Melbourne keeps going after dinner. A rooftop bar on Spring Street pours until 3am, a jazz club off William Street runs a supper show at 10pm, and Chinatown serves supper after 2am.
This guide covers the late part of the evening, and how the city changes between summer and winter. For the early evening, read our guide to date night in Melbourne. For company on a late night out, meet the Melbourne escorts at Ruby.
How Melbourne runs after 10pm
Plan the late part of the night around transport. From Monday to Thursday, Metro trains stop running around midnight. On Friday and Saturday nights, the Night Network keeps trains and trams going all night.
Book a car before the bars close. Everyone leaves at once at closing time, and the wait grows.
Kitchens close well before the bars do. Eat first, or pick a late kitchen from the list below.
Crown Melbourne, on the south bank of the Yarra, is open 24 hours on every day but three: Christmas Day, Good Friday and Anzac Day.
Dress for the cold. Melbourne nights cool down fast, even after a warm day, and rooftops catch the wind.
Late cocktail bars and hidden bars in Melbourne
The bars that suit a date after 10pm are small, open late and easy to talk in. Two stand out for the hour.
Siglo, Spring Street
Siglo is a rooftop terrace on level 2 at 161 Spring Street, looking across at Parliament House. You reach it through the unmarked door of the Melbourne Supper Club and up the stairs.
It takes walk-ins only, and it pours until 3am from Monday to Saturday. Expect classic cocktails, champagne and a cigar menu.
Section 8, Chinatown
Section 8 is an open-air bar in Tattersalls Lane, with drinks poured from a shipping container. It opened in 2006 on an old car park. DJs or live bands play, depending on the night.
Bring a coat in winter, and stand near the heaters by the bar.
Finding a hidden bar
Many of the city's hidden bars sit behind plain doors, down a lane or up a flight of stairs. Look for a small sign or a short queue. The rooms are small and fill early on Fridays and Saturdays.
Staying near these lanes? Melbourne CBD escorts come to the hotels around them.
Jazz bars in Melbourne late at night
Jazz is an easy way to spend a late hour together, because the music leaves room to talk between sets.
Bird's Basement, William Street
Bird's Basement sits at 11 Singers Lane, under the Jazz Corner Hotel near the corner of William and La Trobe streets. It opened in 2016 as the Melbourne partner of Birdland in New York.
On show nights it runs two concerts. The supper show starts at 10pm, after the early show clears. Book the late show for a date: dinner first, then music until after 11pm.
The JazzLab, Brunswick
Michael Tortoni opened the Bennetts Lane Jazz Club in the CBD in 1992. Since 2017 he has run The JazzLab at 27 Leslie Street, Brunswick, which carries the Bennetts Lane name. It has music every night.
Check each program before you go, and arrive early. The seats near the stage go first.
Late dinner and supper in Melbourne
After a show or a late flight, you want somewhere still serving.
Supper Inn, Chinatown
Supper Inn is a Cantonese restaurant up a flight of stairs at 15 Celestial Avenue, just off Little Bourke Street. It opens at 5.30pm and serves until 2.30am, seven nights a week.
It has run for more than 35 years, and it gets busy late. Book a table if you can.
Room service
A late order to your room is the other choice. Many city hotels keep room service running late, so ask at check-in how late the kitchen runs.
Our guide to luxury hotels in Melbourne lists the big hotels by area.
Southbank and Crown on the Melbourne riverfront at night
A walk beside the Yarra is the calm part of a late night. The Southbank promenade runs west from Princes Bridge, past Southgate, to Crown.
The Crown fireballs
Outside Crown, eight towers on the riverbank fire balls of flame into the night sky. The Gas Brigades show runs on the hour after dark.
The last show comes at midnight from Sunday to Thursday. On Fridays, Saturdays and nights before a public holiday, it comes at 1am.
The first show moves with the seasons: 9pm from December, 8pm from March, 6pm from April and 8pm again from October. There is no show on a day of total fire ban.
After the last show, Crown's bars and restaurants keep the complex busy well past midnight.
Our page on escorts in Southbank covers the hotels on this side of the river.
Melbourne at night through the seasons
Summer
Summer is the season for nights outdoors. Moonlight Cinema screens films on the Central Lawn of the Royal Botanic Gardens from 2 December 2026 to 11 April 2027. You enter by the Domain Road gate on Birdwood Avenue.
Rooftop Cinema, on top of Curtin House at 252 Swanston Street, usually runs from late November to March. Check its program for this season's dates.
The Queen Victoria Market Summer Night Market runs on Wednesday nights from 5pm to 10pm. The market has set 6 January to 10 March 2027 for this season.
Winter
In winter the city moves indoors, to jazz rooms, wine bars and open fires. The Queen Victoria Market Winter Night Market runs on Wednesday nights from June to August, from 5pm to 10pm. The market announces each season's dates closer to winter.
The Crown fireballs start at 6pm from April, so a riverside walk can come before dinner. Book an indoor table, and save the rooftop for a clear night.
A late night out with an escort in Melbourne
A late evening suits a dinner date booking: dinner, a bar or a jazz set, then back to your hotel.
Our page on dinner dates in Melbourne explains how an evening out works. To keep the night going until breakfast, book an overnight escort instead.
One hour starts from $900. For a night out, two hours or more gives time for dinner without rushing. Two hours costs $1,800.
Friday and Saturday nights fill first. Enquire a day or more ahead for a weekend night, and a few hours ahead on other nights.
Tell reception where the evening starts. Your escort can meet you there, or at your hotel.
