Australia’s nineteenth-century shopping arcades were self-contained and idealised spaces supposedly separated from the noise, dirt, and undesirables of the colonial city and often represented as emblematic of the increasing civility of colonial spaces and life. These enclosed indoor streets were one form of sensory culture where the inhabitants of Australian urban spaces were exposed to experiences that allowed them to connect with and traverse the world. Their architecture, influenced by exemplars in Britain, Europe and elsewhere; the goods and foodstuffs available within the retail spaces, teahouses and restaurants, sourced from all over the globe; and the diverse entertainments provided by the proprietors, exposed customers to sights, tastes, sounds and smells that allowed them to explore beyond the confines of these walls. At the same time these consumers, many of them immigrants to the colonies, were able purchase products familiar to them, from both near and far, giving them a sense of connection and embeddedness in their surrounds. This paper explores the experience of these spaces as virtual journeys to places both strange and familiar that could be undertaken within the confines of the arcades and allowed the inhabitants to find a sense of place within the colonial city.