Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Beside the Derwent in the Queens Domain, Hobart's botanic gardens have grown since 1818 into fourteen hectares of cool-climate collections. The convict-built Arthur Wall, a heated brick 'fruit wall' from the 1820s, still coaxes warmth into its espaliered plantings - a rarity in the southern hemisphere. The gardens hold the Subantarctic Plant House, a chilled, misted room recreating the windswept flora of Macquarie Island, along with a Japanese garden, a lily pond and heritage conifers, with views across the water to the eastern shore. Entry is free, and the gardens are among the oldest and most distinctive in the country.