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Guide · Melbourne ·

Melbourne laneways walk: street art and coffee stops

By the Australia Travel Escapes editorial team · Who we are

A Melbourne laneways walk is easy to do on foot in a morning, because the best lanes in the city centre sit within a few blocks of each other. Start at Hosier Lane for street art, then work west to Degraves Street and Centre Place for coffee.

This guide covers each lane, a simple route that links them, where to stop for a drink, and the quietest times to go. You need no booking and no ticket. Comfortable shoes are the only gear you need.

Hosier Lane: the street art lane

Hosier Lane runs between Flinders Street and Flinders Lane. Its mouth opens almost opposite the Atrium at Federation Square, so it is hard to miss. The walls are covered in stencils, paste-ups, murals and spray work, and the pictures change often. A piece you see today may be painted over next month.

The lane is paved with bluestone cobbles and is open to both people and vehicles. It is known for the quality, and often the political tone, of its art. State tourism advertising has used it, even though the state takes a firm line on graffiti elsewhere. Its walls are also a popular backdrop for fashion and wedding photos.

The art never stays still. A large mural of a woman known as Our Lady Hosier was painted over in June 2011. Look, photograph and enjoy, but take pictures only and leave the paint at home. A few doors down you will also find cocktail bars and a well-known restaurant, which fill up in the evening.

Give the lane ten to twenty minutes. The cobbles are uneven, so watch your step while you look up.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Hosier Lane (revision of 12 September 2012), which cites reports in The Age.

Degraves Street: the coffee lane

Degraves Street is a short, narrow lane of bluestone cobbles. It runs north from Flinders Street to Flinders Lane. Vehicles have only restricted access, so it feels like a place for walking. It holds bars, cafes and restaurants, and many of the taller old buildings above them have been turned into apartments.

It is the easiest place to take your first coffee stop. Choose a table and watch the lane fill with commuters from Flinders Street Station. Look up the lane for Majorca House, an ornate building from the 1930s covered in glazed tile.

If you arrive by train, there is an underpass from the station. It was built in the 1950s so that people could reach Degraves Street without crossing busy Flinders Street. Degraves Street also links loosely with Centre Place, a similar lane just across Flinders Lane.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Degraves Street (revision of 24 August 2011).

Centre Place and the arcades

Centre Place is a busy lane that runs between Flinders Lane and Collins Street. It is lined with bars, cafes, restaurants, sushi bars and small shops. Its walls carry some of the best examples of street art in the city, especially stencil work.

Walk to the Collins Street end and you are close to the Block Arcade, a heritage shopping arcade in the city centre. It was built between 1891 and 1893 and copied the look of a grand arcade in Milan. Inside you will see mosaic tile floors, a glass canopy, wrought iron and carved stone. It is on the Victorian Heritage Register, and Melbourne's Golden Mile heritage walk runs through it.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Centre Place, Melbourne (revision of 4 October 2012); Wikipedia, Block Arcade (revision of 18 June 2012).

A simple route that links them

Here is an easy order, with each stop within a few minutes of the next. Our own estimate is that the whole loop is well under two kilometres, and it takes about two hours with two coffee stops.

  1. Hosier Lane. Begin opposite Federation Square and walk the full length of the lane.
  2. Flinders Lane. Turn west along Flinders Lane and walk towards Elizabeth Street.
  3. Degraves Street. Turn in for your first coffee, then walk the lane down to the Flinders Street end and back.
  4. Centre Place. Cross Flinders Lane and enter Centre Place. Look at the walls and take your time.
  5. Collins Street. Come out at the top of the lane and turn towards the Block Arcade.
  6. Block Arcade. Finish under the glass canopy.

If you arrive by train, you can reverse the order. Use the underpass to Degraves Street, cross to Centre Place, and end in Hosier Lane opposite Federation Square.

Sources for this section: the Wikipedia pages listed above for each lane. The route and time are the editors' own estimate.

When to go and what to bring

The lanes are quietest early on a weekday morning, before the cafes fill and the lunch crowd arrives. Weekend afternoons are busier, with more people stopping to take photos. This is the editors' practical advice, not an official figure, so use it as a guide.

Most cafes in the lanes are small. Expect to share a table at busy times, and check opening hours before you set out, since they vary from place to place.

Beyond the main lanes

If you still have energy, the grid of the city centre holds many more lanes. Walk a block or two off the main streets and look for narrow openings between buildings. Many of them are short and plain, and some hold a bar or a cafe.

Street art is also strong in inner suburbs such as Collingwood, Fitzroy, Brunswick and Prahran. The first stencil art festival in the world was held in Melbourne in 2004, and the city has become known for stencil work. These suburbs make a good second day on foot or by tram.

Sources for this section: Wikipedia, Street art in Melbourne (revision of 8 October 2012).

Sources

  1. Wikipedia, Hosier Lane: en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, Degraves Street: en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, Centre Place, Melbourne: en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, Block Arcade: en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, Street art in Melbourne: en.wikipedia.org