Queen Victoria Market: Melbourne Travel Guide (4.5★)

Melbourne’s first settlers are buried under the market. Part of the Old Melbourne Cemetery lies beneath the car park and sheds, and many graves were never moved. Above them, since 1878, the city has been buying its cabbages, lamb shoulders and cheap souvenirs.

Queen Victoria Market covers two city blocks between Queen, Victoria, Elizabeth and Peel Streets. It is one of the most-reviewed sights in Australia, and it gets crowded. You’ll enjoy it more if you plan around that.

Two blocks of sheds and halls

The layout makes sense once you know it. The brick and stone halls near Elizabeth Street hold fresh food. Behind them, long open-sided sheds under iron roofs run north towards Peel Street.

The sheds are open to the weather. In winter the wind comes straight through the produce aisles, and in a hot summer the roofs trap the heat. Dress for outside.

Working through the halls

Each section does one job, so choose your route before you set off:

• Meat Hall: butchers and fishmongers along a long hall, with stallholders calling out the day’s cuts.
• Dairy Produce Hall (the Deli Hall): a row of 1920s art deco shopfronts selling cheese, cured meats, olives and bread.
• Fruit and vegetable sheds: open aisles stacked with seasonal produce.
• General merchandise sheds: clothing, sheepskin boots, Australiana souvenirs and phone accessories.

If you only have an hour, cover the Deli Hall and the fruit and veg sheds. The merchandise sheds are fine to browse, but Melbourne shoppers come here for the food.

What to eat on your feet

Most people eat as they walk. The famous stop is the American Doughnut Kitchen, a food van that has sold hot jam doughnuts at the market since the 1950s. It always has a queue, but the line moves fast because the menu is so short.

The Deli Hall is the place to build a picnic. Buy bread from one counter, cheese from another and olives from a third. Many cheese stalls will let you taste before you buy, so ask. Then take everything to Flagstaff Gardens, about five minutes’ walk west.

Shopping the aisles like a regular

The produce stalls have their own customs:

• Bring a bag or a trolley. Regulars arrive with wheeled shopping carts and fabric bags. Plastic bags are not handed out freely in Victoria.
• Let the stallholder serve you. At many fruit stalls you point and they pick it for you. Ask before you start handling the stock.
• Pay by card or phone at most stalls. Tap-to-pay is standard. A few smaller stalls prefer cash, so keep a little on you.
• No tipping. Nobody in Australia expects a tip at a market counter.
• Watch the end of the day. As closing approaches, produce sellers often call out bulk deals to clear their stock. That is the time to buy a whole tray of mangoes.

Tell the butchers and delis exactly how much you want, by weight or by piece. The counters move quickly, and nobody minds you being specific.

Days, hours and the weekend crush

Check the day first: the market is shut on Monday and Wednesday. At the moment it opens 6am–3pm on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 6am–4pm on Saturday, and 9am–4pm on Sunday. Seasonal night markets and special events have their own schedules, so check the official website before you go.

On weekends the crowds last from 9am to 4pm, the whole time the market is open. If Saturday is your only day, go early. The doors open at 6am, and before 9am you can walk the aisles without being carried along by the crowd.

The best choice is a weekday morning: Tuesday, Thursday or Friday. Allow 1.5–2 hours to see the main halls, and longer if you plan to eat your way through.

Getting there and what’s next door

The market is inside Melbourne’s Free Tram Zone, so the tram ride costs nothing.

• Tram: Elizabeth Street routes stop at Queen Victoria Market, right beside the food halls. Route 58 runs along William Street on the west side.
• Train: Flagstaff Station on the City Loop is a short walk. Melbourne Central is about ten minutes south.
• Driving: there is car parking on the site, but redevelopment keeps changing it. Check the market’s website for current parking and rates.

Afterwards, Flagstaff Gardens is the nearest green space, and the State Library Victoria is a 10-minute walk down Swanston Street. Carlton and Lygon Street are a short tram ride north if you want a coffee after all those doughnuts.