Aside from being one of Melbourne's most beautiful parks, Fitzroy Gardens (melbourne.vic.gov.au/fitzroy-gardens; free) has interesting sights scattered within its stately elm-lined avenues. The park was laid out in 1859 and has all of the picturesque elements you'd expect of a formal Victorian garden, including ponds, fountains, sculptures and a bandstand. On sunny days it's full of local kids racing about, parents pushing prams and couples canoodling in quiet corners. There's also a great little playground with a dragon slide and a giraffe swing.
Worth seeking out is the 1930s Spanish Mission–style Conservatory, filled with colorful floral displays. Nearby is the Cooks' Cottage (adult/child $7.90/4.30), built by the parents of explorer James Cook in 1755 and shifted here from England in 1934. Tickets to view the interior are available at the garden's visitor center.
Near the center of the park is a cutesy miniature Tudor Village, a thanksgiving gift from a grateful London pensioner for food parcels sent by Melburnians following WWII. Right next to it is writer Ola Cohn’s kooky carved Fairies' Tree, a 300-year old stump embellished in the 1930s with fairies, kangaroos, emus and possums.
Predating the park itself is the stump of a scarred tree, one of only six identified across Melbourne. Its oval-shaped scar was caused by a portion of its bark being removed by precolonial Aboriginal people, possibly to make a canoe.
