Experience the best of Ballarat

Ballarat stands on the Central Highlands plateau, west of Melbourne, and became rich when gold was found nearby in 1851. Its wide main streets, among them Sturt Street and Lydiard Street, are lined with grand Victorian banks, hotels and a town hall. In 1854 miners rose against licence fees at the Eureka Stockade, a clash remembered as a turning point in the story of Australian democracy.

Sovereign Hill, an outdoor museum, recreates a gold-rush town with working shops and mine tunnels. Lake Wendouree, at the edge of the centre, was the rowing venue at the 1956 Olympic Games and has a path around its shore, beside the Botanical Gardens with their marble statues. The spa towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs lie to the north-east.

Cool-climate wines, local produce and cafés fill the historic streets. Autumn colours the gardens and avenues in red and gold, and the town is colder than Melbourne, with frosts in winter.