When the weather is on its best behaviour, there's no easier way to enjoy nature than with a picnic. Many parks are equipped with picnic tables or benches and some have BBQ facilities or cafes where food can be purchased.

One thing to always remember though when picnicking in protected areas is to take your rubbish home with you. Bins not only attract feral pests to food scraps but can also overflow with litter, causing rubbish to end up impacting on the environment and causing serious harm to wildlife. So whilst having a picnic to admire nature and the outdoors is welcome in parks, do the right thing and help keep these places special by disposing of you waste when you get home.

Pack a picnic for your next visit to an urban park. Enjoy a picnic in the shade at Organ Pipes National Park. Picnic near the lakes of Albert Park or Lysterfield Park. Set up your picnic rug in the wide open spaces of Jells Park, Yarra Valley Parklands or Werribee Park. 

Just one hour from Melbourne, the Dandenong Ranges are scattered with grand landscaped gardens providing enchanting settings for a memorable day out with family and friends. Sherbrooke Picnic Ground is the perfect spot for a day trip. At the stunning Alfred Nicholas Memorial Garden, discover hidden secrets in the tranquillity of rock gardens, ponds and waterfalls. Or visit the Dandenong Ranges Botanic Garden, which is carpeted in colour and one of the most visited of the gardens. In spring, picnic on green lawns and take in the sights and smells as cherry blossoms and other flowers burst into bloom.

Head down to the coast and enjoy a picnic is one of the many peaceful picnic locations in Mornington Peninsula National Park. Lake Eildon is another great place for a day out with the family. The picnic areas offer are close to the boat ramp and walking tracks. After lunch at Sheoak Picnic Area in Great Otway National Park, choose to walk to one of the nearby waterfalls. Some of Lorne's best waterfall walks start here.