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The Victorian-era gold rush city of Bendigo – Australia

December 21, 2013 By James Clark 2 Comments

The Victorian-era gold rush city of Bendigo - Australia

The Victorian gold rush between 1851 and the late 1860s turned Melbourne into one of the great cities of the world. Much of the wealth that built Melbourne came from the gold fields of central Victoria. If you admire the Victorian era heritage of Melbourne then I would recommend having a look at Bendigo as well.

I have driven through Bendigo countless times on the way to NSW, but I had never stopped to have a look around. As a long-term expat returning to my homeland I had a new found curiosity of what my state has to offer, so I made a road trip to Bendigo.

Bendigo Cathedral

One of the first buildings of note you will see when coming from Melbourne is the Sacred Heart Cathedral. It’s scale gives you an idea of how much money was sloshing around when it was built.

Old Post Office - Bendigo

The old post office is also a status symbol of a city that was flush with money.

Shamrock Hotel - Bendigo

Not to be outdone by religious and civic buildings, the Shamrock Hotel is the one of the most impressive buildings in town.

Bendigo Tram

Nearly every Australian city once had trams, but like in the US the tramways were ripped up in favour of cars. Bendigo has a tourist tram that still operates along the main street.

Town Hall - Bendigo

The beautiful little town hall.

Chinese Arch - Bendigo

The gold rush brought immigrants from all over the world to Bendigo, including a sizeable Chinese population. Today there is a small China Town area which includes the Golden Dragon Museum.

Boer War Memorial - Bendigo

Every town and city in Australia has a war memorial of some sort. This one is for the Boer War of 1899–1902.

Queen Victoria - Bendigo

And of course every great Victorian era city has a statue of the lady who gave the era its name.

Getting to Bendigo
V/Line operate trains to Bendigo several times a day.

By car, Bendigo is 147km away by freeway. A car is a good option if you want to explore the other gold-rush era towns in the region. I travelled to Bendigo thanks to Carrentals.co.uk, who supplied a car for me in Melbourne.

Bendigo Photos

The rest of my photos are in the Bendigo photo gallery.

Bendigo Travel Resources

Bendigo Hotels: Search and compare hotel prices at Hotels Combined.

Flights to Melbourne: Compare the cheapest flights with Skyscanner.

World Nomads covers your health and travel belongings. Find out more about why travel insurance is a good idea.

Lonely Planet Melbourne & Victoria (Travel Guide): Research before you go.

Filed Under: Travel Blog Tagged With: australia, bendigo

Comments

  1. Escapist says

    January 15, 2014 at 10:18 am

    Beautiful city with a strong European feel! And almost no-one is talking about this wonder down there!
    Bendingo must be a hidden jewel of Australia! Thank you for bringing this forward!

    Reply
  2. Aktar says

    April 15, 2014 at 12:10 pm

    Thanks for the post here, I am planning to go next month, you helped me a lot by letting me know necessary information there….

    Reply

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James Clark from Nomadic Notes

Hi, I’m James Clark, and I've been travelling the world since 2003 while running a location independent travel business. Nomadic Notes is a travel blog featuring travel guides and notes from my travels.

I’m currently based in Vietnam, writing about transport and infrastructure in Southeast Asia.

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