Central Victoria is classic Victoria: a rich pastoral district, chilly and green in winter and parched a brownish yellow in summer, with two grand provincial cities, Ballarat and Bendigo , whose fine buildings were funded by gold. Nowadays both are major tourist centres on the gold trail. The many surrounding country centres such as Maryborough and Castlemaine , once prosperous gold towns in their own right, now seem too lowly for their extravagant architecture.

 

There's fairly good transport in this direction, with regular V/Line trains and buses to Bendigo, Ballarat and the other major centres, and local buses filling most gaps. If you're driving, the best way to tour the area is to follow the Goldfields Tourist Route , whose chocolate-brown signs are marked by a distinctive circled capital G. The route links the major cities and towns - Bendigo, Castlemaine, Ballarat, Ararat and Stawell - with many smaller places in between.