Sovereign Hill

One of Victoria’s most popular tourist attractions, Sovereign Hill is a fabulous re-creation of the hustle and bustle of life in Ballarat in the 1850s. Set on a former goldmining site, the compound has more than 60 buildings, while over 200 people volunteer to dress in period costume on a regular basis.

You can do all the traditional activities like pan for real gold, buy boiled sweets from the confectioner’s, ride in horse-drawn carriages, travel underground on a tour of the Red Hill Mine, or simply observe the working and living conditions that existed last century.

At night, Sovereign Hill holds a spectacular 80-minute sound and light show on the Eureka Rebellion, dramatically called ‘Blood on the Southern Cross’, which is Australia’s only uprising and took place in 1854 at Ballarat.

If you want to ‘wake up in the 1850s’, you can stay on-site at Sovereign Hill Lodge, which has a range of rooms to suit all budgets. As well as accommodation, Sovereign Hill has plenty of cafés, restaurants and picnic areas, while opposite the site, the interesting Gold Museum is crammed with coins, nuggets, alluvial deposits and temporary exhibitions.