Nomad Travel Guide: A Local's Guide To Fitzroy
My favourite not-so-secret spots for your weekend in Melbourne. Stay, eat, drink, shop and relax like a local in our 'hood.
Just a short tram ride from the Melbourne CBD, this gritty north-side neighbourhood is one of Melbourne's oldest, home to the city's famous street art scene and full of independent retailers, natural wine bars, some of Melbourne's best restaurants and most iconic pubs.
From Fitzroy and Collingwood's best coffee, markets and delis. To the best vintage shops, vinyl and book stores, local designer fashion and eclectic homewares. There's so much to Fitzroy to explore.
Here's a list of my favourites to get you started.
Fitzroy Markets
To get your weekend started make your way down Brunswick Street to Rose Street Artists Market for everything handmade. An iconic Fitzroy institution and a great stop for shopping local artists, handmade fashion and jewellery makers with a buzzing weekend market atmosphere.
Open every Saturday and Sunday 10am to 4pm
And The Fitzroy Mills just opposite for vintage clothes, food vans serving up pastries and coffee, local fruit & veg and fresh flowers.
Open every Saturday 9am to 2pm
Best Shopping In Fitzroy
Shopping in Fitzroy is best done by wandering and discovering. It's eclectic retail mix is focused on local independent designers, art, vintage and pre-loved fashion, furniture and book stores.
Walking the loop from Brunswick Street, to Gertrude street, down to Smith street and back along Johnston Street will help you find most of the gems.
Fitzroy Vintage Clothes & Fashion Shops
Traditionally Melbourne's creative heart and soul - Fitzroy is home to an eclectic mix of vintage clothing boutiques, independent fashion labels, and some of Melbourne's best pre-loved designer clothes shopping.
You'll find Lost and Found Market, American Vintage, Vintage Sole, Hunter Gatherer and other second hand fashion stores along Brunswick Street.
Assembly Label's Brunswick street store has their re-worn boutique, to pick up pre-owned pieces for great prices.
The fabulous Vintage Garage and Shag are both not to be missed on Smith Street. And Rose Chong Melbourne's iconic costume hire shop on Gertrude street for some fun.
Local labels Suku, Ansdorf, Gorman, Variety Hour, and Bùl all have their flagship stores in Fitzroy. And if you're looking for designer labels stop in at The Standard Store on Gertrude street.
Fitzroy Furniture & Interiors Shops
Similar to it's fashion - Fitzroy loves it's interiors vintage and eclectic too.
Smith Street has Grandfather's Axe, Modern Times, Angelluci and Smith Street Bazaar for showrooms full of beautiful mid-century, modern and antique furniture and art.
I love Nook Vintage and have fitted out my apartment with their up-cycled vintage furniture sourced from all over Victoria and lovingly restored by the owners.
Hay Interiors for Scandinavian style homewares and Maa Interiors on Johnston Street where you can shop Jacquie's earthy and eclectic homewares sourced from all over the world.
And of course there's us! The Nouvelle Nomad Fitzroy studio for Melbourne's home of vintage Moroccan rugs and handmade artisan wares.
(2024 update - our Fitzroy studio is now closed, thank you to everyone who visited over the last few years! Stay tuned for future Melbourne pops ups)
Where to Eat & Drink In Fitzroy
We’re lucky to live in the middle of a concentrated area of some of the best quality eateries in Melbourne. Built by Fitzroy's eclectic and culturally diverse communities, coffee snobs, and influential restauranteurs that make Melbourne the internationally recognised city that it is for food and dining.
If you’re in the mood for traveling with your taste buds you’ll find some of the best European style cafes, modern vegetarian concepts, gastro pub meals and Asian eats all within a few kms.
Best Street Food & Sandwiches In Fitzroy
For a quick bite, line up to grab a crispy pork Báhn Mì from any number of Vietnamese cafes and bakeries as you hit the pavement for a day of shopping.
Stop in at Tortas and Tacos for street tacos and a beer.
Or head to Nico's Sandwich Deli for New York style deli sandwiches, coffee and take away bloody marys. Feeding the masses from a hole in the wall since Covid, and is now a popular local’s corner hang.
Hectors Deli, Hi Fi and Falco on Smith Street all worth the walk (and usually a wait) too.
