Ballarat's Goldfields Streets

Gold was found near Ballarat in 1851, and within a decade the diggings had turned into a city that spent its money on architecture. What survives is one of Australia's most intact nineteenth century streetscapes: Lydiard Street with its cast iron verandahs, Her Majesty's Theatre, the art gallery and banks built to look permanent, running into the wide boulevard of Sturt Street with its statues and central plantings. The scale is provincial, the confidence is not. Most of it is still in use as shops, offices and bars rather than preserved as a set. A slow walk with your eye on the upper storeys, where original facades survive above modern shopfronts, is the main event.

What you actually see

• Lydiard Street - an almost unbroken run of 1860s to 1880s commercial facades and iron lacework.
• Her Majesty's Theatre - a working nineteenth century theatre still on its original site.
• Sturt Street - the wide boulevard with its central gardens, statues and bandstand.
• The Art Gallery of Ballarat - one of the oldest regional galleries in the country.

When to go

Ballarat sits higher and colder than Melbourne, and winter here is genuinely raw, so October to April is more comfortable for a walking visit. Autumn colour in the streets and gardens holds through April and May. Weekends bring day trippers up from Melbourne; weekday mornings are quiet. Some buildings open only for events or by arranged tour.

Honest expectations

It is a working regional city, not a preserved village, so heritage rows sit next to car parks, chain stores and traffic. Ground floors have often been altered beyond recognition. Winter weather can be miserable for a visit built around walking. The best known attraction nearby is a recreated goldfields town with a substantial entry fee, which not everyone finds worth the money.

Nearby

Lake Wendouree and its gardens sit at the western end of Sturt Street.