Spot your stop

The lanes and arcades of Melbourne, from the Block to the Royal

Summary

The lanes and arcades of Melbourne centre on the Royal Arcade, Australia's oldest surviving arcade, and the Block Arcade with its mosaic floor, both between Collins Street and Bourke Street.

Arcade essentials

  • Royal Arcade built in 18691
  • Block Arcade opens 8am on weekdays4
  • Gog and Magog strike the hours28

Open 54 stops

The laneways, arcades and stories on one map

Tap a route first, then a pin or stop, for its note and Google Maps.

Map of central Melbourne with Degraves Street, Centre Place, Block Place, Flinders Lane, Hosier Lane, AC/DC Lane, Meyers Place and Hardware Lane

  1. Opposite Flinders Street Station: brunch tables down the middle of the lane, street art, and small shops such as a Florentine stationer.

    Google Maps

  2. A narrow, crowded alley of cafes and bars; note the Spanish Moorish Majorca Building on the corner, from 1928.

    Google Maps

  3. The lane behind the Block Arcade; its line is the reason the arcade bends.

    Google Maps

  4. Named after the fabric factories of the 1860s, now small designer and shoe shops.

    Google Maps

  5. The old rag-trade lane, with the Nicholas Building at its Swanston Street end.

    Google Maps

  6. The city's best-known street art lane, repainted so often that pieces vanish overnight.

    Google Maps

  7. Australia's first street named after a rock band, with a lightning bolt instead of the slash.

    Google Maps

  8. Home of the bar that started the laneway revival, with Mike Makatron's Jungle Funk mural at the entry.

    Google Maps

  9. A long lane of outdoor tables and live music; Kirk's recalls its 1840s horse trading.

    Google Maps

  10. A rare survivor of the industrial city, now green with plants and cafes.

    Google Maps

© OpenStreetMap contributors, map data

The lanes and arcades of Melbourne are the city's covered short cuts and its Victorian showpieces. Here is what to look for in each, when they open, and where the chocolate is.

Editorial team, melbournelanewaystour.com · Updated November 8, 2026 · 7 min of reading

Quick look

  • OldestThe Royal Arcade, built in 1869, is Australia's oldest surviving arcade.1
  • GrandestThe Block Arcade, with a glass roof and a mosaic floor of European tiles.2,3
  • HoursBlock Arcade from 8am on weekdays; Royal Arcade from 7am.4,5
  • ChocolateHaigh's in the Block Arcade and Koko Black in the Royal Arcade.6,7
  • GuidedA lanes and arcades tour of 3 hours for up to 8 people, from $97.

Doing the Block: why Melbourne built arcades

The lanes and arcades of Melbourne grew out of a habit. In the 1880s the fashionable classes walked a set stretch of Collins Street between Swanston and Elizabeth streets to see and be seen, and they called it doing the Block.8,9 The State Library describes the young and stylish promenading both the footpaths and the arcades of Collins Street, in a city then in the middle of a land and property boom.9,10

Covered arcades suited that ritual perfectly. They let shoppers cross between the main streets through glass-roofed passages lined with small shops, out of the wind and rain, and they turned a back-of-block service lane into a parade. Several survive, and walking them in a chain is still the best way to cross the centre of the city on a wet day.

Collins Street itself was dressed for the part. Inspired by the boulevards of Paris, the city planted elms along it in 1875 and laid a woodblock pavement at the Swanston Street corner in 1881.11 The arcades that branched off it were built to the same ambition, and the best-known pair, the Block and the Royal, sit almost back to back between Collins Street and Bourke Street.

Arcade by arcade

The arcades compared

ArcadeBuiltLook forLinks
Royal Arcade18691Gog and Magog28Bourke St to Little Collins St
Block Arcade189213Mosaic floor23Collins St to Elizabeth St
Centreway Arcade191115Edwardian Baroque frontCollins St to Flinders Lane
Cathedral Arcade192616Lead-light ceiling29Swanston St
The Capitol192430Griffin ceilings31Swanston St
Manchester Unity193217Mosaic arcade floor32Collins St and Swanston St

Dates from the City of Melbourne and Heritage Victoria; the Royal Arcade's own site gives 1870.33

The Block Arcade

The Block Arcade at 282 Collins Street is the showpiece.19 It was developed by the financier Benjamin Fink, and Heritage Victoria records that its Collins Street section was finished in February 1892, with the Elizabeth Street wing completed in October 1893.13,20 The City's visitor pages give 1893 as its date, which matches that second stage.21 The architect was David Askew of Twentyman and Askew.22

