Visit
The Theatre Royal, 30 Hargraves Street, Castlemaine.
Getting here
Train. Castlemaine station is central, and it's an easy ninety minutes from Melbourne. V/Line runs the Bendigo line from Southern Cross, roughly 6am to 11:30pm. vline.com.au, 1800 800 007.
Car. About 120km north-west of Melbourne, an hour and a half up the Tullamarine and the Calder, following the Bendigo signs.
Bus. Local services run to Chewton, Campbells Creek, Maldon and Bendigo. ptv.vic.gov.au.
Taxi. Castlemaine Taxis, 131 008.
While you're here
Castlemaine does food and drink properly. The Mill precinct alone holds Das Kaffeehaus, Shedshaker, Boomtown, Long Paddock cheese, Oakwood smallgoods and the Vintage Bazaar, all in a reimagined 1870s woollen mill with parking. The Theatre Royal's front bar opens at 4pm and the pizza is worth the trip on its own. Love Shack does the country pub properly. Table Records is a record shop that happens to be a bar.
The Northern Arts Hotel is nine rooms and a good story, a short walk from the Botanical Gardens. Its rooms are upstairs and aren't wheelchair accessible. Castlemaine Art Museum has been collecting since 1913.
Visitor information
The Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre is in the Market Building at 44 Mostyn Street, open every day but Christmas. 03 5471 1795.