A boom town of the Victorian goldrush era and today one of Victoria’s fast-growing regional cities, Ballarat continues to bloom featuring at no.24 on your list of Top 50 Aussie Towns.
A 75-minute drive west of Melbourne, Ballarat was voted Victoria’s top tourism town in 2021 and is recognised as a UNESCO creative city. Its rich culture of artisans and dynamic culinary offerings tucked into reinvented goldrush buildings is a winning formula for a long weekend of wining, dining and soaking in the new wave of creativity that taps into the city’s past.
Ballarat’s CBD is characterised by its grand goldrush buildings. (Image: Tara Moore)
A place in constant evolution, newcomers on the scene include pop-up restaurant Peasant, open Friday and Saturday evenings for just a few diners at a time in Ballarat’s historic Bank of New South Wales, and serving a five-course degustation of rustic European fare.
And in the CBD spot it has vacated, Boath and sommelier Anthony Schuurs have created a sharp and fun urban wine bar, Pencilmark Wine Room, where an ever-changing roster of global drops are matched with fresh regional produce.
Browse the bottles at Pencilmark Wine Room. (Image: Thom Mitchell)
Further emphasising Ballarat’s ongoing revitalisation, a major development and refurbishment of an 1863 heritage-listed bluestone building adjacent to the Ballarat railway station was unveiled at the start of 2022.
The Goods Shed now acts as a social, cultural and hospitality hub; its most recent additions include a gin distillery, Little Lon Distilling Co, an all-day dining outpost, a dumpling house and Quest Ballarat Station, an of-its-place hotel to complete the ‘eat, play, stay’ experience.
The Goods Shed signals the Victorian city’s ongoing revitalisation.
Time your visit for the spring-summer season of artisan producer experiences, Made of: Ballarat. Picks of the bunch include the Secret Life of Bees with Backyard Beekeeping Ballarat, which runs on selected dates from October to February and will take you on a hands-on journey through a working honey beehive in the heart of the city.
Or take a trip 20 minutes out of town to Buninyong on Wadawurrung Country to embark on an Australian bushfoods adventure with Saltbush Kitchen. Also in late spring, the Australian Centre for Rare Arts & Forgotten Trades will open to offer workshops and masterclasses to those looking to learn everything from woodcarving and locksmithing to armoury and leatherwork.
You’ll find pockets of creativity everywhere around town. (Image: Tara Moore)
Need tips, more detail or itinerary ideas tailored to you? Ask AT.
Tick the box next to "Australian Traveller". That's it.
Imogen Eveson is Australian Traveller’s Print Editor. She was named Editor of the Year at the 2024 Mumbrella Publish Awards and in 2023, was awarded the Cruise Line Industry Association (CLIA) Australia’s Media Award. Before joining Australian Traveller Media as sub-editor in 2017, Imogen wrote for publications including Broadsheet, Russh and SilverKris. She launched her career in London, where she graduated with a BA Hons degree in fashion communication from world-renowned arts and design college Central Saint Martins. She is the author/designer of The Wapping Project on Paper, published by Black Dog Publishing in 2014. Growing up in Glastonbury, home to the largest music and performing arts festival in the world, instilled in Imogen a passion for cultural cross-pollination that finds perfect expression today in shaping Australia’s leading travel titles. Imogen regularly appears as a guest on radio travel segments, including ABC National Nightlife, and is invited to attend global travel expos such as IMM, ILTM, Further East and We Are Africa.
The charm of Mildura is hidden in plain sight along the Sturt Highway. The capital of Tropical North Victoria is in a league of its own.
From the moment you arrive in Mildura, the warm air and palm trees invite you to slow down. While most Australians might drive right past it, Mildura is full of surprises. Here you’ll spend one day witnessing over 50,000 years of First Nations history in a UNESCO-listed National Park, and the next dining in a hatted restaurant after wandering through 12,500 fireflies as the outback sunset bursts to life above. From roadside fruit stalls and family-run wineries to houseboats and galleries, it’s time to explore Mildura.
Taste, wander and be surprised in Mildura.
Taste Mildura’s produce
It makes sense to start your trip by addressing the most important question: where to eat. In the beating heart of Australia’s food bowl, sample the local produce directly from the source. And then, of course, experience it through the menu of a hatted chef. Or sandwiched between pillowy slices of Nonna’s ciabatta.
Rows of orchards and olive groves invite you to spend the day traipsing from farm to farm. Taste olives propagated from Calabrian trees brought over in the 40s, oranges picked right from the tree and squeezed into juice and spoons full of honey. Bring the holiday back to your kitchen by stocking your pantry at roadside produce stalls, or calling into the ‘silver shed’ (Sunraysia’s gourmand Mecca).
