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Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Basement Discs, Melbourne, Victoria. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved. Lanes and arcades Tour.

Discovering Melbourne’s Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour

Discovering Melbourne’s ‘hidden secrets’ on a Lanes and Arcades tour wasn’t high on our list of priorities, I have to admit. But Paris has its boulevards, Venice has its canals, Barcelona has its ramblas, Sydney has its harbour, and, well, Melbourne has its lanes.

We half-suspected all the chatter about Melbourne’s famous laneways was simply the result of a successful tourism campaign. And by the look of the number of brides and foreign visitors having their photos taken in the graffiti-covered backstreets it had been a colossal success.

Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Day after day we found ourselves passing by these celebrated laneways on our way to photo shoots and interviews. Could these busy passages still hold secrets, we wondered. Is there really anything left to discover? Curious, we decided to do Fiona Sweetman’s popular Lanes and Arcades Tour, the original guided walk that reignited interest in Melbourne’s alleyways and shopping arcades.

Discovering Melbourne’s Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour

We meet Fiona at Federation Square, Melbourne’s meeting place that is home to what must be Australia’s most hideous pieces of postmodern architecture, and begin our stroll along Flinders Street. We pass the iconic yellow Flinders Street Station and the elegant St Pauls Cathedral, before descending stairs to our first ‘discovery’.

Campbell Arcade is an underground subway passage leading to Flinders Street Station that hides a handful of businesses, including an old-fashioned barber shop somewhat ironically named Touch of Paris, espresso spot Cup of Truth and ’zine store Sticky Institute. Glass cases displaying exhibits line the passageway forming the Platform art space.

Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Back above ground we make our way to the much-photographed Degraves Lane and Centre Place, where Fiona points out the splendid Majorca Building, dating to 1928, its stylish entrance reminding me of the grand apartment buildings that lined Macleay Street, Potts Point, our home in Sydney before we left Australia years ago. I secretly wished I could have had a snoop inside.

We amble along Flinders Lane, Melbourne’s leading fashion street, sneaking into the original old National Bank of Australia building, now an elegant retail space for upmarket designer boutiques, and zip back along buzzy Centre Place, lined with cafés and boutiques. As we walk Fiona points out homegrown Melbourne businesses, such as Obus, Aesop, Body, Fokus, and Green With Envy, and coffee spots hidden away above the street on mezzanine levels, like Journal and Canteen.

Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Slipping into Carlow House we hop into the elevator and head up to the fourth floor where Lord Coconut is hidden away. This lovely light-filled boutique specialises in handsome handcrafted men’s jewellery and cuff links, and it’s quite a find. Fiona says it epitomizes the sort of vertical retailing that is very Melbourne. (Indeed, for me, very Australian; more on that in a future post.)

We pass through Centre Place en route to the historic European-style Block Arcade, established in 1892 and modelled on Milan’s Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II. With its vaulted ceilings, elaborate decorative details, and mosaic-covered floors, it’s Melbourne’s most ornate shopping arcade. Fiona tells us how in the old days wealthy pastoralists from the countryside would bring their daughters to town and take them shopping in the arcade to show them off. They called the ritual “doing the block”.

In the adjoining Block Place, we slip downstairs to the subterranean Basement Discs, one of the city’s few surviving older-style music shops, specialising in rare finds, boxed sets and mail order, with friendly owners who can be found behind the counter, sales staff who have expert knowledge, and live performances and record launches held regularly in store.

Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

Back on ground level, Fiona points out more examples of vertical retailing, such as shops like Bespoked, specialising in made-to-order spectacles, hidden away above us. We stroll along Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne’s main shopping thoroughfare, where we stop to admire the Royal Arcade, once a Turkish bath dating to 1869, and Melbourne’s oldest arcade still standing.

After a detour for a coffee-stop at Gil’s Diner, we continue our stroll, taking in the elegant Buckley and Nunn building; the street art gallery that is skinny Union Lane; Howey Place, once a former covered book market; Presgrave Place, that is home to tiny Bar Americano (look for the Tabacchi sign); the grand Manchester Unity building, dating to 1932, which was built over nine months (one floor per week!), and for which they carted ice blocks from Antarctica for its basement air-conditioning system; and Manchester Lane, home to a handful of chic boutiques, include Plane and Design A Space.

