We went to Bendigo on the Sunday! Missed the whole thing last year and still annoyed about it so many months later, so this year we just picked a day and went, no real plan beyond get on the train.
11:02 V/Line from Southern Cross, direct, about two hours. Runs roughly hourly but check the timetable anyway, it stretches out off-peak. Had two of Lune’s September specials on the way, the sakura cherry one was so good, sour and sweet at once!
The pear blossom got us before the tulips even did
We hadn’t even had coffee yet and Bendigo had already given us the best five minutes of the day! A whole street near the station had its pear trees in full bloom, wind picked up, petals came down everywhere, felt so staged. We were headed for a cafe called Out of Order, 4.9 rating, but no seats when we got there, so we ended up at The Green Olive down the road instead. Iced coffee was so much better than a backup plan has any right to be.
The tulips, honestly
Walked up to Pall Mall and Rosalind Park after that, that’s where most of the display is, along with the stretch out the front of the Museum and Conservatory Gardens. It’s pretty! Old buildings with colour running along them. But there just weren’t as many flowers as I thought there’d be from the photos online. Not a field, more scattered garden beds, some patches still mostly green. Didn’t ruin the day at all, just wasn’t the wall to wall tulip shot I had in my head.
Probably worth going after mid-September if you can, the tulips should be taller and more of them open by then.
What’s free and what’s not
The display itself, free, no ticket, no gate, running 11 September to 11 October. Bloom After Dark is free too, nightly from 18 September to 3 October. Only thing that costs anything is the Vintage Talking Tram, around $18 for an adult, $50 for a family pass, and even that’s optional, it just loops you round town with commentary. Food, coffee, whatever you spend on the day is on you, not the festival.
The Bloom Tram Cafe, don’t skip this one
Almost forgot this bit! There’s an actual old tram at the Bendigo Tramways depot, Tram 773, that gets completely flower bombed for spring, inside and out, full wall of blooms, ridiculously photogenic. It’s a working cafe too, coffee and a light meal served right there in the tram, open 8am to 3pm daily through spring, up until end of November so no rush.
You can get there on the Vintage Talking Tram, it’s worth buying the day ticket, around $18 for an adult, and it comes with audio commentary the whole way round as it loops you through town.
Bendigo Military Museum
Closed on the weekend when we went, so we didn’t get inside, but the long colonnade out the front was still worth stopping for, looks like something out of a European castle. Rosalind Park itself is lovely too, really pretty, easy to just sit and relax in.
Lunch
Got a picnic pack from GPO on Pall Mall, a 12 inch pizza, a big chips, two drinks, ate it sitting in the park, way better than paying cafe prices!
What we skipped
Didn’t have a car so a couple of things missed out. The Cornella canola walk is meant to be spectacular this time of year, huge fields of gold, but it’s really only worth it if you’re driving. And this month, 25 September, there’s the Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival and Bloomin’ Good Market at the Dai Gum San precinct, lion dance and pop-up stalls, don’t miss it if your trip lands on that day.
Should you go
Yes, but go in knowing it’s a quiet small town spring day and not some big flower spectacle. If you want the postcard tulip field you’ll probably leave a bit disappointed. If you just want an easy day out of Melbourne, good coffee, a nice old town and an excuse to get outside, it’s so worth the train ticket.
This year’s dates are 11 September to 11 October, tulip display’s free at every location, Vintage Talking Tram is the only ticketed extra. Trains leave Southern Cross roughly hourly, about two hours each way. If you’re timing it around school holidays, Victorian spring break runs 19 September to 4 October this year, right in the middle of the display.
Source for the display dates and Bloom After Dark program: bendigo.vic.gov.au