Alcohol in Victoria can be purchased at licensed shops/venues and supermarkets often have an adjoining bottle shop, which close earlier than supermarket hours. Some supermarkets that close at the same time as their licence stock alcohol in the supermarket. You need to be over 18 years old to purchase alcohol. Most bottleshops close by 10PM to midnight (even on weekends), but some open until 3AM (e.g. on Riversdale road in Booroondara and Russell St Melbourne), and 24-hour bottleshops on both Chapel and Lygon streets, in Stonnington and Melbourne respectively.

In the CBD itself, Little Collins Street is home to some of the world’s top designers and fashion houses; Collins Street also boasts other high end shops such as Louis Vuitton. Brunswick Street (Fitzroy), and the southern end of Chapel Street in Prahran/Windsor, have clusters of stores selling an eclectic mix of vintage, rave, retro and alternative gear such as Shag, Fat Helen’s and Beaut Vintage to shop around.

Melbourne Central is another shopping mall based in the city, adjacent to the underground station of the same name. The Bourke Street Mall with the department stores Myer and David Jones is another city-central shopping hub. Emporium connects Myer and David Jones to Melbourne Central and containing a large number of Australian and International brands. For the bargain shopper, there is a DFO Outlets Centre located at South Wharf, on the southern bank of the Yarra River. It is located next to the Convention Centre.

It is also worth noting, for Backpackers, that Elizabeth Street has plenty of Bargain backpackers stores, for example Mitchell’s Adventure, which can offer outdoor products for bargain prices.

There are also several huge shopping complexes in the outer suburbs, such as Chadstone and Southland (Cheltenham) in the South-East. Westfield Doncaster Shoppingtown, (about 20 minutes from the city and recently vastly expanded). Eastland (Ringwood) and Knox City are in the outer East. Northland in the north, Highpoint in the west. Chadstone in Monash is the largest shopping centre in the Southern Hemisphere with over 530 stores.

To buy funny souvenirs and Australian typical stuff, walk or take the tram to Victoria Market. You’ll find all you need there and the price is usually a half or a third of the prices in the souvenir shops downtown.