It’s time to dig out a pair of your best all-weather explorer pants and discover the charming city of Bendigo!
Bendigo is a vibrant city in Victoria, Australia, with more history and culture than you can shake a stick at – and believe me, we’ve tried!
As the famous saying goes – there’s nothing certain in this life, other than death, taxes and the love that you’ll feel as you enter the outskirts of Bendigo and experience the warm community spirit. Note that this is a turn of phrase only, and we cannot guarantee any actual spirits are waiting for you with a glass of port as you enter Bendigo. Nor can we say that there won’t be.
While Paris and Italy may hold their allure, Bendigo offers a uniquely enchanting experience without the crowds and is a little bit cheaper to get to from Queensland.
Immerse yourself in Bendigo’s rich heritage as you explore the renowned Bendigo Art Gallery, and stroll through the beautiful Rosalind Park. Enjoy an arty breakfast or coffee at the Gallery Cafe on View – the perfect place to enjoy the sunny outside space.
With a welcoming atmosphere and a treasure trove of experiences, Bendigo offers a serene alternative to the hustle and bustle of Europe’s famed cities, making it an unforgettable destination for every traveler, especially those with the name Julie or Anna.
Speaking of which, let’s check out the Julie-Anna Inn!
We’ve enjoyed staying at the Julie-Anna Inn on previous visits to Bendigo, and were looking forward to staying again. It’s a wonderful feeling after a long day driving, to know that you have somewhere comfortable and safe to spend the night.
There are a variety of room arrangements available, ranging from King/Queen/Twin rooms, to a luxury one bedroom suite overlooking Lake Weeroona. This visit we stayed in a Queen Room.
The unit complex is set out in a loop, with off-street car spaces allocated right outside the room. This is very handy for unpacking and repacking the 1000 smaller bags you bought with you, rather than one heavy bag.
All rooms are on the ground floor and have a sliding glass door that opens onto a courtyard filled with greenery and flowers for you to explore.
There is easy access to the onsite Julie-Anna Restaurant – open Monday to Thursday – for a casual and comfortable breakfast or dinner. Room service options are also available.
The Queen Room is very clean and spacious! You could twirl around quite comfortably in most of the room and still have space for your partner to sit and stare at you with tired bemusement!
As you walk into the main area, you’ll find a desk space all ready for you to map out your holiday itinerary, browse local attractions, or organise your travel documents and snacks. You could also also probably sleep under the cupboard if beds are not your thing, but we wouldn’t recommend it. The Queen bed is very firm and comfy.
You’ll find a TV sat on a dresser, and another table (how blessed are you with all these tables!) with two chairs for safety and sitting comfort.
If you continue to my left (which I assume will always be everybody’s left) you’ll get to a small couch seating area with a little coffee table. Don’t go to sleep yet, there’s more still to see!
The back door looks out into the central courtyard which is very well maintained with gorgeous greenery and flowers. There’s a pool to splash about in, if that’s your bag – or some more tables off to the side in which to enjoy the flowers (since you appear to be collecting tables).
As you enter the unit, the bathroom is to your right and it’s huge! Plenty of space for aforementioned twirling, and later for your shower and bathrooming needs (we mean the toilet). There are two sinks, so you don’t have to stand too close to your loved one while you have your tooth-brushing competition. Also, the toilet’s name is ‘Posh’ hahaha.
The room is nice and quiet, so no-one can hear you laugh at the name of the toilet – and have we mentioned how spacious the room is? You may feel the need to phone your partner in the ‘lounge area’ to ask them if they want a biscuit.
Be aware that due to the size of the room, the call may take too long to go through and you may panic and eat the biscuit yourself.
There is precedent.
We had a very comfortable one-night stay, and enjoyed choosing something off the room service menu for dinner. I had the pasta, as the menu told me it had ‘Meredith Cheese’ and I always believe you should support a cheese who names itself. My husband had the chicken which looked delicious, but did not tell us its name (thankfully). Dinner was tasty, with hearty generous serves and was made fresh on-site.
The shower was good and didn’t have a waterfall setting, which is our preference. It did take awhile to warm up, but we suggest just doing a little hot water dance to appease the Gods (this never fails and you may also get 3 wishes).
The only downside we found with our stay, was exiting the property. The driveway leads out onto a main road that can get pretty busy at peak times. We also didn’t want to leave, so may have manifested more cars blocking our exit than usual.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Julie-Anna Inn and think you will too. Relaxing surrounds, friendly staff and plenty to see and do in Bendigo, Victoria.
What are you waiting for? Book, book, book!
This trip, we made sure to stop in at the Bendigo Bookmark to check out their secondhand books!
The staff at the Bendigo Bookmark are attentive, but give you space to browse the huge selection of books on offer. They have an impressive science fiction, detective and thriller section, so we were over the moon!
We encourage you to always source books from your local independent bookshop or library – however, we understand this is sometimes not practical based on location or budget.
Therefore, this part of the post contains Amazon affiliate links. This means, if you click on the link and purchase the book from that link, I get a few dollars at no extra cost to you! This way we can both stock up on holiday reads! 😀
Some of the books we bought in Bendigo this visit included:
