Queen Victoria Market

Queen Victoria Market is Melbourne's largest open-air market and one of Australia's most visited landmarks, occupying a heritage-listed site of approximately seven hectares at the northern edge of the CBD near the corner of Queen and Victoria streets. The market has operated continuously since 1878, making it one of the Southern Hemisphere's oldest and largest retail markets, and it functions as a genuine working market rather than a heritage reconstruction. Trading days vary: Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Friday through to late afternoon, and Saturday and Sunday through the middle of the day.

The food offering spans both raw produce and prepared food. The Deli Hall, a long covered shed running the length of one block, is the most atmospheric food section of the market, lined with long-established delicatessen stalls selling smallgoods, cured meats, artisan cheeses, pickles, and preserves from European migrant communities that have traded here for generations. A German bratwurst stall has operated for decades and draws a consistent queue at most trading hours. Fresh produce stalls occupy the open sheds to the south, selling vegetables, fruit, fresh herbs, and flowers at pricing typically below supermarket rates.

Street food and cooked food stalls concentrate in the upper market and surrounding walkways, with options covering Vietnamese, South American, and Mediterranean cuisines alongside the more established Australian-European offerings. On summer evenings from November through March, the Summer Night Market converts the site into a food festival format with live music and a roving selection of street food vendors.

Cooking tours through the market are offered by a network of operators who take small groups through the food halls and into a kitchen session using market ingredients — a structured way for visitors to engage with both the Deli Hall and the produce sections.