A visit to Broken Hill should be on the checkbox of every Aussie traveller.
An iconic outback town adjacent to the South Australian border with NSW, this remote and fascinating place is a living museum boasting more than 350 properties of significance.
In fact the former mining settlement dates back to the 1880s and is Australia’s first Heritage-Listed city. But Broken Hill’s not all about celebrating its yesteryear, this plucky outback enclave of 18,500 has lately reinvented itself as a haven of art capitalising on its dramatic natural stage of rich ochre offset by massive skies.
Pro Hart’s is just one of more than 30 galleries and permanent outdoor installations that attract thousands of visitors every year.
The combination of the many museums that showcase the town’s prosperous past borne of the valuable silver, zinc and lead that lay below ground – BHP set up shop here in 1885 – contrasting with its more modern, edgier art scene, makes this a trip well worth the effort to get there.
To that end, you can spend 13 hours in a car from Sydney (5.5 from Adelaide, 9.5 from Melbourne), fly or make a leisurely – and more economical (see our story here on Understanding your rail concessions in NSW) – trip of it and take a train.
NSW TrainLink runs a weekly Xplorer train service direct from Sydney’s Central Station and its daily service to Dubbo also meets with coach connections to Broken Hill.
Broken Hill direct service
- Departs: Central Station, Sydney, Mondays at 06:18
- Arrives: Broken Hill at 19:10
Broken Hill via Dubbo
- Departs: Central station, Sydney, Daily at 07:18
- Connects: Coach service from Dubbo at 14:15
- Arrives: Broken Hill at 22:45
The Dubbo coach connection is also a daily return departing 03:45 while the direct train service departs Broken Hill at 07:45 every Tuesday.
Apart from being stress-free compared to the slog of driving, travelling by rail also enables you to take in the spectacular outback scenery and if you wish, you can break up your journey of course.
The NSW TrainLink direct service stops at Bathurst, Orange, Parkes, Condobolin and Menindee for example.
Once you make it to ‘the end of the line’, there’s a number of must-sees in Broken Hill.
Well Travelled recommends:
- The Pro Hart Gallery
- The Broken Hill Living Desert Sanctuary & Sculptures.
- Royal Flying Doctor Service, The Bruce Langford Visitors Centre
And in nearby Silverton …
(Famous for being the location of such films as Mad Max and Priscilla Queen of the Desert)
- Historic Day Dream mine (It’s crucial you book ahead).
- Mad Max Museum
- The Silverton Hotel
If you’d rather not navigate your own way around when you get to Broken Hill, there’s plenty of local transport, tour and mini-bus options such as Silver City Tours and Tri State Safaris.
You can find out more at Broken Hill’s Visitor Information Centre here.
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10 reasons why you should see NSW by train
If you have any questions regarding travel throughout the regional rail network in NSW, call NSW TrainLink on 13 22 32 or visit nswtrainlink.info
MAIN IMAGE: By Colleen Galvin (Outback Broken Hill Desert Sculpture 3) [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
