Pity Melbourne: After seven years of topping the Economist Intelligence Unit’s most liveable city rankings, it was finally displaced last year by another coffee-loving city, Vienna. Despite being nudged down a notch to No. 2, Melburnians aren’t too worried. Though the city is grappling with issues related to being such a popular place to live – rapid growth, high property prices, congested roads – it continues to be the country’s capital for all things cultural.

Outside of the coronavirus pandemic leading to mass event cancellations, there are usually more festivals than you can fit on a calendar; a thriving, boundary-pushing restaurant scene; and a commitment to the arts that will only deepen with the National Gallery of Victoria’s plans to build the largest contemporary art gallery in Australia by 2025.