Top 15 Botanical Garden Tours in Australia

1.Maleny Botanic Gardens Bird Aviary Experience Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 579 reviews · from $33Our pick

Meet more than 700 native and exotic birds at Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World. Walk through the aviaries, enjoy free bird photos, explore six kilometres of paths, and picnic beneath views of the Glass House Mountains. Guided sessions run in the morning and afternoon.

“The birds were great would be better if we could also feed the birds to so that the birds want to interact with us as well as the tour guide obviously not the really big birds. But still a good experience.”

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2.Aboriginal Heritage Walk – Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 314 reviews · from $30Top rated

Join an Aboriginal guide at 11:00 am for a 90-minute walk through Melbourne Gardens. Learn how the Kulin people use native plants for food, medicine, and cultural practice. Guides such as Uncle Den, Uncle Ben, and Jacobi bring stories, poetry, and hands-on plant encounters into this small-group experience.

“Den was our Aboriginal guide and he was excellent. This was a very informative and thought provoking tour and enjoyed by visitors and Australians in our group. The Botanic Gardens are stunning and need a lot longer to explore.”

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3.Night Walk in Cairns Botanic Gardens – Let’s Go Buggin

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 153 reviews · from $57

Join macro photographer Bridgette Gower at 7pm for a two-hour search for frogs, insects, spiders and fungi in Cairns Botanic Gardens. She helps you find tiny subjects and improve your camera work. Bring your own gear or reserve a beginner, intermediate or professional camera in advance.

“Bridgette was very experienced and knowledgeable about the insects and very patient with a newbie camera user. I enjoyed the quick activity and would recommend it to anyone interested in macro photography”

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4.Cairns: Night Walk in Cairns Botanic Gardens

★★★★★★★★★★4.8 · 86 reviews · 2 hours · from $56

Walk the Cairns Botanic Gardens rainforest boardwalk after dark with guides such as Bridgette and Ros. Use head torches to find frogs, spiders, possums, insects, and birds, with optional camera hire for close-up night photography. Groups are limited to eight people.

“It was fantastic! Ros could spot a frog from a good 20m away! I hired a camera and was blown away by the quality of the images I was able to get! 100% recommend and I will be seeing if I have the time to book on again before I have to leave!”

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5.Photography and Nature in Cairns Botanic Gardens Let’s Go Buggin

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 19 reviews · from $57

Join macro photographer Bridgette Gower and Ros Peric for a relaxed two-hour morning walk through Cairns Botanic Gardens. You’ll search under leaves and around plants for insects, spiders, frogs, mushrooms, and other tiny subjects while learning camera, phone, lighting, and composition tips.

“Bridgette is an expert at finding a great variety of bugs and very knowledgeable about them. She is also very helpful in assisting and teaching macro photography. I did the day course and the night walk; both were excellent.”

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6.Foraging Tour: Botanical Gardens Walk & Picnic

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 19 reviews · from $56

Meet at 4pm near Man O’War Steps for a 90-minute to two-hour walk with a local guide, possibly David. Identify and taste native plants, hear about Indigenous food and medicine, spot wildlife, then enjoy a native-inspired picnic near Mrs Macquarie’s Chair.

“David did wonderful job in gardens. Knew lots abouts trees etc. Food sampler was awesome. Lots of local variety. Very taste. Recommend highly.”

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7.Maleny: Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World Entry Ticket

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 14 reviews · 1 day · from $31

Spend a full day exploring 23 acres of gardens, four free-flight aviaries, and a petting zoo with miniature goats, sheep, rabbits, guinea pigs, chickens, and Alfie the micro donkey. An English-speaking guide leads the aviary tour, and birds may land on your head or shoulders.

“Det var en fantastisk oplevelse at møde alle fuglene”

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8.Picnic in the Royal Botanic Gardens for 2

★★★★★★★★★★4.0 · 12 reviews

Collect a three-course picnic hamper for two at Botanic House in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden. Chef Luke Nguyen’s menu blends Southeast Asian flavors with Australian ingredients, and a bottle of wine completes this relaxed, romantic outing.

