11 of the best Bendigo pubs and bars to let your hair down at

Chloe CannBy Chloe Cann
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Cheers Central Victoria’s remarkable gold rush heritage with a solid session at the most rocking Bendigo pubs and bars.

Contemporary draws readily lurk among Bendigo’s historic streets, and chief among them, arguably, is its captivating cocktail o’clock scene. From grand old pubs restored to their former glory, to basement dive bars, sun-licked beer gardens, rooftop cocktail bars and piano bars with drag queen hosts, parties kick on right across town. Here, we collate the best Bendigo pubs and bars for your go-all-night amusement after a day of exploring the city.

1. The Dispensary Bar & Diner

a bartender pouring tap beer into a glass at The Dispensary Bar & Diner, Bendigo
The Dispensary Bar & Diner pours top-notch beer. (Image: The Dispensary Bar & Diner)

You’re a fair way from Melbourne but Victoria’s laneway life is alive and kicking in Bendigo, home to The Dispensary Bar & Diner . Complete with artistic murals, fairy lights, outdoor heaters (thank goodness) and local homebrew, this Bendigo bar is about as quintessential-culture capital as they come in Central Victoria. If it’s a super special occasion, an extensive champagne list, where a 1996 Cristal has been known to frequent and sparkling wines also show face, will sort you. Otherwise, there’s signature cocktails, excellent wines, all the spirits and a load of beers to choose from. Sensible patrons will also line their stomachs with picks from the food menu, which offers a $56 Lucky Seven selection of Modern Australian dishes, as well as a $79 Dispensary Experience set menu curated entirely by the expert team.

2. Wine Bank On View

a look inside Wine Bank On View bar in Bendigo
The dimly lit heritage-style bar is housed in a former bank. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Stellar drops served inside the heritage-listed walls of a former bank? Sign us up for vino and bites at Wine Bank On View , a Bendigo bar built in 1876. The space also serves as a wine merchant, so it’s where you go to grab the really special stuff, but stick around to knock back quality vintages from the likes of Heathcote’s Jasper Hill, Western Australia’s Cullen Wines and Mount Langi Ghiran in the Grampians, on site. There’s also a lovely menu of main meals to wash your vino down with, plus Wednesday ushers in regular wine tastings with a rotation of weekly features.

3. The Social

alfresco setting at The Social Bendigo
The Social Bendigo is a prime setting for a relaxed afternoon. (Image: Supplied)

Pick your poison from more than 400 spirits at The Social , a Bendigo bar and eatery located in the middle of town opposite Rosalind Park. Too early for the hard stuff? 12 tap beers, a host of cocktails and a tight edit of local wines will edge you in gently. If you’re visiting on a Saturday, launch your festivities from midday when a bottomless brunch, which includes food, swings into gear. You’ll also find a large food menu on hand, inspired by Asian flavours, like house made dumplings, Karaage chicken bao buns and Thai pork skewers designed to generously share.

4. GPO Bar & Restaurant

GPO Bar & Restaurant
Indulge in Modern Australian bites paired with elevated cocktails.

A local’s haunt shaking up some of the most smashable cocktails in town, GPO Bar & Restaurant is always on fire. Festoon lights hang from the ceilings as dim mood lighting sets a slick adults-only scene while various nooks and alcoves provide plenty of opportunity for intimate catchups. All your classic tipples are on the menu, some even laced with rainbow-hued confectionery, while local craft beers and wines also do the job. When hunger strikes, share plates like stone-baked pizzas, tapas and giant paella pans provide mouth-watering fixes. These guys also love a boozy bottomless brunch, rolling out a $69 deal every Saturday and Sunday from 12pm.

5. Rifle Brigade Hotel

empty stools at the timber bar of Rifle Brigade Hotel, Bendigo
Rifle Brigade Hotel offers a warm welcome to visitors and a taste of local heritage. (Image: Rifle Brigade Hotel)

Every city needs a failsafe pub where you can return again and again, safe in the knowledge you’ll eat well, drink well, and enjoy the setting. Rifle Brigade Hotel is Bendigo’s go-to. A Victorian-era boozer that occupies a sizable corner block, there’s nothing ground-breaking about this spot, known by locals as the ‘Gun Club’, but that’s all part of the charm. On the food menu, you’ll find standard pub fare (think burgers, pizzas, steak and seafood), while the drinks menu pays homage to Victoria’s wine scene. There are several spaces to choose between depending on your mood (and the weather), from the sizable courtyard at its rear to one of the tables spilling out onto the pavement out the front. Or just pull up a stool at the beautifully worn timber bar.

