There’s a lot about ‘Marvellous Melbourne’ that reminds you of fictional Gotham City, the legendary home of Batman. A large gritty metropolis with dark narrow laneways at its heart with impressive gothic architecture and gleaming modern glass towers crammed into tightly packed city blocks. Whilst Gotham is often portrayed as a place of urban decay and corruption, riddled with crime and despair, Melbourne has emerged over time into one of the modern world’s most liveable cities with a rich colourful heart. Amazingly, the original name coined for this city was ‘Batmania’, in honour of John Batman, one of the founders of the city, before being renamed Melbourne in 1837. During the roaring goldrush of the mid 1800’s, Batmania (as we’ll call it) became (at the time) one of the world’s largest cities with a bustling population of some 540,000. 

Today, in the very heart of downtown Melbourne you’ll find dark narrow bluestone laneways plunged into modern city ravines totally plastered with colourful fruity graffiti, that actually works. It makes Melbourne in so many ways one of the world’s best urban art scenes. Hosier Lane is one of the most famous laneways in the city. It’s a heady combination of gritty street art whilst at the same time, a seedy grimy hang for street sleepers and shady daytime characters – in direct contrast to the smart Italian cafés, bars and restaurants packed into the same area. One of the most famous and notable laneways being bustling Degraves Street, Centre Place, Hardware Lane and Flinders Lane where you can grab one of the best coffees you’ll find anywhere, a toasted Panini for breakfast and delicious bowls of pasta over a long lunch, people-watching as the world walks by.