Last week the youngest and I went to the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne to see Lightscape. It was truly spectacular and we both adored it. If you haven’t heard of Lightscape it is a 1.8km trail through a section of the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne featuring installations made up of over half a million dazzling lights.
Lighting is used to enhance the beauty of the gardens and add to the ambiance of the walk. There are light displays also on the path as you walk as well and there is calming music playing as you walk along.
None of my photos do Lightscape justice but they give you an indication of how mesmerising the displays are. It is very easy to stay staring at them for long periods of time.
The Liquid Sky display was in my top three at Lightscape. Make sure you take time to look at it from both directions.
The lightbulb lawn was also in my top three. The lights flicker and change colour which makes it look like it is racing up the lawn.
But the cathedral was by far my favourite. I could have stood and walked amongst the fairy lights for hours. It has such a warm, calming feel to it. I would go back again just to walk through this.
You can see a short video I posted with the highlights of our time at Lightscape on Instagram here.
Lightscape at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne – getting there
Lightscape at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne is on from 24 June – 07 August 2022 (Wednesday to Sunday). You need to book a ticket to attend this event and you enter via Observatory Gate which is directly opposite the Shrine of Remembrance off Birdwood Ave. We booked a 5.30pm session and would recommend this time slot if you have young kids as there are less people at this time. Also if you intend to drive to the Royal Botanic Gardens at this time it was super easy to get a park unlike when we left at around 7.30pm when there were plenty of drivers looking for parks.
Lightscape at Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne – getting around
It took us about 60 minutes to walk through the trail but they say to allocate 90 minutes. There is one big hill on the walk but other than that it is flat and easy. We did however see a number of small children stumble in the darkness with subsequent tears!
There are food and drink trucks at the entry to Lightscape. Bring along your keep cup if you want to buy a hot chocolate or coffee to take into the exhibition. You can also purchase mulled wine and other alcoholic beverages at the start and there is a couple of drink stops along the way. There is a pancake stop about halfway along the walk but the queues were very long when we walked past it.
You are outside for the entire time of this event so rugging up is essential. If it is a particularly cold evening I would recommend beanies and gloves as well as a warm jacket.