Melbourne 3-Day Itinerary: Hoddle Grid Laneways, Southbank Arts, MCG & Great Ocean Road

Three full days in Melbourne give you time to explore the nineteenth-century arcades and bluestone laneways of the Hoddle Grid. You can also walk through the city's UNESCO World Heritage gardens and galleries on both sides of the Yarra River. On your final day, ride the tram spine from Fitzroy to St Kilda, or take a day trip along the Great Ocean Road. Day 1 and the morning of Day 2 stay largely within the Free Tram Zone. You can cover the city centre on foot and free trams before tapping on a myki card for the inner suburbs.

Day 1: Flinders Street Station, Street Art Laneways, Victorian Arcades, State Library & UNESCO Carlton Gardens

Morning: Under the Clocks, Federation Square, Hosier Lane, and Degraves Street. Begin beneath the 9 analogue clocks of the 1910 Flinders Street Station dome at the corner of Swanston and Flinders streets. Step inside the Gothic Revival nave of St Paul's Cathedral, consecrated in 1891 with its 96-metre spire completed in 1932. Next, cross into Federation Square, opened in 2002 above the Jolimont railyards. Browse the Koorie Heritage Trust, ACMI, and The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, the world's first major public gallery dedicated to Australian art. Walk across Flinders Street into the bluestone cobbles of Hosier Lane and Rutledge Lane to see aerosol murals, then continue east to AC/DC Lane. Loop back through the 1956 Olympic subway of Campbell Arcade into Degraves Street and Centre Place for a morning flat white or double-ristretto magic.

Midday: The 1892 Block Arcade, 1870 Royal Arcade, and Hardware Lane. Cross Collins Street into the 1892 Block Arcade. Admire its mosaic floor modelled on Milan's Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and the window of the 1892 Hopetoun Tearooms. Walk through Little Collins Street and cross the tram tracks of Bourke Street Mall into the 1870 Royal Arcade. It is the oldest surviving shopping arcade in Australia. Pause at the southern arch on the hour to watch the 7-foot carved wooden statues of Gog and Magog strike Gaunt's 1892 clock. Afterwards, stroll two blocks west to brick-paved Hardware Lane for lunch.

Afternoon: State Library Victoria and UNESCO Carlton Gardens. Walk up Swanston Street past Melbourne Central, where a 20-storey glass cone encloses the 1889 Coop's Shot Tower. Cross the street into State Library Victoria, founded in 1854 and opened in 1856. Ride the lift to Level 6 of the 1913 octagonal La Trobe Reading Room. From the balcony, look down from its 34.75-metre reinforced concrete dome over 320 radial desks. In the upper gallery, inspect the original 44-kilogram iron armour worn by bushranger Ned Kelly in 1880. From the library, walk 500 metres northeast into the 26-hectare UNESCO World Heritage Carlton Gardens. View the 1880 Royal Exhibition Building, where the first Parliament of Australia opened on 9 May 1901. Directly behind it, tour Melbourne Museum, the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, including the Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre and the Forest Gallery.

Evening: Lygon Street or 1851 Chinatown. Stay in Carlton for wood-fired pizza and pasta along Lygon Street, where Australia's first pizzeria opened in 1961. Alternatively, walk back to Little Bourke Street in the CBD for soup dumplings in Melbourne's 1851 Chinatown. Founded during the gold rush, it is the oldest continuous Chinatown in the Western world. Finish the evening with a nightcap on Flinders Lane.

Day 2: Queen Victoria Market, NGV International, Shrine of Remembrance, Botanic Gardens & the MCG

Morning: Queen Victoria Market. Ride any northbound free tram up Elizabeth or William streets to the 7-hectare Queen Victoria Market. Opened in 1878, it is the largest open-air market in the Southern Hemisphere. Because the market closes on Mondays and Wednesdays, swap your Day 1 and Day 2 mornings if needed. Walk through the 1884 Meat and Fish Hall and the 1929 Art Deco Dairy Produce Hall (Deli Hall) for freshly baked lamb or spinach-and-cheese borek. Pick up local cheeses and a hot jam doughnut from the 1950 American Doughnut Kitchen van on Queen Street.

Midday: Southbank Arts Precinct and NGV International. Ride a free tram back to Flinders Street and cross the 1888 Princes Bridge over the Yarra River to Southbank and St Kilda Road. Pass beneath the 162-metre lattice spire of Arts Centre Melbourne and step through the glass entrance waterwall of NGV International. Founded in 1861, the NGV is the oldest and most visited public art museum in Australia. Spend 90 minutes exploring the European and Asian collections and the Great Hall beneath Leonard French's 68.5-metre stained-glass ceiling, the world's largest suspended stained-glass ceiling.

Afternoon: Shrine of Remembrance, Royal Botanic Gardens, and the MCG. Walk south through Kings Domain to the 1934 Shrine of Remembrance. Tour the underground Galleries of Remembrance and climb to the upper balcony for the axial view down Swanston Street. Next door, wander through the 38-hectare Royal Botanic Gardens (founded in 1846) past Ornamental Lake, Fern Gully, and Guilfoyle's Volcano. Cross the Yarra River via the pedestrian bridges into Melbourne Park, home of the 14,820-seat Rod Laver Arena. Beside it rises the 100,024-capacity Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG, established in 1853). Take a guided stadium tour or visit the Australian Sports Museum. Afterwards, walk back through the 26-hectare Fitzroy Gardens past the 1930 Conservatory and 1755 Cooks' Cottage. End the evening along the Southbank Promenade or 88 floors up (285 metres) at Melbourne Skydeck in the 297-metre Eureka Tower.

Day 3: Choose Between Fitzroy & St Kilda Bayfront OR the Great Ocean Road

• Option A: Inner-Suburb Boheme to Port Phillip Bay (City & Bay day). Touch on your myki card and ride Tram Route 11 or 86 into Fitzroy and Collingwood. Explore the galleries of Gertrude Street and the vintage stores and Victorian balconies of Brunswick Street. Visit the weekend Rose Street Artists' Market and Keith Haring's 1984 mural on Johnston Street. At lunchtime, board Light Rail Route 96 on Nicholson Street and ride to the 1867 South Melbourne Market for dim sims and Tasmanian oysters. Continue on Route 96 to St Kilda Beach to see the 1912 Mr Moon entrance at Luna Park. Inside runs the Great Scenic Railway, the world's oldest continually operating roller coaster. Detour south to the 82 Brighton Bathing Boxes on Dendy Street Beach. Finish at dusk on St Kilda Pier watching the colony of 1,400 Little Penguins return to the breakwater.
• Option B: Great Ocean Road & Twelve Apostles or Phillip Island (Full-day excursion). Dedicate Day 3 to our Great Ocean Road, Twelve Apostles, and Phillip Island day trips guide. Drive the 243-kilometre coastal highway to the 45-metre limestone stacks of Port Campbell National Park and Loch Ard Gorge. Alternatively, combine a Yarra Valley cellar-door lunch with the dusk Penguin Parade on Phillip Island, 140 kilometres southeast of Melbourne.