Melbourne's Street Art

Note: This post has been updated and re-published from the old website.

Melbourne's reputation for being the world's most liveable city, along with its food and cafe culture are well known, and you can now add  street art to the list. 

During Melbourne winter school holidays I dragged Mr. Techno and the kids out of the house  to discover our own backyard! They of course complained about missing out on their screen time. 

Melbourne City and suburbs has an amazing collection of street art and is must do for any visitor. The bonus, it is a free activity and there are plenty of cafe and eateries along the way for a pit stop and refuel!
There  are countless lanes/alleys in Melbourne to be explored, though this may not be everyone's cup of tea,   I highly recommend it for young and old.  The art is ever-changing as new designs/works constantly emerge and evolve. 

The best way to explore the street art scene is on foot, so arm yourself with your list and a good map. and head out to explore.  (Don't forget good walking shoes, camera and water). 

The areas to visit change, so worth checking the latest tourist websites, however here is the list we compiled for our visit: 

Melbourne City:

• Hosier and Rutledge Lane, opposite Federation Square (my favourite)
• Caledonian Lane, off Little Bourke Street
• Union Lane, off Bourke Street Mall
• Rear of 280 Queen Street in Finlay Avenue
• 21 Degraves Street
• Cnr Flinders Lane and Cocker Alley
• Centre Place, between Collins Street and Flinders Lane​

In  the city centre, we limited our visit  to Hosier Lane and Union lane, so that the kids did not lose interest, and they even admitted it was a pretty cool thing to do.  
There are plenty of places to eat in town, however we had cravings for dumplings so we headed to Hutong Dumpling Bar - it was packed, so we ordered takeaway dumplings, they are so good!
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Fitzroy which is a quick tram ride from the city centre, is another area with some amazing displays, some cover whole buildings and have a few of my favourite pieces of art (indigenous child and Echidna just to list a few). 

Fitzroy main areas to check out:

• Argyle Street
• Fitzroy Street

Want to check out more street art, try the following suburbs too:
Collingwood
Carlton
Brunswick

The Melbourne council has approved designated lanes for artists to showcase their skills, you might even be lucky to see the artists in action.
If you have the time you can join a guided tour and even a street art workshops. The City of Melbourne website has more details here.  Want a souvenir of your street art visit of Melbourne - check out this gorgeous book by Andy Sunshine (I bought it for a friend for Christmas). 

Have you visited Melbourne's street art scene, which is your favourite and what did you think?
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