Our next stop is the Beaux Art-period Nicholas Building, dating to 1928, which turns out to be a delightful surprise, its floors – accessed by an old-fashioned elevator – home to quirky shops, artists’ studios and designer ateliers, from Kimono House, which specialises in exquisite kimono fabrics and all things Japanese, to the sprawling vintage store, Retro Star. On its ground floor, Cathedral Arcade, boasting an antique glass ceiling, houses more funky shops, such as Alice Euphemia and Lenko Boutique. I make a note to return.

Lastly, we hike up Flinders Lane so Fiona can show us a few of her final favourites, including chic Alphaville boutique, beautiful Pollon florist, and the wonderful Christine, an elegant one-stop-shop for a carefully-curated selection of fashion, jewellery and accessories which owner Christine discovers on her shopping excursions around the world. (Her tip for the quintessential Melbourne souvenir? A colourful Christopher Graf scarf.)

Discovering Melbourne's Hidden Secrets on a Lanes and Arcades Tour. Copyright © 2022 Terence Carter / Grantourismo. All Rights Reserved.

We leave the lovely Fiona here, although there’s also the option to finish her Lanes and Arcades tour with lunch – not at a café hidden underground, secreted on a mezzanine level, or even tucked into an arcade, but at an alfresco eatery on a sunny square.

Our verdict on the Lanes and Arcades tour

Do Fiona’s Lanes and Arcades tour as soon as you arrive in Melbourne for a fantastic introduction to the city and its architectural and shopping secrets. While we had sprinted past some of the arcades Fiona showed us, we hadn’t ventured inside – or, for that matter, upstairs or below ground before. Had we have explored, we still wouldn’t have known which shops were locally owned and which were worth further investigation, without doing loads of research. With Fiona, we felt as if we were with an insider – our Melbourne girlfriend – who was sharing her city’s secrets.

Fiona’s 3-hour Lanes and Arcades walking tours are popular, so book in advance. See her Hidden Secrets site www.hiddensecretstours.com for more details and information on other tours she runs.

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About Lara Dunston

A travel and food writer who has experienced over 70 countries and written for The Guardian, Australian Gourmet Traveller, Feast, Delicious, National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast Traveller, Travel+Leisure Southeast Asia, DestinAsian, TIME, CNN, The Independent, The Telegraph, Sunday Times Travel Magazine, AFAR, Wanderlust, International Traveller, Get Lost, Four Seasons Magazine, Fah Thai, Sawasdee, and more, as well as authored more than 40 guidebooks for Lonely Planet, DK, Footprint, Rough Guides, Fodors, Thomas Cook, and AA Guides.

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Comments

  1. Lord Coconut says

    April 30, 2012 at 2:49 pm

    Thanks for the kind words

  2. Lara Dunston says

    May 1, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    No worries – loved the shop!

  3. Kristina says

    May 4, 2012 at 12:28 pm

    I love the small laneways, hidden cafes, quircky shops and funky street art of melbourne! Just moved here 6 months ago and fall in love with the city more from each day! Great post!!

  4. Lara Dunston says

    May 4, 2012 at 9:27 pm

    Oh, you’re living there! I didn’t realise. Shame we didn’t meet. We’ve just left and we’re in Perth now :( Have you done Fiona’s tour? If not, you really should. I’m sure you’ll love it.

    I just went and looked at your blog – what beautiful images – loved the Mornington Peninsula pics! I tried to leave a comment though and wasn’t able to (maybe Google Chrome?) – I’ll try on a new browser tomorrow.

    Thanks for dropping by!

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Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check o Still looking for Christmas cooking inspo? Check out our seafood recipe collection, especially if you celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve with a fish focused meal in the Southern Italian tradition, transformed by Italian-Americans into the Feast of the Seven Fishes, or like Australians, who celebrate Christmas in the sweltering summer, feast on seafood for Christmas Day lunch, we’ve got lots of easy seafood recipes for you.

