Melbourne is Australia’s second-largest city and capital of the state of Victoria. The second you arrive in Melbourne, you’ll immediately be swept off your feet by its infectious energy; at times brazen, often funky but always omnipresent. You can’t miss it. If you delve further, you’ll find a hidden Melbourne that’s full of little surprises!
On my previous visit to Melbourne in 2008, I remarked:
Melbourne is a city with aspirations and you can tell. It’s a large city with loads of character, a laid-back pace and a lifestyle that oozes quality. Magnificent Tudor and Victorian buildings graciously reflect the city’s colourful history while impressive skyscrapers and other buildings by world-renowed architects boast the city’s prosperous present. Upon arrival, the visitor might notice the car license plates which read: “Victoria: The place to be”. I wouldn’t disagree.
Since then, the city has developed in leaps and bounds, with an astounding array of cultural and culinary offerings. I was really impressed back in 2008. This time, I was simply blown away! The culinary, fashion and design landscapes in particular have flourished beyond recognition. And the coffee scene is arguably second to no other!
Melbourne’s hidden lanes and arcades
Melbourne’s Central Business District (CBD) is a vibrant grid of boulevards and lanes. The main streets are lined by a dizzying array of grand Victorian buildings and shiny skyscrapers. These are packed with an equally impressive variety of shops, restaurants and cafés, but venture into the lanes and arcades that connect the main streets and you’ll discover some of Melbourne’s best secrets!
Melbourne Lanes and Arcades tour
If you don’t have much time to explore the back lanes and arcades on your own, I can highly recommend the Melbourne Lanes and Arcades tour! The tour, which lasts a whole morning and ends with lunch (optional) is the ideal way to learn more about Melbourne’s heritage and discover its many hidden gems (think amazing street art, quirky cafés, independent designers and historical tales). I would rank it as the best tour of Melbourne CBD. Follow me on the tour:
Centre Place
Block Arcade
Royal Arcade
Street art in Union Lane
Along the way, we passed many intriguing shops, cafés and restaurants – I was just bowled over by the great variety and eclectic styles. I was equally excited by the thriving independent retailer scene – small shops selling all sorts of clothing, furniture, ornaments and jewelry. Add to that the gorgeous architecture of the arcades and the terrific street art! This lanes and arcades tour truly opened my eyes to a side of Melbourne that I, perhaps, would not have seen due to the limited amount of time I spent there – four days are simply not enough to explore this incredible city!
Read about my first solo road trip which started in Melbourne and my visit to Sovereign Hill.
Note: this trip is part of the iambassador #MelbourneTouring project in partnership with Tourism Victoria and Royal Brunei Airlines. Velvet Escape maintains full editorial control of the content published on this site.
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Awesome post!! Melbourne is on the top of my bucket list. I will visit once I am done exploring Asia 😉
Cheers and happy travels!
Drew
My relatives live in Melbourne. I must ask them to take me there one day! Based on your post, it looks like a great place to visit.
[…] Discovering Melbourne’s Hidden Secrets by Velvet […]
Melbourne is a very posh city … lots of places to get tonnes of awesome experiences for your travel dollar it seems!
Hi Nicole,
You may be biased! Haha! But seriously, Melbourne IS one of the coolest cities around. I love its energy! Hidden Secrets Tours is a really good company – I truly enjoyed the tour and would recommend it to anyone.
Hugs,
Keith
I may be biased saying this but Melbourne is by far one of the coolest cities I’ve visited to and it really is just going from strength to strength, especially with a lot of small bars popping up and of course host of the White Night/Nuit Blanche event (first in Australasia – whoop whoop!)
I keep hearing really good things about this tour company from visiting friends, and now you, and as a place that’s my adopted home (I’m from lil ol’ Adelaide, South Australia) I really need to choose a few tours and discover the history and some of the hidden secrets of the city I now call home.
Haha, you sure are Kirsty! 🙂 Next time, I hope to meet up with you in Melbs!
Hugs,
Keith
Marvellous Melbourne! It offers so much and it’s one great city to live in. Aren’t I lucky? 😉
Thank you for your comment Renuka! I would love to return to Melbourne and explore more of it.
Cheers,
Keith
Although I could explore very little of Melbourne, I loved it. I guess, Melbourne carries its essence everywhere, whether you explore it more or less. Nice pictures!