From the traditional top end to the more modern side of luxury goods shopping.
Head to the Crown Casino, which is home to Prada, Gucci and a shoe shop that will put a spike straight through your wallet. This casino is more upmarket than many, also home to some fine restaurants - so even if you're not into gambling you can certainly play credit-card roulette.
3. Here's to you
The city is awash with bars, and it seems every little alley is home to some cool, themed establishment, tucked in a basement or up some discreet stairs to a surprise rooftop setting. The only bars that are getting hard to find are the old-school corner pubs. Ask around for where to end up of an evening.
4. Super stores
Myer is Melbourne's homegrown department store and its fantastic Christmas windows are worth queuing to see. It is flanked by the GPO, now filled with designer stores, and David Jones.
The emporiums are slap bang in the middle of town and always worth a visit. We love the endless beauty counters, and both it and DJs have fab fashion ranges, so if you're short of time just gallop about a few floors, check out the sale racks and smile proudly at all those New Zealand labels in the Australian fashion collections: Trelise, Kate, Karen, Tanya et al.
DJs Food Hall
Bourke St, basement level, beneath David Jones menswear
Like Harrods, without the snootiness or crippling prices, there's an oyster bar, a coffee stop, a wine cellar and a stack of other specialist counters. The Food Hall has the best deli selection in town and is an ideal place to stop by if you're in self-catering accommodation. Try the Greek yoghurt with fresh fruit and King Island cheeses or buy some gifts to take home.
5. Chain stores
Yes, we know we have those Aussie stores in those Aussie-owned Westfields all over New Zealand. But when in Rome ...
If you head to Witchery - which we don't have - no one will know where you got your bargain. And ditto Sportsgirl, such a shame it closed in Auckland, but handy when you want to stock up on cheap and cheerful accessories. Designer Kit Willow Podgornik is doing a limited edition range in-store now at Portmans, so that's cool threads for small change.
6. Ikea
Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre, cnr Victoria and Burnley Sts, Richmond
If Ikea is good enough to install a branch full of its Swedish furniture and homeware, the least we can do is visit. And the Melbourne branch is a humdinger. Two floors of beautifully designed, insanely cheap stuff.
We spent hours doing it properly and following the arrows to bargains galore, despairing that luggage allowances meant we had to put the TV cabinet back.
That didn't stop some of us snapping up an office chair and a moose rocking horse.
We needed it now and simply couldn't be expected to wait for the Auckland branch, which is due to be open in a couple of years.
7. Kid's gear
In Melbourne you will find some of the most fashionable toddlers around. It's home to Seed, a childrenswear store that specialises in making kids look like kids, with soft cotton T-shirts that last forever. None of this budding Britney stuff. Seed has branches at: 8 Morey St, Armadale; Chadstone Shopping Centre, 1341 Dandenong Rd; 208 Faraday St, Carlton; and 541 Chapel St, South Yarra.
Then, there's Big by Fiona Scanlan. That's Fiona Scanlan, formerly of Scanlan & Theodore. She approaches children's wear through the eyes of a child, with nice, wearable pieces alongside some pretty cool dress-ups. 617 Malvern Rd, Hawksburn.
Don't forget Sydney designer Leona Edmiston, known for making big girls' frocks. She's just started doing a sweet little girls' dress ranges called Little Leona. From Leona Edmiston boutiques.
Seek out the labels in the city department stores as well.
8. Communal dining
Whether it's the high CBD rents or friendlier, less uptight folk, communal dining is big in Melbourne - and not just at slurp-and-go joints.
Longrain, the Melbourne branch of the Sydney success story, provides one of the finest examples of how to make shared tables sing. First up, don't skimp on the fitout or the service, people want to feel they're being seduced into a happening scene not squeezed into submission.
Longrain has got that right, with its swishy transformation of an old-brick warehouse. The place hums, with a central bar dispensing great cocktails and a wine list to entice you to try Victorian vintages. There's enough elbow room to give you space while you ogle the neighbour's choices. Yes, we wish we'd ordered that papaya and noodle salad.
Longrain's modern Thai is terrific, full of zingy flavours, vegetarian-friendly, but with the sort of meat dishes that carnivores will salivate over. Caramelised pork hock with chilli vinegar and deep fried eschalots anyone? The dishes are designed to share and range in price from around $20 to $45, with starters around $5. We had a fantastic salt-and-pepper silken tofu with chinese broccoli and snow peas and a swordfish green curry with pea eggplants, baby corn and Thai basil. Both were bursting with freshness and originality, but left no room for the talked-about dessert sample platter.
