Elizabeth Street is one of the main north-south streets in the central business district of Melbourne, Australia, part of the Hoddle Grid laid out in 1837. The origin of its name is uncertain, but the most likely explanation is that it was named for the wife of Governor Bourke (for whom Bourke Street is named). From the south, the street runs from Flinders Street Station past the western end of the Bourke Street Mall , with the Queen Victoria Market to the west at the northern end of the CBD. The street terminates in a large, complex roundabout at the northern end, which connects to Peel Street to the south-west, Flemington road to the north-west, Royal Parade, the beginning of the Hume Highway, the main route to Sydney to the north, and Grattan street to the East. This complex, high-traffic roundabout is further complicated by the trams travelling through it on several different routes.
As well as Flinders Street station at the southern end, there is a train station on the City Loop at the Melbourne Central shopping centre (the entrance is near the corner of Latrobe and Elizabeth), and has regular route 19 trams to Coburg North, route 59 trams to Airport West and route 57 trams to Maribyrnong.
As might be expected, there are a large number of retail shops on Elizabeth Street. As well as the Melbourne Central shopping centre, Elizabeth Street is home to a number of photography retailers, and a considerable number of motorcycle dealers. The street has been the home of motorcycle retailing in inner Melbourne since 1903, the longest-existing such area in the world.
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