Inside hidden venue at Trinket — Photograph: Supplied/Carmen Zammit

Hidden Melbourne

Explore a different side to the city with our guide to hidden Melbourne – featuring secret art spaces, mysterious regional destinations and other secret shenanigans

Thursday 4 August 2022

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Email WhatsApp

Written by Time Out editors

Contributor: Adena Maier

Advertising

In a city so overrun by laneways, Melbourne certainly has a few hidden secrets. Whether it's hidden laneway bars, subterranean art spaces or places to go for a little quiet contemplation without crowds of people, you'll find these and more around Melbourne. With that in mind, we've put together a guide to the best of hidden Melbourne – a bucket list of all the unusual and clandestine things to do in and around Melbourne. Just don't tell anyone, OK?

Tick off our Melbourne bucket list while you're at it, or grab your phone and snap away at the city's most Instagrammable sights.

Secret places in Melbourne to explore

Shopping

Hidden retail gems in Melbourne

We've rounded up some of our favourite retail shops and spaces in Melbourne that are a bit more obscure

Attractions

The best secret gardens in Melbourne

Take a break from the city

Things to do

Mysterious destinations in Victoria worth travelling to

Make a beeline for some of these regional secrets

Things to do

10 other-worldly Melbourne locations

It's good to be surprised by our city every now and then

Attractions

Five epic secret swimming spots around Melbourne

If your mates have well and truly done the beach thing, a visit to one of these little-known swimming holes is the kind of outing they won't forget in a hurry

Bars

The best hidden bars in Melbourne

Is it even worth going to a bar if you can find it at street level? You could go to an above-ground bar like a schmuck, or you could find yourself uncovering a...

Melbourne's secrets revealed

Attractions

Step inside Cell 17, Old Melbourne Gaol's most haunted prison cell

Located unassumingly in a corner of the jail’s middle floor, the infamous Cell 17 has hosted some of the creepiest, most spine-tingling episodes

Things to do

9 mysterious Melbourne urban legends

Believe it or not, many of these are true

Things to do

The ultimate Melbourne scavenger hunt

Head out on this city-wide search for new sides of your city

Things to do

How well do you know Melbourne?

How well do you know Melbourne? The Time Out Melbourne team wants to put your local knowledge to the test, so we've compiled some trivia questions about...