Look down first. The floor is a patterned mosaic of tiles imported from Europe, and when it was laid a building journal of the day reported it as the largest area of mosaic yet laid in Australia.3,23 Then look up at the glass domed roof and stained glass, all modelled on the Galleria Vittorio in Milan.2 The arcade is L-shaped with a kink in the middle, and Heritage Victoria traces that bend to the old subdivision and to Block Place, the lane behind it.24

Small details reward a slow walk. One of the Collins Street shops housed the first Kodak shop in Melbourne.25 Classical musicians often busk at the entrance, and Haigh's Chocolates has a shop inside.26,6 Guided walks of the arcade itself are available.27 It opens 8am to 6pm Monday to Thursday, to 8pm on Friday, 8am to 5pm on Saturday and 9am to 5pm on Sunday.4

Year by year

When each arcade building opened

  • Royal Arcade1869
  • Block Arcade1892
  • Centreway1911
  • Nicholas Building1926
  • Manchester Unity1932

Years from the City of Melbourne and Heritage Victoria; the Block Arcade's Collins Street section is dated February 1892.1,13,15,16,17

The Royal Arcade and Gog and Magog

Walk north through Block Place and Little Collins Street and you reach the Royal Arcade at 335 Bourke Street.35 The City calls it the oldest surviving arcade in Australia, built in 1869.1 The arcade's own website says it opened in 1870, so you will see both years.33 It was designed by Charles Webb, who won the job in a design competition, and it began with 29 shops.12,36

The arcade's stars are a pair of giant figures. Gog and Magog, sculpted by Mortimer Godfrey after the effigies in London's Guildhall, were installed in 1892 beside Gaunt's clock.14 According to the City they have struck the hours since 1892, and you can still hear them.28 Stand under the clock just before the hour and watch them move.

Heritage Victoria counts the Royal Arcade among about 18 surviving arcades built before 1870 anywhere in the world.37 It has had a busy life: shop 27 once held Turkish baths, and rat tunnels wrecked the original floor, which was replaced in 1934.38,39 Today it links Bourke Street Mall, Little Collins Street and Elizabeth Street under one roof, and sells gifts, jewellery, Russian dolls and even magic spells.40,41

Pick your arcade walk

Which arcade outing suits you

Find your arcade mood below.

  • If I love Victorian architecture

    Block then Royal

    Mosaic floor, glass roof, then Gog and Magog.23,28

  • If I want chocolate

    Chocolate walk

    A 3-hour tasting walk from the Block Arcade.

  • If I want local designers

    Nicholas Building

    A vertical laneway of studios and makers.34

  • If It is raining

    The covered chain

    Centreway, Block, Royal and The Strand keep you mostly dry.

  • If I want it all with a guide

    Lanes and arcades tour

    3 hours, up to 8 people, with tastings.

Three ways in

Arcade tour, chocolate walk or laneways tour

Group of up to 8

Lanes and arcades tour

Most reviewed

  • Length3 hours
  • IncludesChocolate and coffee
  • MeetsFederation Square
Book the arcades tour

Starts at the Block

Chocolate walk

Sweet tooth

  • Length3 hours
  • MeetsBlock Arcade
  • AccessNot wheelchair friendly
Book the arcades tour

Group of up to 10

Laneways tour

Broader walk

  • Length3 hours
  • CoversLanes, art, history
  • MeetsSt Paul's Cathedral
Book the arcades tour

Centreway, Cathedral Arcade and the Nicholas Building

Between Collins Street and Flinders Lane, the Centreway Arcade shows what came next. It was built in 1911 in the Edwardian Baroque style and ranks among the earliest commercial buildings in Melbourne framed entirely in steel.15 The National Trust record names H W and F B Tompkins as its architects.109 It is a handy covered link between Collins Street and Flinders Lane, lined with jewellery, book and fashion shops.69

A block east, at 37 Swanston Street, the Cathedral Arcade is the Art Deco entrance to the Nicholas Building.110,59 The building went up in 1926 to designs by Harry Norris, and the City calls it the grandest example of Chicago Style architecture in Melbourne.16 Its ground floor arcade has a vaulted, domed lead-light ceiling that is worth stopping under.29

Upstairs is the reason locals love it. The City describes the Nicholas Building as a vertical laneway, and its floors are full of galleries, studios, jewellers and small makers.34 Its first tenants came from the Flinders Lane rag trade, which is a neat link to the lane outside.48 Take the stairs or the old lifts and wander; many studios welcome browsers when their doors are open.

Price an arcade walk

Arcade and chocolate walks for your group

Choose how many are going to compare starting totals.

