Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria

Established in 1846, the Royal Botanic Gardens are the state of Victoria's earliest botanic garden. Extending over 38 hectares, they display a vast and diverse collection of over 50,000 plants from around the world, including rare and threatened species.

The Ian Potter Foundation Children’s Garden is one of the most popular attractions of the gardens, attracting over 150,000 young visitors each year. Designed as an interactive educational environment, children of all ages and abilities can learn about the natural world as they play and explore.

Another highlight is the National Herbarium which houses a collection of approximately 1.5 million dried plant, algae and fungi specimens from all around the world.

Other attractions include Guilfoyle’s Volcano, the Melbourne Observatory, the Tropical Glasshouse, Plant Craft Cottage and numerous lakes, islands, and sculptures dotted around the site.

The gardens are open daily from 7.30am to sunset.