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Because of its cool climate - proximity to the mountains means it can be cold at night and sometimes snowy in winter - and a scattering of grand nineteenth-century buildings, the town has a very different feel to anywhere on the coast or on the baking plains further west.

Pick up a map from the modern Bathurst Visitor Information Centre at 28 William St (daily 9am-5pm; tel 02/6332 1444, fax 6332 2333, www.bathurstcity.com ) to help you find some of the stately mansions scattered around that bear testimony to Bathurst's former wealth; one of their pamphlets outlines an entertaining self-guided walk through the historic city centre. The old courthouse on Russell Street, built in 1880, makes a good place to start exploring, and there's also an interesting little museum tucked away in the east wing (Tues, Wed, Sat & Sun 10am-4pm or by appointment on 02/6332 4755; $2), which displays relics and archives of regional pioneer history along with some interesting Aboriginal artefacts. The Regional Gallery , 70 Keppel St (Tues-Sat 1-5pm, Sun 2-5pm; free), is a fine provincial art gallery which has a very good ceramic collection and paintings by Lloyd Rees, as well as regular special and travelling exhibitions. Machattie Park , further north up Keppel Street, on the corner of William Street, offers a chance to relax amid landscaped Victorian-era gardens with duck ponds and spreading shady trees; there's also a Fern House, and a Begonia House which has an impressive display from mid-February to Easter. Look out, too, for the Chifley Home at 10 Busby St (Tues-Sat 2-4pm, Sun 10am-noon; $2.75), once the residence of Bathurst's most famous son, who was born to a blacksmith and his wife in south Bathurst in 1885, and was Prime Minister of Australia between 1945 and 1949.

Further afield, a drive up to Mount Panorama and its famous racing circuit provides, as you might expect, panoramic views of the city: there's the National Motor-Racing Museum on Pit Straight (daily 9am-4.30pm; $6.60), at the beginning of the racing circuit, featuring famous racing cars and bikes, along with photographs and memorabilia from the races. Sir Joseph Banks's Nature Park (daily 9am-3.30pm; $3.30) occupies the summit of the hill, enabling native birds and animals, including wallabies, kangaroos and koalas, to enjoy the vistas from a large area of bushland; the visitors centre houses an aquarium and a reptile collection. Not far away, the Bathurst Goldfields on Conrod Straight (Mon-Fri 10am-4pm; guided tours $7.15; www.bathurstgoldfields.com ), a reconstruction of a former gold-mining area, are worth a visit if you're not going to make it to one of the actual gold towns further out. Goldrush mining methods are demonstrated and explained, and you can even take individual lessons in gold-panning. A bit further out, the Bathurst Sheep and Cattle Drome on Limekilns Road, 8km northeast of the city, has an educational and entertaining show (daily at 11.30am, extra shows during school holidays; $11, children $6.60) covering everything you always wanted to know about sheepshearing and milking cows.