Compare 4 alternatives

Arcade and chocolate walks for your group

Choose how many are going to compare starting totals.

2 people
  1. Lanes and arcades3 hours · starts at, per person $97

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    View
  2. Chocolate walk3 hours · starts at, per person $90

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    View
  3. Short chocolate walk2 hours · starts at, per person $62

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    View
  4. Laneways tour3 hours · starts at, per person $90

    ≈

    View

From-prices on GetYourGuide, shown at the ECB reference rate. Your exact price is confirmed during booking.

A century of arcades

How the arcades were built

  1. 1869

    Royal Arcade

    Charles Webb's arcade opens Australia's arcade age.1,12

  2. 1875

    Collins Street elms

    The street is planted like a Paris boulevard.11

  3. 1892

    Block Arcade

    The Collins Street section is finished; Gog and Magog arrive in the Royal Arcade.13,14

  4. 1911

    Centreway Arcade

    An early all-steel-framed building in the city.15

  5. 1926

    Nicholas Building

    Chicago Style, with its own arcade and lead-light ceiling.16

  6. 1932

    Manchester Unity

    Art Deco and the city's first escalators.17,18

The Capitol, Manchester Unity and Howey Place

Along Swanston Street, between Collins and Bourke, two buildings carry the arcade idea into the age of cinema and Art Deco. The Capitol, a cinema built in 1924 in the Chicago Gothic style, has glowing ceilings by the architect couple Walter Burley Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin.30,31 RMIT University bought it in 1999, and it is used for screenings and events.111

On the corner of Collins Street, the Manchester Unity Building of 1932 is Art Deco with a gothic tower, and it was the first building in Melbourne with escalators.17,18 Its ground floor arcade has a mosaic floor, marble walls and copper lift doors, and tours of the building are offered.32,112

Howey Place, off Little Collins Street, is a covered lane rather than a grand arcade, but it is the way into Presgrave Place and its tiny framed artworks.71 Further north, The Strand is a rainbow-lit modern arcade with a direct link into Emporium and the old GPO, which is useful if the weather turns.64,65

Video

Walking the Block Arcade, the Royal Arcade and the hidden lanes

Melbourne Walks on YouTube · The video stays unloaded until you press play.

Modelled on Galleria Vittorio in Milan, Italy, the arcade features an impressive glass domed roof, lavish decoration, stained glass windows and an extraordinary mosaic tile floor.
City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne)2

Arcade checklist

Before you go

Timing3

  • Royal Arcade opens 7am on weekdays5
  • Block Arcade opens 8am on weekdays4
  • Sunday: both arcades open at 9am4,5

On the day3

  • Be under Gaunt's clock just before the hour
  • Leave room in the bag for chocolate
  • Side lanes can be cobbled; the main arcades are level

Chocolate on the arcade route

The arcades are also where the city's chocolate shops cluster. Haigh's Chocolates trades inside the Block Arcade, and in the Royal Arcade you can buy sweet treats at Koko Black.6,7 So it is no surprise that one chocolate walk starts at the Block Arcade, or that the lanes and arcades tour includes a tasting.

The Chocolate Wonderland walk starts outside the Block Arcade's Elizabeth Street doors and takes 3 hours, from $90. It is not wheelchair friendly, and dietary needs must be given when you book. A shorter guided chocolate walk of 2 hours meets where Flinders and Swanston streets cross, from $62, and its route includes some stairs and cobbled paths.

The Melbourne lanes and arcades tour booked on this page includes a chocolate tasting and coffee along the way, with an optional lunch and a glass of wine. It meets on the lower steps of Federation Square and keeps the group to 8. Its listing says all sales are final, so wait until your plans are settled before booking it.

Visiting tips: hours, crowds and manners

The arcades open earlier than most shops. The Royal Arcade opens at 7am on weekdays, closing at 7pm, and at 8.30pm on Friday.5 The Block Arcade opens at 8am on weekdays.4 Many city shops keep 10am to 6pm hours, so the best time for the architecture is early morning, before the shops fill and the floors are crowded.113

Weekends are busy, particularly Saturday afternoon. If you want photographs of the mosaic floor or the glass roof, go early on a Sunday; the Block Arcade opens at 9am on Sundays and the Royal Arcade at 9am too.4,5 Keep to one side, as the arcades are working walkways, and ask before photographing inside individual shops.

The simplest route links them all. Start at the Centreway Arcade on Collins Street, cross to the Block Arcade, leave by Block Place, cross Little Collins Street and walk the Royal Arcade to Bourke Street. Add the Cathedral Arcade and Nicholas Building at the Flinders Lane end and the Manchester Unity Building on Swanston Street, and you have seen a century of Melbourne arcades in under an hour.

