Melbourne Creative City Walking Tour

Join us for an immersive 3-hour walk through Melbourne’s creative heart. Starting with First Nations stories at Bunjilaka, we’ll move through iconic laneways, street art, coffee hotspots, and a mix of independent and institutional art spaces. This tour blends cultural insight, architectural commentary, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into artist-run spaces, studios, architecture and local culture.
Ideal for curious travelers, creatives, and culture lovers alike. You will learn about local stories, off the beaten track information and reccomendations. Come walk the city’s layered stories with us.

Tour highlights include Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Craft Victoria, Hosier Lane, Anna Schwartz Gallery, Degraves and Flinders Lanes, Blindside Gallery and the Nicholson Building, Fed Square, NGV Australia, Buxton Contemporary, and ACCA. Discover art, architecture, coffee culture, and Melbourne’s creative spirit on foot.

Extra options avalible for foodies and coffee lovers.

Meeting Point

Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre (Museums Victoria)

11 Nicholson St, Carlton VIC 3053, Australia

Meet out front of the museum, your guide will be wearing a black cap.

What's included:

• Public bathrooms along the way

What to expect:

Duration: between 3 hours and 4 hours

Degraves Street

Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Begin the tour with an Acknowledgement of Country and a grounding in Wurundjeri/Woi Wurrung connection to place. Explore First Nations perspectives on deep time, resilience, and storytelling through the Bunjilaka Centre’s powerful exhibits. Learn about how colonial and Indigenous histories intersect in the Carlton Gardens museum precinct. Reflect on the gentrification of creative neighbourhoods and the risks of cultural erasure.
Optional coffee stop nearby: Morning Market, Napier Quarter, or Black Cat.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Craft Victoria

Watson Place, off Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Engage with Melbourne’s history of contemporary craft, where design meets fine art. Learn about the importance of material-led practice, sustainability, and place-based making. Option to explore current exhibitions or the curated design shop.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Hosier Lane

Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

A globally recognised street art laneway, Hosier Lane represents Melbourne’s urban creative identity. Discuss the relationship between graffiti, gentrification, and civic branding. Explore how laneway art continues to evolve.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Anna Schwartz Gallery

185 Flinders Ln, Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Visit one of Australia’s leading commercial contemporary art galleries. Discuss how galleries like Anna Schwartz have shaped international careers and supported critical, conceptual work. Compare this model with artist-run initiatives and smaller creative spaces that we will later visit

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Degraves Street

Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Walk Melbourne’s most iconic laneways: Degraves, Centre Place, and Flinders Lane. Learn about the evolution of Melbourne’s coffee culture, informal economies, and how these spaces became symbolic of creative urban life. Pause for a quick cafe stop if desired.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Blindside Gallery

37 Swanston St, Level 7, Room 14, Nicholas Building, Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Visit this historic hub of artists, designers, and small studios. Learn about Blindside, an artist-run initiative showcasing experimental contemporary art. Walk through the shared creative spaces and hear about the campaign by artists to protect the building’s cultural use through heritage listing.

20 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Fed Square

Swanston St, Flinders St, Melbourne, 3000, Victoria

Unpack the bold architectural design of Fed Square—controversial, civic-minded, and highly debated. Discuss the tension between public and commercial interests in urban design. Highlight surrounding institutions:
NGV Australia (The Ian Potter Centre): Australian art

Koorie Heritage Trust: First Peoples cultural continuity

ACMI: Screen culture and digital futures

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Not Included

Buxton Contemporary

Cnr Southbank Boulevard and Dodds St, Southbank, Adjoins Victorian College of the Arts campus, Melbourne, 3006, Victoria

Explore the University of Melbourne’s contemporary art gallery: Buxton. Consider how private collections become public resources. Visit the nearby MPavilion (seasonal), a civic space for experimental architecture and community programming.

10 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art

111 Sturt St Southbank, , Melbourne, 3006, Victoria

End at ACCA—Melbourne’s leading space for large-scale, experimental art. Discuss the architecture (corten steel, bold civic form), and use the nearby Vault sculpture ("Yellow Peril") to reflect on shifting attitudes toward public art. Understand ACCA’s vital role in supporting contemporary practice alongside the neighbouring VCA and Malthouse precinct.

30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included