One of the city’s most atmospheric live-music venues, the Forum does double duty as a cinema during the Melbourne International Film Festival. The striking Moorish exterior (an over-the-top fantasia with minarets, domes and dragons) houses an equally interesting interior, with the southern night sky rendered prettily on the domed ceiling.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Melbourne attractions

1. Hosier Lane

0.04 MILES

Melbourne's most-celebrated laneway for street art, Hosier Lane's cobbled length draws camera-wielding crowds to its colorful canvas of graffiti, stencils…

2. Australian Centre for the Moving Image

0.06 MILES

Managing to educate, enthral and entertain in equal parts, ACMI is a visual feast that pays homage to Australian cinema and TV, offering insight into the…

3. Anna Schwartz Gallery

0.07 MILES

Redoubtable Anna Schwartz keeps some of the city’s most respected contemporary artists in her stable, as well as representing midcareer names from around…

4. Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia

0.08 MILES

The National Gallery of Victoria's impressive Fed Sq offshoot was set up to showcase its extraordinary collection of Australian works. Set over three…

5. St Paul’s Cathedral

0.1 MILES

Once a corn market for the growing city of Melbourne, services were celebrated on this prominent site from the city’s first days, but work on Melbourne's…

6. Koorie Heritage Trust

0.11 MILES

Devoted to southeastern Aboriginal culture, this centre houses interesting artefacts and oral history. There's a shop and gallery downstairs; upstairs,…

7. Federation Square

0.11 MILES

One of the city's newest public spaces and an urban focal point, Federation Sq is a place to meet, celebrate, protest, watch major sporting events or…

8. Young & Jackson

0.13 MILES

Across the street from Flinders St station is a pub known less for its beer (served here since 1861) than for its famous nude painting of the teenaged…