Before the Lily Wunders blog came to be, there was the @LilyWunders Instagram. Actually, I used to be @elle_dubs_ (get it? L? W? El-Dubs?).
I started at just over 500 followers on a personal account in October 2018.
Then, I went to Italy, and my Instagram blew up.
The moral of the story is: if you want to grow on Instagram, go to Italy and take a shitton of pics.
You think I’m kidding. I am not.
After that boost, I then went to the Southwestern USA, followed by the south of France, then New Zealand.
But this post isn’t about those places. It’s about Melbourne: a city that everyone told me would be like Boston, my hometown. A city that boasts classic Gothic architecture, quirky neighborhoods – each with its own local flavour, and an eclectic and thoughtful food scene. A something for everyone.
All of which Boston has, but Melbourne does better.
Don’t @ me.
To be fair, I might just be dazed that Melbourne’s public transportation system actually works. I’m still traumatized by my 40-minute delay on the red line one August four years ago, as the AC screeched to a halt. I watched the ice in my cold brew melt and turn into tepid slop. The smell of fifty sweaty underarms camped out in my nose. Who knew Satan’s armpit lived on a subway car in Boston?
But Melbourne isn’t like that. Melbourne knows better.
Have you ever visited a place and were struck with how familiar everything was? That the stories you’d lived in your childhood – you could have live here instead? That everything came with ease and that you practically glided through a first-time experience that felt like a tenth-time experience? Melbourne was that for me.
Here’s a list of my top 5 Instagram Spots in Melbourne, the Most Liveable City in the World, and steps on how you can get the shot you want.
1. Flinders Street Station
A heavyweight on any Instagram Spots in Melbourne list, Flinders Street Station stands in the heart of the city. It’s the first railway station in an Australian city and also boasts the longest passenger platform at in Australia at 708 meters long. It’s also the busiest station in Australia.
Whew. That’s a lot.
The Set-Up
The external front façade of Flinders Street station faces a pedestrian crossing.
Your first idea is that the best chance of getting a photo without being run over by a vehicle is to stand all the way diagonally across from the station (where there is a church), but unfortunately, this area is so far away away that the frame begins to be criss-crossed by power lines. I could the option of standing here working if you have a powerful zoom lens (larger than 70mm).
The other way to do it is to wait patiently in the middle of the intersection where the trams run. I don’t recommend doing it this way, as you literally have 2-3 seconds to snap a shot in the freaking middle of an intersection, before crowds of people jostle into the shot again.
But it’s being done! See below. Please keep in mind that these people are literally standing in the middle of a freaking avenue with car traffic. Because I’m not about that life, I didn’t take that photo. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
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This space is crowded. Not Instagram-crowded, but actually crowded with people with places to go and things to do. They’re thinking about whether to have a meatless Monday or how much studying they can get away with to just pass the exam tomorrow. My point being: choose a time early in the morning to shoot with fewer people in your frame.
Photo Ideas
1. Flinders Street Front. This one is the easy one. Shoot this from the sidewalk from across the street or carefully snap a quick photo while you cross during a red light.
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2. The Creative Shot. You might resort to this shot if you, like me, aren’t willing to sacrifice your safety for a good photograph for the gram. Walk the outside perimeter of the station and find an interesting frame to build a creative shot (like the one I’ve shot here).
If you have the time, go inside the station and find creative angles to bring out the station’s architecture.
2. Hosier Lane
If you’re thinking about visiting Melbourne, you’ve 100% heard about Hosier Lane. It’s the most well-known (read: touristy) strip of street art that the city has, and appears on ev-er-y listicle on top Instagram spots in Melbourne.
Regardless, these walls dazzled me. Since I have the attention span of a four year old on a sugar high, I wondered at the time that each of these murals took. They were hard-hitting. Eloquent. Grittily beautiful.
The Set-Up
Hosier Lane is a small area (you can cover the entire area in minutes) enclosed with walls of murals and street art on either side. It’s fairly crowded with visitors, and trash bins, and some drug dealers. None of which should dissuade you from visiting during the day. The only barrier preventing you from taking kickass photos here are other people. Be patient, and thou shalt be rewarded.
