This post contains affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you for your support!
As a city known for tiny laneways and concealed bars, Melbourne, Australia, has always had an element of mystery to it.
It’s no surprise that there are some amazing hidden places in Melbourne as well as “best-kept secrets,” if you will, both within the city center and outside of it.
Melbourne isn’t as much of a city of landmarks as many large metropolitan cities are, but it truly makes up for it in its unique character.
Within the last 26 years the city’s laneway culture has boomed, and with it has come dozens of hidden places, rooftops, and dungeons that require a bit of effort to discover.
Luckily I worked in Melbourne as a walking tour guide and bar tour guide for the better part of a year. So, I am well-versed at the best-kept secrets of Melbourne in the Central Business District and beyond.
In addition to some of the main viewpoints and tours in the city, you will find TONS of lesser-known places to explore.
Before we dive into this guide to hidden gems in Melbourne, here is an invitation to join Jessie on a Journey’s inner circle via her #BeyondTheGuidebook Newsletter.
It gets sent out once per month and features quirky travel news, inspiring adventures, conscious travel brands, unique trip experiences, and tons of fun content for curious nomads about destinations around the world.
Once you sign up, you’ll receive a welcome email with an additional gift inside. Spoiler: It’s access to Jessie’s free Ultimate Travel Planning Resource Library full of planning printables, downloadable Google Maps, PDF travel guides, and more.
On that note, let’s dive into our Australia travel guide focused on hidden things to do in Melbourne.
Melbourne Hidden Gems & Secret Places
1. Old Melbourne Gaol
The Old Melbourne Gaol (old spelling of ‘jail’) is one of Melbourne’s lesser-known tourist attractions and is tucked away within a college campus that was built around it.
First constructed in 1839 — just four years after the city was founded — and operational from 1842 until 1992, the gaol is both creepy and historically fascinating.
You can find the gaol by walking through the RMIT campus to the courtyard in the middle.
Creepy fact:
What is now a college events courtyard was actually the site of dozens of hangings while the gaol was in service.
You can enter the gaol for a small fee and learn about its history, how it used to operate, what criminals were kept there, and even the logistics that went into hanging them. Some parts you might want to close your ears for.
The famous criminal and convicted police murderer, Ned Kelly, was kept and hanged there, which is a big draw for many people who visit.
This laneway is home to the famous tiny “Bar Americano…” capacity: 12! Photo by Kimmie Conner
2. Secret Bars In Melbourne
If you love the idea of secret places to visit in Melbourne, you should know the city may just have the best hidden bar scene in the world.
Melbourne has dozens of hidden bars, ranging from bars that are actually fully secret and concealed behind something to bars that are simply a bit tougher to locate from the street.
I’ve detailed every single one I know in my comprehensive Melbourne Hidden Bars Guide, but I’ll detail a few of my favorite best-kept secret hidden bars below:
State of Grace/Fall From Grace
Yes, Melbourne actually does have a secret behind-a-bookshelf bar, and this hidden gem is as cool as it sounds!
You can reach the secret bar, Fall from Grace, by locating a book of the same name inside the bar, State of Grace, and pulling it.
This opens a secret door to a cocktail bar below, which has a cool Great Gatsby speakeasy vibe. Their classic cocktails are not to be missed!
Trinket
Trinket is a bar and restaurant you can find on Google Maps; however, the bar you cannot find on Google Maps, The Garment Den, is hidden within Trinket Bar.
To find it, you must locate the decorative-looking wardrobe in the bar, open its door, move the clothes to the side, and…
Voila!
A door will open revealing a staircase to the secret bar below.
As with the other secret bars on this list, the cocktails are delicious. Come just for drinks or enjoy Trinket’s tasty food menu, particularly the pizza!
Kimmie Conner is a Californian-born adventure travel and festival blogger. She has been on the road since 2015 in search of new experiences, cultures, festivals, and gorgeous sunsets. She has traveled through 65+ countries, lived in five, had over 15 different jobs on the road, and shares all her experiences on her site, Adventures & Sunsets. You can also find her on Instagram @kimmconn.
Bonus: Get My Free Travel Planning Resource Library
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
