With two Quest Apartment Hotels in town – Quest Ballarat Station , a short stroll from the train station, and Quest Ballarat , just minutes from the CBD’s shopping and dining precincts – we’re perfectly-placed to help, whether you’re after a great cup of coffee or a recommendation for the prettiest walking route in town. Set yourself up in one of our modern apartments, then immerse yourself in all that historic Ballarat has to offer.
With plenty of whiskeys and gins to choose from behind the bar, and an impressive selection of Australian and international wines, the menu here will draw you in, but it's the food and service that will keep you in your seat.
Whether you're after homewares or a piece of one-of-a-kind art, a visit to this Ballarat store will leave you feeling inspired ... and probably holding a gift bag or two. It’s a haven of locally-sourced and handmade wares (pick up a cool knit made from wool in Bendigo), and has a focus on social enterprises.
On the western shore of Lake Wendouree, around an eight minute drive from either of Quest’s Ballarat properties, Ballarat’s Botanical Gardens cover 40 hectares of land, encompassing open parkland, the Lake foreshore precinct and the famous Robert Clark Conservatory, in which breathtaking seasonal floral displays are free to the public every day of the year except Christmas Day.
Next door to Quest Ballarat Station is multi-eatery venue The Goods Shed, home to Nolans and BoomTime Dumplings. Try Nolans for breakfast (truffle scrambled eggs, perhaps?) or order a plate of belly-warming dumplings for dinner (try the peking duck har gow and the scallop with szechuan sauce) at BoomTime.
Come close (ish) to a cassowary, meet a meerkat and talk to a tiger; Ballarat Wildlife Park is full of one-on-one animal encounter experiences for the entire family. Take the kids and make a day of it: with a full schedule of shows and presentations as well as over 100 free-roaming kangaroos keen for a hand-feed, it’s a crowd favourite with all ages.
The vibe at Aunty Jacks, a brewpub on Ballarat's Mair Street, creates the perfect setting for an afternoon of pots among friends, right where the beer is made. Grab yourself some nibbles (halloumi chips and maple roasted nuts are a great place to start) and soak in the atmosphere, then make the easy two-block stroll back to Quest Ballarat.
Once gold was discovered here in 1851, Ballarat became a boom town. Sovereign Hill is the open-air museum that charts the region’s gold mining past. It also includes First Nations stories – a ticket to sound and light show, Aura, is a must and represents the Wadawurrung creation story. Also try Hidden Histories: The Wadawurrung People, a digital tour exploring the perspectives of Aboriginal people in this gold country.
Just a few blocks from Quest Ballarat lies the Art Gallery of Ballarat, Australia’s oldest regional art gallery. With works by Vincent Namatjira, Steph Wallace and Nan Goldin, the external history of this building (it is one of the city’s most historically significant heritage buildings), belies the dynamic, ever-evolving expression of modern Australia inside.
