Castlemaine

A pocket-sized town in Victoria's Goldfields region with a café and restaurant scene that punches well above its size, Castlemaine grew from a gold rush boomtown founded in 1851 into a regional centre with a real cultural life — including the Theatre Royal, the oldest continuously operating theatre in mainland Australia. It sits roughly between Melbourne and Bendigo, making it a practical base for exploring the wider Goldfields area.

• Population7,506
• Nearest water from center0.2 km
• Nearest mountain from center5.0 km