A rehabilitated sand mine, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Cranbourne now feature over 100,000 native…read moreplants from 1900 plant varieties. In a stunning setting featuring a central desert with North South garden bed. Peter, our guide led us around the garden home to rare bandicoots, swamp rats, tiger snakes and all manner of native birds. With an encyclopedic knowledge of the plants on show Peter was able to guide us through the many landscapes representative of this giant continent in just 30 minutes seeing Gymea Lilies, Grevillea, Hibiscus, Bottle Brush, Banksia, Kangaroo Paw, Melaleuca, Wollemi Pines and some of the 900 odd Eucalypt tree species including Snow, Scribbly, Spotted, Red, Box and Ironbark gum trees. Peter's knowledge base (including Latin names) was nothing short of amazing matching the breathtaking landscapes we quietly glided past. For lunch we headed upstairs to panoramic views of the gardens and a traditional Aussie BBQ with burgers, salad, caramelized onions and Kangaroo sausages on the menu (Poor Skippy!) washed down with a cool refreshing Lemon Myrtle drink. There's a nice gift shop here too.

I'm going to let you in on a little secret. Not many people know this but... Cranbourne Botanic…read moreGardens is part of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. That's right. The same people who bring you the beauty of the Royal Botanic Gardens in the city, bring you this gem for the Southeast burbs to enjoy. It's definitely a reason to make a day to enjoy Cranbourne. The whole thing is free and they have a lot of features to please any visitor. There's a beautiful Australian garden. You can spend an hour going through the loop, or longer if you want to really get off the beaten track and explore. There are bike tracks (with more than 6km of track) and a Woodlands picnic area. Heaps of walks to choose from: ranging from 400m to 5.4km. Apparently the "must do" is the Trig Point Lookout, a 400m loop. It's a 360 view of Mt Macedon, city skyline, Dandenong Ranges, Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. The whole place is really bigger than you'd think and the car park is right smack in the middle. If you like tours, there are two available: Snapshots of Australia (60 minutes) and the Explorer (an open-air bus that goes for 25 minutes). With a café and a gift shop, this park is rated. Open daily from 9am- 5pm.

I joined some friends on a day tour that went all over Melbourne's surroundings and, while the…read moreDandenong Ranges Botanic Garden wasn't a main attraction, we did take about an hour to stop here. The grounds are expansive and walking through them, there's an experiential arc so much so that I felt I had gained understanding of the flora of Victoria.

Lovely quiet garden, many different routes to travel and it's very green and colourful with all the…read moreflowers and trees. Nice seating around the place and little viewing points. Only problem I had was that there were no rubbish bins? Which can be a bit chaotic because then people litter with all there rubbish. Overall, besides the bins, it was very beautiful

Not too big or too small. You can walk across one to the other in 20 minutes, but if you mean there…read morelike I did, you can easily spend an hour or more. I liked walking with a general plan and running into the nicely maintained gardening clusters where it flowed with the pathways.

RBGV is a nearly 200 yr old massive oasis in Melbourne. There is so much to see and do here in a…read moretranquil environment. Best of all, its free! We saw people walking their dogs, sitting on the grass, and just walking around & enjoying the sights like us. The place is super clean, and we didn't see any rubbish. We spent about 2 hrs here, and we saw roughly half of the total area. If you visit Melbourne, and enjoy the outdoors, RBGV is for you.

The first time I came here, I was meeting up with some friends for a frisbee match. I'm not…read moreparticularly coordinated when it comes to the hand-eye activities and so I suggested I just might cheerlead from the side lines... Well, they were all running around and frolicking about in the sunshine - the huge lawns here are perfect for it - and before I knew it I was playing like a recent graduate from the Ultimate Frisbee Champion School. Apart from friendly frisbee games, the gardens are great for a stroll or a relaxed afternoon under a tree. The community garden in south-west corner is nice to poke around in, as are the hot houses. Keep your eye out for critters in the trees.

I always forget this place is here! I feel absolutely privileged to be so nearby. When you're in…read morethe mood for a beautiful scenic walk, this seems to be the place, providing you don't want to head into the city for the other one. The plant life is super abundant and the amount of grass that's available for picnic is awesome! There's even that nice little playground for the kidlets. The only downside is there's always poo on the ground, yes a big downside. I'm not a fan of that being right in the pathway, especially when you are responsible enough to clean up your own dogs poop! Be kind and keep the pathways and grass clean please!