Other communal dining tables we like were those at Chocolate Buddha in Federation Square. The menu is Asian as is the decor - think a less sterile Wagamama - and, yes, they do that annoying thing of writing on your table mat, but the little green gyoza and the spinach and sesame made up for it.
And then there's Ladro at 224 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, high-end pizza at shared tables.
* Longrain, 44 Little Bourke St, Melbourne. Ph 9671-3151.
9. Art
The Metropolitan museum of art store
211 Latrobe St, Central
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a New York landmark. The good news is you don't have to travel there to get the poster, as there are 16 shops scattered throughout Asia and Australia - one being in Melbourne (another in Sydney). Ideal for those of us who don't want to waste good shopping time on culture. Yes, we confess we bought something and will doubtless pretend we saw the real thing.
Melbourne is known as Australia's cultural capital, so if you don't want to cheat, check out the arts precinct over the Yarra River from Flinders St station and catch a world-class exhibition or concert. And if you're into musicals, there's likely to be a show on, if you're lucky at the stunning old Princes Theatre.
10. CBD fashion
Alice Euphemia
241 Flinders Lane, Central
Champions Australian labels with some New Zealand ones getting a look in. Always worth a look if young and cool's your thing.
Douglas & Hope
Shop 14, The Block Arcade, Central (or 181 Brunswick St, Fitzroy)
Has a little of everything. As well as appealing patchwork cushions and quilts, there's some good labels (Karen Walker included) and things to make life fragrant and fun, from divine Diptyque candles to ones shaped like ornamental cats.
Husk
176 Collins St
A quirky store, this is part Moroccan bazaar with masses of coloured tea glasses and interesting homewares paraphernalia, but lots of fashion too, including our own Kingan Jones and Beth Ellery alongside Easton Pearson.
Christine
181 Flinders Lane, Central
Christine Barro has assembled the most head-turning line-up of accessories under one roof. Melburnians are obsessed with hats at this time of year, so the place is bogged down with them at the moment. The bag, belt and jewellery selection is legendary.
11. Old school
Should you want to pay homage to Melbourne's best-known designers, you'll find Alannah Hill's shrine to girliness at 17 Howey Pl (also 533 Chapel St and an outlet store at 196 Brunswick St, Fitzroy); Bettina Liano, queen of skin-tight jeans, at 269 Little Collins St; and Scanlan & Theodore, who are masters of the beautiful body-conscious frock, just along the road at 285 Little Collins St (also 566 Chapel St).
Cose Ipanema
113 Collins St
Wow. This may be label city, but trained eyes mean they've been well edited, so the offerings are the best of everything. Dries van Noten, Dolce & Gabbana, Vivenne Westwood, Commes des Garcons, Jean Paul Gaultier, Armani Collezioni, Costume National - you get the idea. With this many labels, they're almost allowed to be snooty. The good news is, they're not.
Assin
138 Little Collins St
Cose Ipanema's younger sister, this spacious basement store has some innovative labels: Viktor & Rolf, Hussein Chalayan and Marni mingle with the store's own label. Frightfully cool.
12. The suburbs
Yes, Melbourne has suburbs that people are happy to say they shop in. Most are close to town, or neighbouring already fashionable areas. While the joy of the place for a short visit is the CBD, which has got pretty much everything you need, if you've done that and sampled seaside St Kilda, student fave Fitzroy, bustling Chapel St and Richmond, with its designer outlet and design stores, then you might like to spread your net.
The old Italian area of Carlton (up from the CBD and edging Fitzroy) is enjoying a foodie renaissance. It was always full of eateries and menswear stores, but now the menu is more exciting. Book in at Three, One, Two and Ablas and don't miss Brunetti for Italian cakes and gelato. Vegetarians will adore Shakahari.
North of Fitzroy, Sydney St is becoming one to watch for independent young designers. Smith St is a grottier version of Brunswick St, but if you like it street, then head this way for authentic.
St Kilda spills into Balaclava, more cake shops and further around is bayside Brighton. Camberwell has a market and a yummy-mummy friendly feel. If you're a shopping centre fan, the biggest around is Chadstone at 1341 Dandenong Rd. Think mega, more modern St Lukes.