Photo Ideas
1. The Tourist Shot. Not all tourist shots are bad! Center the subject in the middle of the alley to showcase the street art from either side and say cheese! Although you won’t get a good shot of any of the art in detail, this shot screams “I’m in Melbourne! I’m a tourist!” in the best way possible.
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2. The Pose and Look. This is a favorite of mine, and the perfect way to showcase some cool-ass street art in detail.
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If you have the confidence to pull it off (I definitely do not), do the Instagram squat for max effect. See below for a badass illustration.
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3. The Classic Stride-By. Motion creates interest in the photo. I shot this one by setting up my tripod on the opposite wall. I set up my remote (my phone) and held it in my left hand. By walking slowly and clicking the remote incessantly with my left thumb, I was able to get the entire wall in shot while including action in the photo.
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3. St. Kilda Pier
I’ll admit it – I didn’t really understand what the deal was with St. Kilda Pier. It showed up on all the top instagram spots in Melbourne lists. It’s not easy to get to if you’re staying in Melbourne proper. The photos were aight, but not stunning.
And then I discovered what it was: St. Kilda Pier is home to a colony of fairy penguins. What the ever fuck are fairy penguins, you ask?
Haha. Just kidding.
This. This is a fairy penguin. They’re the smallest species of penguin in the world (about 13 inches or 33 cm in size).
This is what I was supposed to be watching for, but penguins there were not.
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The Set-Up
St. Kilda Pier, built in 1853, is a long boardwalk pier situated to the south of Melbourne. I was so exhausted from my lengthy visit to the Brighton Beach Boxes (see number 5) that I had no strength to find the beauty here.
So I took a break. And in this issue of #RareFoodCombinations, I ate some french fries and drank a glass of wine.
Sufficiently sated with grease and alcohol and carbohydrates,I ventured out again into the cold to see if St. Kilda had gotten any prettier.
It hadn’t.
It was just that – a pier, without any architectural wonder or any particular grace. That was fine. I don’t need to see hot air balloons or long-cold breakfast spreads to make a photograph worthwhile. Families and couples trotted up and down the pier while I set up my tripod in front of the restaurant building.
Photo Ideas
1. Standalone Pier Shot. This one is easy, but you should wait for the correct lighting. Use the rule of thirds or get a symmetrical shot. For the best effect, shoot during golden hour or during sunrise and sunset.
This one here is a beautifully shot long-exposure (see the silky water) with a neutral density filter, with a moody edit.
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2. Portrait Shot. I chose this shot because I wasn’t happy with any of the photos I’d taken of the pier, which were lacklustre and uninspiring. A portrait shot with the subject of interest in the background is a great way to note that You Were Actually There if the circumstances around the shot are difficult.
4. The LaTrobe Reading Room at the State Library Victoria
Clocking in at number 4 on my list of Top Instagram Spots in Melbourne is the State Library Victoria.
This library is beautiful. It is a work of art. It is an architectural thing of beauty. It is a wonderland of towering shelves of books, free-to-enter exhibitions, and delicately designed domed ceilings.
Located in the center of Melbourne, it was established in 1854, making it Australia’s oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the entire world. It holds over 2 million books and hundreds of thousands of other paraphernalia – photographs, manuscripts, and newspapers.
The shot you want is of the Dome Reading Room (now known as the LaTrobe Reading Room). It’s in a meticulously designed octagonal space, where the ceiling slopes and soars into a majestic 5-meter wide oculus. It can house up to 600 readers!
The Set-Up
There are 3 levels to view the reading room from. Each level is bedecked with beautiful and informative exhibition displays.
One of these levels is accessible by elevator, but the rest of them are more easily accessible by staircase. Depending on the level of the platform, you’ll be able to see the reading room from different heights.
Photo Ideas
1. The Straight Shot. Since the architecture of the room is painfully symmetrical, it makes the most sense to shoot a symmetrical photo. Line the end of the room up to the center of your viewfinder and shoot.
