Maryborough is a goldfields town in central Victoria, between Ballarat and Bendigo. It grew after gold was found in the 1850s, and its broad streets, civic buildings, and oversized railway station still carry that old confidence.
This is not one of Victoria's obvious headline towns, but it makes a good slow stop if you like gold-rush architecture and small-town museums. The station is the star: an 1870s pile so grand that Mark Twain famously noticed it, even if the town itself remains modest.
Maryborough also has a practical goldfields appeal. You can walk the historic centre, visit the gallery and old station, or go prospecting in the surrounding country with proper permits and local advice.