The complex is a jagged puzzle of sandstone, zinc, and glass shards that refuses to form a single straight line. Before its completion in two thousand two, this site was a skeletal concrete deck covering railway tracks. When the city held…
Southbank and Yarra Waterfront Walk
This walk takes you along the banks of the Birrarung (Yarra River) to experience the city's modern cultural heartbeat. We'll trace Melbourne's transformation from a colonial port to a soaring arts and entertainment hub.
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1. Fed Square
2. Princes Bridge
The Princes Bridge connects the city center to the south bank of the Yarra River with three distinct iron arches painted in deep red and cream. When the current structure opened in eighteen eighty-eight, it replaced an earlier wooden…
3. Arts Centre Melbourne
The spire of the Arts Centre Melbourne mimics the silhouette of a ballerina in a tutu. Beneath that steel frame sits a complex of theaters dug deep into the reclaimed swamp land of the Yarra River bank. When the builders started digging in…
4. National Gallery of Victoria
The National Gallery of Victoria features a massive water wall that flows down a glass pane at the entrance. This building on St Kilda Road serves as the oldest and most visited public art museum in Australia. When the gallery opened in…
5. Southbank Promenade
The Southbank Promenade runs along the southern edge of the Yarra River as a wide, paved walkway lined with restaurants and outdoor cafes. Before the late nineteen eighties, this stretch was a collection of gritty, industrial wharves and…
6. Melbourne Skydeck
The Melbourne Skydeck occupies the top ten floors of the Eureka Tower, a jagged shard of blue glass and white stripes that pierces the skyline of Southbank. When the tower opened in two thousand six, its gold-plated crown was designed to…
7. Crown Melbourne
The Crown Melbourne complex stretches across two city blocks with a sprawling facade of dark glass and gold-tinted windows. When the casino first opened in nineteen ninety-four at a temporary site across the river, it was the first…
8. Polly Woodside
The Polly Woodside is a three-masted, iron-hulled barque permanently moored in the Yarra River. Built in Belfast in eighteen eighty-five, she spent decades hauling coal, grain, and general cargo across the oceans. Captain William MacIntyre…