Flinders Street Station

Flinders Street Station stands at the corner of Flinders and Swanston streets in the Melbourne CBD, on a site that has served as the city's main railway terminus since 1854 and in its current Edwardian-Baroque form since 1910. The building's yellow-domed facade, copper cupolas, and row of clocks above the main Swanston Street entrance -- historically listing the departure times of the next train on each line -- have made it Melbourne's default meeting point for generations, captured in the phrase "meet me under the clocks." Visitors typically spend 20 to 30 minutes admiring the exterior architecture, the grand main concourse with its curved ceiling, and the ballroom on the upper floor, which occasionally opens for public tours and events though is closed to casual visitors most of the time. As Melbourne's busiest station and the hub through which most metropolitan train lines converge, the concourse itself is in near-constant motion during weekday peak hours, while the building's exterior draws photographers throughout the day and into the evening, when the facade is lit and the clocks glow against the darkening sky. The best photo vantage point is from the steps of Federation Square directly opposite, framing the full dome and clock tower, or from St Paul's Cathedral's forecourt for an angled view down Flinders Street.