Thanks to the warm, balmy air and fertile soils, the wineries dotted along these hills produce award-winning local wines. Like Chalmers, a family-run, innovative winery dedicated to making their wines as sustainable as possible. And picturesque Trentham Estate offers views of the snaking Murray River as you sample their vintages.
Venture beyond the gnarled shadows of olive groves and fragrant rows of blossoming fruit trees and you’ll find an otherworldly side to Mildura. With Discover Mildura as your guide, visit Murray River Salt’s Mars-like stacks. The naturally pink salt is formed from an ancient inland sea and evaporated entirely by the sun to create one of the region’s most iconic exports.
Start your day with just-squeezed sunshine.
Hatted dining & Italian history
Mildura is home to a proud community of Calabrians and Sicilians. This, paired with the exceptional local produce, means that you can find paninos on par with those in Italy. The Italian is a Paninoteca serving up made-to-order, hefty, authentic Sicilian paninos. Nonna Rosa’s pork meatballs, slowly cooked in tomato ragu and served in a crusty, fluffy roll topped with gratings of Grana Padano cheese and salsa verde, will call you back to Mildura for the rest of your days.
To find hatted dining in Mildura, simply follow the staircase down into the basement of the historic Mildura Grand Hotel to find Stefano’s. Following the muscle memory and instinct of his Italian roots, he delivers on the principle of ‘cucina povera’. That is, the Italian cooking ideology that turns simple, local ingredients into magic.
Bite into Mildura’s Italian heritage.
Discover a thriving culture scene
The city is alive with culture. Whether it’s painted on the town’s walls, told in ancient yarns, or waiting for you in a gallery.
The Mildura Arts Centre was Australia’s first regional art gallery. Behind the walls of Rio Vista Historic House, you’ll find a lineup of ever-changing exhibitions. The gallery’s wall space pays tribute to the art and songlines of local First Nations People, the region’s awe-inspiring landscapes and more. Outside, on the gallery’s lawn, find 12 contemporary sculptures in the Sculpture Park.
Mildura’s streetscapes are a punch of colour. Swirling strokes of paint blend the winding artery of the Murray River, red dirt and local characters into a story you can see with your own eyes, thanks to the Mildura City Heart’s Mural Art Project. Pick up a copy of the Murals of Mildura guide from the Visitor Information Centre.
Follow the border of NSW and Victoria on a map and you’ll see it hugs the curves of a tiny island on the Murray. That’s Lock Island, where, as the sun and moon trade places, the island comes alive as darkness falls. The island is dotted with 12,500 firefly lights that lead you on a meandering path through the outback sunset. The installation is known as Trail of Lights and was created by the same visionary who dreamt up Field of Light at Uluṟu, Bruce Munro.
Find culture around every corner.
Wonder at ancient landscapes
The landscapes of Mildura feel almost transcendental. The skyline bursts to life with reds, pinks, and deep, sparkly night skies.
The nature will leave you in awe. See hues of pink water changing with the weather at Pink Lakes inside Victoria’s largest national park, Murray Sunset National Oark. Cast a line into Ouyen Lake. Watch the sunset against 70-metre tall red cliffs that reflect the setting sun. Or get the heart racing and sandboard down the Perry Sandhills dunes, formed 40,000 years ago at the end of an ice age.
Just don’t leave without following the twists and turns of the Murray. Stroll or ride along the Shared River Front Path, or jump onboard a boat for a scenic ride.
Your itinerary will be incomplete without a visit to UNESCO World Heritage-listed Mungo National Park. Head out with an Indigenous ranger to witness ancient campsites and footprints, before standing in awe of ancient civilisation near the discovery site of Mungo Man—Australia’s oldest human skeleton at 42,000 years old.
Walk in the footsteps of ancient civilisation.
Meet your home away from home
On equal par with planning your meals and adventures, is finding the perfect place to relax at the end of each day.
Sleep inside a Palm Springs postcard at Kar-Rama. A sleek boutique hotel complete with a butterfly shaped, sun-soaked pool. Here you’re staying right in the heart of Mildura but you’ll feel worlds away. Or if you really wish to connect with nature, a night glamping under the stars at Outback Almonds will have you spellbound.
When in Mildura it’s only right to stay on one of the Murray River’s iconic houseboats. Wake up each day to the calm waters of the Murray lapping outside your window. Enjoy days full of river swims, fishing and exploring. All boats are solar-powered and can be self-skippered or moored along the river.
Stay and play on the Murray in a solar houseboat.
Start planning the perfect getaway at mildura.com.
Top Towns for 2022: The ever-changing town of Ballarat - Australian Traveller
