A quick guide to the culture, cuisine and coffee of Melbourne's stylish CBD.
Most fashionable. Most European. Most cultural. Melburnians are not shy about spruiking their city’s central business district. That’s not to say the boasts aren’t backed by evidence: since Victoria’s economic slump in the late 1980s, the CBD has evolved into a buzzy cross-section of some of the best cuisine, couture and culture Australia has to offer. The well-planned district operates on a neat grid of wide, tree-lined boulevards. But look closer to discover the extensive network of historic arcades and narrow laneways that lend the CBD so much of its vibrant, fashionable and individual character. Highlights? Sunday morning yum cha in Little Bourke Street’s frenetic Chinatown; discovering Australia’s edgiest local designers in Flinders Lane and Little Collins Street; and seeking out the myriad laneway bars for whom flash and splash are anathema.
Stay
Adelphi Hotel
187 Flinders Lane.
Shop
Alice Euphemia
Shop 6, Cathedral Arcade, 37 Swanston Street.
+61 3 9650 4300.
Eg Etal
Basement, 167 Flinders Lane.
+61 3 9639 5111.
Lumas
362 Little Collins Street.
+61 3 9642 8750.
Mag Nation
88 Elizabeth Street.
+61 3 9663 6559.
Eat & Drink
Brother Baba Budan
359 Little Bourke Street.
+61 3 9606 0449.
Silk Road
425 Collins Street.
+61 3 9614 4888.
Vue de Monde
430 Little Collins Street.
+61 3 9691 3888.
See related article: Melbourne's laneways: Gladly off the grid
Source: Qantas The Australian Way October 2008