What are the best things to do in Ballarat, Victoria?

The best things to do in Ballarat, Victoria, are Sovereign Hill and the Gold Museum. Other Ballarat attractions include the Art Gallery, Botanical Gardens and Wildlife Park.

Ballarat is perhaps the most appealing of Australia’s gold rush towns. This inland Victorian city is liberally sprinkled with handsome heritage buildings, built on the back of gold mining. If you want to do a self-guided walking tour in Ballarat, then Visit Ballarat has a series of walking tour routes around statues and streetscapes.

Book your Ballarat accommodation for from around $93.
And sort your sovereign hill tickets in advance.

Ballarat Town Hall, Victoria — Ballarat Town Hall is one of the most appealing heritage buildings in Ballarat, Victoria. Photo courtesy of Visit Victoria.

The best Ballarat attraction: Sovereign Hill

But the best things to do in Ballarat are not in the centre, and by far the biggest attraction in the city is Sovereign Hill. This massive open air museum host dozens of rebuilt and recreated buildings, showing off what life would be like in a 19^th century goldfields town. The trick is having something behind every door. Wheelwrights, blacksmiths and candlemakers show off their craft. Soldiers march up the street and fire muskets. Horse and wagon rides provide a novel way of getting round. You can also go fossicking for gold in the creek, and travel inside a mine on a train.

4 Ballarat experiences to book in advance ⬇️

Sovereign Hill tickets – visit Australia’s best open air museum. Give it a full day, too – there’s so much to see and do.
Ballarat Wildlife Park entry – meet loads of cute native Aussie animals.
Kryal Castle admission – enjoy a bizarre knights in armour theme park.
Beer-making course – learn to brew, with tastings and lunch thrown in.

Tickets for Sovereign Hill should be booked in advance, online.

Sovereign Hill offers a stupendous number of things to do in Ballarat on its own. And that’s increased when you throw in Aura, the dramatic evening sound and light show. Aura makes full use of the site, telling Ballarat’s history with projections, fires and fake gunfights. Wrap up warm in winter, though – the Ballarat weather can be notoriously cold and windy.

If you want to learn about gold in a more traditional museum setting, then the Gold Museum is near the main entrance to Sovereign Hill. This covers the history of Ballarat and gold as a commodity.

More things to do in Ballarat

Frankly, after Sovereign Hill, you’re on to the also-rans. The Art Gallery of Ballarat is the oldest and largest regional art gallery in Australia. But given that Australia isn’t exactly known for its art galleries, being the best regional art gallery falls into tallest dwarf territory. Still, it does have a good collection of Australian art, including works by several worth-discovering Aussie artists such as Sidney Nolan and Russell Drysdale.

Ballarat also houses two staples of regional Australia – a botanic gardens and a wildlife park. The Ballarat Botanical Gardens on the western shore of Lake Wendouree focuses on cool climate plants, covering 40 hectares in four separate zones.

Things to do in Ballarat, Victoria: Wildlife Park and Lake Wendouree

Ballarat Wildlife Park, meanwhile, offers the opportunity to hand-feed kangaroos and hold a wombat. And Lake Wendouree has an Olympic monument to go with the walking trails and picnic areas.

Around 8km east of the city, there’s the rather weird Kryal Castle. This faux medieval castle offers jousting shows, archery experiences, a maze and other knight-themed activities. Again, tickets can be booked online.

Things to do in Ballarat at night

The best things to do in Ballarat at night are the aforementioned Aura show at Sovereign Hill and the after-dark ghost tours run by Eerie Tours.

Places to eat in Ballarat include traditional Spanish tapas joint Meigas, the lakeside Boatshed restaurant and Latin American specialist Pancho.

What to do on the way to Ballarat

The Melbourne to Ballarat drive takes around an hour and 22 minutes. But you can make a day of it by visiting the Organ Pipes National Park, Trentham Falls and the Lerderderg State Park on the way. You can also make Ballarat a stop on the drive from Melbourne to Halls Gap in the Grampians.

Whether Ballarat is better than Bendigo, its big Goldfields rival, depends on personal taste.

If coming straight from Melbourne Airport, try the Ballarat Airport Shuttle.

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