13. Armadale
This inner southeastern suburb was once known as antiques central, but the squeeze is on as more frock shops are attracted to the vibrant High St strip.
Scanlan & Theodore's new superstore with internal courtyard, Lee Mathews Workroom, the cool Shelley's Shop, Lover and Nicola, which stocks Kate Sylvester, Alice McCall, Gorman and Lover. But the antiques trade is holding its own quite nicely. It's the new Chapel St.
B.C. Galleries
1069 High Street
This is like a museum, but everything is for sale from the Egyptian art and antiquities from the predynastic period to Greek, Roman and Chinese antiquities.
Pay $10 and get a bead from the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, $11,500 for a mummified falcon in its original sarcophagus from the 1st to 2nd century AD, or $250,000 for a Cycladic figurine. The people at BC Galleries are history nuts, with an eye for display. Fascinating.
The day we visited the window had a brilliant scene of wooden figurines, think Buried Army in the desert with two wooden camels in a bed of sand. We feel a new interiors trend coming on.
Fabrile
1143 High St
Valerie Stein moved along the road last year into her shop of dreams deliberately resembling a cruise ship from the 1920s, with curved chrome railings, porthole-shaped mirrors and a d banana skin-clad Josephine Baker sculpture. All the better to sell her Art Deco and mid-century pieces from. She's amassed a huge amount of bakelite jewellery, but has leanings towards quirky pieces, such as the 1960s French Don Quixote pottery figure ($850).
Choisir
897 High St
The name is French for "to choose" and there's certainly plenty of that to do, from the selection of deco and nouveau pieces, and Fornasetti furniture, sold under licence.
14. Chapel St
Chapel St has lost some of its lustre, but there are still drawcards. At no 217, the Chapel St Bazaar, has 80 independent dealers peddling collectables, including a Mattel Mork doll circa 1979. There's Souk at 267, with its dining room crowned by a Moorish metal chandelier of kitchen utensils. Gems & Beads International, Shop 2, at 181, is a happy hunting ground for those intent on making their own necklaces, plus there's Collette Dinnigan, at 535, for that special-occasion dress. Then there's Greville St, cooler and quieter than the main drag. Further up Chapel at the Windsor end is cafe-bar Orange.
Continue on to the above-mentioned neighbouring Armadale and also Malvern Rd. That's off Chapel St and parallel to High St, Armadale, and, like that old-school area is becoming more fashionable by the minute. Check out Kazari Collector, 450 Malvern Rd, a gallery with Japanese and Chinese objets complete with a cafe.
15. Caffe e Cucina
581 Chapel St, South Yarra
The fabled, dimly lit Italian bistro gets its own mention, because it is reason enough for a visit to Chapel St. The waiters have Italian accents and serve classic dishes (the gnocchi with porcini sauce and truffle oil is a stunner) in the atmosphere of the old country.
16. Design
Dedece
33 Russell St, Central
This design store (with branches in Sydney and Brisbane, but the Auckland one is no longer part of this lot) has all the usual design suspects: Knoll, Minotti, Cappellini, Tom Dixon. It could be very predictable were it not for the odd quirky piece, which makes it well worthwhile.
Spacecraft GPO
First Floor 350 Bourke St
Scottish-born Stewart Russell, an international textile designer who's done work for Vivienne Westwood, Eley Kishimoto and many others, now lives in Melbourne. Together with Donna O'Brien, he set up this textile studio to make, among other things, unique bed linen and men's and women's fashion. We never knew shopping could be such a peaceful experience.
Hub Furniture
63 Exhibition St
The capital of style. Much of the super-cool furniture hails from Europe and while it won't be easy getting a sofa across the ditch, at least you can clap eyes on what could have been. 17. FITZROY Cafes, bars, retro gear - attitude - Brunswick St, Fitzroy is boho central.
Shag
337 Brunswick St
A shop that takes in stray 80s gear before selling it to those who can't get enough of the decade. Plus plenty of vintage finds from other eras.
Rebirth 1
84 Brunswick St
Not a centre for those who want better karma with which to go forth into the next life, but a vintage store worth a trawl.
Kleins Perfumery
313 Brunswick St
Apothecary meets boudoir. This lovely temple to perfume, skincare and makeup is crammed with all manner of potions for beautification and a bath time from L'Occitane, to Penhaligons, Cie de Marseille, Cote Bastide, Burts Bees, Aesop, Model Co, Jurlique, Sohum, Annick Goutal ... this list goes on.
