In the middle of ongoing renovations, the Cat & Fiddle is still popping out shiny new stores left, right and centre. With two levels of shopping, the arcade manages to encompass a good block of the CBD, linking Collins St, Murray St, Liverpool St and the Elizabeth mall through its belly. A number of the Cat & Fiddle shops will allow you to walk through from a shopfront on any of these streets to the arcade itself--being a newcomer to Hobart, more than once I've casually sauntered through an unassuming store to find myself in the middle with the fiddle.
My favourite of the shiny new stores in the arcade is Tasmania's first T2 shop, on the corner of the shiniest and newest end of the arcade at Collins St. Tasmania's only JB Hi-Fi is downstairs (with another entry from Collins St, a few shopfronts down from T2). There's a huge Priceline (I think this is also accessible from Elizabeth Mall) and a Target (definitely has a second shopfront on Elizabeth Mall), jewellers and shoe shops and clothing and more. The cat & fiddle (which came first, the arcade's name or these guys...?) still remain on the wall, of course, so keep an eye out for them. read more