Ballarat and Sovereign Hill Day Tour with Optional Wildlife Park from Melbourne

Melbourne, Australia

Step back in time and experience the Australian gold Rush era. Explore the wonders of Ballarat as well as Sovereign Hill, a replica of an old gold-mining town, where you can tour the underground mines, ride a stagecoach and pan for gold! An optional addition to your tour is a visit to the Ballarat Wildlife Park where you can get up close and personal with the creatures of the Australian bush, and, if you dare, a crocodile at feeding time! Take a chance on striking gold.

Travel to Ballarat and visit Sovereign Hill, a perfectly re-created 1850s goldmining settlement. Explore the shops and wander the main street to visit goldsmiths and craftsmen at work. Journey through the town and see the Victorian architecture of a prosperous era. Cross the original route of the early horse drawn stage coaches. Try your luck panning for gold, visit the museum or ride a stage coach (own expense). Tour an underground gold mine or catch a ride in a traditional horse drawn carriage (own expense). Discover the turbulent story behind one of Australia's most notorious incidents at the Eureka Stockade Centre in Ballarat. View Ballarats historic sites and beautiful Victorian architecture, a thriving monument to the towns golden era of prosperity. Visit the Gold Museum. Enjoy browsing the unique period style stores along with real life characters and story re-enactments.

Upgrade your tour to include a visit to the Ballarat Wildlife Park. Discover the unique creatures of the Australian bush. Share the Parkers families passion, the family has been involved in caring for Australian wildlife for over four decades. Get as close as you dare to a crocodile at a feeding session, see Tasmanian devils, wallabies, giant turtles, emus and poisonous snakes. Also touch a cuddly koala, encounter kangaroos and meet Patrick, the wombat.

Please click on "View Additional Info" for the hotel pickup list

USD $143.39

Traveler Reviews

Review by: Tina L	October 2011
A very enjoyable day. The bus ride and commentary were great as was the driver. I would recommend this tour . A great day out.

Review by: coral c	September 2011
The trip was great. The driver considerate and happy. Would recommend this trip.

Review by: Barbara A	May 2011
Really loved the whole experience. The coach driver was wonderful and very friendly. Would really recommend the trip. The time we had at Sovereign Hill was just right so we were pleased that we didn't do the wildlife visit. Also loved sightseeing around Ballarat.

Review by: ann h	May 2011
There is one complaint, when I booked the tour, the phone operator told me to wait at Federation Square opposite the Forum Theatre. I did this. However we should have been waiting around the corner and almost missed the bus. Phone operators should be saying to wait where you can see the railway lines around the corner from the Forum theatre. As a result we only just made it onto the bus, despite being there 30 mins early on a very, very cold Melbourne morning. On the upside the bus driver 'Phil' was excellent and imparted a wealth of knowledge on our trip to and from Sovereign Hill. It was an excellent day despite almost not going. Thankyou.

Review by: Golriz R	January 2011
Everything was fantastic specially the driver. She was lovely and gave us some commentary on places around. The only negative was the time. It was too short. We had to visit the wildlife park in rush and when we arrived to Sovereign Hill we had only 2 hours and half to explore around. We missed some parts and rushed back to the bus. I wished the tour could stay 2 hours longer in Sovereign Hill. Then everything could be covered.

Review by: Denise M	October 2010
We had a lovely tour driver who seemed to know all the relevant information and was able to share it with us so that we were well prepared before arrival. Being older, we didn't visit all the options as to walk up and down and up and down the hilly settlement wasn't practical, but we tried to plan our viewing to be able to take in as much as possible. (Perhaps there could be a 'shuttle' available to take people to the various viewing sites) We enjoyed watching the live demonstrations - i.e. candlemaking and visiting the eateries and shops and experiencing life as it was. The actors seemed to be well informed and played out their parts very well. Had good interaction with the bank manager. We did feel that it was quite a long time on-site and were ready to depart a good hour sooner than the specified time, but would still recommend it as an enjoyable trip back in time to see the historical beginnings of Australian life.

Review by: Melva S	September 2010
Excellent service. 5-stars all the way. Our driver was very informative. Everything went like clockwork. Great pickup and delivered back to our hotel safely. Thank you.

Review by: Des D	August 2010
Great day except for the weather which was rainy!

Review by: Linda B	July 2010
We had a great time & found it very interesting ,took lots of great photos.

