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Melbourne Laneway Bars: Hidden Gems Tour
4.9
184 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
- Professional guide
- Expert tips for food, entertainment, and other Melbourne recommendations
- GST (Goods and Services Tax)
- Free map of Melbourne’s best bars (upon request)
- Professional guide
- Expert tips for food, entertainment, and other Melbourne recommendations
- GST (Goods and Services Tax)
- Free map of Melbourne’s best bars (upon 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
(184 Ratings)
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Jan_l
Mar 7, 2026
Fantastic - This was given by me as a present to a friend for his 70th Birthday. He and a friend went yesterday and he rang me this morning to tell be that they had a fantastic time.
Review provided by Viator
Jennifermp6974mo
Feb 17, 2026
Stories, Speakeasies & Street Art With Cocktails - My husband and I spent an evening on a walking history tour of Melbourne with our guide Maria, and it turned out to be one of the most fun ways to explore the city. She shared the origins of Melbourne with plenty of personality, led us through colourful artwork tucked into hidden laneways, and AC/DC Lane and Hosier Lane were clear highlights. Along the way she pointed out secret speakeasy locations, walked us through the old red light district, showed historic theatres and an old-school men’s club, and kept the night moving with cocktails at several bars. After the tour they sent us maps and local tips for the rest of our time in Melbourne, which was a really nice touch. Great stories, great walk, great way to see a different side of the city — highly recommend.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Jennifer_m
Feb 16, 2026
Stories, Speakeasies & Street Art With Cocktails - My husband and I spent an evening on a walking history tour of Melbourne with our guide Maria, and it turned out to be one of the most fun ways to explore the city. She shared the origins of Melbourne with plenty of personality, led us through colourful artwork tucked into hidden laneways, and AC/DC Lane and Hosier Lane were clear highlights. Along the way she pointed out secret speakeasy locations, walked us through the old red light district, showed historic theatres and an old-school men’s club, and kept the night moving with cocktails at several bars. After the tour they sent us maps and local tips for the rest of our time in Melbourne, which was a really nice touch. Great stories, great walk, great way to see a different side of the city — highly recommend.
Review provided by Viator
Traveler20300600783
Feb 14, 2026
Amazing tour with Jay - Jay was an amazing tour guide and story teller! Despite living in Melbourne my whole life, I learned so much about the history and visited some cool bars along the way. Couldn’t recommend this enough!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
443brendanm
Feb 9, 2026
Laneways Discovery Tour. - We thoroughly enjoyed our hidden bars and laneways tour. We saw quirky and interesting parts of our great city that we hadn’t seen before; and enjoyed a drink at a few bars that we would never have found ourselves. The tour was made all the more enjoyable by our personable and knowledgeable tour guide Jay.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Go67507317569
Feb 8, 2026
Best local tour! - Jay is incredibly knowledgeable and charismatic, with a great sense of humor that shines through in his work. It's clear he genuinely loves what he does!.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
949petarv
Feb 8, 2026
If you want to know more about Melbourne's laneways and drinking culture, this is it! - This is a perfect tour to find out about the history of the Melbourne laneways. Jay was an awesome host and knew his stuff!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
317juliel
Jan 19, 2026
Cheers to the strange history of Melbourne! - Our guide was Brigette and she was fantastic. Took us to 3 bars in these lanes that we would never have found ourselves. Amazing cocktails and hilarious and wild stories about the history of Melbourne. Loved it!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Stephanie_t
Jan 13, 2026
Tess was a fantastic story teller - Lists of history. Different type of history than the standard walking tour so it was fun to do both. Bars were great.
Review provided by Viator
Tabitha_p
Jan 13, 2026
Excellent way to learn and see the city - Excellent way to learn the history of the night life of the city. Very knowledgeable staff and met people from all over the world
Review provided by Viator
