Melbourne/Carlton

From eTripTips Wiki

Carlton is a suburb which lies to the north of Melbourne's City Center. It is a colourful and vibrant area because of it being the traditional home of Melbourne's Italians as well as the strong student population presence with the University of Melbourne and RMIT University within the suburb's borders.

The suburb's epicentre is the restaurant-lined Lygon Street. Besides numerous Italian restaurants and pizzeria to choose from, the street is also home to countless cafes, making the suburb somewhat of a pilgrimage destination for Melbourne's coffee addicts.

Melbourne Museum, previously on Swanston Street in the City Center, is now located in the pretty Carlton Gardens and occupies the former Exhibition Buildings.

This district page also covers the suburb of Parkville (to the west of Carlton proper).

[edit] Get in

Lying a kilometre or two north of the City Center, Carlton and Parkville can be easily reached by road, tram, bus and even on foot.

[edit] By road

Most of the City Center's north-south streets extend into Carlton. Lygon Street is an extension of Russell Street in the city, Rathdowne Street is the extension of Exhibition Street, while Nicholson Street is connected directly to Spring Street. The city-end of the Eastern Freeway which goes out to Melbourne's eastern suburbs, is in Carlton. In Parkville, Royal Parade is the extension of Elizabeth Street.

From the airport, the easiest way to get to Carlton/Parkville would be to get off the City Link toll expressway at Flemington, proceed along Flemington Road to Grattan Street, which intersects Royal Parade (for Parkville), Lygon Street and ends at Rathdowne Street.

For those walking to Carlton, the best route to take is to continue from Russell Street to Lygon Street, where you get to start from No. 1 of this popular street. It is a little too far to walk to Parkville, especially to its attractions like the Melbourne Zoo, from the city center.

[edit] By tram

Carlton is well connected by tram from the City Center. Trams which serve Carlton are trams 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, 16, 64, 67 and 72, all of which can be caught along Swanston Street and St Kilda Road in front of Flinders Street station. All except trams 1 and 8 end at the University of Melbourne tram stop, which is just a short walk to Lygon Street. Trams 1 and 8 continue along Lygon Street (albeit a little north of all the action) to East Coburg and Moreland respectively in the north.

Nicholson Street (for Melbourne Museum) is served by Tram 96 which runs between East Brunswick in the north and St Kilda in the south. The trams can be caught along Spring Street, Bourke Street and Spencer Street in the City Center.

For Parkville, tram 19 runs along Royal Parade from Elizabeth Street. They continue to the northern suburb of North Coburg. Tram 55 (catch them along Willam Street Monday to Saturday, and along Elizabeth Street on Sunday) goes through Royal Park and passes by Melbourne Zoo.

[edit] By bus

The busiest part of Lygon Street is served by buses 200, 201, 203 and 207 (from Lonsdale Street in the City Center). Rathdowne Street is served by buses 250, 251 (both can be caught at Exhibition and Flinders Streets in the City Center) and 253 (Exhibition, Russel, Flinders Streets in the City Center and Queensbridge St in Southbank).

[edit] By train

Carlton is not served by Melbourne's suburban railway network while Royal Park station on the Upfield Line is the only station in Parkville. The station is next to Melbourne Zoo.

[edit] See

• Lygon St. Following World War II Carlton became an Italian neighborhood. In the 60s and 70s it became an intellectual and bohemian area. In the 80s renovators came in. Now Lygon St contains fashion shops and many restaurants, with Italian styles predominating.
• Carlton Gardens. Just north of Victoria St/Victoria Parade and between Rathdowne St and Nicholson St, on the fringe of the CBD. Within its grounds are:
  • Royal Exhibition Building. Built for the Great Exhibition of 1880. http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/reb/. Both have been included on the UNESCO World Heritage List
  • Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St. Every day 10am-5pm except Good Friday and Christmas Day. This excellent museum opened in its new building in 2000. If you look at everything thoroughly it might take you more than one day. If you want to come back the next day, keep your ticket and see if the attendants will let you back in with it. The entry fee though is extremely reasonable. Inside you can even get a complimentary copy of the weekday newspaper. $6 adult, children free. http://melbourne.museum.vic.gov.au/
• Royal Park. Huge park in Parkville, just north of the city centre. As well as parklands and sports facilities, it contains:
  • Melbourne Zoo, Elliot Ave. Every day 9am-5pm. Open till 9:30pm on selected summer evenings. A very popular Melbourne attraction it contains a large collection of native Australian and exotic animals, birds and butterflies. Average visit approx 4 hours. $21 adult, $10.50 child. http://www.zoo.org.au/
  • Australian native plants garden.

