You might think you know Ballarat, but the historic city is changing all the time. Your next visit might mean recently opened restaurants, new (to you) activities, or undiscovered side quests that make you see the gold-rush boom town in a whole new light. Best of all, it’s just over an hour’s drive from Melbourne.

It’s that easy to visit – so we’ve handpicked six offbeat experiences that will only heighten your appreciation of Ballarat. And if it’s your first time visiting, prepare to cross paths with exotic animals, ghostly tales, Insta-ready public art and an underground experience that rivals any virtual-reality simulation.

Go hunting for ghosts by cover of night

Delving into Ballarat’s fascinating history isn’t limited to daylight hours: local company Eerie Tours hosts a ghost tour that starts at the Ballarat Railway Station, a 19th century landmark in its own right. Running Friday and Saturday nights at 8pm and 9pm, the hour-and-a-half tour makes the most of the city’s looming architecture. And if you want to get even more macabre, there’s a Saturday-only pair of tours at the Old Cemetery, which opened in the 1840s and provides an instructive cross-section of cultures, classes and religious denominations during the gold rush and beyond – complete with real-life stories of war and disease.

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Track down cool murals by local artists

There’s plenty of creativity to behold around every corner. Police Lane runs along one side of the Art Gallery of Ballarat and features murals on its Annexe Wall. And a block away on Armstrong Street, stroll down Hop Lane to see a bright canopy of umbrellas – the colours of which change with the seasons – and take in Travis Price’s Hop Queen mural, a gem of public art that channels old-school tourism branding. Then you can whet your whistle at spacious bar and restaurant Hop Temple in the centre of the block, or check out more of Price’s murals on the outer walls of modern Asian eatery Mr Jones, and popular brunch destination Webster’s Market & Cafe. You can also check out more works in galleries: Perridak Arts supports local First Nations artists and craftspeople, while The Unicorn Collection – in a former gold rush hotel – is home to high-end pieces by regional Victorian creatives.

Simulate an immersive mining disaster

Talk about an experience within an experience. Sovereign Hill already offers a packed day, with gold panning, coach rides, lolly-making demonstrations and historically accurate re-creations of shops. But venture to the Sovereign Quartz Mine Hut and you’ve got your pick of three popular underground tours that bring Ballarat’s mining history vividly to life. Each is 45 minutes long and focuses on specific events. Most impressive is Trapped, a recreation of a nearby mining disaster from the late 1800s. Expect convincing wind, water and sound effects, plus several seconds of total darkness. It’s like a 4D cinema, except you’re suddenly in a flooded mine with no escape in sight.

Learn how to work with metal, leather and more

A newer addition to Ballarat’s array of cultural offerings, the Australian Centre for Rare Arts & Forgotten Trades opened in 2022. Its mission is to preserve and celebrate wood- and metal-working, textiles, leathers and other tactile arts. Roll up your sleeves and take part in half-day, full-day or even multi-day courses, ranging from everything like crafting a silver ring and hand-building ceramics for your dinner table to forging a Viking spear and creating stained glass panels. Besides those hands-on lessons, the centre also hosts regular events geared toward creative collaboration.

Get up-close and personal with animals

Ballarat Wildlife Park has just celebrated 40 years in operation, steadily expanding and adding a variety of creatures over that time. Yes, you can still hand-feed friendly, free-roaming kangaroos from the second you walk in, but now there are also cheeky meerkats, a colony of small penguins and a pair of Sumatran-Siberian tigers. Combine that with the feisty Tassie devils, slippery snakes, dashing dingos, sleepy wombats and intimidating crocs – the biggest being aptly named Crunch – and you’ve got a lot of species to meet. You can even book a one-on-one encounter with certain animals – potentially an unforgettable photo-op snuggling up to one of the resident koalas.

Explore castle grounds after hours

Kryal Castle has long been a magnet for school trips and one-off events – the Smashing Pumpkins played there with Amyl and the Sniffers in 2023 – but you might not know there’s on-site accommodation available. Yes, the medieval recreation hub has 22 rooms, in a variety of sizes and styles. Not only does that put you close to all the jousting and archery action during park hours; you’ll also enjoy free after-hours access to the stone maze, themed playground and such quirky animals as long-haired Highland cows and Scottish deerhounds. There’s also a free continental breakfast included, but the real draw is extending your magical time on the castle grounds.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Visit Ballarat.