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Ballarat
City in Victoria, Australia

Ballarat

Ballarat is a city in the Central Highlands of Victoria, Australia.

Plan a trip to Ballarat→From Geelong/Melbourne

At the 2021 census, it had a population of 111,973, making it the third-largest urban inland city in Australia and the third-largest city in Victoria.

Get in

Getting to Ballarat

Ballarat is an easy 90-minute drive from Melbourne on the Western Freeway (M8). Alternatively, from Geelong take the southern section of the A300; from Bendigo and Castlemaine take the northern section of the same highway. The train station is in Lydiard Street in the centre of the city. Take a look around as Lydiard Street has one of the best examples of Victorian-era streetscapes in Australia.

  1. 01
    Ballarat Railway Station

    There are frequent V/Line trains that run from Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.

  2. 02
    Wendouree Railway Station

    Most V/Line trains also continue to Wendouree, which is a station serving western Ballarat.

See

Worth seeing

  1. 01
    Art Gallery of Ballarat

    40 Lydiard Street North, fax: +61 3 5320 5791.

  2. 02
    Ballarat Botanical Gardens
  3. 03
    Ballarat Tramway Museum

    The museum operates a fleet of historic trams along 1.3 km of original track through the Ballarat Botanical Gardens.

  4. 04
    Ballarat Wildlife Park

    Corner York and Fussell Streets, Ballarat East, fax: +61 3 5333 4025, info@wildlifepark.com.au.

  5. 05
    Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka
  6. 06
    Kryal Castle

    A replica medieval castle situated just eight kilometres out of Ballarat on the Western Freeway.

Do

Things to do

  1. 01
    Begonia Festival
  2. 02
    Ballarat Heritage Weekend
  3. 03
    Eureka Stadium
Eat

Where to eat

Crazy Asian, 107 Bridge Mall. Good value Chinese, Indian and Thai. L'espresso, 417 Sturt St,. Formally a music store, this place serves some of the best coffee in town, along with quality Italian-based fare that is interesting and reasonably priced. Choose a CD from the wall to listen to, and try the housemade icecream. Eureka Pizza & Bistro, 316 Sturt St. Italian institution.

How locals move

Getting around Ballarat the local way

  • Go nextHire a bike, and cycle the 53-km off-road Ballarat to Skipton Rail Trail.

From Wikivoyage: Ballarat, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Wikimedia Commons (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.