Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne: Why should I visit?
Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne is a fine place for a picnic – Queen Victoria Market is next door. But you can also play tennis and barefoot bowls.
Melbourne has several more impressive parks and gardens than Flagstaff Gardens. Birrarung Marr, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Fitzroy Gardens and Albert Park all have more to offer to visitors.
But Flagstaff Gardens has the historic value. It’s the oldest park in the city, having been turned into a public park in 1862, and it’s the biggest park in Melbourne CBD.
14 fantastic experiences that make the most of your free time in Melbourne
- Get the very best views – on a hot air balloon flight over the city.
- See the changing colours of the river – on a sunset kayaking tour – with dinner. (Highly recommended ✅)
- Feast and see the sights at the same time – on a four course dinner cruise along the Yarra River.
- A genuinely excellent street art tour, led by prominent street artists. (Highly recommended ✅)
- The also superb Aboriginal heritage, plants and bush food tour in the Botanic Gardens. (💲 Great value 💲)
- Best of Melbourne bike tour – you can see more on two wheels than walking.
- Hidden laneways bar crawl OR foodie discovery tour OR chocolate and dessert tour.
- Combo ticket for Australian Sports Museum and MCG tour.
- Hassle-dodging advance tickets for the Melbourne Skydeck, Melbourne Zoo, the Ice Bar (with cocktails) and Sea Life Aquarium.
Because of Flagstaff Gardens’ handy position inside the Melbourne Free Tram Zone, it is the sort of place that spills over with office workers at lunchtime.
Flagstaff Gardens: Picnics from Queen Victoria Market
If you can’t beat them, join them. The Queen Victoria Market is right next door, so you can get some fresh produce from the market, then enjoy a lazy picnic on the lawns. Come at the right time of day when there’s not a scrum of people trying to use them, and you can also use the electric barbecues.
Flagstaff Gardens is an informal kind of place. There are rose beds, but there’s not much in the way of fussy flower arrangement.
Elsewhere, there are avenues of elm trees, a series of sculptures and some rather handsome Moreton Bay fig trees. But Flagstaff Gardens is predominantly lawns to while away time on.
Barefoot bowls in Flagstaff Gardens, Melbourne
It gets more active at the northern end, however. There are two tennis courts, which are bookable through the Hub at Docklands. And next to them is a fairly decent children’s playground.
Perhaps most of interest, however, is the City of Melbourne Bowls Club. This is where you can try out barefoot bowls – a peculiarly Australian tradition that’s more famously played in beachside St Kilda.
Barefoot bowls is essentially fusty old lawn bowls turned chilled out and fun. It’s done in bare feet, and if you want a beer or two while playing, that’s just fine. Hiring a bowling rink costs $200 for two-and-a-half hours between November and March. That can host up to 16 people, eight of which can play at one time. The price goes down between April and October – it’s $150 for two-and-a-half hours.
More things to do in Melbourne
Take a helicopter tour from Moorabbin Airport.
Fish for rainbow trout in Karkarook Park.
Drink under the bridge at Ponyfish Island.
Gorge yourself on fine food at Prahran Market.
Learn to sail at the Sandringham Yacht Club on Sandringham Beach.