[edit] Do

• Melbourne IMAX Theatre, Rathdowne St. Films screen every day on the hour, every hour 10am-10pm, except Christmas Day.

[edit] Buy

[edit] Eat

Carlton's main eat street is Lygon Street [1], largely Italian interspersed with the odd Asian restaurant and pub.

[edit] Cafe/Deli

• Trotters [2], 400 Lygon Street. Tel: +61-3-93475657.
• Lygon Food Store

[edit] Dessert

• Brunetti, : 194-204 Faraday Street, : +61-3-9347-2801. A large Italian cafe, Brunetti does cake and coffee on a huge scale, with multiple counters and a ticket system to ferry you around. The Italian hot chocolate is worth it.
• Koko Black, : 167 Lygon Street, : +61-3-9349-2775. Koko Black is a chocolateria. You can order expensive chocolates by the kilo here, but most people visit for the hot chocolate. There are no reservations, and on busy winter nights there can be a 20-30 minute wait for a table.
• Il Dolce Freddo, Lygon Street: good gelati
• Cassa Del Gelato, Lygon Street: excellent gelati

[edit] Italian

• Pizza a Metro, : 29 Grattan Street, : +61-3-9663-4778. Pizza a Metro serves pizza and pasta. The pizza is Italian-style: simple but tasty toppings. Unusually, the pizza is sold by the meter, in 20 centimeter (8 inch), 50 centimeter (1.6 foot) and 1 meter (3.2 foot) servings, each 20 centimeters across. Students claim that the appropriate pizza ratio is about 1.5 meters of pizza for every 6 people; diners will definitely want to stick to a 20 centimeter serve unless they're sharing.
• Tiamo 2, Lygon Street.
• I Carusi, Lygon Street, North Carlton
• University Cafe, 257 Lygon Street. Tel:+61-3-93472142

[edit] Japanese

• Kumichan: Provides good value Japanese.

[edit] Thai

• Thai Thalia, Lygon Street, North Carlton.

[edit] Vegetarian

• Shakahari's, Faraday St. For fancy but not overpriced vegetarian food.

[edit] Drink

[edit] Coffee

If Melbourne's coffee culture has a home, it is the Italian precinct surrounding Lygon St. There are numerous outlets, almost too many to list. Here are some of the more outstanding ones worth trying:

• Brunetti's, [3] 198-204 Faraday St. Tel: +61-3-93579499. This is a Melbourne institution for good coffee and a fiendish selection of Italian sweets and gelato. The cafe also pioneered the now ubiquitous use of gas heaters to let customers sit outside, even in the winter months. Hours: Sun–Fri 7am–11pm; Sat 7am–midnight.
• Tiamo 1, 303 Lygon St. Tel: 61-3-93475759: A traditional, no-fuss Roman style espresso bar beloved by Mafia bosses and those seeking an authentic espresso.
• Grinders Coffee House, 277 Lygon Street. Tel: 61-3-93477520: The family behind Grinders has not only been supplying Melbourne's cafes with coffee since the 1960's but at their first store you can also get a shot of your favourite brew. Hours: Mon–Thurs 9am–5.45pm; Fri 9am–6pm; Sat 9am–12.45pm.

[edit] Sleep

• Rydges Carlton Melbourne, 701 Swanston Street ph 1300 857 922 - Easy access to Carlton Gardens, Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne Museum, IMAX theatre, Mebourne Zoo, National Gallery of Victoria, Victorian Arts Centre, Flemington Racecource, Southgate Shopping Centre, Crown Casino, MCG and Telstra Dome. Rydges Hotels and Resorts is an Austrailian owned and operated company.

[edit] Contact