Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne

Little-known fact: the Royal Botanic Gardens has an equally cool sister in Melbourne's southeast. The Cranbourne division of the Royal Botanic Gardens specialises in native Australian flora and spans over 350 hectares. The gardens are home to over 170,000 plants, including those residing in the rugged Australian Garden, as well as a number of endangered Australian animals. If you'd like to rest your legs, there's a hop-on-hop-off open-air bus that can take you around on a sweep of the gardens.