Victorian goldfields rail adventure

Arrive in Victoria’s vibrant capital Melbourne and check-in to your hotel. Our tour commences at 6pm with a welcome drink in the hotel bar before enjoying a celebratory welcome dinner including drinks in the hotel restaurant. Overnight in the Mövenpick Hotel Melbourne

🍽 dinner

Melbourne-the vibrant capital of victoria

After breakfast and check out, we’ll make our way to the railway station to board a regional express train to Echuca. Watch the landscape whip past your window as we pass Bendigo, Elmore and Rochester and arrive in time to board our Paddlesteamer. Once we’ve settled in, we’ll enjoy a light lunch while the steamer rolls down the Murray River from the historic Port of Echuca and back again. Once back on shore, we’ll learn about the Port of Echuca’s colorful history with a guided town tour, before boarding our private coach for the journey to Bendigo, traveling along Victoria’s Silo Art Trail with stops in the towns of Rochester and Colbinabbin to marvel at some of the magnificent art works. We’ll continue on to the elegant and historic Shamrock Hotel, our home for the next three nights, where you’ll have some time to relax before heading out together for dinner in the evening. Overnight the Shamrock Hotel

🍽 breakfast, lunch, dinner

The murray river paddlesteamers

The murray river paddlesteamers

This morning after breakfast, our private coach will take us to the quaint goldfield town of Castlemaine. Here we’ll embark on a return steam-hauled tour of the Victorian Goldfields Railway along the old branch line, with a stop in Maldon. Your first-class ticket entitles you to ride in the wonderful parlor cars with access to the bar for some refreshments along the way.

In Maldon, an iconic gold rush town awarded the ‘most intact townscape’ by the National Trust, you’ll be able to experience what life was like during the gold rush era. There’ll be plenty of time to wander past old weatherboard homes, solid stone buildings and decorative shop fronts in this lovingly preserved Australian gold mining town, before reboarding our train for the return journey. On arrival back in Castlemaine, we’ll enjoy lunch at the popular Railway Hotel, followed by a tour of Buda House, a classic, beautifully preserved Victorian Goldfields Villa, set on 8 acres of tranquil gardens, before heading back to Bendigo. The evening and dinner is at your leisure.

🍽 breakfast, lunch

The victorian goldfields railway

The colorful and historic town of maldon

The colorful and historic town of maldon

The colorful and historic town of maldon

This morning we dlve into the intriguing history and unique character of the city of Bendigo, an iconic gold rush town. Starting at the Bendigo Tramways Depot and Workshop, we’ll learn about the history and restoration of their iconic tram fleet, before embarking on a very special town tour on a vintage tram, showcasing the main sights and attractions of Bendigo. We’ll finish up at the Central Deborah Gold Mine where we will enjoy a surface tour. For those that are interested, you’ll also have the opportunity to don a hard-hat, grab a miners’ lamp and descend into the mine to walk in the footsteps of past miners. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore the city at leisure, with your Talking Tram ticket allowing you to hop on and hop off at will. Places of interest you may wish to explore include Lake Weeroona and the stunning Bendigo Art Gallery.Your evening is free to enjoy the many dining options around the city.

🍽 breakfast

Bendigo tramways in bendigo, australia

It’s a lazy start today, with some free time after check out to continue exploring Bendigo or just relax in the hotel, before boarding our private coach for the journey to Maryborough. On arrival, we’ll spend some time in the town center for lunch at leisure, before heading to one of Australia’s grandest regional Victorian era buildings, the Maryborough Railway Station, which Mark Twain famously referred to as “A Railway Station with a town attached”. After a historic guided tour of the station, we’ll leave our luggage with the coach and board the local V-Line train for a short run to the fair city of Ballarat, our base for the next two nights.

Upon arrival in Ballarat, our coach and luggage will be waiting to transfer us to our hotel. After some time to freshen up and relax, we’ll head out to a local bistro for dinner. Overnight: Mercure Ballarat - Hotel & Convention Center.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

The town of maryborough

The town of maryborough

The classic maryborough train station

This morning after breakfast, we’ll board our coach and travel to Daylesford, a little town in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range. Here we’ll take a privately chartered DERM railcar for the scenic round trip journey to Bullarto. After some free time in Daylesford for lunch at leisure, we’ll head back to Ballarat. On arrival we’ll go directly to the Eureka Center, a museum dedicated to the social history of the colonial days on the goldfields, and home to the Eureka flag. After a visit here, we’ll continue to Sovereign Hill, the award-winning living museum presenting the story of Ballarat as a gold rush boomtown for a truly immersive experience. Gold was discovered here in 1851, triggering the greatest alluvial gold rush the world has ever known. This magnificent ‘town’ showcases rare trades, working machinery, exhibits, and costumed interpreters. Our hotel is only a short distance from Sovereign Hill, so you can stay as long as you like and wander back to the hotel when it suits you, or explore further at leisure. In the evening we’ll regroup for dinner on the grounds of our hotel.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

