Architect-designed Nightingale apt · BrunswickNew

Our apartment is on top of the coolest coffee shop in the neighbourhood, Osoi, a Buddhist meditation centre and a cold plunge and sauna (opening shortly).

Brunswick is the inner north at its best: creative, multicultural and genuinely lived-in. Sydney Road has been Melbourne's Middle Eastern and Mediterranean food heart for generations, with charcoal chicken, Lebanese sweets, Turkish pizza and some of the best cheap eats in the city. More recently, we've seen a new wave of cafés, wine bars and bakeries, plus the quieter food strip down the East Brunswick end of Lygon Street. It's also one of Melbourne's live-music strongholds, with venues, pubs and galleries tucked through the backstreets. Weekends here mean coffee, op-shopping and long lunches. For green space, the Merri Creek trail, CERES environmental park and Princes Park are all close by for a run, a ride or a slow wander.

Brunswick's queer scene isn't a strip you visit. It's woven through the suburb. Close to our place you can find Flippy's Queer Bar and Carolina Queer Cafe and Bar.

For the bigger scene, Fitzroy and Collingwood — Melbourne's longest-running gay neighbourhood, centred on Smith and Johnston Streets — is a 10–15 minute tram or bike ride: The Laird (historic bear/leather pub), Sircuit Bar, Beans Bar. Midsumma Festival runs January–February citywide, with Pride March in St Kilda.