From the Yarra Valley to Bendigo

Victoria’s Regional Galleries

Get to know Victoria’s fabulous regional galleries and its complex history, from colony to the goldfields and beyond.

tour snapshot

  • October 16-23, 2024 | 8 Days

  • To be advised.

    All Academy Travel tour leaders are now accompanied by a trained tour manager.

  • Yarra Valley (2 nights), Geelong
    (2 nights), Bendigo (3 nights)

    A detailed itinerary will be published closer to the tour departure date, generally 12 months prior. Register your interest to receive a copy.

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  • To be advised.

    A $500 AUD non-refundable deposit will be required per person to confirm your booking on tour.

  • 7 nights’ accommodation in centrally located 4-star hotels. All breakfasts, and selected lunches and dinners. Services of an expert tour leader and an experienced tour manager throughout. All ground transport, entrance fees and tipping.

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  • Maximum of 16 places. Please register your interest in joining the tour below.

    Please note: registering your interest does not guarantee you a place on the tour.

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  • Grade One. This tour is appropriate for travellers in good health with good mobility. You should be able to comfortably participate in up to three hours of physical activity per day, including walking at an easy pace, sometimes on uneven terrain, with only short breaks, and get on and off a coach or boat with steep stairs unassisted.

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tour overview

Victoria’s Regional Galleries collectively provide a remarkable survey of both Australia’s heritage and its modern art.

The story of these collections themselves speaks to a wider arc in Australian history, from the pastoralists of the colonial period to the ambitious new cities of the Gold Rush, a belated recognition of the region’s indigenous heritage and the revival of interest in regional centres as destinations for the cultural traveller.

This 8-day tour led by Kenneth W. Park takes you to eight major collections, from Australia’s oldest regional galleries to wonderful modern and contemporary collections at Heide and TarraWarra. Visits to galleries are complemented with tours of historic sites, such as the Melba Estate of Coombe and Geelong’s Barwon Grange, and the landscapes that have inspired generations of artists, from the rolling hills of the Yarra Valley to the panoramic coastline of the Mornington Peninsula and the uniquely Australian terrain of the gold fields.

We round out the tour with fine dining in some of Victoria’s premier wine regions and heritage-listed buildings.

The tour is now open to expressions of interest by completing the form below.

 

tour highlights

Throughout the tour we complement gallery visits with travel to historic sites and through inspirational landscapes.

  • Modern Art in Victoria

    Discover the fine collections of modern art at Heide Museum of Modern Art, TarraWarra Museum of Art in the Yarra Valley and McClelland Sculpture Park, set in 16 hectares of serene bushland.

  • Bendigo and Ballarat

    Explore Australian history in gold rush cities and enjoy the excellent collections at two of Australia’s oldest and largest regional galleries, renowned also for their special exhibitions.

  • Historic sites

    Visit Barwon Grange – a lone survivor of Geelong’s many fashionable mid-19th century river front residences, Coombe – the estate of Dame Nellie Melba, and Point Nepean Quarantine Station, with nearly 50 deserted heritage buildings.

  • Inspiring Landscapes

    See the landscapes that have inspired generations of Australian artists, from rolling hills, to temperate forests, varied coastlines, wool country and the rugged bush of the goldfields.

  • Wine Country

    Experience some of Victoria’s premier wine regions, with a vineyard lunch at Port Phillip Estate in the Mornington Peninsula, and at Tahbilk, a historic winery operating since 1860 on the Goulburn River.

 

tour itinerary

Yarra Valley (2 nights), Geelong (2 nights), Bendigo (3 nights)

A detailed itinerary will be published closer to the tour departure date, generally 12 months prior.

Register your interest in the below to receive a copy.

REGISTER YOUR INTEREST

Register your interest below to be the first to receive more information on the tour as it is published on our website.