Things to do in Fitzroy, Melbourne

Visit Melbourne’s Fitzroy neighbourhood for live music pubs, high quality vegan restaurants, Brunswick Street fashion shops and Rose Street Artists Market. Top spots include the Evelyn Hotel, Transformer and Naked For Satan.

The Fitzroy neighbourhood, to the north-east of Melbourne city centre, is almost as cool as the hip restaurant and street art-packed CBD laneways. Snoop around on a Sunday afternoon, and the Brunswick Street bars are buzzing. Most Fitzroy pubs, such as the Evelyn Hotel and the Provincial seem to have live musicians strumming away at their guitars on makeshift stages.

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Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.

Things to do in Fitzroy, Melbourne: Brunswick Street attractions

Brunswick Street, the main thoroughfare of Fitzroy, does a good job of encapsulating Melbourne’s soul. There are still some pretty scrappy public housing estates along it, but they’re mixed in with gorgeous old pubs that have been refurbished and reenergised to move with the times.

There’s also a plethora of vegetarian and vegan restaurants near the top end of Brunswick Street. These meat-free restaurants are making a serious effort to impress, too. Transformer is an old transformer warehouse. This popular Fitzroy restaurant has a massive shed-like look and plants clambering over seemingly every available space. The menu is bold too. It is not trying to replace meat dishes with vegetarian ingredients, but creating dishes based on the strength of said vegetarian ingredients.

It’s part of the Fitzroy neighbourhood’s green, hippy streak. This can be seen quite obviously in the colourful, floaty dresses on sale in many of the Brunswick Street fashion shops.

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Great Ocean Road tour – with koalas 🐨.
Brighton Beach, Moonlit Sanctuary and Phillip Island tour – with penguins 🐧.
Yarra Valley wine tour – with gin, cider and cheese 🍷.
Grampians National Park tour – with bushwalks and LOADS of kangaroos 🦘.
Mornington Peninsula tour – with hot springs bathing 🛀.
Wilsons Promontory tour – with all manner of native wildlife 🦘🐨.
Dandenong Ranges steam train ride – plus wildlife at Healesville Sanctuary and chocolate-tasting in the Yarra Valley.

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Things to do in Fitzroy, Melbourne: Rose Street Artists Market

But the Rose Street Artists Market is the best example of the Fitzroy neighbourhood’s eclectic flair. At the Rose Street Artists Market, anything goes as long as it’s creative. Stalls sell vegan leather bags and rewired vintage speakers designed to play whatever’s on your phone via Bluetooth. Also expect Japanese-style paintings on mulberry bark paper, soy candles and colourful backpacks made by a non-profit organisation in Tanzania.

Rose Street Artists Market in Melbourne's Fitzroy neighbourhood — The Rose Street Artists Market is one reason to visit Melbourne’s Fitzroy neighbourhood. Others include live music pubs, vegan restaurants and Brunswick Street fashion shops. Photo by David Whitley/ Australia Travel Questions

Brunswick Street is also a fabulous place to eat out. Within a block or two, you’ll find Japanese, Thai, Indian, Spanish, Vietnamese, Mexican, Ethiopian and an Asian-style hawker food court.

There’s also Naked For Satan, named in honour of a clandestine vodka distiller who distilled in his underpants and would sell his wares on the sly on Sundays when the pubs were closed by law. People would come with empty bottles to be filled with “Satan’s vodka” during the Great Depression. Now, of course, this Brunswick Street bar can sell vodka on Sundays perfectly legally, and does so in a series of weird and wonderful flavours including Cherry Ripe, lychee and ginger, and cinnamon and chilli.