Melbourne Nightlife Guide: Best Bars, Live Music, Laneways After Dark and the World's Greatest Music City

Melbourne's claim to the world's finest bar and live music culture per capita is well-supported by the evidence: the city consistently produces the highest concentration of live music venues, independent bars, and after-midnight venues of any comparable city in the world, and the extraordinary laneway bar culture that developed in the 2000s has created a nightlife environment that is genuinely unique. Unlike Sydney (which has experienced significant lockout law disruption), Melbourne's licensing environment has been relatively supportive of late-night hospitality, and the result is a nightlife scene that is vibrant, diverse, and accessible across all price points.

Laneway bars — Melbourne's laneway bar culture is the city's most internationally recognised contribution to hospitality: Bar Americano (the world's smallest bar, standing room only, 12 people maximum), Eau de Vie (the finest cocktail bar in Australia, Malthouse Lane), Campari House (rooftop, Little Collins), Double Happiness (China Town laneway, the best martini in Melbourne), and the dozens of unmarked bars accessible through nondescript doorways and up staircases across the CBD laneways provide an after-dark exploration that is completely unlike any other Australian city.

Live music venues — Melbourne's live music scene is the most active in Australia: the Corner Hotel (Richmond, the finest mid-size live music room in Australia), the Palais Theatre (St Kilda, the finest heritage concert venue in Melbourne), the Forum Melbourne (CBD, beautiful 1929 cinema conversion), the 170 Russell Street venue, and hundreds of pub rooms across the inner suburbs from Fitzroy to Collingwood to Footscray provide an extraordinary range of live music across every genre every night of the week.

Fitzroy and Collingwood — the Smith Street and Gertrude Street precincts of Fitzroy and Collingwood provide Melbourne's finest concentrated bar, pub, and live music district: the Grace Darling Hotel, the Napier Hotel, the Standard Hotel (Fitzroy), the Old Bar (one of Australia's finest small live music rooms), and the dozens of wine bars and cocktail bars along Smith Street and Johnston Street create a nightlife precinct that is genuinely excellent across multiple blocks.

St Kilda after dark — Fitzroy Street and Acland Street in St Kilda provide Melbourne's most traditional entertainment strip: the Esplanade Hotel (the Espy, recently restored and one of Melbourne's landmark live music venues), the George Lane Bar, the Prince of Wales Hotel, and the Vineyard Bar provide a comprehensive St Kilda nightlife experience from sunset to the early hours.

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