1. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  2. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  3. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  4. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  5. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  6. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  7. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  8. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit
  9. Photograph: Carmen Zammit
    Photograph: Carmen Zammit

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

  • Things to do
  • Melbourne
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Time Out says

If there’s anywhere you can escape the madness of the city CBD without actually leaving it, the Royal Botanic Gardens is the place. Located on the city’s fringe, this expansive garden is home to a cool 8,500 plant species, zen lakes and lush lawns.

Workshops, tours, walks and talks showcase the intricacies of the gardens – from star-gazing night tours in the Melbourne Observatory to science seminars, such as one exploring the phylogeography of coconut. The Aboriginal Heritage Walk takes you on a journey into the history of the Koolin nation. An Indigenous guide will lead you around the gardens, through a traditional smoking ceremony and show you the uses of plants as both food and medicine. Want to see the Gardens from a new point of view? Book in for a traditional punt cruise around Ornamental Lake, complete with beautiful views of the bays and mini islands. You even get your own paper parasol.

Want to do your own thing? There are plenty of walks and plant collections you can explore at any time. The camellia collection is one of the world’s best with more than 950 different types; Fern Gully recreates a cool forest, which showcases many fern species; and the Tropical Glasshouse is filled with colourful flowers and palms. The Royal Botanic Gardens are also home to the National Herbarium of Victoria, housing more than 1.5 million plant, algae and fungi specimens.

Details

Address
Birdwood Ave
South Yarra
Melbourne
3141
Opening hours:
7.30am-sunset

What’s on

Lightscape

Melbourne's favourite illuminated event is back again for a fourth year, with more than 20 dazzling new light installations to meander through in wonderment. From June 20 to August 10, take a nighttime stroll through the Royal Botanic Gardens and experience luminous pathways, lit-up tree canopies, soothing soundscapes and more spectacular sights. For the upcoming season, you can expect a reimagined 2.2km trail accompanied by stunning lakeside reflections, large-scale illuminated sculptures and other wonders, with more than 100,000 tiny lights on display. Expect 2025 highlights to be huge illuminated canopy of flowers and the mesmerising 'lawn of light'. Most importantly, you'll also be able to grab a bite to eat and warming drinks, like hot chocolate and mulled wine, at the Welcome Zone or along the trail. They say that Melbourne is at its best in winter and events like Lightscape, where you can rug up and join friends for a magical experience, are a big reason why. Adult tickets start at $36 and are available through the website – be quick as they tend to go fast.  Want more? Check out the best things happening in Melbourne this week.
  • Pop-up locations

Live at the Gardens

We can picture it now – the sun is shining, we’ve got a bev in hand, and we’re at the glorious Royal Botanic Gardens ready to enjoy some live music. It’s an idyllic daydream, and one that could soon become a reality. All you have to do is snap up tickets. Live at the Gardens is an outdoor gig series that launched in the summer of 2024, and it saw the lush, expansive lawns of the Royal Botanic Gardens host up to 5,000 people for an eclectic mix of musical acts. Headline performances included Groove Armada, Matt Corby, The Presets, Chet Faker and Tash Sultana. And now we've had a taste of the 2025 line-up, with Franz Ferdinand the first band to be announced. More than two decades since their debut single 'Take Me Out' catapulted them to worldwide fame, the Scottish rockers have just dropped their latest album to huge acclaim. The Human Fear is an 11-song exploration of deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.    The last time Franz Ferdinand toured was in 2018, and their performance on Friday, November 28, will be their only Victorian show. Supporting them will be Teenage Dads and Delivery.   For more info and to grab your tickets before they sell out, mosey on over here. Craving more music? Get your fix with the best gigs happening in Melbourne this month.
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