"Pall Mall" Bendigo Things to Do Tip by leffe3

Bendigo has some impressive late 19th century buildings in the centre, highlighting the wealth of the city at the height of the Gold Rush days. Pall Mall is the civic heart of the city (it is in effect the continuation of High St).

The old GPO with its majestic clock tower is the dominant, but the Italianate neo-Gothic Shamrock Hotel on the other side of the road is the most famous. Built in 1897, the hotel is proof, if proof is needed, of the wealth of the town due to gold. Story goes that the floors of the hotel were regularly washed to collect the gold dust brought in on the boots of the miners!! You can still wine and dine here, as well as stay overnight. But it is now owned by Comfort Inn, therefore that uniqueness lost to corporare makeover.

Next door to the GPO are the Law Courts - another impressive building. As the GPO now houses the Visitors Centre, and the Law Courts are open, 10-4, Monday to Friday, visitors get the opportunity to access the interiors of the buildings. Both are as ornate inside as their exterior.

The Conservatory Gardens and Rosalind Park complete the civic precinct - the hothouse in the Conservatory Gardens is deeply dull and missable (and small), but Rosalind Park is certainly worth a stroll through. Sadly, the fern garden is not doing so well - the drought has played its role here. And, more disappointing (and shocking) is the closure of the Lookout Tower due to vandalism.

Address: High St/View St/Williamson St