QUEEN VICTORIA MARKET MELBOURNE

If you haven’t been to Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, renowned for its 140+ years of heritage, you have missed out on an iconic experience in Australia. Famous as the most prominent fresh produce market in the nation, the lively marketplace stretches over two blocks housing more than 600 stores. From fresh veggies and fruits to street food, clothes, souvenirs, and live entertainment, Queen Victoria Market has everything you can imagine.

Queen Victoria Market, the iconic landmark of Melbourne, Australia was publicly opened on March 20, 1878. This marketplace has been serving the residents of the city for over 140 years. It has undergone numerous changes and of late, been included in the National Heritage List. It’s one of the most prominent places to visit in Melbourne, the capital of Australia and the country’s most significant fresh product market.

Queen Victoria Market popularly called Queen Vic or Vic Market is a major attraction in the heart of Melbourne and stretches across two city blocks. A pulsating and lively marketplace where you can let loose your shopping spree at more than 600 small stores selling everything from fresh vegetables, fruits, local, imported epicure food, souvenirs, and garments.

The market remains open for five days in a week, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Queen Victoria Market operates seasonally, especially on Wednesday nights. The timings being 5 pm to 10 pm, when you can hang around mid-week with your family and friends to savor mouth-watering street food, beverages, as well as live entertainment.

The market place has taken many green initiatives so that shoppers can buy stuff keeping the environment and sustainability in mind. Vic Market implemented a countrywide ban on the usage of plastic bags as well as straws in May 2019. The shoppers have an array of choices to shop conveniently sans the use of plastic bags. These include hiring a trolley from Market Espresso, filling a cardboard box right from Pick-A-Box spots on I Shed and Queen Street, or purchasing a recyclable bag from Vic Market itself.

Click here to Book Now: Luna Park Tickets

Highlights

• Head to a century-and-a-half-old market in the heart of Melbourne, Queen Victoria Market, which is renowned as the most important fresh produce market in Australia.
• Stretching over two blocks, the fascinating marketplace has over 600 shops offering everything from fresh vegetables and fruits to clothes, souvenirs, street food, beverages, and live entertainment.
• Open on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesday evenings, Queen Victoria Market is the perfect hangout spot for friends and families looking to have fun and spend quality time.
• Participate in the market’s green initiatives as you learn and explore its place of importance in Melbourne’s historical and cultural development.
• Explore Melbourne City Baths, Melbourne Museum, and the Great Ocean Drive as part of your Queen Victoria Market tour.

How To Reach

1. Taxi, cab or shuttle:You can get to Queen Victoria Market from Melbourne Airport by cab, taxi car, and shuttle. You can also take a cab or taxi, which is the fastest way to get to Queen Victoria Market in 17 minutes. The distance is just 21.8 km via M2 taking around 19 minutes.

2. Bus services: You can board a bus from Skybus Coach Terminal, which would take about 45 minutes or so.

3. Car: Again, you can also choose to drive from the airport to Vic Market, which is an affordable option, taking approximately 17 minutes.

Suggested Read: Things To Do In Melbourne This Weekend

Best Time To Visit

The best time to visit Queen Victoria Market is from March until May (Autumn) and again from September until November (Spring) because of the pleasant climate during this time. The ideal time for you to visit the market is during the early morning hours to avoid the crowd. You can also head for Queen Vic late afternoon to grab the best discounts.

If you visit the market during the summer months of December to February, avoid noontime because the weather becomes extremely hot in Melbourne during this time.

Autumn is the perfect time to visit the marketplace due to the mild weather. Melbourne experiences glorious spring, which is the best tip for some shopping here. Avoid the winter months of June to August, as the temperature dips and gets a bit cold and chilly.

Also Checkout: Water Parks In Melbourne

Other Essential Information

Location: Queen St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia.

Timings: The trading hours at Queen Victoria Market are from 6 am - 3 pm. The marketplace remains open on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, as well as Sunday. If you are looking for specialty shopping, it starts at 9 am. The timings on Saturdays and Sundays are from 9 am - 4 pm.

On Wednesdays, the market opens at 5 pm and closes at 10 pm, which is the timing for the night market.

Distance from Melbourne Airport: The distance from the airport to Queen Vic is 18 km, the road distance being 21.5 km.

History and Cultural Heritage of Queen Victoria Market

Queen Vic boasts of a long, rich history, more than just a marketplace and one of the greatest 19th-century markets in Victoria. It is the lone existing from a group of chief central markets developed in the city of Melbourne during that epoch.

Right from the inception of Queen Vic as Melbourne’s primary wholesale marketplace to its flourishing revival as a retail place in the 1970s, the market played a significant role in the social and economic history of Melbourne. It is the biggest, most concerted, and unfailing market perfect for small and self-governing businesses in Melbourne, Australia.

The market is an essential component in Melbourne’s early history and its development to the present day, playing a major role in the city’s commercial, social, and cultural life.Queen Victoria Market was officially approved for incorporation into the Victorian Heritage Registrar in the year 1989 as well as in the National Heritage List in 2018.

Previously, the marketplace was the first authorized site for the city’s old cemetery from 1837- 1854.Vic Market is a significant cultural spot too and part of the Kulin Nations land, including an original burial place of the Melbourne’s ancient cemetery. It’s been particularly identified under the Aboriginal Heritage Act as an original historic spot.

Food at Queen Victoria Market

The market is a coveted tourist destination for foodies to take pleasure in a gourmet walking tour. These include:

1. Alec Watson Son & Butchers: It's a butcher store at Queen Vic selling the best quality beef, pork, as well as lamb. The shop specializes in Italian continental produce including northern Italian delicacies, continental Pork and Fennel, Cotechino sausages, and traditional sausages.