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2. The Look-Down. This shot is only attainable if you have someone else take the photo, or if you’re willing to leave your expensive camera and tripod by itself while you run down and get a single photo for the Gram. I do not recommend the latter.
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If you are lucky to have a companion, ask them to stand at one level while you go down a flight of stairs and pose facing towards the reading room. No need to touch up your lipstick or stare off into the distance here. Easy-peasy.
5. Brighton Beach Boxes
I saved the best for last! The Brighton Beach Boxes take forever to get to.They are not technically in Melbourne. They’re in Brighton, an affluent coastal suburb on the outskirts of Melbourne.
I Google Mapped the f out of this place and took a tram and a bus to get out here. As the little blue icon inched sluggishly away from Melbourne, I got more and more worried.
When I finally hopped off the bus, pretending like I knew what the hell what I was doing, I found myself here. This is what an affluent coastal suburb apparently looks like.
A 7-10 minute walk led me to the coast, where signs pointed clearly to the direction of the boxes.
These 82 neatly lined little huts are a hark-back to Victorian times, where they existed to preserve the dignity of beachside changers. Times have changed since then in swimwear fashion and what counts as “dignity”, but the boxes haven’t. Not much, at least.
The Set-Up
This is one of the most popular instagram spots in Melbourne. Because of this, expect this area to be crowded with photographers and visitors – although I visited when there was strong sea chill and left me with wind-whipped hair. By the end of the visit, my hair had gathered into a single misshapen mass.
(I was even wearing a scarf in August, for crying out loud), it was crowded.
I can imagine that in the summer months, it’s even more so.
Photo Ideas
1. The Full Frontal Pose. Experiment with sitting and standing in front of a favorite box. Lean against the platform. Sit cross-legged (like this photo of yours truly here). Fix your gaze slightly off center or to the side.
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See my smile? That’s me trying to grimace through unceasing windchill and trying (and failing) to finger-comb the tangles in my hair.
2. The Classic Portrait. This is an excellent way to capture a colourful still backdrop. Look at the lens. Or not. There are really no rules for this one.
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3. The Angled Shot. You might want to showcase exactly where you are by including the entire length of the beach huts, side-by-side. For this shot, set up a tripod or have a friend (or stranger!) stand off to the side. Make sure several other huts are in the frame, and shoot away.
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Did you like this post on Instagram Spots in Melbourne? Go ahead and share!
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I have recognized the library because of Masterchef hahaha. Anyways, they say that Melbourne is one of the most Mediterranean-like cities in Australia and these spots definetely look the part. Thank you for compiling them and I will save them for my trip next year down under.
Oh I must have missed that episode! It seems like such a good candidate to be on the show (location-wise, so I’m not surprised). Thanks for reading, Jenn – I really found the city really accessible and lovely.
Is there anything better than Brighton Beach Boxes, I want to go there and take like a gazillion pictures. But love all these places and not just for pictures the tourist aspect is cool too.
Absolutely – it’s just perfect for taking photos. They’re all worth a visit in their own right, you are totally right, Tamara.
– Lily
Melbourne is said to be a beautiful and comfortable city.
Nice ideas to visit though I believe there are even more.
Even pinguins..
Great advice! Love your blog 🤗
Thanks so much Ann! I’m glad you enjoy it.
I’ve never been to Melbourne, but now I want to go! Beautiful photos. Thanks for the great tips.
Jamie thanks so much for reading! If you do, make sure you get some awesome photos.
Loving the photos. Adding this on my bucket list for next year. This will be very useful. 🙂
Thanks so much for reading, Lenai! Should definitely Add Australia to your visit list.
The photos in this post are amazing. I’ve never thought of Melbourne as a travel destination but now I want to do it for the gram. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Kimberley! We do do a lot (too much?) for the gram 😉
Thanks for sharing Lily. This information was definitely useful. I will be saving it, so when I visit soon I can reference it.
Gladys.
Gladys thank you so much for reading! I know you’re visiting Melbourne soon, and I really hope you have an amazing time! It’s such an accessible and lovely place to be – totally stress-free to visit as a traveler.