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Tour of Queen Victoria Market

The World Loves Melbourne was invited to experience an iconic tour of Queen Victoria Markets known as "Hunt and Gather Food Tour". Every Melbournian should do a tour of Queen Victoria Market. If you're like me you need help when approaching any of Melbourne's markets.

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A great way to experience Melbourne is through food. This foodie city loves it's markets and Queen Victoria Market is revered as one of the great markets of the world. Harking back to 1878 this market has thrived, with many of the stallholders having been there for around four generations! Why would you want to leave? Some individuals have been there for decades; even one chap we met for around 70 years! So there's a fair bit of history running through the markets!

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We were blessed to have Carmel as our guide; a foodie herself who has worked with many chefs in Melbourne. She's an accredited tour guide and has been frequenting the market herself for decades. What a wealth of knowledge! She was engaging with the tour; made up mostly by visitors from the USA and a few locals.

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Grand architecture and a European style market. This is classic art deco.

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We highly recommend the Queen Victoria Market Tours - Market tours depart from 65 Victoria Street every Market day, excl. Sunday's from 10am - 12pm. Easy to remember! For $49 the value of the tour was excellent; as it included the expertise of Carmel and the ability to eat our way through the Market. By the end of the tour I felt as if I'd eaten a large meal; we had samples along the way from various stores and a larger portion of delicious pasta. I had a lunch appointment after the tour and couldn't eat my lunch. 

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Bum burners - great produce with humour! Carmel told us that on Saturdays there's about 4,000 people working in the Queen Victoria Market. Something like 10.5 million people visit the Queen Victoria Market each year!

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Gourmet breads...

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Cheese tasting! My favourite was the Lemon myrtle goats cheese.

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We paired bread with gourmet dips...

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Much photographed is this olive selection. It's not just about fresh produce but consistently high quality produce!

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Our stop for a larger meal - the home made pasta here at the Traditional Pasta Shop was spectacular!

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I bumped into Celebrity Chefs Scott Pickett (who also has sensational Picketts deli in Queen Victoria Market), and Shane Delia (Maha, Biggie Smalls, and recently launched Biggie smalls Food Truck), along with Julie from The French Shop.

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All the while Carmel was a wealth of knowledge and engaging host.

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Affordable quality wines where you return the bottle and get $3 back! I can vouch for the quality as I purchased some.

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Specialty coffee overdrive...

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German produce!

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So much variety! And you can purchase items and place them in your tour carry bag!

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Time for another tasting - Greek olives and vine leaves! Delicious!

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Then it was time for a visit to the fresh Fruit Market section...

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Carmel our tour guide engages with some enthusiastic Americans.

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The Meat section of the market is another highlight; spectacular produce.

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And outstanding Aussie seafood!

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Tasmanian oysters were a chartopper on our tour.

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Carmel then gave us a coffee voucher for Koko Black and many of the tour headed there for premium coffee. A great way to end the tour! Highly recommended.

Details:

The Queen Victoria Market is famous for fresh produce and specialty shopping. Experience the Market at its liveliest on a guided walking tour.Led by your local market guide, you’ll spend two hours discovering the very best foods on offer, learn fascinating history and uncover some of the specialties you can buy.With a diverse assortment of foods available, taste a range of produce from Australian meat and seafood to local cheese and handmade chocolate. And when you’re all shopped out, sit back and relax with your complimentary coffee!

Inclusions 

  • 2 hour tour led by a market guide
  • Food samples, gift bag and a coffee voucher

Venue

  • Tours depart from 65 Victoria Street, Melbourne.

 

Sessions

  • 2-hour tours depart at 10am every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday & Saturday. 
  • Tours do not run on Victorian public holidays, nor from mid-December to the second week of January.

Numbers On The Day

  • Tour operates with a maximum group size of 12 people on a weekday and 10 people on a Saturday. Private group tours are available for groups of 10 or over.