Chiltern – Local History and Nature

In Chiltern, a living printing history meets the traces of the Goldfields. A working printing press, historic buildings and a town walk featuring 20 points of interest give the trip a cultural focus. If you prefer spending time outdoors, you’ll also find cycling routes in town and forest trails nearby. This lets you shape your days around your interests and preferred way of getting around.

Goldfields history in special collections

Federal Standard Printing Works is a living museum with a working printing press. Chiltern Athenaeum Museum is housed in a building constructed in 1866. It formerly served as a council chamber, town hall and library or reading room, and preserves Goldfields literature in its original setting. The building’s various former uses give it a character that is both historic and public.

The collection at Lake View House also tells a story through personal belongings: it includes items belonging to Ethel Florence Richardson, including the desk at which she wrote her first novel. Dow’s Pharmacy preserves medicines, photographic equipment, shop fittings and other goods in their original packaging and original displays. The collections offer different points of interest—from printing and literature to personal objects and the display of goods in an earlier pharmacy.

Chiltern’s historic character is also reflected in the fact that more than 20 buildings are registered with or owned by the National Trust. If you’re interested in architectural history, you can explore this aspect alongside the town’s museums and collections.

On foot, by bike or along a historic driving route

The Chiltern Town Walk follows the two main streets, Conness and Main, and passes through the park, by the lake and past the railway station. The walk takes in 20 points of interest and should take about 90 minutes. Both the stated duration and the number of stops offer practical guidance for planning your day.

Seven cycling routes start and finish in the centre of Chiltern. They are about 15 to 40 kilometres long and mostly follow well-maintained gravel roads, with some sections on sealed secondary roads. The different route lengths offer options for different schedules, without implying anything about difficulty or riding time. A 25-kilometre historic driving route runs from Chiltern through the forest and goldfields—a different way to explore the landscape by car.

Forests and birdlife nearby

Chiltern-Mt Pilot National Park is nearby. Covering 21,636 hectares, it protects open eucalypt forests with Red Stringybark, Blakely’s Red Gum, Grey Box and Mugga Ironbark. These named tree species bring the character of this forest landscape to life and provide a strong natural contrast to Chiltern’s historic sites.

More than 200 bird species have been recorded in the park, including the Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot. Birdwatchers can also look out for the endangered Regent Honeyeater, the migratory Swift Parrot, the colourful Turquoise Parrot and the rare Square-tailed Kite. Forest trails for cycling are available at Donkey Hill, Frogs Hollow, Magenta Mine and Cyanide Dam. So alongside the cycling routes that start and finish in the centre, trails in the nearby park are another option.

Getting there and choosing where to stay

Chiltern is a three-hour drive from Melbourne via the M31 Hume Freeway. V/Line trains run daily from Melbourne and Sydney and stop directly in Chiltern. Whether you travel by car or train may therefore factor into your choice of a holiday rental in Chiltern. When choosing where to stay, the main consideration is which of the destination’s features you want to focus on: the town’s history, its cycling routes or the nearby natural environment.

More destinations: Yarragon, Pomborneit, Mount Macedon, St Andrews Beach, Cape Paterson, Bridgewater On Loddon, Sale and Brooklyn.

View the broader travel overview: Victoria.