Near the remote centre of Victoria, you will find a city that grew all of a sudden during the Victorian gold rush of the mid-19th century. Bendigo is also one of the richest goldfields in the world, and its mines have produced more than 780,000kg of gold. Among the tens of thousands of hopeful diggers that showed up 170 years ago was a large Chinese contingent. To this day, Bendigo has a prominent Chinese community, documented at the Golden Dragon Museum and visible especially in the annual Easter Festival. Bendigo’s Midas feel left the city with graceful 19th-century architecture and attractions that endure to this day. Know more about this city by going through the top things to do in Bendigo.

Things to do in Bendigo

People can visit this place which has many things to offer and things to do in Bendigo. Let us guide you the best things to do in Bendigo with your loved ones.

Central Deborah Gold Mine
Bendigo Art Gallery
Bendigo Chinese Gardens Reserve And Golden Dragon Museum
Lake Weeroona
Bendigo Tramways
Rosalind Park
Bendigo Pottery
Bendigo Botanic Gardens
Sacred Heart Cathedral
Discovery Science and Technology Centre

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1. Central Deborah Gold Mine

You will find this mine near Bendigo’s city centre which yielded almost a metric ton of gold between 1939 and 1954. The Central Deborah Gold Mine opened during a restoration of the city’s gold industry, and work continued even during the Second World War. Since 1986, this has been a tourist attraction, and you will witness the tight main shaft widened to make things a bit more comfortable for visitors. This is one of the top things to do in Bendigo.

2. Bendigo Art Gallery

Inaugurated way back in 1887, the Bendigo Art Gallery grew out of the Volunteer Rifle’ room and has been enlarged over time. You will be able to see the most recent addition, the arresting sculpture gallery added in 2001 and designed by Melbourne’s Fender Katsalidis Architects. The Bendigo Art Gallery’s inventory crosses 19th, 20th and 21st-century painting, sculpture, photography, works on paper and decorative arts. If you are an art lover, do add it to your list of top things to do in Bendigo.

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3. Bendigo Chinese Gardens Reserve and Golden Dragon Museum

Bendigo has had a Chinese community since the days of the gold rush, and a visit to the museum is a must. This museum records the Chinese heritage and actually on the site of one of the early Bendigo’s Chinatowns. This attraction opened in 1991 and looks at the lives of these citizens, and how Chinese culture has influenced the city from the 1850s to the present. The Golden Dragon Museum has a national profile, as a hub of Chinese-related cultural activities in Australia. Do not forget to add this in the list of things to do in Bendigo.

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4. Lake Weeroona

From the 1850s to the 1870s, one of the loveliest spots in Bendigo was actually a gold mine. Then in 1878, the art director of the Melbourne Botanic Gardens oversaw this place’s transformation into an 18-hectare body of water. Lake Weeroona located within a reserve and has a path through relaxing wooded parkland encircling its banks. On a leisurely walk, it will take approximately 20 minutes to complete a circuit.

5. Bendigo Tramways

The city has had a tram system since 1890 and still open to visitors as a tourist attraction. In their time the Bendigo Tramways have been powered by battery, then steam and then electricity since the year 1903. In the post-war years, the network proved too expensive to operate as a commuter service, and it finally closed down in 1972, to be reborn as a heritage line.

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6. Rosalind Park

Bordering Bendigo’s central business district covers more than 60 hectares of lawns and mature trees, all scattered with amenities and historic buildings. The space now known as Rosalind Park is in a valley along Bendigo Creek and because of its strong freshwater pools would have been important to the area’s Dja Dja Wrung people way before the arrival of Europeans.

7. Bendigo Pottery

Australia’s oldest working pottery was established in Bendigo in 1858 and after a few ups and downs in the middle years has experienced a recovery since the 1970s. In that time Bendigo Pottery became a motto for quality and innovation. At this historic site dominated by wood-fired kilns, you will find out about the pottery’s past and learn all you need to know about production and the traditional skills still employed by Bendigo’s skilled potters.

8. Bendigo Botanic Gardens

The city’s first public garden founded in 1857. The place, a few minutes northeast of the CBD, appears on maps from 1854, just three years after gold was discovered in Bendigo. The lake at the centre of the park is a part of Bendigo Creek and wreathed in indigenous wetland species. Subsequently, the park is divided into lots of lovely sub-gardens. These are named as Northern Victorian Garden, the Cottage Garden of the Victorian Goldfields, the Indigenous Garden, Habitat Garden and the National Canna and Lavender Collections. You will also find an Arch of Triumph (1925), a picnic pavilion (1910), an aviary, and an award-winning play space inspired by Alice in Wonderland. This is one of the things to do in Bendigo with your children.

9. Sacred Heart Cathedral

Bendigo’s gold explains how a comparatively small rural city like this could have a church of such unimaginable dimensions. This breathtaking Gothic Revival building begun in 1897 and would be completed 70 years later after work was interrupted by the two world wars. Most of the funding was contributed by the estate of German-born Henry Backaus (1811-1882), Bendigo’s first Catholic priest.

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10. Discovery Science and Technology Centre

In the Discovery Science and Technology Centre in Bendigo, you will find all about interactivity and learning through play. So, almost without realising, kids can get familiarised with scientific ideas at more than 100 whimsical displays. You will also find an echo tube, almost as long as the centre itself, or an air cannon that can spell out a message, or a device that shoots ping-pong balls amazing distances using only the air around them. With this, we come to the end of the top things to do in Bendigo.

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So, here are the top things to do in Bendigo which you should not miss out. Have a wonderful vacation in Australia with your loved ones while it is sunny down under. Book your Australia holiday package with Pickyourtrail get summer tan and lots of vitamin sea. Check out our Australia travel blog or leave a Whatsapp inquiry for more options! You can also download the Pickyourtrail app, the best travel app on Android and IOS for further details.

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