Melbourne

Late-night eating here means banh mi, dumplings, or a bowl of pho from somewhere in the Vietnamese precincts, and locals will walk a surprising distance for a good one after midnight. If someone says 'let's go eat,' just follow them — they always know where to go.

Trams are free inside the CBD zone and that includes coming home from a night out, which is genuinely one of the best things about this city — just know which zone boundary you're in or the fare inspector will absolutely catch you. Locals use an app to check the zone before they board.

The CBD laneways are beautiful at night but locals mostly use them as a shortcut to get somewhere else — if you're just wandering them looking for the vibe, you've already missed it. The real nightlife energy is always a few streets further than you think.

Dress codes here are relaxed compared to Sydney, but that doesn't mean anything goes — there's a kind of effortful-cool aesthetic that locals do really well, and turning up in full tourist gear will make you feel out of place fast. Just wear something you actually like and you'll be fine.

If you're heading out on a Sunday night, don't assume it's quiet — Melbourne has a strong Sunday session culture that often goes harder than Saturday. Some of the best DJ sets I've ever seen here have been on a Sunday afternoon that accidentally became midnight.

Fitzroy and Collingwood bleed into each other at night and that whole stretch is where you'll find the most interesting crawl — you can genuinely walk between a dozen different vibes without ever needing a cab. Follow the crowd spilling onto the footpath and you'll stumble into something good.

If you're walking down a laneway and you see a unmarked door with a small crowd quietly gathering outside, just join the queue — that's almost certainly the entrance to something worth your night. Melburnians have a weird pride about venues that are deliberately hard to find, so the less signage, the better the bar usually is.