Parkville, VIC Family Guide

Melbourne Zoo is free for children in the holidays, and it is in Parkville

Melbourne Zoo sits in Royal Park, and children go in free on weekends, Victorian public holidays and Victorian government school holidays. An adult has to come with them. The age cut-off and the conditions are on Zoos Victoria's Kids Visit Free page. For a family here, a zoo day in the break costs only what the adults' tickets cost.

The free days follow the government school calendar below, not your own school's. If your child's school breaks up a day later, or goes back a day earlier, the free days don't move with it. Weekends are free either way.

Government school dates — individual schools can vary by a few days. · source

Water, rocks and ropes on the Flemington Road side

Nature Play at Royal Park, on the corner of Gatehouse Street and Flemington Road near the Royal Children's Hospital, is a public playground designed by the City of Melbourne. It is built around water play, climbing, rocky gullies and grassy mounds for rolling down, and the planting follows the Wurundjeri seasons. It pairs well with a zoo morning, or it can be the free half of a quieter day. The design notes are in the sources below.

Parks and playgrounds within 2 km

Each park below is within 2 km of Parkville and has its facilities recorded in the directory. You can see which has a playground and toilets, and which has a barbecue, before you leave home.

Live from the AroundSchools directory — 8 libraries, 20 parks and 0 community spaces we hold within 2 km of Parkville · correct as at 30 Sept 2026

Planning the rest of the break

• Before you go, check opening hours and booking on the Melbourne Zoo page.
• If you want a paid day as well, open a provider listed higher up this page and ask whether it runs a holiday program this break.
• Every Victorian break for the year is on our Victorian school holidays page, so you can plan the next one while this one is still on.