2. American Doughnut Kitchen: It is a famous restaurant and café at Queen Victoria Market. Stand in the queue down Queens St just outside the original 1950s van to see the active doughnut makers make these lip-smacking, sweet jam-stuffed delights. Savor delicious doughnuts from this eatery as you keep wandering at Queen Vic.

3. Andrew Bread Shop: This place is famous for its variety of bread, pastries, and cakes. Andrew Bread Shop is a must-visit if you want to buy some of the best quality bagels, bread, as well as pastries. Do not miss the olive and sourdough bread, both of which are a must-include on your dining table.

4. Drums Cafe: It serves some of the best curries from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and India. Savor authentic, delicious curries free of any synthetic colors, preservatives, ghee, and gluten, with basmati rice. The eatery uses fresh produce and pure vegetable oil in their cooking.

5. Big Vic Deli: If you love Greek cheeses, definitely visit Big Vic Deli, also known for its hams, antipasto, as well as other scrumptious meat varieties. You can shop for your favorite meat for lunch your family, picnic, or simply for a gourmet platter.

6. Dutch Pancakes: How about some delicious pancake lunch here with your family and friends? You will find this eatery at Queen Street, which is easy to locate. The pancake toppings are conventional including maple syrup, lemon and jam, and sugar. Pancakes price starts at $6.

7. Café Verona: Savor your taste buds at this restaurant and café serving mouth-watering Italian delights including pizzas, pasta, and Nutella doughnuts, all freshly prepared on the premises. This eatery is the best place in the food court to hang out with your friends over a cup of coffee and food.

Sip rich coffee whipped by Joe, Café Verona’s Barrista and Lazzaro, the chef, both working here for many years.

Queen Victoria Market Shopping

You can shop to your heart’s content at Queen Victoria Market. The options include: 

1. Amazing collectibles Melbourne: If you have a taste for intriguing, interesting, vintage, and quirky gifts and collectibles, your search ends here. These collectibles handcrafted and ethically sourced both from Melbourne and globally are decorative as well as functional.

Shop for Spartan, Roman, Fireman’s, diving, and Gladiator helmets. Besides, you will also find nautical telescopes, sundials, sextants, ship bell compasses, vintage-themed brass sand timers, fob watches, locks, bells, clocks, magnifiers, and licensed metal signs including beer, humor, auto, personalities, hobbies, etc.

2. Annie’s Creation and Collection – Tops and Bags: Shop for originally designed items here including creative designs and artwork, prints, short or long-sleeved t-shirts, purses, and bags. By these colorful, animal-themed items to feel confident, joyful, and like a shining star!

3. Andrew Bertuleit Photography: You can pick from numerous prints at this store, the city of Melbourne majorly featuring in the collections sold at Andrew Bertuleit Photography. You will find hundreds of photos of Australia and foreign countries. Shop for photography prints rolled or framed in a mailing tube on canvas, paper, as well as aluminum.Ariel’s Sweaters Australia.

Do not miss this store at Queen Vic Market, the trader selling high-quality sweaters for more than 40 years. You can shop from an awesome stock of the best-quality threads that include styles from premium Australian merino wool, Geccu, and Ansett Knitwear.

4. Collective Closets: Shop for garments designed by the locals of Melbourne, an all-woman operated store with a key focus on ethical business practices. Buy durable, intimate collections with labels featuring handcrafted deadstock fabrics and recyclable precious metals to reduce waste.

Once you saunter into Creative Closets, enjoy the songs of Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross with a steaming cup of newly brewed coffee while shopping to your heart’s content.

5. Fabric Fever: 

Shop for premium quality and traditional fabrics including cotton prints, Aboriginal prints, denim, Christmas prints, quality wool suiting, lining, silk and satin, and plain cotton.

Things to Buy at Queen Victoria Market

There are numerous things to shop for at Queen Victoria Market including:

1. Specialty shopping: Specialty shopping is something you will love at Queen Vic including all items from gifts to garments and livestock and pets to stationery products. Make sure you check the trading hours of Queen Victoria Market so that you do not miss out on your shopping opportunity. You can look for information at String Bean Alley where you can find an awesome collection of items.

2. Fresh produce: Vic Market is popular for a plethora of products that the stores sell including fresh bread, organic foods, poultry and meat, seafood, delis, and liquor. You must visit the fresh vegetables and fruits section, which is one of the best in the city of Melbourne. Toss up delicious dishes using ingredients bought from this market.

3. Souvenirs: Queen Vic has a historical significance and therefore, your shopping is incomplete if you do not buy some souvenirs back home for your family and friends. You will find particular shops at Queen Victoria Market that sell items such as jewelry, books, engraved items, gifts, and keepsakes.

You will find Australian soft toys like kangaroos, koalas, boomerangs as well as cool stickers, flags, magnets, number plates, and pins. There are souvenirs and gifts for travelers, sporting groups, and corporate people.

Tips for Visiting Queen Victoria Market

For the best shopping experience at Queen Vic, keep these useful tips in mind:

1. Always carry cash with you because the 140-year heritage marketplace prefers cash payments. Most of the shops take cash and not cards. Therefore, look for ATMs, a few on Queen Street as well as the food hall, adjacent to shed A. Keep your cash ready when you reach the front of the queue and avoid digging into your wallet for money.

2. You should visit Queen Vic after knowing the trading days and hours.

3. Make sure you shop for meat last. If you are going to buy many things, it’s inconvenient to carry chunks of pork or lamb while shopping.

4. Avoid bargaining with the traders because Queen Vic is not that kind of a place.

5. Be careful while dragging your shopping trolleys. Avoid running over other tourists and shoppers.

6. Carry recyclable bags because plastic isn’t allowed here.

7. Keep an eye on lucrative deals, offers, and discounts.

Checkout and Book Now: Hot Air Balloon Yarra Valley