Sovereign Hill
Museum

Sovereign Hill is a living museum showcasing early pioneer life on the Victorian goldfields in Ballarat, Australia | © Lincoln Fowler / Alamy Stock Photo
One of Victoria’s most popular tourist attractions, Sovereign Hill depicts Ballarat’s gold-rush era in the 1850s. The open-air museum, which opened in 1970, features 60 historically modelled buildings and costumed staff who never drop character. Pan for gold in the diggings creek, be amazed by the craftsmanship at the Gold Smelting Works, take a self-guided underground tour of Red Hill Mine and see the multi-million dollar sound-and-light show ‘Blood on the Southern Cross’, which depicts the 1854 Eureka Uprising. Sovereign Hill has six dining options, and there’s even a four-star, on-site accommodation.