Ten Idyllic Picnic Spots Where You Can Throw a Rug Down in Melbourne
Pack your basket and head to some of the best, most picturesque picnic spots in Melbourne for a well-deserved park session with your mates.
What many would deem the crown jewel of Melbourne parks, the Royal Botanic Gardens boasts all the quintessential features, from manicured lawns interspersed with a huge, colourful variety of flora to winding footpaths and duck-filled ponds.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS
A serene green escape from the buzz of St Kilda's beachside stretch, the St Kilda Botanical Gardens are a picnicker's dream. Registered with Heritage Victoria and created in the 1800s, the site is home to a whopping 810 mature tree specimens.
ST KILDA BOTANICAL GARDENS
The smallest glimmer of sunshine and Edinburgh Gardens instantly becomes the inner-north's outdoor destination of choice, with people flocking to appreciate its tree-lined pockets and green expanses. 
EDINBURGH GARDENS
When you're in the mood for a little jaunt out of the city, Cranbourne Royal Botanic Gardens deserves a spot high on that picnic hit-list. Not only does it have all of those prized park fixtures — sweeping grassed patches, walking tracks and picture-perfect scenery.
CRANBOURNE ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS
Envelop yourself in the leafy oasis that is Fitzroy Gardens and you'll find it hard to believe you're just metres from the edge of the CBD. It's rocking a typical Victorian-era park set-up, decked out with scores of grand old elms and rolling lawns.
FITZROY GARDENS
Nestled just beside the city, and home to the Royal Exhibition Building and the Melbourne Museum, the heritage-listed Carlton Gardens have long been a popular picnic pit-stop for locals and visitors alike. 
CARLTON GARDENS
Sitting pretty in the heart of Albert Park, yet nice and removed from the suburb's more famous namesake green space, St Vincent Gardens is brimming with picnic potential.
ST VINCENT GARDENS
Hunting for a particularly picturesque outlook? In this part of town, the parks come with an extra side of dreamy bay views. Point Ormond Reserve in Elwood is the perfect hill on which to perch yourself for a beachside picnic.
POINT ORMOND RESERVE
Leafy Yarra Bend Park spans over 260 hectares, making it the largest area of natural bushland in inner Melbourne. It follows the tree-lined Yarra, so there are a great many nooks and crannies perfect for laying your picnic blanket in seclusion. 
YARRA BEND PARK
Tucked away in the heart of Kensington, the Women's Peace Garden is one of those picturesque suburban spots that simply begs you to unfold a picnic rug and settle in for a couple of hours outdoors. 
WOMEN'S PEACE GARDEN
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