“It would’ve been a much better experience if the address would’ve been more clearly spelled out - we walked the gardens for over 90 minutes, trying to find where we picked up our basket even the gardens security guards didn’t know Read more”

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9.Walk the Darwin Botanic Gardens

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 11 reviews · from $42

Walk through Darwin’s 42-hectare George Brown Botanic Gardens with a local guide who explains tropical plants, garden history, seasonal flowers, and birdlife. The two-hour, small-group tour starts at Eva’s Cafe at 3:00 pm and suits anyone who wants more than a casual stroll.

“A pleasant walk around the gardens with a passionate Darwin resident as our guide. She explained that she was not a horticultural expert at all she is just a Gardens enthusiast. A pleasant way to see the Gardens.”

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10.Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens Luke Nguyen Tasting Menu

★★★★★★★★★★4.5 · 9 reviews · from $111

At Botanic House in Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden, you’ll share an eight-course menu by Luke Nguyen, pairing South-East Asian flavours with Australian produce and native ingredients. Your two-hour experience includes a welcome cocktail or mocktail, coffee or tea, and premium wine selections.

“We had an enjoyable lunch once we located the restaurant but it is a walk from a road of at least 6-10 minutes and there was no signage anywhere. We found the restaurant by accident. They did however give us a buggy ride back to the maiRead more”

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11.Cairns: Insect Photography Tour of Cairns Botanic Gardens

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 5 reviews · 2 hours · from $56

Join Bridgette and Ros for a two-hour, small-group walk through Cairns Botanic Gardens. Learn to find and identify insects, spiders, reptiles, and fungi while improving your close-up photography. Bring your own camera or reserve a beginner-to-advanced camera package and pay on the day.

“Outstanding tour! Bridget really knows where to find the best bugs and as an added bonus the foliage is just amazing. I have as many photos of extraordinary plants (and the flowers!) as insects. Bridget is a quietly professional and organised guide - happy to help with photography as much as identifying what we’re looking at”

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12.Sovereign Hill, Botanical Gardens and Melbourne Skydeck Bus Tour

★★★★★★★★★★3.0 · 5 reviews · from $135

Travel from central Melbourne to Ballarat with an English-speaking guide, visit the Botanical Gardens, Lake Wendouree, Sovereign Hill, and the Eureka Centre, then see Melbourne from the 88th-floor Skydeck. Admission and central pickup and drop-off are included.

“I really hope this tour will get more hype in the future. It's a really great tour, esp if you want to know and experience more about the gold rush history of Melbourne. The tour was well organized, it wasn't too long in total duration but very iRead more”

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13.2-Hour Mushroom Photography Activity in Cairns Botanic Gardens

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 3 reviews · from $48

Join Bridgette from Aussie Macro Photos for a two-hour mushroom walk at Cairns Botanic Gardens. You will search Centenary Lakes for wet-season fungi, learn how to photograph tiny specimens, and get hands-on help with your own camera or an optional hired macro setup.

“5🌟 experience / tour. I highly recommend Lets Go Shroomin. Great tour showcasing some of Australia's amazing fungi. Bridgette is a wealth of knowledge of Australian fungi. We found some beautiful fungi and got to photograph and learn all about them.”

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14.Explore Sydney’s Botanic Gardens In a Series of Fun Cryptic Clues

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2 reviews · from $17Best value

Follow a two-hour cryptic trail through Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden using your phone. Solve clues at the fountain gates, The Calyx, Busby’s Bar, tropical plant displays, rare trees, and harbour viewpoints, finishing near the Art Gallery of New South Wales. No guide is included.

“We made a surprise for a friends birthday and bought tickets for an afternoon activity. It was a blast! Thank you soo much!”

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15.PRIVATE Sydney City Bondi Beach Opera House & Botanic Garden Tour

★★★★★★★★★★5.0 · 2 reviews · from $448

Spend 9 to 11 hours with a private guide and vehicle, visiting Bondi Beach, the 6-kilometer Bondi to Coogee Walk, Sydney Harbour, the Opera House exterior, Botanic Garden, The Rocks, and city landmarks. Pickup is offered, with snacks and water included.

“Viatar sending us on the wrong tour. It turned out well only because of our tour guide. He was very accommodating and apologetic”

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