Our recipes include a classic prawn cocktail, blini with smoked salmon, a ceviche-style appetiser, and devilled eggs with caviar. We’ve also got recipes for fish soup, seafood pies and pastas, salmon tray bake, and crispy salmon with creamy mashed potatoes.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/seafood-recipes-for-christmas-eve-and-christmas-day-menus/
(Link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas if you’re celebrating!! 

#christmas #christmasfood #seafood #fish #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #grantourismo #grantourismotravels #xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you’re still looking for food inspo for Chris If you’re still looking for food inspo for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day meals, my smoked salmon ‘carpaccio’ recipe is one of dozens of recipes in this compilation of our best Christmas recipes (link below). 

The Christmas recipe compilation includes collections of our best Christmas breakfast recipes, best Christmas brunch recipes, best Christmas starter recipes, best Christmas cocktails, best Christmas dessert recipes, and homemade edible Christmas gifts and more.

My smoked salmon carpaccio recipe makes an easy elegant appetiser that’s made in minutes. If you’re having guests over, you can make the dish ahead by assembling the salmon, capers and pickled onions, and refrigerate it, then pour on the dressing just before serving. 

Provide toasted baguette slices and bowls of additional capers, pickles and dressing, so guests can customise their carpaccio. And open the bubbly!

You’ll find that recipe and many more Christmas recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/best-christmas-recipes/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Merry Christmas!! X

#christmas #christmasfood #recipes #christmasrecipes #foodstagram #salmon #smokedsalmon #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood #picoftheday #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels 
#xmas #merrychristmas #happychristmas
If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I sh If you haven’t visited our site in a while, I shared a collection of recipes for homemade edible Christmas gifts — for condiments, hot sauces, chilli oils, a whole array of pickles, spice blends, chilli salt, furakake seasoning, and spicy snacks, such as our Cambodian and Vietnamese roasted peanuts. 

I love giving homemade edibles as gifts as much as I love receiving them. Who wouldn’t appreciate jars filled with their favourite chilli oils, hot sauces, piquant pickles, and spicy peanuts that loved-ones have taken the time to make? 

Aside from the gesture and affordability of gifting homemade edibles, you’re minimising waste. You can use recycled jars or if buying new mason jars or clip-top Kilner jars, you know they’ll get repurposed.

No need for wrapping, just attach some Christmas baubles or tinsel to the lid. I used squares of Cambodian kramas (cotton scarves), which can be repurposed as napkins or drink coasters, and tied a ribbon or two around the lids, and attached last year’s Christmas tree decorations to some.

You’ll find the recipes here: https://grantourismotravels.com/homemade-edible-christmas-gifts/ (link in bio if you’re seeing this on IG)

Yes, that’s Pepper... every time there’s a camera around... 

#christmasgiftideas #ediblegifts ##christmasfoodgifts #foodgifts #giftideas #homemadegifts #christmasfood #ediblegiftideas #hotsauce #chillisauce #sriracha #pickles #homemadepickles #recipes #foodstagram #foodblogger #food #foodlover #igfood 
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This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’ This crab omelette is a decadent eggs dish that’s perfect if you’re just back from the fish markets armed with luxurious fresh crab meat. It’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very, very moreish.

Our crab omelette recipe was one of our 22 most popular egg recipes of 2022 on our website Grantourismo and it’s no surprise. It’s appeared more times than any other egg recipes on our annual round-ups of most popular recipes since Terence launched Weekend Eggs when we launched Grantourismo in 2010.

If you’re an eggs lover, do check out the recipe collection. It includes egg recipes from right around the world, from recipes for classic kopitiam eggs from Singapore and Malaysia and egg curries from India and Myanmar to all kinds of egg recipes from Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Mexico, USA, Australia, UK, and Ireland.

And do browse our Weekend Eggs archives for further eggspiration (sorry). We have hundreds of egg recipes from the 13 year-old series of recipes for quintessential egg dishes from around the world, which we started on our 2010 year-long global grand tour focused on slow, local and experiential travel. 