Babka
358 Brunswick St.
We know one Aucklander who goes to this Russian bakery just to pick up its Kasoundi, a Russian tomato relish laced with fennel. Then there's jams such as raspberry with vanilla and cinnamon, plus the freshest bread.
Expect queues, but if you edge past the bread counter you may be lucky enough to claim a table.
For breakfast, try subtly spiced Georgian baked beans, topped with feta and parsley, or poached dried apricots with sweet couscous and pistachios, served with yoghurt. Or blintzes, little folded pancakes stuffed with cottage cheese and sultanas, drizzled with honey.
For lunch there's borscht and lamb or mushroom and potato dumplings. Order a samovar of smoked tea or the Beryl Sparkles ($6.25), champagne poured over vodka-infused raspberries.
18. Gertrude St
This offshoot from Brunswick St has more bars, like Yelza, industrial design stores and galleries, in the artsier end of Fitzroy. We like:
Codename Tom
Shop 2, 102 Gertrude St
This store may claim to inhabit a world "in which we find equal beauty in an object as modest as, say, a set of 1950s crayons and notebooks found in the Florence flea market, as we do a mid-century design classic" but it's really just about fun for grown-ups. Among the cool gear was a fantastic plastic 60s air hostess mask.
Industria
202 Gertrude St
If you fancy decking your place out in old, rather scary-looking medical and dental equipment, or heavy-duty industrial pieces look no further. One way of playing doctor.
19. St Kilda
Even if it's too cold for a swim at St Kilda's beach, it's worth the trip out. A stroll along Acland St is worth it to perve at all the lovely cakes. Choose well, though, as some are all looks and not much taste. At night the area transforms, bars are the beacon, including at The Prince, where rock stars stay, with vodka bar Mink the most sceney. There's always Luna Park.
The Stokehouse (30 Jacka Boulevard, Ph 9525 5555), is a dining establishment with a perfectly placed old wooden pavilion looking straight out to Port Philip Bay. Downstairs a bar throbs, upstairs there's a big-occasion restaurant - anniversaries, birthdays, company credit cards. The arrival of acclaimed new chef Anthony Musarra, an excellent wine list and top service make this a flamboyant destination.
20. Albert Coates Lane
Melbourne's inner-city Albert Coates Lane has decorated designer horses in every window. Right now, you just can't escape Cup fever, but then we had the Cow Parade. This is one of the city's newer tarted-up lanes and is well worth a look. European chain Mango is also here.
Cactus Jam International
At No 14
It's easy to ignore the shop's silly name as you rifle through rack upon rack of brilliant fashion, from our own Kate Sylvester and Karen Walker to Australian wonder kids Sass + Bide and the big European players - Chloe, Vanessa Bruno, Stella McCartney, Acne and Superfine jeans, Sonia Rykiel, Matthew Williamson, you name it, it's here - with some fabulous bags from Mulberry thrown in. It would be easy to drop some serious money. This local store has made good with seven branches - some catering exclusively for men - scattered round Melbourne. A joy.
Aesop
No. 35
It's worth a look inside one of the five Melbourne stores of this local skincare company, known for its brown glass apothecary bottles and beautiful, natural ingredients, even if it's just to see how neatly the bottles are lined up.
Christensen Copenhagen
No 17-19
Houses European labels such as Paul & Joe and Missoni, but with a name like Christensen Copenhagen, there's plenty of well-chosen Nordic gear as well. Dedicated to beautiful clothes.
21. Hopetoun Tea Rooms
Block Arcade, Central
What lovely crumpets they do. Ditto the cinnamon toast - such old-fashioned comfort food. It's no wonder the place that was established by the Victorian Ladies Work Association in 1892 is still going strong. The star attraction though, has to be the amazing 40-year-old forest green Victorian-style wallpaper.
22. Pellegrini
66 Bourke St
On Bourke Hill, the restaurant and bookstore-lined top end of Bourke St, is this 1950s Italian espresso bar. Businessmen read the newspaper and the middle-aged barista harrumphs if anyone asks for some fancy-pants modern coffee, but if you want it served straight - in a glass - this is the place to come.
