One of Australia’s most famous Victorian-era landscaped gardens, Fitzroy Gardens sprawls across 26 hectares on the fringe of Melbourne’s city centre. It’s renowned for its tree-lined pathways and ornamental lake, as well as being home to the former English cottage of James Cook’s parents.
Visit the sacred Indigenous site of the Scarred Tree, which features markings that were created by Aboriginal people for the construction of canoes and carrying receptacles. If you’re travelling with kids, visit the Fairies Tree where dwarfs, fairies and a range of Australian native wildlife were lovingly carved by Ola Cohn in the 1930s.
Admire the 18th-century Cooks’ Cottage that was shipped from Yorkshire to mark Victoria's centenary in 1934. Fitzroy Gardens is also home to Sinclair’s Cottage, a charming Italian Romanesque structure along Elm Avenue that once belonged to the influential gardener, James Sinclair.
Getting around Fitzroy Gardens
The Fitzroy Gardens lie east of Melbourne’s CBD and can be easily accessed by trams that stop near the entrance. The Flinders Street Railway Station is a 20-minute walk from the gardens, while Melbourne Tullamarine International Airport is 40 minutes’ drive north.