Carlton Gardens

If you're visiting Melbourne Museum, don't forget to leave time to walk round the lovely Carlton Gardens where the museum's located.

You can pick up a brochure at the museum (or at the Melbourne Visitor Centre in Federation Square) which has a map of the gardens and lists 35 items of interest........

........These 35 items include some of the old buildings surrounding the gardens.

The main item of interest is the spectacular Royal Exhibition Building. This was built to hold the International Exhibition in 1880.......

........You can arrange a tour inside this building but it's not free.......

.........And you've probably still got tons of free places to check out before you need to go spending any money if you've been busy reading this website!

There are three fountains, all erected in the 1880's........

.......I've just realised that I somehow managed to miss the Westgarth Fountain even though I followed the recommended route around the gardens!.......

.........The other two fountains are the Hochgurtel fountain and the French fountain.

The Hochgurtel fountain is particularly impressive and you can see in the photo above that it's a common wedding location shoot.

There are a couple of lakes, fig trees where aborigines used to meet, the Curators Cottage which was built in 1891, trees and flowerbeds as laid out in the 1880's and various other points of interest.

The Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens are actually on the World Heritage List.

It's a pleasant litle stroll and shouldn't take you more than an hour. The route is flat so it's suitable for prams and wheelchairs.

The gardens are located at the intersection of Victoria Parade and Nicholson Street very close to the city centre and just a short walk from the free tram. Check out where they are in the map below:

View Carlton Gardens in a larger map

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