6. Handle Bar

the interior of Handle Bar with festoon lighting
Enjoy drinks al fresco at this laidback Bendigo hot spot. (Image: Handle Bar)

When the sun’s out, there are few better spots in the city to idle with a drink in hand than Handle Bar . The main calling card at this rustic, laidback Bendigo bar is its sizable, string-light-festooned backyard. Featuring a mishmash of astroturf, and brick and timber flooring, the piecemeal beer garden is a charming spot for sundowners with friends. Handle Bar’s origin story is equally appealing, the result of a 2014 crowdfunding campaign that brought together more than 30 local donors who co-founded and now own the space. Handle Bar’s raison d’etre is simple: a relaxed setting that offers independent beer and regular free entertainment.

7. Piano Bar Bendigo

friends enjoying wine at the Piano Bar Bendigo
Piano Bar Bendigo is loved for its cosy, stylish setting.

A run-of-the-mill watering hole this ain’t. If a night spent propping up the bar down the pub feels a touch too pedestrian for you, might we recommend Piano Bar Bendigo ? There’s perhaps no other Bendigo bar that boasts the same intoxicating mix of cocktails and carousing as this joint, which promises piano and vocalists, with songs played at your request, plus an alluring roster of drag queen-led events, from bingo to trivia and comedy sketches, with audience involvement very much encouraged – sing along and dance to your heart’s content. If you’re keen to give it a real nudge, head upstairs to Rumours Upstairs , a club on the top floor of Piano Bar that’s open every Saturday from 9pm. It’s the place to dance all night — trust us.

8. Babylon Lounge & Garden Bar

iced beer bucket at Babylon Lounge & Garden Bar
Sip craft beers and local brews.

Gunning for the title of Bendigo’s most hipster bar (until the sun sinks where it’s a whole new venue, practically) is Babylon Lounge & Garden Bar , a central oasis. The greenhouse-style ‘garden’ area is drenched in greenery and bathed in natural light, while the lounge area is as snug as can be, featuring forest green velvet sofas, dim lighting and a few quirky touches (hello faux fireplace and mannequin swinging from the ceiling). There’s a mezze menu for when hunger strikes, and a solid range of craft beer, both on tap and in tinnies. Once night falls, prepare to rage as this Bendigo bar is renowned for its dance floor and DJs, open all the way until 3am on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

9. Nimbus Rooftop

friends hanging out at Nimbus Rooftop bar, Bendigo
The rooftop offers city views and stellar cocktails. (Image: Visit Victoria)

Bendigo’s first rooftop bar, Nimbus offers sweeping city views, as well as stellar cocktails. You’ll find all the garden variety concoctions at this third-floor haunt (pina colada, moscow mule, bloody mary, margarita etc) as well as a couple of off-kilter options. The fluorescent Japanese Slipper, for example, encourages serious fun – a heady mix of Midori, triple sec and lime. Keep an eye on their Instagram page, as the venue often hosts masterclass events and live music.

10. Gold Mines Hotel

the building exterior of Gold Mines Hotel, Bendigo
The historic Gold Mines Hotel dates back to 1872.

Few other Bendigo pubs boast a setting as stately as the Gold Mines Hotel . With its fretworked verandahs dripping with wisteria, a grand cedar staircase, Baltic pine floors, archways embellished with gold-leaf, stained-glass windows, and nearly a dozen fireplaces – this National Trust-listed property is a fine spot to linger over a drink. Come summer, nurse a glass of Pimms in the expansive, leafy garden. When winter rolls in, cosy up by one of the many fireplaces with a bottle of shiraz. This historic two-storey edifice, built in 1872, moves beyond an impressive beer and wine selection, as a decent array of cocktails, warm and friendly country hospitality, and a red-meat-heavy menu (think beef burger, confit duck leg, grass-fed porterhouse, and lamb rump to name a few past hits) keep crowds returning.

11. The Foundry

an open-air cocktail lounge at The Foundry, Bendigo
Grab a chair at the open-air cocktail lounge. (Image: The Foundry)

Another easy-going pub where locals love to gather, The Foundry is the place to catch live sports given the 20-odd big screens that line the walls. Its dedicated Mister Bobs sports bar is probably going to offer the most electric atmosphere, but it’s rivalled by an outdoor courtyard where games are also streamed live and loud. Miss Molly is the Bendigo bar’s cocktail lounge and if you’re there on Saturday between 4pm and 5pm, take advantage of Martini Madness which offers three delicious variations for just $15 a piece. The Bistro, a little more family-friendly than Miss Molly with its own kids’ menu, is the place to find a feed as pub classics are nailed with flair.

