Carlton is in Melbourne.

Get in

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

Carlton Gardens is 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/
• 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

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.

Do

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

Buy

Eat

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

• Brunetti, 194-204 Faraday Street, ☎ +61-3-9347-2801 (fax: +61-3-9347-9152). 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.

• Pizza a Metro, 29 Gratton 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.

Drink

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.

Contact