Cultural discovery - Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Check into your suite at Sofitel Melbourne, a luxury hotel at the Paris end of Collins Street. Sofitel Melbourne is in the heart of exclusive boutiques, theatres, and the galleries and restaurants of CBD laneways.

Superior room – Sofitel Melbourne

Sofi's / Sofitel Melbourne

Before you leave your urban oasis, discover the hotel's latest exhibition, which could include design, craft, photography, and painted and drawn works. Stop for a late breakfast at Caf é La on level 35 and take in the breathtaking views of Melbourne.

Wander through the Indigenous and contemporary art galleries, designer furniture show rooms and basement boutiques along Flinders Lane. Stop for lunch at Andrew Connell's latest venture, Cumulus, a light, white space, or open the heavy door to the low-key basement where Japanese restaurant Yu-U serves its yakitori menu.

Books can change the way you saw the world. See Melbourne a little differently at the city's annual celebration of books, writers and ideas.

BMW Edge / Federation Square

Literary leanings

ACMI / Federation Square

In recognition of its love of the written word, Melbourne was named a UNESCO City of Literature in 2008. This winter the annual celebration of ideas, words, and writers brings together more than 250 of the best wordsmiths from around the world.

Hear your literary heroes speak, or attend a masterclass, a reading, book launch or debate at Federation Square, Melbourne Town Hall, RMIT Capitol Theatre and other venues throughout Melbourne.

Grab a pre-theatre meal at the multi award-winning Moorish restaurant MoMo.

MoMo / Photo: Mark Chew

Jersey Boys / Original Broadway Cast

MoMo has reopened under the Grand Hyatt, with Greg Malouf resuming his place in the kitchen to create his famous Middle Eastern and Mediterranean fare.

It is a short walk to the historic Princess Theatre to see the all-singing, all-dancing musical JERSEY BOYS, the story of how four ordinary boys became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time.

Step off Spring Street and enter the unmarked Supper Club door to climb the stairs to Siglo, a rooftop salon at the top of the city. Check out the great views, the bar sheltered under a metal and glass pavilion, and the rooftop terrace paved in checkerboard squares set against the stunning backdrop of the Princess Theatre. Order a cognac, a cigar or a glass of something European.

Hit the red carpet with the hordes of film fans that migrate to Melbourne each winter when the Melbourne International Film Festival comes to town.

Forum Theatre

Falling / Melbourne International Film Festival

Coopers Festival Lounge

This year Melbourne's iconic trams are celebrated at a special festival event. MIFF invited filmmakers to submit their short film for the Lights, Camera, TRACKtion: Melbourne Shorts presented by Yarra Trams competition. Buy your tickets and find a seat to see these original 5-minute interpretations of the world's most extensive tram network.

Or choose from over 300 music documentaries, animation, shorts, features and more from Australia and around the world. Look out for forums with filmmakers, celebrity interviews, and Premiere Fund films making their international debut.

Ponder the city of the future, see craftspeople and designers create and help celebrate creative Melbourne.

State of Design Festival

Craft Victoria / Flinders Lane

Explore the city of 2040, watch the action of the Iron Designer public design battle, go behind the doors of Melbourne's design gems as part of the Open House program, at the the annual State of Design Festival.

Clever design ideas come out of the studio this winter. Victoria's peak design event, the festival recognises, exhibits and talks about good design with a series of events that aim to reveal how important design is to our future.

Take a seat at a new restaurant built into the fabric of Melbourne's newest music venue.

Melbourne Recital Centre / Photo: James Knowler

Melbourne Recital Centre / Photo: Peter Ganane

Music lovers can enjoy the fare of Tim Smith at the new restaurant at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Fabric is a great place for pre- and post- show dining, and is an outpost of the established Southbank bistro and bar of the same name.

The Melbourne Recital Centre is Melbourne's newest venue, and one of the most intricate music halls ever built. Take a seat in the intriguing, wood-lined 1000-seat Elisabeth Murdoch Hall or the more intimate 150-seat Salon to soak up the sounds of live performances by chamber ensembles, small orchestras, choirs, vocal ensembles, solo voices and instruments. The recital centre presents a busy program of up to 250 events a year and regularly commissions new work.

Seek refuge from Melbourne's winter in ancient Pompeii. Melbourne Museum recreates the Roman city and tells the story of its demise in A Day in Pompeii.

Two Pairs of Earrings / Photo: William Starling, Alabama, USA

Garden fresco / Photo: William Starling, Alabama, USA

Pots and serving dishes / Photo: William Starling, Alabama, USA

Take a seat in the 3D theatre and experience the spectacular eruption of Mount Vesuvius that buried the city. The city's art, architecture and the belongings of its citizens lay preserved under volcanic ash and debris for almost 2,000 years, until rediscovered by archaeologists in the early 1700s.

See more than 250 objects – many never shown before in Australia – that were unearthed and that tell of food and dining, shopping, medicine and religion in the ancient city. Exquisite objects include marble sculpture, gold jewellery and delicate frescoes.

Wander through the galleries to see Phar Lap or a living rainforest and learn about local Aboriginal history and culture at the largest museum complex in the Southern Hemisphere.

Stop for a little lunch at Von Haus. In typical Melbourne style, it's camouflaged behind an unmarked door.

Von Haus / Crossley Street

Glitzern / Crossley Street

Look closely and look again for the unmarked entry to Von Haus, a tiny cafe-cum-bar tucked away on Crossley Street. Join the diners at the long communal table and feel as if you have wandered into someone’s kitchen. The European farmhouse feeling is completed with cider on the menu and the way that your order turns up on enamel plates, or the occasional piece of floral tea service.

While you are in the neighbourhood, Crossley Street is worth the walk for its handmade shirts, contemporary jewellery at Gallery Funaki, vintage couture and the Becco Produce Store.

Time to farewell Melbourne and what better way to do it than with a drink at a bar designed by acclaimed local architects Six Degrees.

Three Below / City Square

Located in City Square, Three Below is a modern slant on the traditional Australian watering hole. The interior of the bar is based on the idea of being in a forest. Abstract tree trunks of concrete and steel, and simple focussed lighting create an intimate environment. Ceilings are a complex collection of fabric panels and timber doors from a Malvern house. Take a minute to marvel at the depth and breadth of creative talent in Melbourne and jot down a list of 'must-sees' for your next visit.