Higher Ground

Top choice in Melbourne


Melbourne's most impressive cafe looks more like an industrial designer hotel as it's housed in a former power station. Within 15m-high ceilings are nooks, crannies and a mezzanine level – all flooded with light from arched windows. Diners queue to order from the innovative brunch menu, but it's also open for dinner Thursday to Saturday.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Melbourne attractions

1. Hellenic Museum

0.34 MILES

Housed in a beautiful neoclassical building that was once the Royal Mint, this small museum is dedicated to Greek immigrants who moved here in the 1950s…

2. Flagstaff Gardens

0.38 MILES

Originally known as Burial Hill, these gardens were the site of Melbourne's first cemetery, where eight of the city’s early settlers were buried. If that…

3. Sea Life

0.46 MILES

This interesting but extremely pricey aquarium is home to giant rays, gropers and sharks, all of which cruise around a 2.2 million-litre tank, watched by…

4. Immigration Museum

0.46 MILES

The Immigration Museum uses voices, images and memorabilia to tell the many stories of Australian immigration. It's symbolically housed in the old Customs…

5. Polly Woodside

0.59 MILES

Polly Woodside is a restored iron-hulled tall ship, dating from 1885. After circumnavigating the world 17 times it now rests in a basin off the Yarra…

6. Crown

0.59 MILES

The Crown complex sprawls across two city blocks and includes three luxury hotels, restaurants and a casino that never closes. It’s another world with its…

7. Royal Arcade

0.62 MILES

Built between 1869 and 1870, this Parisian-style shopping arcade is Melbourne’s oldest and has managed to retain much of its charming 19th-century detail…

8. Queen Victoria Market

0.62 MILES

With more than 600 traders, 'Vic Market' is a large open-air market brimming with food, shopping and cultural experiences. Early mornings are best for…