We were on a tour, and only had so much time. We spent more time on Shrine of Remembrance and then…read morehurried through Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful and wish we had more time, but we enjoyed seeing the many blooms. We did go into the office/gift shop just to see what was available.

Quality/Quantity - I really like the dinosaur exhibits! So…read morecool. And you do not have to be a kid to enjoy this. Very immersive exhibits! Yes, this museum is very kid friendly. Current special events & exhibitions. Titanic until 4/14/24. High Tea until 4/14/24. 2/8/24 Nocturnal - Museum after dark. 2/10/24 Lunar New Year Day. 2/14/24 Valentine Day event. There are so many more exhibits and events, see website. (Yelp has the wrong website). https://museumsvictoria.com.au/melbournemuseum/ Atmosphere - Another beautiful museum. And in the Carlton Gardens. Even the bathrooms are modern and beautiful... 4 floors, see directory. IMAX theater. Market Cafe. Open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm. Yelp hours differ slightly. Service - Good. Price - $15AUD per person. Owner Comment - Congrats on your success since 2000.

Decently sized museum with lots of areas to explore a different variety of exhibitions…read more You can gets lots of historical information regarding the settlers of Australia, both new and old. There are also more modern exhibitions, including Lego. The place is great for both museum enthusiasts as well as for families with kids. The staff is friendly and can direct you if needed. The facilities are modern with plenty of restrooms and other accommodations. The crowds also seem to have been mostly well controlled. I'd say the dinosaur display is the one most definitely work checking out.

Parklife is the first festival held each year in Melbourne, always in September its often that…read moreparty goers get rained out, caught in a thunderstorm or even frozen to death at this event! Weather issues aside, Parklife is a little different to some of the later summer festivals held each year, being sponsored by Triple J (one of Australia's youth's top radio stations) the event is very much about supporting local new talent, as well as pulling some big international guests just to keep things interesting. This year we saw the likes of Santigold, Gossip, Diplo, Digitalism, and then some fresh upcoming beats from Melbourne's own 8 Bit Love. Parklife is always a good day out and the easy going, indie atmosphere is always present. Beginning at Birung Mar for its first two years running, Parklife has now moved over to the Sydney Myer Music Bowl a mud welcomed venue change, less mud, more room and bigger sound!

ParkLife was my first Australian Festival and by far my favorite one day festival overall. Last…read moreyear the weather held out and provided a beautiful day surrounded by truly beautiful people and music. After walking through the Melbourne Botanical Gardens to get to Sydney Myer Music Bowl, I looked around and saw a huge crowd. I swear, I felt so much love in the air amongst the thousands of free spirits. I loved the layout of the event and it was so easy to get from one stage to the next. The variety in the lineup for Parklife 2011 provided a day full of music from artists like The Crystal Fighters to Lykki Li, MSTRKRFT, Santigold, Katy B and my favorite Diplo. All in all, rain or shine PARKLIFE will always be more than fine. You can't go wrong surrounding yourself in an environment of stylish birds and hipster men, in my opinion at least ;)

Lots of native animals in more natural habitats instead of cages. It's a trek to get here from…read moreMelbourne via train, but that was part of the adventure. I liked learning about some of the conservation they're doing with the endangered species. My favorite was the Tasmanian Devil. Such a unique creature.

We went there with a tour, but if you live nearby you can buy a membership and visit often. We tend…read moreto buy memberships to the local museum and zoo in our area and when we have visitors it's nice to take them there. This zoo gives you a chance to see the animals that are local to Australia, like the kangaroo, the koala etc. they have lots of play areas for younger kids. ,a few picnic areas and at different hours they have one of the caretakers come out and talk about a certain species of animal found there. If there are specific topics you are interested in, I would suggest to look at their website and know what time they have their talks and where, to plan for that. The best part for us was at the end they have a bird show at 3pm where the trainers come out to show your a few if the species they take care of and your studio see how well the birds they have are trained. It's pretty impressive. The downside is that it was a bit hot day and most animals are napping in the shade with their face hidden. Perhaps it's better to buy tickets yourself instead of paying a tour company to take you. You will have more time to do as you please. The main issue you will have is how to get there.. but if you are local.. you probably won't have that issue ;)