Recently Viewed
Melbourne Laneways: Bars and History Tour
4.9
142 Ratings
Melbourne
Experience the best of Melbourne in just three hours with our Laneways and Bars tour. Explore hidden laneways, learn about the city’s fascinating history, and visit three amazing bars. Don’t miss out on this boozy journey through Melbourne’s nightlife!
Experience the best of Melbourne in just three hours with our Laneways and Bars tour. Explore hidden laneways, learn about the city’s fascinating history, and visit three amazing bars. Don’t miss out on this boozy journey through Melbourne’s nightlife!
Duration:
3 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Federation Square - Melbourne’s famous (and some say ugliest) town square, built in 2002. This is where we begin our journey with a background to the role alcohol played in Melbourne’s foundation.
- Oliver Lane - Our first laneway for the tour, here we talk about the history of Melbourne’s Laneways and start to peel back some of the city’s best…
- Federation Square - Melbourne’s famous (and some say ugliest) town square, built in 2002. This is where we begin our journey with a background to the role alcohol played in Melbourne’s foundation.
- Oliver Lane - Our first laneway for the tour, here we talk about the history of Melbourne’s Laneways and start to peel back some of the city’s best eateries.
- ACDC Lane - One of Melbourne’s most famous laneways, get ready for an explosion of street art.
- Duckboard Place - More street art to see, plus the history of Melbourne’s street art scene - plus a run down of some fantastic eating and drinking locations.
- Ridgway Place - Home to one of Australia’s oldest men’s social clubs, and the consulate of one of the world’s smallest countries, here we talk about Melbourne’ booziest police commissioner and the strange persecution of barmaids.
- Meyers Place - The spiritual home of Melbourne’s laneway bar culture. Let’s talk about the rise of Melbourne’s bar scene starting with an important rule change in the 1980s. Also home to some of the City’s best hidden bars.
- Parliament House - Victoria was founded on gold rush, and our emergence as a state is closely linked to those early findings.
- Chinatown Melbourne - The world’s second oldest China Town and home to some of the City’s best bars.
- Little Bourke Street - The City’s old red light district certainly hides more than its fair share of secrets, and amazing bars!
What's Included
- Expert guidance from a professional
- Inclusive of all Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- Complimentary map of Melbourne’s finest bars (available on request)
- Free tour photographs (available on request)
- Expert guidance from a professional
- Inclusive of all Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- Complimentary map of Melbourne’s finest bars (available on request)
- Free tour photographs (available on request)
What's Not Included
- Gratuities
- Alcoholic Beverages
- Gratuities
- Alcoholic Beverages
Additional Information
Experience the best of the City in three hours: our famous laneways, our coolest bars and our fascinating history. Why do three different tours, when you can get the best of Melbourne in just one!
Explore Melbourne’s famous laneways, home to some of our most interesting places. This is the side of Melbourne most tourists (and even some locals!) never…
Experience the best of the City in three hours: our famous laneways, our coolest bars and our fascinating history. Why do three different tours, when you can get the best of Melbourne in just one!
Explore Melbourne’s famous laneways, home to some of our most interesting places. This is the side of Melbourne most tourists (and even some locals!) never see.
Learn about Melbourne’s love affair with drinking, the persecution of barmaids, our booziest Police Commissioner, secret men’s clubs and much more.
Discover three amazing laneway bars, plus a cheeky trivia quiz at our second bar for your chance to win!
Photos of your tour can also be provided at no extra charge.
- Minimum age is 18 years
- Due to uneven surfaces, this tour is not recommended for those with walking disabilities
- Dress code is casual!
- While the tour route is flat, some of our bars may require steps (we choose different bars for each tour, and while some are at ground level, others require steps to acces)
Location
Fed Square
Meet your guide at the edge of Princes Bridge, opposite Flinders Street Station, behind Transport Bar.
Look out for the black shirt/hoody/jacket (depending on the weather) and our distinctive black, white and pink logo on the left breast.
