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Launceston City opens you up to a different style of shopping: bespoke and civilised, quirky and intimate, where parking is easy and often free.

It will never be (it's not trying to be), the shopping of Oxford Streets (either Paddington or London), Harajuku, or Hobart. (Walk the length of Sydney’s Oxford Street and you will have circumnavigated the Launceston CBD - twice!).

But, here's a promise: you won't find the avenues and alleyways, the squares and streets, the malls and markets of Launceston City anywhere else. Shopping in Launceston is proudly local, based for over a century on the retail and banking needs of the state's richest farming families, and the outdoor activities of locals blessed with a stunning natural environment.

In Launceston City you can buy your R.M. Williams boots from Allgoods, then stroll to Benchmark Wine Gallery to taste a cool climate local wine you’ve heard so much about. Choose a locally made organic cheese from The Mill providores and wander along the riverfront to Seaport for fish and chips.  Buy a gift from 1842 or the Design Centre, have it freighted home ahead of you, then browse the renowned auctioneers and antique shops where people have been known to pick up a bargain (a 1930s Chanel ring no less). 

Spoil yourself at Homebody (Tasmanian designer Morrison featured here), be pampered at the day spa at Mud, devour all the latest fashion at Yeltour's salon.

You'll find chain and department store shopping is altogether less frenzied. When Stella McCartney's range for Target launched in Lonnie, size 10's were still available on the second day!  Retail assistants routinely ask if you need help, and don't mind finding a different size should you need one.

Update your Ipod at the Apple Centre, pick up emails from one of the many internet cafes, surf the fashion wave at Red Herring, or order a pair of Om Shanty custom made jeans. And at the Paris end of Charles Street, indulge in a French pastry, browse through the antiquarian bookshop and talk to Martin, the owner and oracle of all things local.

While you're strolling, don't forget to look up and learn. Launceston's architecture is as intimate and quirky as its people; its streetscapes are immaculately preserved, and its shopfronts speak of other eras: Victorian, Georgian, Art Deco... If you want to find out more, visit the Queen Victorian Museum and Art Gallery at Inveresk or Royal Park. Yes, you can walk there too, and there's even an excellent shop if you haven't already blown your budget!

Get to know us well; you won't be disappointed.

“I’m going to do a bit of shopping before heading home. The shops are much better in Launceston than Hobart, everyone knows that!”

Visitor to a recent Launceston event –
The Examiner, 23rd July 2007