$4.50 for a small take away cup and a cheap Nerada tea bag. Tourist places seem to not care about…read morewhat they do because they figure the customers will keep coming. Bendigo Pottery is worth a visit but could be a lot cooler. The café needs a little love.

Note: I'm writing this review as a long-term mail order customer - I have never visited the…read morephysical shop (but I intend to in the future!). I have been buying yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills for years - it is fantastic quality, and excellent value. And I'm not exaggerating - check their website - you get a 200g cone (or ball) of high quality wool for only $12-$13! Postage is ridiculously cheap, and products are shipped promptly. With a huge colour selection, I don't know why more people don't shop here - it's perfect for anyone who works with wool. I've been buying it for my handweaving and woven tapestry, and it works out a lot cheaper than the local craft shop (plus the quality is ten times better!). It's lovely to knit with, and wears well without bobbling like the more commercial yarns do. I highly recommend anyone interested in crafting to support an Australian wool mill (one of the only mills left in Australia!) - knitting and crocheting are becoming trendier these days, so why not save yourself some money and buy wool in bulk?

A bit tricky to get to if you've never been there before, if you're a knitter, weaver or crocheter,…read moreyou'll want to check this place out. This is the kind of place that you should go to source wool and know what project you're buying for. You can check their prices and purchase online, but seeing it in person at least once is recommended. Even though they're a bit analog still, they DO do online shopping, phone and mail orders and send out current colour cards to their regular customers. You can also request them to send you their colour cards online or by phone so you can look at their swatches in person. They also sell patterns and fully knitted garments. If you run out of wool or underestimated how many skeins you needed for a particular project, you can call or email them about a colourway and dyelot and they will do their best to help you out. But they do sell out of popular colours quickly and you might need to purchase the latest dyelot, so plan ahead! Tip: Check out the back room for sales, goodies and treasures. Pro tip: The back room will be picked over and gutted by knitting harpies if you go during the Bendigo Sheep and Wool Show weekend! Overall: Good quality and economical choice for large projects that would otherwise be pricier with more boutique wools.

This cute store is one of those places that does furniture, home wares and then bits and pieces of…read morebooks, accessories, handbags etc. I got sucked in by their amazing window display and then wandered around "oohing and ahhing" for quite some time before walking out with a very cool Australian artisan made necklace. The staff are super friendly and helpful and were very keen to give me the low down on where to check out in Bendigo (seeing I'm not a local). Excellent service and as a Melbournite, I was very tempted by their great range of lamps and tables... if only I had a bigger car! A must to check out if you're in the area.

Cute kid stuff alert!!!…read more Milt & Joe have plenty on offer for kiddies of varying ages. They have clothes, bags, toys and decor to suit newborns through to school age babes. I love the quirky little toys they have like wind up robots, wooden dinosaurs and crocheted rattles. Their stock is on the pricier side for kids stuff but you can see why with the effort, passion and quality that's put into their stock. Definitely worth a look in if you're after something special.

Let's take a quick trip back in time to 15 years ago... We were at the tail end of an 8 week…read morecamping holiday (our last big pre child excursion) around central Australia. The heatwave conditions in the red centre had convinced me that the wearing of a hat was a very sensible thing to do in order to avoid third degree sunburn. Over the course of the trip I had managed to demolish 2 or 3 cheap hats. On our homeward stretch we passed through Bendigo and happened to find a hat shop that sold genuine Akubra hats so as a spur of the moment thing I chucked the shattered remains of yet another cheap hat in the bin and wandered in. I wandered out shortly afterwards with a brand new Akubra perched proudly on my brow wondering whether it was a good investment. Fast forward 15 years to today. I am still wearing the same Akubra I bought at the Bendigo hat shop 15 years ago. What's more, I am back in Bendigo and standing in front of the very same Bendigo hat shop which is not only still in business but run by the same lady who served me 15 years ago. My old hat has been worn pretty much every day for 15 years and spent at least 12 of them looking pretty good but over the last few it has started to look a bit shabby (in answer to the "was that a good investment question" , the answer is a big yes) so it's time for a new one. The Bendigo hat Shop has a huge range. Not just the Akubra but straw hats, fedoras, trendy flat caps, fascinators and pretty much anything else you can perch on your head. The service is fantastic - the lady who has run the shop for the last few decades knows pretty much everything there is to know about hats and can pretty much pick your head size, and the styles that will suit you best, the moment you walk in the door. Even better she is a trained milliner (hat maker) and can adjust, pad or otherwise tweak your new hat to fit perfectly. I walked out with a nice new Akubra. My old one is now retired to gardening duty and will server me well for another 10 years at least. My wife walked out with two hats - a wide brimmed straw number (that she looks fantastic in) and a marvellous red cloche hat (that looks amazing on her) for winter. Even my son got in on the hat action with a new Fedora (he looks like a spotty youth in his but that's not the fault of the hat).

This was the main reason that I made a trip up to Bendigo for a weekend, not just because I like…read moreart galleries (which I do), but because they had an exhibition of Greek artifacts which would instantly catch my attention, as well as a booking for an entire weekend. It also gave me a good excuse to go and wonder around the town just to get the vibe of the place. I must say that the Greek exhibition was outstanding, not so the other exhibition on Victorian underwear (I really don't like fashion). However, the gallery also had a pretty decent art collection as well, with paintings both from Australia and abroad (but no Picasso, though there were a couple of impressionists). The incense burners from China were also pretty cool, as where the neo-classical statues out the back, which depicted scenes from Ovid's Metamorphosis.

Bendigo art gallery is a great space as it recently had a redevelopment…read more We were lucky enough to see the 'Imagining Ned' exhibit. With artists on display like Sir Sidney Nolan, Arthur Boyd, Adam Cullen, Juan Davila and Norman Lindsay. Amazing art displayed on whether some like it or not, an Australian icon. You can also see it's collection which includes painting, sculpture, ceramics, decorative arts, photography, works on paper, and Australian art. This really is worth a trip to Bendigo to experience.

Baby Bunting is one of those gigantic 1-stop-shops for all your baby needs. Pretty much anything…read moreyou could possibly think of for a babe, plus a few things you'd never think of, you'll find here. But I can tell you, as a first time mum-to-be it is SUPER overwhelming. I think it's best to go there with intent to purchase a specific item or have a list. Don't just jump in the deep end because you will drown in prams, nappies and anxiety. This store is super new and staff are obviously mostly new to the game and well which is a little disappointing. When you're faced with, like, 40-something different prams and the staff member helping you can't give you much information and doesn't know how to operate them it's really, really disheartening. This is the sort of place you need to feel empowered and at ease when a staff member assists you. This is the second time I've been to the store and the second time I've left without making a purchase because it's just all too much. I'm hoping I can go back in a month or so and be offered a wealth of knowledge from staff members who have really put in the hard yards and studied their products.

I went shopping at Baby Bunting this morning with my daughters and two pregnant granddaughters…read more Nothing was too much for the staff and we found them to be extremely knowledgable about the products. While we were at the checkout my granddaughter fainted. The staff were amazing. They were very calm and caring. They sat with her and made sure she was comfortable until the ambulance arrived. Even though my granddaughter had to stay on the floor in front of the counter there were no annoyed looks, heavy sighs etc, just genuine caring. This was followed up by a phone call this afternoon to make sure my granddaughter was ok. Amazing staff. Congratulations to you all. I hope the owners see this post and give you all a great big Christmas bonus. :)

The salesperson was 10/10. She could provide lessons in how to interact with customers. Absolutely…read morefirst class. Delivery was timely and efficient by a very nice man. Product is very good quality. Overall an outstanding experience.