Southbank
by the River
southbank to south melbourne market guide

Southbank to South Melbourne Market Guide

The easiest way from Southbank to South Melbourne Market is a 20 to 25 minute walk south along Clarendon Street, or a few stops on a Clarendon Street tram, arriving before 10am on a market day. The market sits on the corner of Coventry Street and Cecil Street in South Melbourne, about 1.5 kilometres from the Yarra River. It trades on Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Get those two facts right and the rest of the trip takes care of itself. This guide from Southbank by the River covers the routes, the timing, what to eat and how to turn the trip into a half-day loop.

Which days and hours does the market actually trade?

South Melbourne Market opens Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 8am. It closes at 4pm on Wednesday and weekends and at 5pm on Friday. It is shut on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday for most of the year. The exception is the summer Night Market, which runs on Thursday evenings in January and February with food stalls, bars and live music.

This matters more than any route advice. A surprising number of visitors staying in Southbank set off on a Tuesday morning and find the roller doors down. The market is owned and run by the City of Port Phillip, and the council publishes trading hours and public holiday changes on the market's official website. Check it the night before, especially around Christmas, Easter and Anzac Day, when hours shift.

If you are flexible, Friday is the quietest full trading day. Saturday morning is the busiest. Sunday sits in between and has the most relaxed mood, with buskers and families lingering over coffee.

How do you walk there from Southbank?

Clarendon Street is the spine of this trip. It starts at the Yarra River beside Crown Melbourne and runs due south into South Melbourne. Follow it and you cannot get lost.

From Crown Melbourne and the Southbank Promenade

Leave the river at Clarendon Street, between Crown and the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre. Walk south past the Crown complex, cross City Road and Kings Way, and keep going. After about 1.3 kilometres you reach Coventry Street. Turn right and the market is one block ahead on the corner of Cecil Street. Allow 20 minutes at an easy pace.

From Arts Centre Melbourne and the National Gallery of Victoria

Start on St Kilda Road beside the Arts Centre Melbourne spire or the National Gallery of Victoria. Head west along Sturt Street through the arts precinct, past the Malthouse Theatre and the Australian Ballet building. Turn left onto Kings Way for a short stretch, then right onto Coventry Street. Coventry Street carries you the rest of the way to the market. This route is about 1.8 kilometres and takes 25 minutes. It is the more interesting walk, with the Boyd Community Hub and a run of small cafes on Coventry Street near the market end.

From South Wharf

South Wharf is the closest starting point. From the DFO South Wharf shopping centre, walk up Convention Centre Place to Clarendon Street and turn south. You are at the market in 15 to 18 minutes. This is the route to use if you are staying in one of the convention precinct hotels.

All three routes are flat, paved and shaded for long stretches by plane trees. None of them require crossing a major road without a signalised crossing.

Which tram should you catch?

Two Yarra Trams routes run along Clarendon Street and stop beside the market. Both are faster than walking in wet weather or summer heat, and both are free if you board and alight inside the Free Tram Zone, which covers the Southbank riverfront as far as the Casino and Convention Centre stops. The market itself is outside the zone, so you need a myki or contactless card to tap on for the full trip.

Route 96 runs from Bourke Street in the CBD down Spencer Street and Clarendon Street on its way to St Kilda. Board at the Casino East or Clarendon Street stops near the river. The South Melbourne Market stop is four stops south, right at the market's Cecil Street side. The journey takes six to eight minutes.

Melbourne tram route 12 runs from Victoria Gardens in Richmond through Collins Street, down Spencer Street and along Clarendon Street before turning towards Park Street and St Kilda. It stops at the Coventry Street corner of the market. Route 12 is handy if you are coming from the Collins Street end of the CBD rather than the riverfront.

Both routes run every eight to twelve minutes on weekends. Trams arriving at the market before 9am on Saturday are often full of locals carrying shopping trolleys, which tells you something about where the serious shoppers come from.

What time should you arrive?

Arrive between 8am and 9:30am. The fresh produce aisles are fully stocked, the delicatessen counters have no queue and you can get a table at the coffee stalls without circling. By 11am on a Saturday the food hall is shoulder to shoulder and the car park on Cecil Street is full.

There is a second good window after 2:30pm. Stallholders begin discounting fruit, vegetables and seafood before the 4pm close. The trade-off is that popular bakery items and the best cheese cuts are gone. Pick the window that matches what you want: variety in the morning, bargains in the afternoon.

The Night Market in summer is a different experience again. It runs from 5:30pm to 9:30pm on Thursdays, and the produce stalls are closed. It is a food and drink event with a bar in the courtyard, so treat it as a dinner outing rather than a shopping trip.

What should you eat when you get there?

