Bendigo: Queen city of the goldfields

Above my table, suspended by chains within a gilt frame, is a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. The restaurant owners aren't ardent royalists, however - it's part of a city-wide push to promote the latest exclusive exhibition at the Bendigo Art Gallery, Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits.

Chatting with the couple next to me, I find that they're also in town for the exhibition, which was sourced from Britain's National Portrait Gallery. They tell me how they were lost on a nearby street on the way to the restaurant, and a waiter came out to find them after they phoned for directions.

Bendigo, it seems, is that sort of place - big enough to have a spread of good eating and attractions, but still small enough to offer old-fashioned country hospitality.

There's enough interest in this regional city north of Melbourne to stretch my gallery visit out to a weekend break, so I'm catching some food and culture highlights before seeing the art.

First stop is the Bendigo Community Farmers' Market, held on the second Saturday each month next to Rosalind Park, the beautiful gardens that are the centrepiece of the Bendigo CBD.

A minimum of 75 per cent of its traders sell local produce, and a fine example of that commitment is Sue Gerdsen's Vintage Kitchen Preserves stall.

''I'm trying to make as much as possible with what the world provides us,'' says Gerdsen. ''Foraging, buying local, taking anything that's given - I cook whatever is there, so there's zero waste.''

Her stall is stacked with preserves, including lemon butter made with fruit cadged from neighbours, a tangy turmeric and ginger spread, and her ''Outback Chutney'' made from an oversized zucchini grown ''out the back'' of her house.

A short walk away within the CBD are other food highlights including Indulge, which serves excellent sweets made from Belgian chocolate. Nearby, The Good Loaf bakes award-winning bread within a striking heritage-listed circular building that was once a tyre repair business.

Another stayer in the food scene is Bendigo Wholefoods, a no-fuss combination of plant nursery, grocery shop and cafe in adjoining premises. It's here I have lunch, falafel served on top of creamy beetroot hummus and coconut labna, with a cous cous tabbouleh salad.

After lunch I board the Blues Tram. Bendigo's trams normally trundle between two tourist attractions, the Central Deborah Gold Mine and the Joss House, a historic Chinese temple. Once a month the Bendigo Blues and Roots Festival takes over a tram for an afternoon, serving drinks as musicians play and the vehicle does a slow crawl along the line and back.

Dinner at Masons of Bendigo is another foodie highlight. The restaurant turns out innovative dishes with an emphasis on local ingredients. I opt for the potato gnocchi with camel milk custard.

As an entree to the big exhibition, Bendigo has another vintage tram painted in the colours and stripes of the British flag, erected within a corner of Rosalind Park. It's not subtle, but this so-called Royal Tram commemorates the Queen's 1954 visit to Bendigo, when a special tram was decked out in red, white and blue lights.

This tram has been refitted as a cafe with benches and tables, and a barista from local cafe Get Naked Espresso Bar is active over an espresso machine. Near a statue of Queen Victoria and overlooking the Alexandra Fountain (named for the wife of King Edward VII), the Royal Tram is a charming pit stop for people on the way to ogle the kings and queens of past centuries.

There's a lot more to the exhibition than flattering royal mugshots over the centuries. It's a large exhibition, with copious notes and timelines to help interpret the art,

and it offers something of a masterclass in the history of portraiture, as the highly codified formal portraits of the Tudor era give way to more informal styles of later years, and to the more complex media of the present day.

Each room is devoted to a house or generation of the British royal family, starting with the Tudors. Here are portraits of Henry VIII as a vigorous young man and as a dissipated old king, and of notable courtiers such as Sir Walter Raleigh and Sir Francis Drake.

Queen Elizabeth I dominates the room, via the Ditchley Portrait painted in 1592 by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger.

The formality of the Tudors gives way to the louche Stuarts, with Charles II almost leering at the viewer from his slouching position on the throne. A sultry nearby portrait of the king's mistress, Nell Gwyn, amplifies the relaxed tone of his reign, and another of Queen Anne is a reminder of the recent movie depiction of her misfortunes in The Favourite.

In the section devoted to the Victorians photographic portraits first appear, along with a new emphasis on the monarch's family. The section devoted to the Windsors, spanning the early 20th century to the present day, covers such diverse episodes as the abdication of Edward VIII and the glamour of Princess Diana.

FLY OR RIDE: Qantas flies from Sydney to Bendigo. See qantas.com.au. Alternatively, Bendigo is two hours from Melbourne by train. See vline.com.au

STAY: Quest Schaller Hotel Bendigo offers compact, stylish rooms near the city centre. From $135 a night. See questapartments.com.au. Balgownie Estate has a good restaurant, luxury rooms and ''glamping'' tent accommodation in an attractive winery setting, from $150 a night. See balgownieestatebendigo.com

SEE: The Tudors to Windsors exhibition runs to July 14, 2019, entry $25. Book via bendigoartgallery.com.au. The Blues Tram costs $35, book via bendigotourism.com/bendigo-blues-tram

MORE: bendigotourism.com and visitvictoria.com

Tim Richards was a guest of Bendigo Tourism