Originally written by Chloe Cann with updates by Kristie Lau-Adams

Discover the best restaurants in Bendigo

Chloe Cann
Chloe Cann is an award-winning freelance travel and food writer, born in England, based in Melbourne and Roman by adoption. Since honing her skills at City St George's, University of London with a master's degree in journalism, she's been writing almost exclusively about travel for more than a decade, and has worked in-house at newspapers and travel magazines in London, Phnom Penh, Sydney and Melbourne. Through a mixture of work and pleasure, she's been fortunate enough to visit 80 countries to date, though there are many more that she is itching to reach. While the strength of a region's food scene tends to dictate the location of her next trip, she can be equally swayed by the promise of interesting landscapes and offbeat experiences. And with a small person now in tow, travel looks a little different these days, but it remains at the front of her mind.
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How a $1 deal saved Bendigo’s historic tramways

    Megan ArkinstallBy Megan Arkinstall
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    The passionate community that saved Bendigo Tramways has kept the story of this city alive for generations.

    It was an absolute steal: a fleet of 23 trams for just $1. But such a fortunate purchase didn’t happen easily. It was 1972 when the Bendigo Trust handed over a single buck for the city’s historic collection of battery, steam and electric trams, which had transported locals since 1890.

    inside the historic Bendigo Tram
    Bendigo Tramways is a historic transport line turned tourist service. (Image: Bendigo Heritage)

    The city’s tram network had been declared defunct since 1970 due to post-war shortages in materials to upkeep the trams and declining passenger numbers as motor vehicles were increasing. However, determined locals would not hear of their beloved trams being sold off around the world.

    The Bendigo Trust was enlisted to preserve this heritage, by converting the trams into a tourist service. The Victorian government approved a trial, however news spread that the Australian Electric Tramways Museum in Adelaide had acquired one of the streetcars for its collection.

    a tram heading to Quarry Hill in 1957
    A tram on its way to Quarry Hill in 1957. (Image: Bendigo Heritage)

    An impassioned group rallied together to make this physically impossible. Breaking into the tram sheds, they welded iron pipes to the rails, removed carbon brushes from the motors, and formed a blockade at the depot. The community response was extraordinary, and a $1 deal was sealed.

    A new chapter for the city’s fleet

    the old Tramways Depot and Workshop
    The old Tramways Depot and Workshop is one of the stops on the hop-on, hop-off service. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    Today, Bendigo Tramways welcomes some 40,000 passengers annually, operating as a hop-on, hop-off touring service aboard the restored trams. Fifteen of the now 45-strong fleet are dubbed ‘Talking Trams’ because of the taped commentary that is played along the route. The trams loop between Central Deborah Gold Mine and the Bendigo Joss House Temple, which has been a place of Chinese worship since 1871, via other sites including the old Tramways Depot and Workshop.

    a Gold Mine Bendigo Tram
    The fleet comprises 45 trams that have been restored. (Image: Visit Victoria/Robert Blackburn)

    Keeping things interesting, throughout the year visitors can step aboard different themed trams. Tram No. 302 becomes the Yarn Bomb Tram, decorated both inside and out with colourful crochet by an anonymous group of locals.

    During the festive season, Tram No. 15 operates as a tinsel-festooned Santa Tram, and the big man himself hides out somewhere along the route for excited children to find. And on selected dates, the adults-only Groove Tram runs nighttime tours of the city, accompanied by local musicians playing live tunes and a pop-up bar.

    the historic post office turned visitor centre in Bendigo
    Visitors can hop on and off to see the city’s sites such as the historic post office turned visitor centre. (Image: Tourism Australia)

    As well as preserving the city’s history, however, the continuation of the tram service has kept the skills of tram building and craftsmanship alive in a practical sense. Bendigo’s Heritage Rail Workshop is world-renowned for restoring heritage trams and repurposing vehicles in creative ways.

    Locally, for example, Tram No. 918 was transformed into the Dja Dja Wurrung Tram with original Aboriginal artworks by emerging artist Natasha Carter, with special commentary and music that shares the stories and traditions of Bendigo’s first people. You can’t put a price on preserving history. Nonetheless, it was a dollar very well spent.