Queen Victoria Building (QVB), Sydney (must see)

If you need proof that Sydney knows how to make a statement, just look at the Queen Victoria Building (colloquially known as QVB)—an entire city block wrapped in sandstone and crowned with a dome big enough to double as a landmark all on its own. Completed in 1898—during an economic depression, no less—this architectural giant was designed by George McRae as a way to keep skilled workers employed. Naming it after Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee was the city’s way of adding a royal ribbon on top.

The style is Romanesque Revival, which was Sydney’s late-19th-century attempt at saying, “Yes, we, too, can do grand arches and serious stonework.” Rounded arcades, carved details, and that massive copper-clad dome—plus four smaller backup domes—give the whole building the confidence of something that fully expects you to stop and stare.

Inside, the QVB stretches across five levels, starting from a basement that plugs directly into public transport and budget-friendly shops, and rising through a tall atrium that funnels light straight from the dome. It’s a place where mosaic floors meet stained-glass windows, cast-iron balustrades, and restored arches—essentially a greatest-hits album of late-Victorian craftsmanship. Staircases and escalators zigzag between the galleries, giving you uninterrupted views down the atrium as you wander.

The 20th century wasn’t always kind to the building. After a long stint hosting offices and municipal odds and ends, it slipped into decline until the 1980s, when a major restoration rescued it from the brink and revived it as a commercial showpiece.

Today, the QVB is where boutiques, cafés, and specialty shops hold court beneath two enormous mechanical clocks—the Royal Clock and the Great Australian Clock—each one staging little historical dramas as you pass underneath. And if you arrive from Druitt Street, Queen Victoria herself is waiting outside—in the form of a statue sculpted in 1908 and originally placed in Dublin before finding a new royal residence here in Sydney.