Melbourne Street Art and Laneways

Whenever we visit a country, we like to explore places that are unique to that place. As a city that celebrates and embraces their street art culture, we couldn’t pass up the chance to check out Melbourne street art and laneways. Never mind that it’s not exactly the most child friendly itinerary we have in mind, after all this creative expression of art is something that we don’t get very much back home in our pristine clean city.

Armed with this street art map, we headed to Degraves Street, after our half day Puffing Billy Adventure. Now that’s a more suitable family friendly attraction and if you missed it earlier, you can read here.

Anyway back to Degraves Street, this is an iconic little laneway between Finders Street and Flinders Lane where people flock there for alfresco dining and coffee and I sure could do with a cup of coffee.

Exploring Melbourne Street Art and Laneways

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Melbourne Street Art at Flinders Court

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Sophie and her Rainbow Igloo!

These street art sure adds colour to the vibrant streets of Melbourne, where every nook and corner turns into a visual kaleidescope of creative and colourful expression by these artists. If you’re keen to discover more of these street art, Union Lane, Caledonian Lane and Hosier Lane are where you  want to head to. Alternatively, you can even join a Street Art Tour like the one from Melbourne Street Tours.

We passed by Centre Place and it’s an interesting laneway littered with many hole in the wall cafes that sells everything from sandwiches to soup to coffee, pastries and savoury delights.

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Centre Place – An Instagram worthy spot too

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Hole in the wall cafes

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We settled on Little Cupcakes along Degraves Street so that Sophie can get her sweet tooth satisfied as I settled down for a coffee. I have to admit that I would much rather sit along one of those alfresco cafe to people watch especially in the nice cool winter.

But alas winter in Melbourne turned out to be a wet affair and the rain made it impossible to sit outdoors without getting my hair wet.

At least,  we managed to get the best seat in the cafe which allowed us to peek out from the shop and slowly watch the world go by while I sipped on my coffee with these 2.

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We spotted a couple taking their wedding photo and went to check out the fuss across the street at Doughnut Time where a snaking queue formed shortly after I took this photo.

Turns out that they serve a assortment of decadent handmade doughnuts that are very popular with the locals. But at $6 each, we just had to give these sugary treats a miss.

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The very pretty Clementine that sells Victorian made produce and homewares

Accommodation in Melbourne

Since I had some questions on where we stayed, I thought I might as well add more details about it on the blog so that I can use it for my reference in future too.

We stayed at Citadines at Bourke Street, which is a service apartment in the heart of the CBD. We liked it because of it’s centralised and convenient location where the tram station (Bourke Street) is right at our door step and the train station (Parliament) is just 5 minutes away.  Food is never an issue as there are restaurants, cafes and fast food outlets at every corner we turn.

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Citadines at Bourke Street

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Studio Deluxe at Citadines

We booked the Studio Deluxe and had a queen sized bed which was comfortable for the 3 of us. While we didn’t get much of a view being on the 6th floor and faced the back of another apartment (I think), it hardly bothered us since we were out most of the time. For privacy, the living room and the bedroom are separated with a privacy screen.

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The wardrobe between the study desk and the kitchen

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The kitchen is equipped with the necessary appliances for those planning to cook their meals but that was not in my holiday plans though the microwave was handy for heating up breakfast in the morning.

The living room had a three seater couch and most of the time we laid our jackets there to air. The toilet was also a comfortable size (No bathtubs here) .

They also have facilities like the gym, a lap pool, sauna and yes complimentary WIFI too 🙂

Overall we liked the spacious rooms and had a very comfortable stay. My only complain was that I wished they had firmer pillows.

You can check out their website for more photos and reviews here.

 

This concludes Day 3 of our 9 days free and easy Melbourne trip. Hit the links below for our first 2 days and do check back for the rest of our trip.

Day 1- Queen Victoria Market and Wedding Anniversary Dinner at Rare Steakhouse Uptown

Day 2- Puffing Billy Steam Train at Belgrave

Day 4- Weekend at St Kilda and Luna Park

I’ll be sharing more about the rest of our free and easy itinerary on the blog soon.

Don’t miss our Gold Coast adventures in Australia too. You can read more about where we went here.

 

Enjoyed reading this Post? Do like my Facebook page to get travelling updates. You can also follow me on Twitter (@Susankoh) or Instagram (@ajugglingmom) for more travel and parenting posts.

 

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Comments: 17

  1. Mummy Ed July 12, 2016 at 8:03 am Reply

    I did not know they had so many places with street art! We only went to Union Street. And Centre Place looks like the Aussie version of Japanese streets, so interesting!

    • Susan July 12, 2016 at 7:04 pm Reply

      It was a very interesting street. Too bad it was rainy, else we would have picked one of the cafes and sit outdoors.

  2. pc July 12, 2016 at 11:49 am Reply

    I LOVE wander in a lively city aimlessly! It is actually a great way to start train the kids on observation, because there is always new discoveries!

    • Susan July 12, 2016 at 7:07 pm Reply

      So true. Love that sense of wonder when we’re in a new place especially when their way of life is different from us.

  3. Bumble Bee Mum July 13, 2016 at 11:42 am Reply

    The rain is such a bummer! Though I pity the wedding couple more than you guys.. hahaha…

    I love Bourke Street – it’s so happening! You picked a nice place to stay! I used to crash at my friend’s place at Southbank which was kinda unhappening in comparison… We always just ended up at Crown Casino. LOL…

    • Susan July 14, 2016 at 11:19 pm Reply

      Haha, a friend of mine stays in Southbank and we did check out the neighbourhood. But like you said, they only have the casino nearly …so in the end we went with the CBD option.

  4. Ai Sakura July 14, 2016 at 3:38 pm Reply

    Definitely a place I’d like to visit in Melb but pity about the rain! I’m sure you’d have enjoyed the visit there much more on a sunny day 🙂 but then that would prob mean there would be an even bigger crowd to fight with for space haha

    Ai @ Sakura Haruka

    • Susan July 14, 2016 at 11:20 pm Reply

      That’s a valid point especially since it was a weekend that day.

  5. lynnlly July 14, 2016 at 4:36 pm Reply

    Awww…your post makes me want to go back to melbourne again!!! I really, really love it. We also took a pic at the Centre Place! Hahahh

    • Susan July 14, 2016 at 11:20 pm Reply

      Heh, not surprised since it is one of those Instagram worthy spots in Melbourne 🙂

  6. Adeline July 14, 2016 at 8:25 pm Reply

    Ah this is one of the reasons why I love Melbourne! It has all these quirky and interesting bits, and of course, all the lovely dessert places. Yum! I remember seeing some street art when we were there, but it looks like they’ve done even more since then.

  7. Michelle Hon July 14, 2016 at 9:01 pm Reply

    I love the laneways and those little cafes in Melbourne. The street arts are an added bonus too. The service apartment looks nice and spacious too. Might check that out for our next Melbourne trip. Thanks for sharing!

  8. David Sim July 14, 2016 at 10:04 pm Reply

    Excellent street art. So vibrant and those little cafes and eateries make me miss Melbourne all over again… I can almost smell the freshly grind coffee … Thanks for sharing.

  9. […] Day 3- Melbourne Street Art and Laneways […]

  10. […] Day 3- Melbourne Street Art and Laneways […]

  11. Debs G July 15, 2016 at 9:10 am Reply

    I didn’t know there was a street art map! We went to Melbourne earlier this year and there was so much to see in city – and it’s quite easy to navigate the streets as well.

  12. […] Day 3- Melbourne Street Art and Laneways […]

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