Great Southern Touring Route Regions Guide - attractions

Ballarat

This historic town of great elegance and charm is the gateway to the goldfields. The name is an Aboriginal word meaning "resting place", which is well suited because a tranquil lake and botanical gardens are the focal point of the city. The main Avenue of Honour is lined with 4,000 trees as a memorial to citizens who served in World War I. The city is steeped in the history of the Gold Rush era. Visitors enjoy the Eureka Trail, a two-mile (3km) walk that retraces the route taken by the police and soldiers during the Australian rebellion of the Eureka stockade in 1854. It is also possible to undertake a self-guided Heritage Walk through the inner city's streets.

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Sovereign Hill

This award-winning outdoor museum set on a former gold mining site at Ballarat attempts to recreate the hustle and bustle of life as it was during the Gold Rush days in the 1850s. Visitors can pan for real gold in the diggings, watch gold being poured, travel 43ft (13m) underground on a mine tour, and stroll through the main street, which bustles with people in colourful costumes and horse-drawn vehicles. At night the museum comes alive with a sound and light show that tells the story of Australia's civil uprising, the Eureka Rebellion of 1854.

Telephone: (03) 5337 1100
Website: www.sovereignhill.com.au
Transport: Train and tour coaches from Melbourne service the city of Ballarat
Opening times: Sovereign Hill: daily 10am to 5pm (until 5.30pm in summer); Gold Museum: 9.30am to 5.20pm

Grampians National Park

The lofty summits and ridgelines of the Grampians region provide for some inspiring natural beauty in a park that is home to a variety of habitats, unique wildlife and more than one third of all plant species found in Victoria. The park is particularly well known for its colourful displays of springtime wildflowers, particularly during October. There is an abundance of wildlife in the lowlands, including emus, kangaroos, possums, koalas, wallabies and more than 200 species of bird. The park also has some interesting Aboriginal art sites among its 167,000 hectares of woodland, heath, swamp, forest and sub-alpine zones.

Telephone: 13 1963 (Parks Victoria Information Centre); 13 11 74 (up-to-date information on road closures)
Website: www.parkweb.vic.gov.au
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