An Afternoon & Evening in Melbourne's Best Hidden Bars

Melbourne's greatest charms are hidden away in its iconic laneways. To find the best street art, cafes, and restaurants, you often need to venture off the main streets, and this is no less true for Melbourne's best bars. The Central Business District's (CBD) increasingly crowded spaces have seen an explosion of creative new bars over the past decade, tucked away in laneways, backrooms, basements, rooftops, car parks, and even on an island in the Yarra River.

This embarrassment of riches can be daunting for somebody with only a few days to spend in Melbourne. This itinerary will take the discerning visitor on a guided afternoon and evening of drinking across 10 of the CBD's finest small bars, hidden away in places an outsider might never find them. Even if you're not up for a marathon ten-venue pub crawl, this guide will help you decide between some of the more interesting drinking holes Melbourne has to offer, and hopefully sort the wheat from the chaff.