Carlton Gardens

The Carlton Gardens is the Hipster version of the Royal Botanic Gardens. It’s the Hipsters’ answer to NYC’s Central Park, Chicago’s Millennium Park, and Sydney’s Royal Botanical Garden. Is a great park? It’s a bit interesting vibe. One side is filled with a bunch of random people and the other side is filled with hipsters sunbathing.

This park is a gem on the outskirts of the city! It is a lovely space with plenty of trees, grassy knolls and fountains/​ponds. This would have to be my favorite greenspace that Melbourne has to offer. I’ve spent numerous vacation days laying here reading a book :)

How lucky Melbourne is to have a beautiful garden such as this one. Right on the edge of the city, the Carlton Gardens is always a great spot for a picnic or book reading session under a tree. Kidlets will like running around, though be warned they’ll want to jump in the fountain!
At night a stroll through the park is pleasant, the Exhibition Building lit up, and the fountain glowing.

Beautiful Garden to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Lots of places to sit down at the just relax and enjoy the bustle of the city. The waterfall that is in it with the birds is extremely relaxing!

Spring is finally here! My friends and I have been coming here on sunny afternoons to bask in the sun. Where else can you go and have a huge and beautiful historical building as your backdrop while you sip on lemonade and read books while listening to music.
There are many parrots in the park too. Perhaps this is where the Melbourne Museum finds their petrified birds (a personal favorite of mine).

This is a really nice, well designed area. I can understand the need to have some greenery in the city. But therein lies the problem; its proximity to the city makes this place absolutely crazy crowded during the day.
Despite the crowd, the gardens are a nice way of taking a time out from your busy day. The only thing in the area worth checking out when you get tired of trees is the museum which is right in the middle.

This is a beautiful park located right in the heart of Carlton. It is a wonderful place to sit down and take it slow either on your own or with a friend.
The trees here are tall and grand and the grass is lush and green, the place is perfect minus 1 small but major aspect… it’s in the middle of the city.
To me, no matter how beautiful this park may be, if it’s surrounded by busy roads where cars can be heard/​smelt and buildings and shops can be seen– then its not really my type of park. Of course if you’re in the city, you’re hardly going to find a park/​garden that lets you gaze into the distance without seeing a building.
So for the location it’s in, this is definitely a great park-​great place to spend your lunch break.

A beautiful, peaceful garden that gives Melburnians another choice to relax and to unwind, and also the annual garden show hosted here enables some great landscaping to come to the fore; and if your lucky you could be pampered by Garnier like I was at this show back in March at carlton Gardens. Can’t wait till the show comes back next year.
A great place to escape busy Lygon Street — or after just having eaten or gone shopping around Lygon Street; and perhaps you have just seen an exhibition (like the Taste of Melbourne) at the nearby Royal Exhibition Building, or you saw an exhibition at the Melbourne Museum, or even gone to the IMAX theatre. Or you could go to Melbourne Uni, and you have some time to relax on the other side. And hey if your not ready to head back into the city just yet; whey not bring your own lunch and enjoy it here in Nicholson Street before hopping on a tram back to the city. There is something about these gardens that allure you to them, and I am still trying to work out what that something precisely is.
Needs to be seen, visited and enjoyed to be really appreciated. Great to unwind, read a book, have a picnic, and if you happen to live nearby: then why not take fido for a walk here as well.

Ok, ok so the garden itself is pretty darn nice. I’ll concede that minor point, which is why I have given a whole two stars. (Personally I think they are rather generous).
The gardens are huge, there are big leafy trees everywhere and plenty of healthy looking grass to spread a rug over and relax on. Kids roll past on their bikes and happy dogs trot beside their owners with their tongues lolling out — it’s quite picturesque.
DON’T BE FOOLED BY THIS PERFECT IMAGE I HAVE JUST DESCRIBED.
This would only be enjoyable if there wasn’t a main road just metres from the parks edge. Victoria Parade is one busy road, most of the time, and it sure as hell likes to make its presence known. Unfortunately Carlton Gardens sit right next to this road and soak up the noise of car horns, engines and the flickering beeps of the green men on traffic lights.
It really sucks because otherwise these gardens would be stunning. As it is, they are kind of like the thought of a good book while you’re blocking your ears from the sound of the neighbour playing his drums. They could be brilliant but there is just that one giant thing standing in the way. The road really kills the mood and scares away a lot of natural wildlife that I’m sure would otherwise populate the numerous plants and trees.
It’s a pretty place, but for a great time I’d recommend headphones with a nature soundtrack to drown out the passing cars. Enjoy.