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.9
(142 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Alison_m
Nov 17, 2024
A fun adventure, for the adventurous type. - We had a lovely afternoon exploring some of Melbourne's most interesting and unique bars. Tom was an absolute legend. We thoroughly enjoyed learning about Melbourne's history and how it's current nightlife came to be. Would definitely recommend this tour.
Review provided by Viator
Ski483
Nov 3, 2024
Great fun, highly recommend - Did this tour with Bridgette on Saturday 2 November. Her knowledge and zest for history made this tour so much fun.
Would highly recommend- was a wonderful day out with friends and being a tourist in my home town.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
V6088utjohnw
Nov 2, 2024
An interesting tour of laneways, artwork bars, history and people. This tour company gives you what you pay for folks 👌👌 - We were running a little late for the start but when we arrived, our tour guide Bridgette and the rest of the people in the tour were very understanding and we set off. Bridgette was very informative on all facets of the tour and kept us informed. The 3 bars that we visited in the tour were all different and very, very interesting. The times we all had a drink, we all got to know each other and from the time we were together, we found some really interesting and nice people to chat with whom we would love to bump into, at other opportunities and times.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
328charleym
Oct 30, 2024
Australian “Scotch is excellent. Vast knowledge of the history of booze and its affect on the early days of the city. - Great way to see this history of the city. It was three hours of very interesting. Booze was pretty good also. Did not like last bar that requested tips on drinks. Nowhere else in Australia or New Zealand asked for tips. Will not be going back to that place.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Suzies1
Oct 20, 2024
Bar Hopping - Brigette did a fabulous job walking us around and regaling us with lots of snippets of Melbourne's past with alcohol and imbibing. She took us to three great bars and we enjoyed some new cocktails.
We are wondering what tour to do next!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Maffewa
Sep 23, 2024
Melbourne tour - Me and my partner went on a Saturday afternoon. Tom was the guide on this tour, it was a fun afternoon of walking around seeing the history of Melbourne and street art. Tom had personalised the trip to want he believed we would enjoy and even crack some funny jokes.
Overall it was a great way to spend and afternoon and explore a place that we did not know.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Rach157
Sep 8, 2024
Good fun, interesting, yummy drinks! - Des was friendly & fun, very knowledgeable and he put in loads of effort to share all his cool info with us. We went to some excellent bars & and had yummy cocktails. Highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
T9622mcrachels
Aug 5, 2024
5/5 - We had a great time on the tour with Des! We learned a lot about the city and he had a wealth of knowledge about the city and other great bars to visit while there. Would highly recommend
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gee
Jul 14, 2024
A ‘must-do’ when in Melbourne - These tours are a ‘must do’ for visitors and locals. Our tour guide, Brigette, was very knowledgeable about our particular tour - Hidden Bars & Laneway Legends - with really interesting facts and information.
She has a great manner and sense of humour and took us to some very cool hidden bars.
The afternoon went too quickly and everyone on the tour had a great time.
We got to meet the owners at the last bar and they shouted everyone a round of shots - how good is that? We have also done the Whiskey and Gin tour hosted by the same company which was awesome too!
We are booking the another tour - the Hidden Bars & Creepy Tales tour which we’ve heard is pretty amazing too!
I’d recommend when booking, you book the tour that includes the drinks especially if you’re drinking cocktails. The bar stops are around 30-40 minutes which is plenty of time to order your drink and drink it.
There were plenty of stops in between each bar with really interesting information provided by our great guide, Brigette.
Stay in town or get a driver or public transport as you definitely shouldn’t be driving after one of these tours. 10/10 - Highly recommended.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Karenhc3862ux
Nov 10, 2024
Fun was to see the City (and learn some history) - This was a last minute booking which gave us a fun afternoon with 5 other guests, plus our friendly Guide Michael. Learned some fun facts about Melbourne and it's colorful past. The boys drank craft beers that weren't the run of the mill "on tap" variety beers. Downside for me, NZ Sav Blanc wasn't to be found in any of the bars. Found some cute hidden drinking spots though (stopping at 3 of them) and had a nice time chatting to the other guests. Michael made the afternoon fun - he obviously enjoys his job. I would recommend this experience to other travelers.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