We’re hoping 2023 will be the year we can finally publish the Weekend Eggs cookbook we’ve talked about for years based on that series. After we can find a publisher for the Cambodia cookbook of course... :( 

Recipe collection here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio):
https://grantourismotravels.com/22-most-popular-egg-recipes-of-2022-from-weekend-eggs/

If you cook the recipe and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either in the comments at the end of the recipe or share a pic with us here.

#recipe #recipes #eggs #eggslover #breakfasteggs #WeekendEggs #egg #breakfast #brunch #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #lookingforapublisher #writingacookbook  #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angko I’m late to share this, but a few days ago Angkor Archaeological Park, home to stupendous Angkor Wat, pictured, celebrated 30 years of its UNESCO World Heritage listing. 

That’s as good an excuse as any to put this magnificent, sprawling archaeological site on your travel list this year.

While riverside Siem Reap, your base for exploring Angkor is bustling once more, there are still nowhere near the visitors of the last busy high season months of December-January 2018-2019 when there were 290,000 visitors. 

Last month there were just 55,000 visitors and December feels a little quieter. A tour guide friend said there were about 150 people at Angkor Wat for sunrise a few days ago.

If you’re looking for tips to visiting Angkor, Siem Reap and Cambodia, just ask us a question in the comments below or check Grantourismo as we’ve got loads of info on our site. Click through to the link in the bio and explore our Cambodia guide or search for ‘Angkor’. 

And please do let us know if you’re coming to Siem Reap. We’d love to see you here x

#siemreap #cambodia #asia #travel #instatravel #traveldeeper #slowtravel #localtravel #experientialtravel #exploremore #neverstopexploring #goexplore #igtravel #angkorwat #angkor #temple #temples #angkorwithoutcrowds #unesco #unescoworldheritagesite #unescoworldheritage #archaeology #archaeologicalsite #traveladdict #beautifuldestinations #beautifulplaces #travelgram #wanderlust #picoftheday📷 #grantourismotravels.
Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky Our soy ginger chicken recipe will make you sticky, flavourful and succulent chicken thighs that are fantastic with steamed rice, Chinese greens or a salad, such as a Southeast Asian slaw. 

The chicken can be marinated for up to 24 hours before cooking, which ensures it’s packed with flavour, then it can be cooked on a barbecue or in a pan.

Terence’s soy ginger chicken recipe is one of our favourite recipes for a quick and easy meal. I love the sound of the sizzling thighs in the pan, and the warming aromas wafting through the apartment. 

It’s amazing how such flavourful juicy chicken thighs come from such a quick and easy recipe.

Recipe here (and proper link to Grantourismo in our bio): https://grantourismotravels.com/soy-ginger-chicken-recipe/

If you cook it and enjoy it please let us know — we love to hear from you — either here or in the comments at the end of the recipe on the site or share a pic with us x 

#recipe #recipes #chicken #soygingerchicken #asianfood #southeastasianfood #igfood #igfoodie #cooking #cookingtime #recipe #recipes #comfortfood #foodblog #food #foodstagram #healthyfood #instafood #healthy #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #recipedeveloper #writingacookbook #grantourismo #grantourismotravels
Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re mak Who can guess the ingredients and what we’re making with my market haul from Psar Samaki in Siem Reap — all for a whopping 10,000 riel (US$2.50)?! 

Birds-eye chillies thrown in for free! They were on my list but the seller I spent most at (5,000 riel!) scooped up a handful and slipped them into my bag. She was my last stop and knew what I was making.

My Khmer is poor, even after all our years in Cambodia, as I don’t learn languages with the ease I did in my 20s, plus I’m mentally exhausted after researching and writing all day. I have a better vocabulary of Old and Middle Khmer than modern Khmer from studying the ancient inscriptions for the Cambodian culinary history component of our cookbook I’m writing.

So when one seller totalled my purchases I thought she said 5,000 riel but she handed back 4,500 riel! The sum total of two huge bunches of herbs and kaffir lime leaves was 500 riel.

Tip: if visiting Siem Reap, use Khmer riel for local shopping. We’ve mainly used riel since the pandemic started— rarely use US$ now as market sellers quote prices in riels, as do local shops and bakeries, and I tip tuk tuk drivers in riels. I find prices quoted in riels are lower.

