For the best of shopping and architecture during your visit to Melbourne, you’ve got to explore the city’s numerous acclaimed laneways and arcades. If you only have a couple of days in town, focus your efforts on exploring a few of the city’s favorite spots, where a dazzling dinner and ideal shopping can both be found in ambiance you might not be expecting.

For a quick cup of coffee and some excellent conversation while people-watching, there’s no better street in the entire city than Degraves St, where a variety of different shops share the skinny and compact street with delightfully cosmopolitan cafes and a couple of restaurants. Incredibly old-fashioned, right down to the cobblestones, Degraves St recently experienced a sort of revival among the young and the chic in Melbourne, with loft space here the chosen upwardly mobile hipster form of Melbourne Accommodation lately. It’s definitely a romantic and bustling part of town, and just a few feet away from the crowded and vibrant business district.

Another delightful outdoor experience, Centre Place combines the atmosphere of one of the city’s regal arcades with another lively street scene, where travelers and locals mix in the street, each on their way to their own exciting next stop. The narrow streets of Centre Place are dotted with popular pubs, delicious restaurants, and some of the city’s most bustling bars. Expect to see everyone from bankers after-work to college students just starting out the night. It’s definitely one of the best mixes of people in the city.

If you weren’t planning on doing much shopping but wanted to see the best in art and architecture that Melbourne has to offer, then get immediately to the arcades. Preserved with love and a delicate touch, both Block Arcade and Royal Arcade are a testament to the city’s affair with Victorian architecture and dazzling, Italian inspired spaces. Whether you’re interested in window shopping or simply seeing some of the most beautiful ironwork in the entire city, Royal Arcade and Block Arcade are definitely worth visiting. While Block Arcade tends to focus more on a mixture of different merchants, Royal Arcade is well known throughout the city for its vast array of clothing shops. And of course, there’s no shortage of visitors who spend their time in the common spaces, rather than in the stores, taking photographs of the immaculate glass and beautiful design. That alone is worth checking out one of the arcades while visiting Melbourne.

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