Top Towns for 2022: Experience the timeless beauty of Bendigo

Laura WatersBy Laura Waters
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Victoria’s fourth largest city is one classy dame, Laura Waters explores why this appears at no.23 on your list of Top 50 Aussie Towns.

Find the complete list of the Top 50 Aussie Towns here.

History meets modernity

Ornate Alexandra Fountain stands proud in the middle of Pall Mall as cars loop around it. Wide streets are lined with Victorian-era architecture, and hectares of lush parkland are dotted with trees that are almost as old.

Like an aristocratic lady, Bendigo has the kind of timeless beauty that isn’t flashy or try-hard. Her history stretches back to 1851 when the discovery of gold made her (for a while) the richest town in the world.

Architecture in Bendigo
Bendigo is a timeless beauty. (Image: Visit Victoria)

I’ll admit that it’s often one thing that lures me here initially. Bendigo Art Gallery has made a name for itself internationally, hosting absurdly impressive exhibitions for a regional town – Princess Charlene of Monaco visited to open Grace Kelly: Style Icon; Priscilla Presley to open Elvis: Direct from Graceland. But there is so much more to Bendigo than this much-lauded gallery.

Exterior of Bendigo Art Gallery
Art is a big part of Bendigo. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Wine, dine and fine art

Bendigo has an enticing mix of good food, wine and shopping, laced with a hefty dose of history. On View Street, wine bars, restaurants and theatres reside inside heritage beauties such as a grand bank, a red-brick schoolhouse and an 1898 fire station.

Boutique shops in Bendigo are refreshingly different. A five-minute walk away, Chancery Lane has an entirely contrasting vibe with restaurants spilling out onto a narrow laneway colourful with graffiti.

The vibrancy continues in the murals and street art found up Dimples Lane. Stories of the Dja Dja Wurrung Peoples are shared through Djaara Lights, an installation featuring neon artworks and augmented reality around Oscars Walk and the Bath Lane Precinct.

Exhibition at Bendigo Art Gallery.
Bendigo Art Gallery has made a name for itself internationally. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Golden town highlights

I like that plenty of Bendigo is walkable. From Melbourne, it’s two hours by train (only minutes slower than driving) and, once there, the historic Bendigo Tramways run the length of town.

A 45-minute round trip pauses at many of Bendigo’s biggest draws: Central Deborah Gold Mine, where you can descend 61 metres to subterranean tunnels from which 929 kilograms of gold was extracted; peaceful Lake Weerona, popular with joggers and walkers; Bendigo Joss House Temple and Golden Dragon Museum, which are both a reflection of the time when a fifth of the population were Chinese miners and merchants.

You can venture beyond the city centre to visit Bendigo Pottery, Australia’s oldest working pottery (since the 1850s), or the 48-metre-high Great Stupa of Universal Compassion, an ambitious Buddhist complex that’s constantly evolving. And then there are the dozens of surrounding wineries, renowned for their bold reds. Whatever draws you to this old gold town, you’ll leave richer for it.

Aprons at Bendigo Pottery.
Bendigo Pottery is Australia’s oldest working pottery. (Image: Visit Victoria)
Explore more of Bendigo in our travel guide or find out which other towns made it into your Top 50.
Laura Waters
Laura is a Melbourne-based writer, speaker and author with a passion for adventures in the great outdoors. Her memoir ‘Bewildered’, about hiking the length of New Zealand, won Best Travel Book at the 2021 ASTW Awards and she has also penned the popular Ultimate Walks & Hikes Australia.
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Film lovers need to add these Victorian theatres to their bucket list

    Ricky FrenchBy Ricky French
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    Theatres have always been a cornerstone of regional Victoria, reflecting the character and history of their local communities.

    From grand, gold rush-era masterpieces to Art Deco wonders to repurposed prisons, we’ve rounded up four of Victoria’s best regional theatres to catch a show at next time you’re travelling through.

    Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat

    Her Majesty’s Theatre, Ballarat 
    Her Majesty’s Theatre in Ballarat has been standing for 150 years. (Image: Michael Pham)

    A monument to the immense gold rush wealth flooding through Ballarat in the second half of the 19th century, Her Majesty’s Theatre (‘Her Maj’ to locals) celebrates its 150th anniversary as the city’s premier performing arts venue this year.

    Built in a classical style and immaculately preserved (thanks largely to a recent $16-million restoration), this Lydiard Street landmark is the oldest continuously operating theatre in mainland Australia, notable for its double balcony and a stage that slopes towards the front, making it one of the most audience-friendly venues in the country to see a show.

    The Capital, Bendigo

    The Capital Theatre, Bendigo
    The Capital in Bendigo was built in 1873 as a Masonic Hall. (Image: Michael Pham)

    Denoted by its distinctive Corinthian columns, more reminiscent of ancient Greece than regional Victoria, The Capital theatre in Bendigo has been through several iterations since the first stone was laid in 1873.

    Originally a Masonic hall, the renaissance revival-style building became a theatre in the 1890s, falling into disrepair for a time during the 1970s, before being restored and reopened (as the Bendigo Regional Arts Centre) in 1991. Today, the 480-seat venue hosts everything from comedy to cabaret to traditional theatre, dance, opera and live music.

     Ulumbarra Theatre, Bendigo

    a look insideBendigo’s Ulumbarra Theatre
    Inside Bendigo’s Ulumbarra Theatre, a former prison. (Image: Michael Pham)

    Bendigo has busted out as a regional performing arts hotspot, so it’s fitting that one of its newest venues is housed within a former prison. Meaning ‘meeting place’ or ‘gather together’ in the language of the local Dja Dja Wurrung people, the $26-million, 950-seat auditorium rose from within the red brick walls of the historic Sandhurst Gaol in 2015.

    It’s an eerie feeling as you approach the imposing granite facade, pass beneath the old gallows and pick up your ticket from the box office occupying a repurposed cell block. With the building playing a main character in the show, this is performative architecture at its finest.

    Rex Theatre, Charlton

    the Rex Theatre in Charlton
    The 1938-built Rex Theatre in Charlton is an Art Deco gem. (Image: Jenny Pollard)

    Regional theatres don’t come more romantic than this Art Deco gem in the river town of Charlton, in north-central Victoria. Built in 1938, the 350-seat community-owned theatre provides an essential entertainment outlet for residents in the Wimmera Mallee region, as well as visitors making the trip up the Calder Highway from Melbourne.

    The volunteer-run venue is the last remaining purpose-built cinema in regional Victoria, and hosts the Charlton Film Festival every February, plus three weekly film screenings (Tuesday, Saturday and Sunday).