We charter a rare derm railcar from ballarat
to bullarto and return

We charter a rare derm railcar from ballarat
to bullarto and return

The settlement of sovereighn hill

The settlement of sovereighn hill

This morning after breakfast and check out, we’ll visit the Ballarat Tramway Museum for a look at their impressive collection of vintage trams, some of which are over 100 years old. Once the city’s main form of public transport, the museum showcases a bygone era of transport which existed on Ballarat’s streets from 1887 to 1971. A special treat will be a privately chartered run on the quaint Ballarat 4-wheel tram! Back in town we’ll have some free time to enjoy lunch at leisure before a quick look at the excellent regional gallery and botanical gardens. In the afternoon we’ll travel by coach to Halls Gap via Dunkeld through the southern part of the Grampians on what is considered to be one of Australia’s most scenic road journeys. Upon arrival in Halls Gap, it’s straight to our hotel to settle in. Dinner tonight is hosted at a charming local pub just a short walk from our hotel. Overnight: Country Plaza Hotel.

🍽 breakfast, dinner

The ballarat tramway
museum and railway

The ballarat tramway museum and railway

The ballarat tramway museum and railway

This morning we’ll take some time to ‘smell the roses’ in this dramatic Aussie bush setting with a special coach trip deep into the heart of the spectacular Grampians National Park. Known for its rugged sandstone mountains, dramatic cliffs and plummeting waterfalls, you’ll see why it deserves its reputation as one of Victoria’s (and Australia’s) greatest natural wonders.

Upon our return to Halls Gap, we’ll enjoy lunch at a local restaurant before heading to a historic winery for an underground cellar tour and tasting. With full tummies, it’s on to the Ararat railway station to board the V/Line train to Melbourne. On arrival we’ll take a short stroll to our hotel and enjoy the rest of the evening at leisure. Overnight: Mövenpick Hotel

🍽 breakfast, lunch

grampians national park

grampians national park

grampians national park

After breakfast this morning, we’ll head back to Southern Cross Station and jump on a metro train to Belgrave, the departure point for the legendary Puffing Billy, Australia’s most popular heritage railway situated in the foothills of the Dandenong Ranges. Originally built in the early 1900’s as a low-cost 2’6” gauge line to service the local communities and timber industry, a staged closure of the line began in the 1950’s. However, like so many great stories of heritage rail, it was saved by a group of dedicated volunteers and rail fans who worked to restore the line and the rolling stock. Since the 1960’s it has been one of Victoria’s most popular tourist attractions. This railroad now has 15 steam locomotives of which 13 are in operation and two are on display. Perhaps two of the most interesting locomotives on the roster are two 2-6-2+2-6-2 and one 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 Garratts. But the rest of the roster is also unique and includes 2-4-2T's , 0-4-0T's, 0-6-0T's and a two truck Shay plus a two truck Climax. We’ll get to experience a very special steam-hauled trip along the length of this narrow-gauge line, and have the chance to have a look around the new Lakeside Visitor Center. We’ll return to Melbourne in the late afternoon for an evening at leisure.

🍽 breakfast, lunch

Photos below of the fantastic collection of
narrow gauge steam locomotives on the puffing billy railway

steam locomotive on
the puffing billy railway

steam locomotive on
the puffing billy railway

steam locomotive on the puffing billy railway

steam locomotive on
the puffing billy railway

steam locomotive on
the puffing billy railway

This morning, after a gentle start to the day, we’ll walk down to Docklands to catch a ferry to Queenscliff and a transfer to Drysdale for a very special date with the Q Train, Australia’s premier rail dining car, and the perfect venue for our last meal together as traveling companions. This award-winning rolling restaurant travels along the historic Bellarine Railway between Drysdale and Queenscliff in brilliantly restored carriages that originally formed part of the Queensland Railways Sunlander train. The rural and coastal scenery rolls by while you dine on fresh local produce, a fitting finale to our journey across Victoria. We’ll return to Melbourne later in the afternoon. Your evening is at leisure to enjoy your last night in this dynamic city.

🍽 breakfast, lunch

We can walk down to the docklands terminal
and catch the to queencliff

We can walk down to the docklands terminal
and catch the to queencliff

The bellarine railway has some unique and interesting motive power
as you can see looking at the eight photos below. We will have our
last dinner onboard their dinner train run.

Our tour concludes after breakfast in the hotel.

🍽 none