Bendigo

Bendigo is a regional city in central Victoria, Australia, located in the City of Greater Bendigo. Bendigo grew to a bustling town during the Gold Rush Era of the 1850s. The wealth created during this period resulted many fine Victorian era buildings in the down town and surrounding areas. This type of architecture is not common to most country towns in Australia.

Bendigo is just over one and half hours drive north of Melbourne on the Calder Freeway (Highway). The freeway is now all dual carriageway. The final stretch of the Calder duplication project opened to traffic on 20th April 2009. If you are coming from Sydney, take the Shepparton exit from the Hume Freeway, and then follow the signs from Shepparton to Bendigo.

Bendigo has a local bus service. Services on some routes may be infrequent on weekends. There is also a tourist hop-on/hop-off tram running up and down the main street.

Parking is metered in most parts of downtown. Expect to pay about $1 per hour for parking, and to have parking limits of 1-2 hours in the city centre. Because of these restrictions parking is generally easy in the city centre. Parking is free on Saturdays however time limits do still apply.