2 Best Sights in Melbourne, Victoria

Once the on-leave residence of the Pacific navigator Captain James Cook, this modest two-story home, built in 1755 by Cook senior, was transported stone by stone from Great Ayton in Yorkshire, England, and rebuilt in the lush Fitzroy Gardens in 1934. It's believed that Cook lived in the cottage between his many voyages. The interior is simple, a suitable domestic realm for a man who spent much of his life in cramped quarters aboard sailing ships.

Construction of Rippon Lea, a sprawling polychrome brick mansion built in the Romanesque style, began in the late 1860s. By the time it was completed in 1903, the original 15-room house had expanded into a 33-room mansion. Notable architectural features include a grotto, a tower that overlooks a lake, and humpback bridges. There is also a fernery and an orchard with more than 100 varieties of heritage apples and pears. Access to the house is for exhibitions or, between exhibitions, by guided tour only, but a self-guided tour of the grounds only is available. To get here, take a Sandringham line train from Flinders Street Station to Ripponlea Station; it's a 15-minute ride south of the city center.