Travel & Guides

Melbourne

Strolling and shopping Australia's eclectic city by the Bay. By Fiona Killackey


melbourne_open.jpgAsk any Melbournian for their favorite store, bar, or restaurant, and chances are you'll need an incredibly detailed map to find it. While tourists wander the grid-like City's main shopping strips, the locals are tackling the backstreets, turning around this corner and down that laneway to find the latest, newest, and most underground discovery.

Located by the Bay, Melbourne is surrounded by beaches, but don't expect to set eyes on a blonde brigade of surfers in this coastal town. Melbourne is not Sydney. And anyone who travels the 867km south from the Harbour Bridge expecting similarities will be disappointed. Separated into North and South by the Yarra River, Melbourne prides itself on being the darker, edgier, more clandestine southern city where black is always the new black, bands are plentiful, coffee is perfect, and designers on the verge prosper.

Collins Street, in the heart of Melbourne, may play host to Chanel and Gucci, but ask Melbournians for their favored designer gear and you'll hear instead local stars like Toni Maticevski, Yeojin Bae, and Martin Grant. Due to being slightly cooler--climate wise and maybe otherwise--than the rest of the country, Melbournians are happy to layer high-end wares with thrift-store scarves, boots, leather jackets, and denim from the likes of Shag, Savers, and Curve. Read on for more Melbourne discoveries...

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