Student accommodation in Bendigo

Bendigo was briefly one of the wealthiest places in the world. The Victorian gold rush of the 1850s paid for a cathedral, a vast town hall, an ornate post office and a set of public buildings far grander than a city of this size would otherwise have, and most of them are still standing. La Trobe University's campus is at Flora Hill on the southern edge, Melbourne is about two hours by train, and the practical appeal here is that rents are a fraction of what the same money buys in the city.

Flora Hill holds the La Trobe campus and the housing immediately around it, which makes it the shortest walk to teaching and the obvious first look. Quarry Hill and Kennington sit between the campus and the centre, residential and quiet, with a fifteen minute walk either way. The city centre around Pall Mall and View Street gives you the gold rush architecture, the art gallery, the theatre and the heritage tram, with the railway station at hand. Strathdale and Spring Gully are east and south, suburban, with more space for the money. Golden Square and Kangaroo Flat are south west, the cheapest here, on the bus and the rail line. Eaglehawk and California Gully are north, old mining settlements that are now outer suburbs.