Lost and Found

NGV International

Of Melbourne's one million galleries, this one's the real heavy hitter. As well as a mind-blowing permanent collection featuring the likes of Jackson Pollock, Turner and Rodin, NGV International hosts touring exhibitions that put the 'u' in 'I'm going to this blockbuster'. The shop covers all your difficult gift requirements.
180 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

Federation Square

Formerly Melbourne's most annoying building site, Fed Square is now the heart of the city. Home of jugglers, wanderers and soccer fans glued to the Big Screen. You can also see a Godard film at ACMI, eat kangaroo, check out Australia's only weekly book market and learn Tai Chi!
Corner Swanston and Flinders streets, Melbourne

Ron Robertson Swann, Vault

Nicknamed 'The Yellow Peril' in 1978, this angular sculpture didn't last long at its original location in the City Square. To be honest, people could have been a bit nicer about it. But don't judge Ron Robertson Swann's Vault according to '70s fashion. Who are you? Dame Edna?
111 Sturt Street, Southbank

City Museum at the Old Treasury

Feel like a city founder? Grow your moustache and prowl the corridors of the City Museum there's gold in that there basement, and the exhibitions will learn you about the city. (Look for the red sign poking out of Spring Street like the tail fin of a crashed Qantas jet.)
Spring Street (top end of Collins Street), Melbourne

ACCA

This magnificent, rusty mountain looms over the Victorian College of the Arts like Uluru over Alice, giving the art students something to aim for. Cutting-edge contemporary art exhibitions appear five times a year, and coffee appears every day in the foyer. Art: free. Caffeine: worth the money.
111 Sturt Street, Southbank

Alice Euphemia

Packed with Australian fashion's glitterati, this store has a name longer than the time it takes to get there from Flinders Street. A must-visit in the Nicholas Building, it's packed with labels like Romance Was Born, TV and Marnie Skillings. Mind the step, speedy. They're fed up telling you.
Shop 6, Cathedral Arcade, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne

Hamer Hall

Formerly known as the Concert Hall, this is the place to see concerts and classical music at surprisingly affordable prices, especially if you turn up for student rush. Weird facts: 1) It seats 2500 but feels cosy. 2) It has posh seats, and mosh pits. Ask Patti Smith.
100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

MTC Theatre

The Melbourne Theatre Company's new home is a geometric wonder on Southbank Boulevard – and watching the movie Cube might help you find the entrance. Watch Hollywood heavyweights flex their acting muscles alongside new faces, many straight in from Victorian College of the Arts next door.
140 Southbank Boulevard, Southbank

CH2

This building is so green it would pretty much grow if you watered it. The City of Melbourne's new home uses basically no energy. It has a freaky water sculpture in the foyer, a rooftop garden and an organic cafe. Like Terminator 2, Council House 2 was worth the wait. 240 Little Collins Street, Melbourne

the Arts Centre

Pointier, at least, than the Eiffel Tower, and with a vaguely x-rated light show spurting from the top at night, the Arts Centre's spire is a beacon for the city's music and theatre fans. Delve underneath to explore the hushed corridors of thespian power. No climbing the lattice.
100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne

View Lost and Found Volume 04 - Letters in a larger map