Walking through the Carlton Gardens every day on my way to the city, I’m constantly reminded how pretty they are. It’s often on my way through these gardens, with the view of the city skyline above, that I say to myself with a sigh: «God, I love Melbourne».
In recent years, the Carlton Gardens have been significantly spruced up, with a number of the fountains repaired and re-​activated, the various ponds cleaned up and landscaped, and some of the grass treated or replaced. It’s now home to some of the greenest, lushest grass you’ll see in Melbourne, making it a perfect place to sit by a tree and read a book on a sunny day.
Lately, I’ve noticed that it’s become a meeting place for what looks to be a local «laughing club», which is a totally hilarious and endearing thing to watch.
The Carlton Gardens are also home to some of Melbourne’s most interesting pieces of architecture: the old Exhibition Building and the Melbourne Museum. There’s also a decent sized children’s playground, tennis courts and a big basketball court, making it the perfect inner city oasis for a picnic.

The Carlton Gardens is a hit-​or-​miss for me. I don’t particularly enjoy coming here on a sunny day during the weekend, but I love coming here in the mornings on a weekday.
Why?
Because of its popularity and the fact that it’s closeby to Melbourne University — expect quite a lot of people. Sometimes, it even becomes difficult to get a nice spot to relax. The Carlton Gardens, at times, just becomes another place that has the hustle and bustle of city center.
Atmosphere:
I do quite like the actual gardens. It’s a lovely, clean park with a few trees. Don’t get your hopes up for some amazing natural spectacle, Carlton Gardens is more of a place to have a picnic.
However, it is surrounded by busy roads and especially on a day with a lot of people, the relaxation is gone.
Things To Do:
You have the Melbourne Museum, Royal Exhibition Building, and the IMAX Theatre all located at Carlton Gardens. This makes for a double-​whammy — you can relax at the gardens before a trip to the museum or the theatre. It makes for a lovely day’s outing.
Overall, the idea of the Carlton Gardens is great — but it has been corrupted by heavy traffic of both cars and people. Sometimes you can get lucky and have a really relaxing time, but don’t expect consistency.

The Carlton Gardens are one of the picnic hot spots in Melbourne. On a beautiful sunny day there is nothing like a little stroll around to have a look at the flora and tranquil water features. There is so much perfectly cut green lush grass to lay out a rug, get some assorted cheeses and of course a little bit of bubbly to say «life’s pretty good».
It’s also great because its position means you can visit the museum, IMAX or any of the very popular surrounding streets if you feel like a wander after a relaxing lunch in the sun.
For the romantic types, it’s always a hit. :)

The Carlton Gardens are really lovely. Other reviewers here have talked about jogging, having picnics and playing basketball; My pleasure is found in the simplicity of lying under a tree and reading a book, then leasurely taking a nap in the afternoon sun.
The stunning fountain and the beautiful façade of the royal exhibition buildings in the gardens set off the well kept lawns, flower beds, and leafy trees which explode with colour particularly in the Spring time.
The gardens are also host to many events and expo’s, most notably the international flower show and the bridal expo, held here on an annual basis. I definitely recommend a stroll through… look out for me, I ‘l be the one napping under a big shady tree.

I have the pleasure of living directly behind the Carlton Gardens, and it has become part of my everyday routine. Running around the perimeter (it’s about 2.3km with gentle slopes) is a great way of staying fit and enjoying some inner-​city greenery.
The beautiful Exhibition Building along with its fountain at the front is one of my favourite sights in Melbourne. It hosts everything from bridal shows to hot rod exhibits throughout the year, but the building itself is the star. I’m also a fan of the museum/​IMAX building, which is as contemporary looking today as it was when it was first built 10 years ago.
There’s a great vibe in the gardens on sunny days — the playground gets packed with kids, the basketball courts and tennis club fill up, and the paths crowd with people passing through. It can make running through or around the park a little bit like playing dodge ball, but it’s still way prettier than running on a treadmill!

An iconic Melbourne spot, a World Heritage Site and no doubt one of the reasons we top the ‘liveable city’ list, Carlton Gardens is a lush, expansive green zone so close to the city that you can see high-​rises from almost everywhere within it.
The impressive Royal Exhibition Building, completed in 1880, and the Museum (and IMAX) sit in the middle, but there’s plenty of natural goodness to appreciate, too, as well as tennis courts for hire just off Nicholson St and a big children’s playground.
It really is one of those parks you can go to any time of year: a great community vibe in summer filled with people having picnics, and a beautiful covering of brown leaves beneath the giant oaks in autumn and winter. Be careful if you’re on a bike though — it’s against the law to ride through the gardens, even on the paths.
And, although the council does its best to deter the possums, this is still the best place to witness the local population come nightfall.