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These days, popping holiday pics on Instagram is part and parcel of the travel experience for most of us.
And it takes on even greater significance if you’re a budding or established influencer — in which case, knowing where to get great shots on a first visit to a city like Melbourne is a must.
The Victorian capital is awash with photogenic experiences and while you could think big and book a private jet flight over the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) or cruise Port Phillip Bay on a luxury yacht, you’ll actually find Insta-worthy moments around almost every corner of this incredible city.
So, go forth and fill your feed! Here are ten of Melbourne’s most Instagrammable spots.
Watch our video of ten top things to do in Melbourne:
Top 10 Things to Do in MELBOURNE, Australia, 2026 | Ultimate Melbourne Travel Guide for First Timers
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1. Princes Bridge
On par with the grand 19th-century bridges of Europe (and indeed it’s thought to have been modelled on Blackfriars Bridge in London), the wonderfully ornate Princes Bridge spans Melbourne’s Yarra River and has marked the southern entrance to the city since construction was completed in 1888. Note the epic half granite columns supporting the Bridge’s three spans, and on top of each of them — the extravagant twin lamp standards (complete with the City of Melbourne coat of arms). Running north to south, Princes Bridge looks its best bathed in morning light. You can shoot selfies looking up at it from Flinders Walk (just take the steps or lift on the Federation Square side), or get panoramas of the CBD and river from up on the structure itself.
2. No 35 W-class trams
The Victorian capital’s tram network makes getting about a breeze, and the characterful W-class trams that trundle along the City Circle route are an Instagrammer’s delight! More than 750 W-class trams were built locally, but today only a small fleet remains in service. Nevertheless, the veteran vehicles continue to play a role in keeping Melbourne on the move. The heritage interiors feature leather seats, wooden sash windows, and Art Deco-style lighting. Practise your winsome window gaze and start snapping. Note: Safety is paramount around Melbourne’s trams. Watch for oncoming vehicles and protruding mirrors!
3. Hosier Lane
If you can’t take a photo worthy of your Insta page in Hosier Lane, you aren’t trying hard enough! The epicentre of Melbourne’s street art scene is literally caked in colourful works of art, ranging from tiny paste ups to multi-story murals with a social message to wield. In fact, it’s often said that if you stand still too long here, someone will paint right over the top of you! Getting Hosier all to yourself is nigh on impossible, but early mornings are the best time to try. From mid-morning onwards the laneway fills with phone touting tourists in search of that perfect shot.
4. Centre Place
Running off Flinders Lane towards Collins Street, nowhere defines Melbourne’s much admired laneway aesthetic quite like Centre Place. Gritty, grungy, and dimly lit, this bluestone thoroughfare is lined with small dining venues designated by roller doors and kooky neon signs. To be honest, the food can be hit and miss (although tiny Shandong Mama Mini is always a good bet), but the atmosphere can’t be beat. Due to the low light, it can be surprisingly hard to get a good photo of Centre Place. The steps at the laneway’s northern end (which lead up into Centreway Arcade) will give you some height over the maelstrom of Melburnians hurrying hither and thither.
5. Guildford Lane
Pick a laneway; any laneway in Melbs and you’re going to get some awesome shots. However, make a definite point of checking out Guildford Lane, which runs east to west between Queen and Sutherland Streets and is growing greener by the day. This oasis of lush foliage in the heart of the surrounding concrete jungle feels fresh and alive, and that’s likely to shine through in your pics. It all began back in 2017 with the Green Your Laneway pilot program, and Guildford has never looked back. Today its 19th and early 20th century factory buildings have been repurposed as cafes, eateries, boutique offices, and arts spaces, and plants spill out onto the sidewalk from every opening. Wear green and get your inner Kermit on.
6. National Gallery of Victoria
Just a hop, skip, and a jump across Princes Bridge and along St Kilda Road, the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is another plum spot for some ‘gramming and offers endlessly suitable settings for quality selfies. The waterfall entrance is one, as is the cavernous Grand Hall. It features a multicoloured stained-glass ceiling by Australian artist Leonard French, and you’ll often see photographers lying on the floor to capture the full effect. Up in the NGV Salon — styled to replicate the annual Paris Salon of the mid 19th century — priceless European works in gilded frames coat the walls, providing a stunning backdrop for your own creative vision.
7. State Library Victoria
Thanks to the incredible wealth yielded by the Gold Rush of the mid 19th century, Melbourne is peppered with some seriously beautiful buildings — any of which will be worth your while to photograph. We’re talking the Art Nouveau Flinders Street railway station, Melbourne Town Hall (a tale of two buildings actually), soaring St Paul’s Cathedral, the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Royal Exhibition Building (said to have been inspired by Florence’s Duomo (Cathedral), and the glittering ANZ Gothic Bank. However, it’s the State Library Victoria’s Domed Reading Room that sits head and shoulders (literally) above all others. This six-storey, light-filled octagonal shaped hall is remarkable for its proportions and exquisite Edwardian period detail. You’ll get some amazing shots both from the ground floor looking up, and from the balconies overlooking the wagon wheel formation of reading benches (which was based on Bentham’s 18th century panopticon design for prison buildings!).
8. Siglo Bar
Melbourne’s rooftop bar scene has boomed in recent years, and there are now Astroturfed venues serving drinks with a view right across the city. You could get great shots in any of them, but Siglo Bar is something special. Seated in a Parisian-style wicker chair, a fine champagne in your frame, it’s very easy to teleport you and your followers to Paris or Nice. The roofline of the neighbouring Princess Theatre — built in the distinctive French ‘Second Empire’ style — lends a certain je ne sais quoi to the proceedings, as does the columned facade of the Victorian parliament building across the way. Siglo is accessed through an unmarked door. Be brave. Just push it open and head on up the stairs. It’s a popular venue with the after-work fraternity and operates as a cigar bar, so get there right on opening to enjoy it sans a crowd and wafts of smoke!
9. Docklands Art Walk
Sitting at the western end of Melbourne’s CBD, The Docklands is almost a city within a city. Soaring office and residential towers pack the precinct, and public art has been used with great effect to soften the built environment at street level. So much so, that the art has become a drawcard in its own right and is fab to photograph. Download the Docklands Walking Tours app and check out 26 weird-and-wonderful pieces by predominantly Melburnian artists. It’s hard to miss the Cow Up a Tree by John Kelly, or the 23-metre-high Eagle by Bruce Armstrong. Keep an eye out for Signature Work — a large toy bunny and selfie magnet.
10. Lune Croissanterie
If you’re one of those travellers who believes that photographing their food is just as important as eating it, this final stop is for you. Melbourne’s Lune Croissanterie purveys fine flaky wares and has long been a darling of the Insta set. It now has three stores in the Victorian capital, two in Brisbane, and two on the way in Sydney. But, it’s their Melbourne CBD store on Russell Street that attracts most of the fuss.
The line to order can stretch out the door and around the block, and half the fun while standing in it is watching visiting influencers getting creative with their croissants in the street outside.
This post was published thanks to Air Charter Service.
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Additional images: Depositphotos, Bigstock, and Envato
About the writer
Adam Ford is editor of Top Oz Tours & Travel Ideas, and a travel TV presenter, writer, blogger, and photographer. He has travelled extensively through Europe, Asia, North America, Africa, and the Middle East. Adam worked as a travel consultant for a number of years with Flight Centre before taking up the opportunity to travel the world himself as host of the TV series Tour the World on Network Ten. He loves to experience everything a new destination has to offer and is equally at home in a five-star Palazzo in Pisa or a home-stay in Hanoi.
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