Swanston Street
Collins Street
Little Collins Street
City Arcades
Bourke Street
Flinders Quarter
Hardware Lane
West End
Contact information
Swanston Street
Swanston Street is Melbourne’s gateway, bustling with crowds, lined with historic architecture and full of vitality.
It stretches from the famous steps under the clocks at Flinders Street Station, past St Paul’s Cathedral and the historic Melbourne Town Hall, all the way up past the Manchester Building to the fabulous shopping mecca of Melbourne Central, the State Library and the Edwardian Melbourne City Baths.
Shoppers can indulge in everything from affordable fashion and bookstores to souvenirs and duty-free outlets. In upstairs artisan workshops you’ll find tailors, hairdressers, designers, engravers, jewellers, artists and more.
Swanston Street is also famous for its hidden boutiques, bars and eateries.
You can catch a tram, take a horse-drawn carriage, organise a bus tour, or stroll past some of the city’s finest public art. Then again, you might prefer to just rest awhile in one of the dozens of street cafés and watch the ebb and flow of life on Swanston Street.
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Collins Street
Collins Street, running through the heart of the CBD, is Melbourne’s most famous shopping strip, home to high-end jewellery, fashion and luxury goods.
There are prestigious fashion and jewellery stores, top-class hotels, historic churches, gracious banks, major clubs, breathtaking theatres, modern architectural masterpieces and popular cinemas.
The street is peppered with grand buildings to be admired and explored. For a real taste of history, one unique spot in Collins Street will take you straight back to the 19th century. Look north from the Regent Theatre, between Swanston and Russell streets, to see Melbourne’s skyline, unaltered since 1890!
The architectural highlights of Collins Street are its banks, with their Gothic facades and ornate interiors. Visit the Gothic ANZ Bank (1883) at number 390, the former Stock Exchange (1888) at 376, and the Bank of New Zealand (1887) with its impressive foyer at 389. The contrasting modern styles of Collins Place Towers and 101 Collins are also worth a visit.
Don’t miss Collins Street, truly the premier street of Melbourne – and Australia!
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Little Collins Street is one part sophistication and two parts cool. It's a delectable mix, as good as the cocktails in bars hidden in laneways or upstairs like Gin Palace and Tony Starr’s Kitten Club.
Fashionistas will think they're in heaven – this precinct is the place to shop in Melbourne.
After a solid day’s shopping, you’ll need a sound night’s rest. The Victoria Hotel has one of the greatest locations in town, right in the heart of the action. And when you’re in need of a bite, you'll be spoiled for choice with the restaurants on your doorstep.
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City Arcades
If your aim is to collect as many shopping bags as you can possibly carry, then head to the city’s arcades.
All the key spots can be found within walking distance of each other, off or near Little Collins Street between Swanston and Elizabeth streets.
The quality and range of the 260-plus shops is breathtaking. Even if shopping is not on your list, it’s a pleasure just to take a wander, particularly through the beautiful 19th century Block and Royal arcades. Inspired by wonderful European design, they are the oldest arcades still trading in Australia and offer an eclectic range of small shops.
Block Arcade (1891) has imported Italian mosaic floors, glazed ceilings supported by elaborate iron-lace columns, and octagonal glass domes. Royal Arcade is Melbourne’s oldest, built in 1869, and features two folklore giants of the ancient Britons - Gog and Magog - who strike the time each hour.
Shoppers looking for retail therapy will find everything they need. The Walk, the Galleria Shopping Plaza, Centrepoint Mall, Collins two3four and Australia on Collins have an impressive mix of large flagship stores, unique owner-operated shops and quality cafes and food courts.
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Bourke Street
The east end of Bourke Street is an elegant enclave of quality bookshops, great music stores, beautiful theatres and memorable dining.
At this creative end of town, bookstores include the iconic Hill of Content and The Paperback, while music lovers can enjoy Thomas’ Music. Theatres include the Princess Theatre, Her Majesty's Theatre and the Comedy Theatre.