Start with the Dim sim. The South Melbourne Market Dim Sims stall has been trading since 1949 and the recipe has barely changed. The dim sims are oversized, hand-made and sold steamed or fried from a window on the Cecil Street side. Steamed is the traditional choice. One is a snack and two is lunch. Melburnians who grew up in the suburbs often rank these as the city's defining dim sim, and the queue on weekends backs that up.

After that, the market splits into three distinct eating zones.

One tip most guides skip: the market has a dedicated food court seating area upstairs and a courtyard with tables between the sheds. Most visitors eat standing at the stall. Walk 30 metres and sit down.

What is worth buying beyond food?

The market has traded on this site since 1867 and roughly a third of the stalls sell goods rather than groceries. The SO:ME Space on the Cecil Street side hosts rotating local designers and makers. The main sheds have clothing, homewares, plants, flowers and a long-standing row of specialty stores for knives, kitchenware and tea.

For Southbank visitors, the practical purchases are flowers for an apartment or hotel room, fresh bread and cheese for a riverside picnic back at the Yarra River, and the market's own canvas shopping bags, which are the standard carry bag in South Melbourne and Port Phillip. The flower stalls are also sharply discounted in the last hour of trading.

How do you turn the trip into a half-day loop?

The market sits at the northern edge of the City of Port Phillip, and some of the best open space in inner Melbourne is ten minutes further south. Rather than walking straight back to Southbank, make a loop.

  1. Leave the market via Cecil Street and walk south. Cross Park Street and continue two blocks to Albert Road.
  2. Enter Albert Park and Lake. The lake is a five kilometre loop around flat water, with black swans, rowing clubs and views back to the CBD skyline. You do not need to do the whole circuit. The northern shore between the Albert Park Lake sports centre and the Carousel cafe is the prettiest stretch and takes 20 minutes.
  3. Eat your market picnic on the grass near the Bob Jane Grandstand or at the lake's edge. There are picnic tables and barbecues on the eastern side near Lakeside Drive.
  4. Return via the suburb of Albert Park, Victoria. Head west along Bridport Street, a quiet strip of Victorian terraces and corner cafes, then north on Montague Street or Clarendon Street back to the market and onto the tram.

The full loop from Southbank is about six kilometres on foot. It takes three to four hours with a market stop and a picnic. Catching the Route 96 or Route 12 tram for the final leg back to the river cuts the return walk entirely.

Avoid this loop during the Formula One Grand Prix in March. Albert Park is closed to the public for several weeks before and after the race, and the roads around the market are heavily restricted.

What do people get wrong about this trip?

Three mistakes come up repeatedly.

Assuming the market is in Southbank. It is in South Melbourne, a separate suburb and a different council. Southbank, Victoria falls under the City of Melbourne. The market falls under the City of Port Phillip. This affects everything from parking rules to public holiday trading, and it explains why Southbank hotel staff sometimes give vague directions.

Confusing it with Queen Victoria Market. Queen Victoria Market is north of the CBD and much larger. South Melbourne Market is smaller, more food-focused and far easier to reach from the Southbank side of the river. If you are staying in Southbank and only have time for one, South Melbourne is the closer and more manageable choice.

Driving. The rooftop car park on Cecil Street fills by 10am on weekends and street parking in South Melbourne is heavily metered with two hour limits. The tram stop is literally outside the door. There is no good reason to drive from Southbank.

How does the market fit into a Southbank itinerary?

Pair the market with the arts precinct on the same day. Visit the National Gallery of Victoria when it opens at 10am, walk the Sturt Street and Coventry Street route to the market for a late lunch around 1pm, then tram back to the river for the evening. Or reverse it: market first at 8am, then back along St Kilda Road to the gallery and Arts Centre Melbourne by late morning before the crowds arrive.

Convention delegates at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre have the shortest trip of anyone. The market is a 15 minute walk from the Clarendon Street entrance, which makes it a realistic lunch break on a Wednesday or Friday session day.

For a longer stay, the market works as a weekly grocery run. Southbank apartments are well served by supermarkets but short on fresh produce, butchers and fishmongers. A Saturday morning market trip with a trolley is how many Southbank residents shop.

Your next steps

Pick a trading day, check the City of Port Phillip market website the night before for hours, and leave Southbank by 8:30am. Walk down Clarendon Street or catch Route 96 or Route 12 from the Casino stops. Eat a steamed dim sim first, then buy a picnic from the deli aisle and carry it south to Albert Park Lake. Tram back to the Yarra River when you are done.

For more on where to eat and what to do along the river, see the rest of the guides at Southbank by the River.

Related guides: Southbank Versus South Wharf Visitor Guide, Swimming and Sport Near Southbank Melbourne.