FAQ

Fast answers to common questions.

What is the oldest arcade in Melbourne?
The Royal Arcade

Built in 1869, it is Australia's oldest surviving arcade; the arcade's own site gives 1870 as its opening.1,33

What time does the Block Arcade open?
8am on weekdays

8am to 6pm Monday to Thursday, 8am to 8pm Friday, 8am to 5pm Saturday, 9am to 5pm Sunday.4

When do Gog and Magog strike?
On the hour

The figures by Gaunt's clock in the Royal Arcade have struck the hours since 1892.28

Where can I buy chocolate in the arcades?
Haigh's and Koko Black

Haigh's is in the Block Arcade and Koko Black in the Royal Arcade.6,7

Is there a chocolate walking tour in Melbourne?
Yes, several

A 3-hour walk meets at the Block Arcade and a 2-hour walk at Flinders and Swanston streets.

Why is the Block Arcade called the Block?
After doing the Block

In the 1880s, walking Collins Street to be seen was called doing the Block.9

Are the arcades wheelchair accessible?
The main ones are level

The Block and Royal arcades are level walkways, but some side lanes are cobbled; one chocolate walk is not wheelchair friendly.

Sources

  1. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  2. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  3. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  4. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  5. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  6. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  7. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk ↩
  8. State Library Victoria · Marvellous Melbourne ↩
  9. State Library Victoria · Marvellous Melbourne ↩
  10. State Library Victoria · Marvellous Melbourne ↩
  11. State Library Victoria · Marvellous Melbourne ↩
  12. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  13. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  14. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  15. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Centreway Arcade ↩
  16. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Nicholas Building ↩
  17. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Manchester Unity Building ↩
  18. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Manchester Unity Building ↩
  19. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  20. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  21. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  22. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  23. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  24. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  25. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Block Arcade ↩
  26. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  27. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Block Arcade ↩
  28. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  29. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Nicholas Building ↩
  30. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Classic icons and architecture walk ↩
  31. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Capitol ↩
  32. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Manchester Unity Building ↩
  33. Royal Arcade (official site) · Royal Arcade Melbourne ↩
  34. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Laneways and arcades ↩
  35. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  36. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  37. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  38. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  39. Heritage Victoria (Victorian Heritage Database) · Royal Arcade ↩
  40. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  41. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Royal Arcade ↩
  42. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  43. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Ultimate guide to Degraves Street
  44. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  45. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  46. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  47. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Laneways and arcades
  48. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Nicholas Building ↩
  49. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Laneways and arcades
  50. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Guide to Melbourne's best street art
  51. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne music walk
  52. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Guide to Melbourne's best street art
  53. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Meyers Place
  54. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  55. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  56. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Street art walk
  57. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  58. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  59. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk ↩
  60. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  61. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  62. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  63. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  64. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk ↩
  65. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Strand ↩
  66. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
  67. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Iconic laneways and arcades walk
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  69. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Centreway Arcade ↩
  70. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne's best hidden laneway cafes
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  81. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Street art walk
  82. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Guide to Melbourne's best street art
  83. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Flinders Street Railway Station
  84. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Flinders Street Railway Station
  85. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Classic icons and architecture walk
  86. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Heart of the city walk
  87. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Free tours of iconic Melbourne places
  88. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne's best old-school pubs and bars
  89. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · State Library Victoria
  90. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · State Library Victoria
  91. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Old Melbourne Gaol
  92. Old Treasury Building · Melbourne: Foundations of a City
  93. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Koorie Heritage Trust
  94. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Koorie Heritage Trust
  95. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne's best accessible Aboriginal experiences
  96. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne's best accessible Aboriginal experiences
  97. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne's best accessible Aboriginal experiences
  98. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Aboriginal Melbourne walk
  99. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Heart of the city walk
  100. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Aboriginal Melbourne walk
  101. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Things you can only see in the city
  102. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Aboriginal Melbourne walk
  103. Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria · Aboriginal Heritage Walk
  104. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Bunjilaka
  105. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Where to find Melbourne's best hidden laneway bars
  106. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Where to find Melbourne's best hidden laneway bars
  107. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne music walk
  108. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Melbourne music walk
  109. National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Victorian Heritage Database · Centreway Arcade ↩
  110. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Nicholas Building ↩
  111. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · The Capitol ↩
  112. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Manchester Unity Building ↩
  113. City of Melbourne (What's On Melbourne) · Travel essentials ↩

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