripening season, in turn nurturing wines that embody elegance and structure. Think crisp chardonnays, subtle yet complex pinot noirs and delicate sparkling wines, along with niche varietals, such as gamay and nebbiolo.

Despite the region’s natural advantages – which vary from estate to estate, as each site embodies unique terroir depending on its position in relation to the Great Dividing Range, soil make-up and altitude – the Macedon Ranges has remained something of an insider’s secret. Unlike Victoria’s Yarra Valley or Mornington Peninsula, you won’t find large tour buses here and there’s no mass marketing drawing crowds.

Many of the 40-odd wineries are family-run operations with modest yields, meaning the wineries maintain a personal touch (if you visit a cellar door, you’ll likely chat to the owner or winemaker themselves) and a tight sales circle that often doesn’t go far beyond said cellar door. And that’s part of the charm.

Though wines from the Macedon Ranges are just starting to gain more widespread recognition in Australia, the first vines were planted in the 1860s, with a handful of operators then setting up business in the 1970s and ’80s. The industry surged again in the 1990s and early 2000s with the entry of wineries, such as Mount Towrong, which has an Italian slant in both its wine and food offering, and Curly Flat, now one of the largest estates.

Meet the new generation of local winemakers

the Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. — The Clydesdale barn at Paramoor. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Then, within the last 15 years, a new crop of vignerons like Andrew Wood at Kyneton Ridge Estate, whose vineyard in 2024 was the first in the Macedon Ranges to be certified by Sustainable Winegrowing Australia; Geoff Plahn and Samantha Reid at Paramoor, who have an impressive cellar door with a roaring fire and studded leather couches in an old Clydesdale barn; and Ollie Rapson and Renata Morello at Lyons Will, who rapidly expanded a small vineyard to focus on top-shelf riesling, gamay, pinot noir and chardonnay, have taken ownership of local estates.

Going back to the early days, Llew Knight’s family was one of the pioneers of the 1970s, replacing sheep with vines at Granite Hills when the wool industry dwindled. Knight is proud of the fact that all their wines are made with grapes from their estate, including a light, peppery shiraz (some Macedon wineries purchase fruit from nearby warmer areas, such as Heathcote, particularly to make shiraz) and a European-style grüner veltliner. And, as many other wineries in the region do, he relies on natural acid for balance, rather than an additive, which is often required in warmer regions. “It’s all about understanding and respecting your climate to get the best out of your wines,” he says.

farm animals atKyneton Ridge Estate — Curious residents at Kyneton Ridge Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Throughout the Macedon Ranges, there’s a growing focus on sustainability and natural and low-intervention wines, with producers, such as Brian Martin at Hunter Gatherer making waves in regenerative viticulture. Martin previously worked in senior roles at Australia’s largest sparkling winemaking facility, and now applies that expertise and his own nous to natural, hands‑off, wild-fermented wines, including pét‑nat, riesling and pinot noir. “Wild fermentation brings more complexity,” he says. “Instead of introducing one species of yeast, you can have thousands and they add different characteristics to the wine.”

the vineyard at Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The estate’s vineyard, where cool-climate grapes are grown. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Most producers also focus on nurturing their grapes in-field and prune and pick by hand, thus avoiding the introduction of impurities and the need to meddle too much in the winery. “The better the quality of the fruit, the less you have to interfere with the natural winemaking process,” says Wood.

Given the small yields, there’s also little room for error, meaning producers place immense focus on quality. “You’re never going to compete in the middle [in a small region] – you’ve got to aim for the top,” says Curly Flat owner Jeni Kolkka. “Big wineries try to do things as fast as possible, but we’re in no rush,” adds Troy Walsh, owner and winemaker at Attwoods. “We don’t use commercial yeasts; everything is hand-harvested and everything is bottled here, so we bottle only when we’re ready, not when a big truck arrives.” That’s why, when you do see a Macedon Ranges product on a restaurant wine list, it’s usually towards the pointy end.

Come for the wine, stay for the food

pouring sauce onto a dish at Lake HouseDaylesford — Dining at Lake House Daylesford is a treat. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

If wine is the quiet achiever of the Macedon Ranges, then food is its not-so-secret weapon. In fact, the area has more hatted restaurants than any other region in Victoria. A pioneer of the area’s gourmet food movement is region cheerleader Alla Wolf-Tasker, culinary icon and founder of Daylesford’s Lake House.

For more than three decades, Wolf-Tasker has championed local producers and helped define what regional fine dining can look like in Australia. Her influence is palpable, not just in the two-hatted Lake House kitchen, but in the broader ethos of the region’s dining scene, as a wave of high-quality restaurants have followed her lead to become true destination diners.

the Midnight Starling restaurant in Kyneton Ridge Estate Winery — The hatted Midnight Starling restaurant is located in Kyneton. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

It’s easy to eat well, whether at other hatted restaurants, such as Midnight Starling in the quaint town of Kyneton, or at the wineries themselves, like Le Bouchon at Attwoods, where Walsh is inspired by his time working in France in both his food offering and winemaking.

The beauty of dining and wine touring in the Macedon Ranges is that it feels intimate and unhurried. You’re likely to meet the winemaker, hear about the trials of the latest vintage firsthand, and taste wines that never make it to city shelves. And that’s worth getting out of the city for – even if it is just an hour down the road.

Delicate dishes on the menu at Midnight Starling. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

A traveller’s checklist

Staying there

the accommodation at Cleveland Estate, Macedon Ranges — Stay at the Cleveland Estate. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Soak up vineyard views from Cleveland Estate near Lancefield, embrace retro charm at Kyneton Springs Motel or indulge in lakeside luxury at the Lake House.

Eating there

Enjoy a four-course menu at the one-hatted Surly Goat in Hepburn Springs, Japanese-inspired fare at Kuzu in Woodend or unpretentious fine dining at Mount Monument, which also has a sculpture park.

Drinking there

wine tasting at PassingClouds Winery, Macedon Ranges — A tasting at Passing Clouds Winery. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Settle in for a tasting at Boomtown in Castlemaine, sample local drops at the cosy Woodend Cellar & Bar or wine-hop around the many cellar doors, such as Passing Clouds.

the Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar signage — Boomtown Winery and Cellar Bar. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Playing there

a scenic river in Castlemaine — Idyllic scenes at Castlemaine. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

Wander through the seasonal splendour of Forest Glade Gardens, hike to the summit of Hanging Rock, or stroll around the tranquil Sanatorium Lake.

purple flowers hanging from a tree — Purple flowers hanging from a tree. (Image: Chloe Smith Photography)

This is the best Aussie city to visit in winter – it’s even better than Hobart

Come winter, Melbourne doesn’t hibernate – it elevates. Here’s how to make the most of this city’s cool-weather culture.

Melbourne wins winter