23. Crossley St
One of those tiny blink-and-you-miss it streets Melbourne excels in. Keep your eyes open open, off the top of Bourke. For starters there's De Mille Decorative & Fine Arts at No 7. What an assortment of 20th century finds, from Murano vases and perfume bottles through to top hats and fabulous flapper frocks. Blonde Venus at No 3, is named after an old Deitrich movie. Designer Marietta Marlow crafts beautiful garments from both new and vintage fabrics. Then take a perfect pitstop at Becco at 11-25, serving good coffee and even better Italian food.
24. Chuan Spa
Just as elite sportspeople need to prime themselves for competition so too, do keen shoppers and restaurant-goers. Which is why we took solace at The Langham's Chuan Spa. The $4.5 million zen-like fitout has propelled the spa into an exclusive list of the world's best. Time spent on rejuvenating the body means increased shopping vigour later. The Muddy Elements treatment is 90 minutes of luxury, starting with a full body salt scrub before mud is applied and you're wrapped up in it. Scalp massage follows.
25. On the menu soon
More good reasons to eat up large in Melbourne loom. Nobu will spread its global wings to Australia and open at the Crown Casino in the New Year, followed by Neil Perry bringing Rockpool to town, also at Crown. The merry-go-round takes Cecconi, run by Melbourne's matriarch of Italian cooking, Olimpia Bortolotto, away from the casino back into the CBD, with a new look. Teage Ezard of ezard fame is to open a second restaurant, the Hong Kong hawker-style Gingerboy. MoMo, the Middle Eastern-inspired restaurant of popular guest chef in Auckland, Greg Malouf, will reopen in new premises mid-way through next year.
Hidden haunts of the experts
We asked four regular visitors to Melbourne to open their little black books.
Kate Sylvester Fashion designer
MoVida (1 Hosier Lane). Absolutely gorgeous, eccentric tapas.
Journal (Level 1, 253 Flinders Lane) This CBD cafe is amazing for lunch.
Grossi Florentino (80 Bourke St). Italian. The most impeccable, animated service.
Babka (358 Brunswick St, Fitzroy). The best food in the world, but open only during the day. It's a Russian cafe and bakery. They make the best nicoise sandwich in town.
Ladro (224a Gertrude St, Fitzroy). Pizza plus. Yet to visit but everyone raves about it - big communal tables, good for tired evenings and apparently some of the best food in town.
Trelise Cooper Fashion designer
Soul Mamma (St Kilda Seabaths). Great range of vegetarian food, relaxed atmosphere and fabulous views of Port Phillip Bay.
Madame Brussels (Level 3, 59-63 Bourke St). My son took me to this out-of-the-way place. Up three flights of stairs to a bar filled with fake lawn, garden furniture and vines growing on the bar.
Bar Open (317 Brunswick St). A student hangout with a friendly crowd and fantastic live music. The band playing when I was there was so amazing I had to buy their CD.
MoVida. Delicious Spanish tapas and wine. This is a great place to take a few close friends for a cosy drink. It's like a little piece of Spain.
Vue de Monde (430 Little Collins St). Exquisite French cuisine, delicious decor, this is where I go for a complete fine-dining experience. Divine.
Fifteen (Basement, 115-117 Collins St). I can't wait to go to Jamie Oliver's new restaurant. I hope it is as good as the London one.
Harveys (10 Murphy St, South Yarra). I love going for breakfast at this South Yarra restaurant, and relaxing at the sunny terrace bar.
Richard Marshall Italian Grocer
My first stop in Melbourne would have to be Ablas, (109 Elgin St, Carlton) for the most wonderful home-cooked Lebanese food. Try the banquet. Lunch at Caffe e Cucina, (581 Chapel St, South Yarra) for great Italian food and service to envy. Spend time discovering the lanes around Little Collins St and Little Bourke St and find cafes and bars that are just perfect. A day in the Yarra Valley visiting and exploring wineries such as De Bortoli and Coldstream Hills.
Bridgette O'Sullivan Racing Ambassador
Flemington Racecourse. Ellerslie Racing Course's Ambassador, the television personality and wife of leading horse trainer Lance O'Sullivan, will be there for the Cup next Tuesday, though sadly, their Auckland Cup winner Pentane has been withdrawn.
Crown Casino. It has a beautiful foyer with waterfall and lovely restaurants - there's a Japanese teppanyaki one, Koko, that Lance and I love, though you need to book ahead. I like the odd game of blackjack too.
Getting There
Fly there with Air New Zealand Book now
Find out more at Australia.com