Review by: Maria Suzette C, Philippines	June 2010
If you want to experience Australia during the Gold Rush, go to this place. My daughter really enjoyed all the activities from gold panning where she was able to get gold flakes and brought it home, to candle making, to candy making and just learning from it all. Would love to have a stop-over at Ballarat town to take some photos, though. The place is a real throw back from year ago.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	February 2010
Tour guide was fantastic, he really knew his stuff! Sovereign Hill was soo memorable, but being a history buff wished that the Eureka stockade was part of this tour

Review by: Noel R, Australia	November 2009
A very enjoyable day, heaps of time to enjoy the day and comfortable coach and informative information given about what to expect and info about Ballarat.

Review by: Irina K, United States of America	November 2009
We 3 people went to Ballarat and to Wildlife Park. Wildlife Park experience was really nice with the possibility to look closely at kangaroos, koalas, emus and tasmanian devils and to take close pictures. The park staff does a fabulous job in keeping the animals in good shape and guiding the visitors. As for Ballarat mining - we were disappointed that there was no guided tour although we were expecting it to be for the money paid. There was an additional price to pay for descending to the gold mine itself and we opted not to do that as we already paid a chunk of money for 3 people. There was not sufficient time to investigate all the places at Ballarat mine as we had to return to the bus in time. I think we would have been much better off if we drove there ourselves and walked all the places ourselves. We would spend less money and have a freedom of looking at everything we wanted without a time constraint. Although there was a pretty decent guide on the bus who talked about Ballarat and its history, it did not seem enough. 2 days later we did another tour to the Great Ocean Road - this other tour was just unbelievable. We enjoyed the informational/historical/kidding part of the tour in the bus as well as what we saw. Timewise, the tour was well thought through. There was no lack of time to see the attractions as well as no uneffective time spending. In case there is a wish to improve the Ballarat tour, I would suggest to include descending to the mine in the tour and to increase the overall tour time to 10 hours. Thanks much.

Review by: Raymond M, Australia	September 2009
Was disappointed we didn't get to stop in Ballarat. Only saw it from the bus on the drive to Sovereign Hill.

Review by: R B, India	February 2009
Good trip. A new experience to see a gold mine and what they went through in those days. It was fun to do the gold panning and collect some fragments of gold. Good experience, but would be better if we had more time at Sovereign Hill.

Review by: Gary R, Australia	November 2008
Driver was very informative and an excellent tour guide.

Review by: Christine P, Australia	October 2008
We had a wonderful time at Sovereign Hill, it is a credit to the staff that by the end of the day you feel that what you are seeing is actually real. Our driver was great, he really new his job he entertained us all the way to Sovereign Hill and knew when to just let us rest on the way back.

Review by: Anonymous, Australia	October 2008
Definitely enjoyed trip, very authentic Mining town,showed you exactly what it was like back then. Didn't see Wildlife Park as have been to others before, so spent more time at Sovereign Hill.

Review by: Michael Z	October 2008
We had a wonderful time at Sovereign Hill, it is a credit to the staff that by the end of the day you feel that what you are seeing is actually real. Our driver was great, he really new his job he entertained us all the way to Sovereign Hill and knew when to just let us rest on the way back.

Review by: Kathryn P, Australia	April 2008
We want to go again as there was so much to do and see. Our coach captain was very informative and and made our day a day to remember.

Review by: Debbie S, United States of America	April 2008
We received good dialog on the bus trip, we saw a very interesting wildlife park, and Sovereign Hill was well done.

Review by: Debra S	April 2008
We received good dialog on the bus trip, we saw a very interesting wildlife park, and Sovereign Hill was well done.

Review by: Fiona N, New Zealand	March 2008
This was just so fantastic. It was like being taken back to the eighteen fifties. This place was so worth the visit, I would highly recommend it. I sat in on a girls school class lesson. It's funny; they were so serious, not like what it is these days. What an amazing place!

Review by: Anonymous, Philippines	March 2008
The optional wildlife park was good, since it allows you to interact with kangaroos, koalas, and wombats, among others. I think Sovereign Hill is more suitable for kids, though.

Review by: Barbara N, New Zealand	January 2008
The heat was horrible, and you have to admire all the staff there for enduring that along with the dust.

Review by: Valerie W, Australia	September 2007
I visited Sovereign Hill in 1977 and loved it. Thirty years later, I visited again with my 27-year-old son. I thought I might be disappointed because it could have become commercialised over the decades. But the town remains a perfect historic recreation, just bigger and better. There is so much to do and see that lack of time was the only problem we had. The staff are so friendly and helpful. The theatre performances, demonstrations, interactive experiences, tours, displays, and street theatre all made for a marvelously enjoyable and informative day. This is a must-do trip.

Review by: Anonymous, France	December 2006
Excellent all around. There was not much to see at the Wildlife Park apart from kangaroos and koalas -- which I guess is why people come to Australia in the first place.