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Bendigo is the capital of the Victorian Goldfields region and sits within easy reach of excellent day trips, the heritage townships of Castlemaine and Maldon, the spa country of Daylesford, the Heathcote wine region and the Murray River at Echuca (2 hours north). Here are the best day trips from Bendigo in 2026.
Castlemaine and Maldon (30-45 minutes south)
The Mount Alexander region's heritage goldfields towns. Castlemaine has an excellent art gallery (Castlemaine Art Museum), a thriving arts and creative community, the restored Castlemaine Market building and the extraordinary Buda Historic Home and Garden. Maldon (25 minutes from Castlemaine) is one of Australia's best-preserved historic townships, winner of the first Historic Town of Victoria award in 1966. The Victorian Goldfields Railway steam train between Maldon and Muckleford operates on selected weekends. mountalexander.vic.gov.au
Daylesford and Hepburn Springs (45 minutes south)
Victoria's spa and wellness capital, mineral springs, the Hepburn Bathhouse, Lake Daylesford, excellent cafes, the Convent Gallery and Wombat Hill Botanic Gardens. visitdaylesford.com
Heathcote Wine Region (45 minutes south-east)
Boutique red wine country on the ancient Cambrian greenstone, exceptional shiraz country. Wild Duck Creek, Jasper Hill and McIvor Farm are worth visiting. The Heathcote township has excellent local produce and heritage streets from the 1850s gold rush.
Echuca and the Murray River (2 hours north)
Australia's most significant inland port city. The historic Port of Echuca wharf (three-tier heritage wharf, the tallest in the world when built in 1865), paddlesteamer cruises on the Murray River, the Murray Esplanade heritage precinct and the excellent PS Adelaide steamboat (oldest operating paddle steamer in the world, 1866). echucamoama.com
This article was compiled by AI and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.
Covering lifestyle in Bendigo. This article was generated by AI, under human editorial accountability and risk-based review and our reasonable editorial care. Sensitive material is held for human review before publication. See our reasonable editorial care.
Beta: AI-assisted and human-overseen. Details may be imperfect, so please verify anything important.
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