Psar Samaki is cheaper than Psar Leu, which is cheaper than Psar Chas, as it’s a wholesale market, which means the produce is fresher. I see veggies arriving, piled high in the back of vehicles, with dirt still on them — as I did on this trip. 

The scent of a mountain of incredibly aromatic pineapples offloaded from the back of a dusty ute was so heady they smelt like they’d just been cut. More exotic European style veggies arrive by big trucks in boxes labelled in Vietnamese (from Dalat) and Mandarin (from China), such as beautiful snow-white cauliflower I spotted.

Note: the freshest produce is sold on the dirt road at the back of the market.

#cambodia #siemreap #foodwriter #foodblogger #foodphotography #igfood #foodstagram #instafood #instafoodie #foodie #instadaily #picoftheday #market #siemreapmarket #psarsamaki #marketfresh #vegetables #healthyfood #marketshopping #traveltips #foodtravel #culinarytravel #localtravel #cooking #cookingtime #curry #homemade #currypaste #grantourismotravels
My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recip My Vietnamese-ish meatballs and rice noodles recipe makes tender meatballs doused in a delightfully tangy-sweet sauce, sprinkled with crispy fried shallots, with carrot-daikon, crunchy cucumber and fragrant herbs. 

The dish is inspired by bún chả, a Hanoi specialty, but it’s not bún chả. No matter what Google or food bloggers tell you. Names are important, especially when cooking and writing about cuisines not our own.

This is an authentic bún chả recipe:  https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-bun-cha-recipe/ You’ll need to get the outdoor BBQ/grill going to do proper smoky bún chả meat patties (not meatballs).

My meatball noodle bowl is perhaps more closely related to dishes such as a Central Vietnam cousin bún thịt nướng (pork skewers on rice noodles in a bowl) and a Southern relation bún bò Nam Bộ (beef atop rice noodles, sprinkled with fried shallots (Nam Bộ=Southern Vietnam) though neither include meatballs. 

Xíu mại= meatballs although they’re different in flavour to mine, which taste more like bún chả patties. Xíu mại remind me of Southern Italian meatballs in tomato sauce.

In Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, home to millions of Khmer, there’s bánh tằm xíu mại. Bánh tằm=silk worm noodles. They’re topped with meatballs, cucumber, daikon, carrot, fresh herbs, crispy fried onions. Difference: cold noodles doused in a sauce of coconut cream and fish sauce. 

Remove the meatballs, add chopped fried spring rolls and it’s Cambodia’s banh sung, which is a rice noodle salad similar to Vietnam’s bún chả giò :) 

Recipe here: (link in bio) https://grantourismotravels.com/vietnamese-meatballs-and-rice-noodles-recipe/

For more on these culinary connections you’ll have to wait for our Cambodian cookbook and culinary history. In a hurry to know? Come support the project on Patreon. (link in bio)

#recipe #recipes #vietnamesefood #cambodianfood #asianfood #southeastasianfood #ricenoodles #rice #noodlebowl #meatballs #igfood #igfoodie #foodblog #food #foodstagram #instafood  #instafoodie #foodie #foodies #foodlover #foodpics #foodporn #foodphotography #foodwriter #foodblogger #writingacookbook #writingacambodiancookbook #patreon #patreoncreator #grantourismo
It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour It is pure coincidence that Pepper’s eye colour matches the furnishings of our rented apartment. So, no, I did not colour-coordinate the interiors to match our cat’s eyes. 

I keep getting DMs from pet clothing brands wanting to “partner” with Pepper and send her free cat clothes and cat accessories. Although she did wear a kerchief for a few years in her more adventurous fashion-forward teenage years, I cannot see this cat in clothes now, can you? 

#pepper #blackcat #blackcats #blackcatsofinstagram #blackcatsrule #blackcatsmatter #cat #cats #catsofinstagram #catstagram #catlover #catlovers #catlove #catoftheday #catphoto #catpic #catpics #cambodiancat #cambodiancatsofinstagram #catlife #catloversclub #catoftheday #catgram #catstagram #cats_of_instagram #catphotography #catsofig #catsoftheworld #catsofinsta #cats🐱 #siemreap #cambodia

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