Some of the city’s best-loved cafes and restaurants are also in this precinct, including upmarket Grossi Florentino, Bottega, classic 1950s Italian cafe Pellegrini’s and the glorious Windsor Hotel.
Melbourne’s laneways turn up treasures including Meyers Place, with some of the city’s most atmospheric bars, and Bennetts Lane, where jazz lovers chill out.
Crossley Street is another fine discovery, home to exquisite, one-off shops including De Mille Decorative and Fine Arts, and Becco, an Italian restaurant with an irresistible produce store.
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Flinders Quarter
Once home to the rag trade, Flinders Quarter is now Melbourne’s designer paradise. You’ll discover clothes, furniture, craft, art, organic food, film, poetry bookshops, cigar bars, fishing rods, basement jazz and warehouse conversions. The precinct also houses Australia’s largest concentration of commercial art galleries.
The stretch between Swanston and Elizabeth streets is particularly upbeat, where quintessentially Melbourne boutiques sell fashion by emerging designers.
Explore the shops, galleries and studios in the Nicholas Building, browse the designer fashion in Cathedral Arcade, buy an artistic photo of Melbourne in Scott Alley, then relax with a latte under the café umbrellas on Degraves Street.
Narrow Centre Place is a slice of southern Europe, with balconied apartments, quirky shops, cool cafés and ever-changing street art.
Look up and see a glass-bottomed swimming pool jutting from the roof of the Adelphi Hotel, descend a flight of stairs to find fabulous accessories beneath a chandelier, or learn about the city’s past at the Immigration Museum, 400 Flinders Street.
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Hardware Lane
Hardware Lane is a long and colourful sea of outdoor café umbrellas and one of Melbourne’s prettiest and most festive places to lunch.
The red-bricked pedestrian laneway is filled with the sound of outdoor diners, bright with flowers in window boxes, and lined with converted warehouses, their historic facades and quaint barrel hoists still intact.
Although lingering in the laneway over lunch is popular, Hardware Lane is the place in town to eat breakfast. The deals in some of the cafés are not just good, they’re legendary.
After all the feasting, the precinct is wonderful to explore – especially if you’re a bona fide explorer. Little Bourke Street (between Queen and Elizabeth streets) is the city’s hub of adventure and outdoor stores, travel agents and camera shops. This is where modern-day adventurers can kit themselves out with all the essentials from maps and sleeping bags to climbing harnasses and walking poles.
Little laneways like Niagara Lane dot the precinct, adding to its charms. The eclectic range of speciality stores means you can buy fresh flowers, seek out hard-to-find records or invest in a work of modern art.
At night, people come out to enjoy some of the city’s funkiest bars and to lap up live jazz until late.
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West End
Melbourne’s West End is the birthplace of this great city and the seat of its continuing prosperity.
The West End presents colourful contrasts and diversity. It marries the elegance of early European architecture with the modern masterpieces of Australia’s tallest building, the Rialto, and the country’s largest underwater world, Melbourne Aquarium.
Today, the West End is Melbourne’s seat of power and influence. It is home to Australia’s largest legal precinct with eight courts and hundreds of law firms within one square kilometre. The Stock Exchange and headquarters of some of Australia’s best-known corporations and IT companies are also found in this precinct.
The Melbourne Business Network Breakfast Club has become a popular meeting place for the wider business community, their colleagues and local residents. Their popular functions present informative guest speakers, along with excellent networking and marketing opportunities. For more information visit Melbourne Business Network.
The West End is not just about work. When the day’s business is done, the streets come alive to the beat of Australia’s famous nightclub strip, King Street. With 18 international hotels, plus clubs and bars, it caters for our ever-increasing number of visitors.
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Contact information
Collins Street Precinct Association (CSPG)
Address: Suite 126, The Block Arcade, 282 Collins St, Melbourne, Vic, 3000
Phone: Tracey Davis, Administrator on (03) 9639 4078
Email: admin@collinsstreet.com.au
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