Best Coffee Shops In Fitzroy
It’s pretty hard to find a bad coffee in Fitzroy. Try Archies, Industry Beans or Burnside for a coffee stop and some breakfast.
Or head to Terror Twilight for a great veggie breaky or lunch with tunes on vinyl, healthy broth bowls, and a “mushroom mind’ addition to your latte for clarity and calm.
CIBI - is a must visit, beautiful Japanese design space, cafe and concept store. An expansive warehouse in the back streets of Collingwood serves a Japanese inspired breakfast or lunch, and plenty of tables available to pull out your laptop or notebook and stay a while.
Shop beautiful Japanese knives and artisan ceramics, imported sake and produce, gift packs, and design lead books while you’re there.
Alimentari - Is a long standing Melbourne food institution. European style deli with shelves stacked with produce and deli goods, and some of the best coffee, paninis, and porchetta rolls going round.
They have 2 locations, Alimentari Fitzroy on Brunswick Street for more corner cafe style, and Alimentari Collingwood on Smith Street for the larger restaurant venue and homewares store. Take a seat in the floral canopied courtyard out the back and order a vino with with your meal.
Best Restaurants In Fitzroy
Where to even start with this...
Dotted in amongst the back streets of Fitzroy's historic chocolate factory buildings and brick warehouses built for industry back in the day, that are now full of New York loft style appartments and some of Melbourne's best restaurants.
Here's a list of favourite Fitzroy and Collingwood restaurants ranging from mid-week noodles to fancy Saturday night wine bar for you to do your own research on...
For Asian eats - Piko Piko, Shop Ramen, Wabi Sabi Salon
For cocktails, wine bars and share plates - Amarillo, Poodle, Marion, Smith Street Bistrot, Napier Quarter, Transformer (vegetarian)
For pizza or pasta - Alta, Mario's, Ladro
The Best Pubs In Fitzroy
And of course - You can’t visit Fitzroy without visiting the best of Melbourne’s pubs, all in the space of a few blocks.
There’s an iconic pub on just about every corner - all dating back to modern Melbourne’s industrial beginnings, and with the old UK style front bar, dining room, open fires and sunny courtyards.
With all the sticky carpet, footy memorabilia, urban cowboy bar-flies, and heavily tattooed uni students pouring your beer that makes Fitzroy Fitzroy.
Some of the most iconic and locally loved pubs to try are:
The Standard - the local’s local. Biggest outdoor beer garden in Fitzroy so it's great for groups and relaxed pub meals
The Napier old school front bar and "Fitzroy heritage" decor dining room with open fire in Winter
The Marquis of Lorne affectionately known as the MOL. Great for a pint out the front in the afternoon sun, or a dinner with friends in the dining room upstairs. Bring your dog.
The Builders Arms for an elevated pub lunch or dinner, and great wine list on Gertrude street.
Where To Relax In Fitzroy
If all you’ve done is eat and drink for days (no judgement - that’s all I seem to do in Melbourne) you may want some time out to just be.
Fitzroy Swimming Pool is our local Summer time hang - set yourself up for the afternoon for a full Fitzroy cultural immersion, with the parade of locals sporting full body tattoos, budgie smugglers and hangovers. And then there’s the people there for actual swimming.
Sense of Self Bathhouse - inner city haven where they’re bringing back the ritual of communal bathing. A serene and calming warehouse conversion full of plants and natural light, with beautiful minimalist design, indoor heated plunge pools and steam rooms to relax in.
It's heaven for a few hours of calm.
And if you fancy a bit of yoga to round out your weekend, Good Vibes studio in Collingwood is beautiful - can highly recommend.
With it’s light space, minimalist style interior and zen rock garden. Classes are done to beautifully created playlists, mats are provided so it's easy to do a pop in, and with some great teachers.
If pilates is more your style then Good Time Pilates on Gertrude street is the place for you before popping in to Morning Market just near by to pick up a coffee and your weekend bunch of flowers.
So that's our tour of some our favourite spots in Fitzroy and Collingwood - What have we missed..?!
There's so much to Fitzroy and Collingwood that you should absolutely plan to spend a long weekend here exploring.
We look forward to welcoming you to our Fitzroy studio when you're here!
(Fitzroy studio now closed - stay tuned for future Melbourne pop ups!)
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