Words by Benjamin Lamb
Lace up your best walking shoes and let’s go.
While the weather starts to cool down in all corners of Australia, walking around for a few hours in nature doesn’t really sound like something we’re all clamouring to do. Luckily for us, there’s a bevy of walks in other sections of regional towns, today we’re looking at the best walks in urban areas, in city centres and behind closed doors.
There’s everything from a walk around some mosaic art pieces to a walk featuring heritage-listed buildings, all featuring in some of our nicest regional suburbs, let’s dive in.
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Ballarat Heritage Walk
The regional mecca of Ballarat gives Melbourne a run for its money with its bustling nightlife, popular small businesses, and friendly faces. One of the town’s most popular walks takes you around a selection of Ballarat’s nicest heritage landmarks, including the Town Hall, Mechanics Institute, Her Majesty’s Theatre, and the Edwardian TMCA building, among much more. This walk starts at the Ballarat Visitor Information Centre, and outlines Sturt St, Lydiard St, and Camp St, finishing back at the Ballarat Visitor Information Centre.
The Norman Lane Heritage Walk
Melbourne isn’t the only suburb full of history, Geelong also has a rich background, many interesting people hail from the town, one of which is celebrated in this walk. Norman Lane was a Private with the AIF Army Service Corps. This walk covers around 1.7kms / 25 minutes, and follows streets that have army ties, the walking kicking off with Forster St, named after Baron Forster, the former Governor General of Australia.
The Corio Welcome Walk
Continuing the walks in Geelong, the Corio Welcome Walk is ideal for those who aren’t that familiar with the town, introducing them to the highlights and must-visit spots. This walk was created by former students at the Northern Bay College, and kicks off at the Corio Shopping Centre, before hitting spots such as the Medical Centre, Library, Waterworld, and the Shell Club, among much more. The walk covers around 4.5kms, and will take you around an hour.
Heritage Walk – Warrnambool
When it comes to regional Victoria, you can be sure that there’s a great deal of influence from history and classic architecture, and there is a plethora of walks where you can experience the history up close. Warrnambool is home to yet another heritage walk, it lasts for around 2 hours, and allows you to check out a selection of Warrnambool’s nicest historic buildings, more information about this walk can be found at Warrnambool’s Visitor Information Centre.
The Warragul Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail
With Victoria being home to much of the arts industry, it makes sense that there’s a walk dedicated to it. Nestled away in the stunning Gippsland region, the Warragul Linear Park Arts Discovery Trail a 3.65km walk that features ornate mosaics, murals, and bollards all created for a project. If long walks aren’t your cup of tea, the walk has toilets and seating along the way, so you can be sure there’s opportunity for rest.
CBD Walks
Not a specific walk, but you can take a leaf out of your grandparents’ book and walk around the city for a day of shopping and sightseeing. Regional Victorian towns are home to streets of shops, restaurants, and landmarks, making for perfect day of exercise. Best of all, if the weather turns and the rain starts pouring, you can find cover in a shop.
Bayside Shopping Centre
Again, not a specific walk, but with it being one of the 50 biggest shopping centres in Australia, go for a journey here If you’re keen to experience a walk unlike any other. The Bayside Shopping Centre sits at around 87,000 square metres, so it’s clear there’s many nooks and crannies ready for you to check out.
Dandenong Ranges Circuit
We know we said non-nature walks, but this journey ends with something very exciting, so it’s a definite worthy contender of this list. It’s a long walk, sitting around 4.5 hours and 16kms, the walk trails through the stunning Dandenong Ranges area, ideal for many Instagram opportunities. The walk finishes at the amazing Pie in The Sky restaurant, where you can dive into a pint and a tasty pie or two.
Honourable Mention: Movie Walk
Perhaps surprisingly, a significant deal of movies were filmed in Victoria and its surrounds, and you can easily walk around to all the hot spots. Kicking off with Strathmore, go for a wander down Dagonet St, where you can find the house that was featured in the movie The Castle. Bacchus Marsh was home to filming locations of Charlotte’s Web and Ned Kelly. Or Mad Max filming locations can be found in Little River, The Dressmaker was filmed in Yarraville, and Nicholas Cage’s Knowing was filmed around Mount Macedon, check out the movies, note down the landmarks, and go for a walk to see if you can check out them all!