Meet you guide at our Journey Walks starting point in front of Customs House at Circular Quay for an introduction. Your guide will be located on right hand side of the building if facing the entrance with a CONVICT HISTORY tour folder.
Begin your journey by unraveling the elaborate sandstone facade of Sydney Customs House — the gateway for people and goods arriving by ship into Sydney through the 19th & 20th Century. Then enter inside Customs House see a unique model of the entire city including Circular Quay and The Rocks in miniature (scale 1:500) below your feet as your guide illustrates the forming of the natural harbour and the urban settlement of Sydney.
Discover the hidden and forgotten relics found in Macquarie Place including the underground Edwardian lavatory, the First Fleet anchor and the Obelisk of distances — Sydney's first public monument designed and built by convicts for the Governor of NSW.
Uncover the secrets of Sydney's original fresh water source, now hidden below your feet. The Tank stream not only helped Sydney's convict colony survive but it was one of the main reasons this cove was chosen as the site of Australia's first penal settlement
In The Rocks you'll find yourself wandering though back alleys and along cobbled lanes, passing some of the oldest pubs and houses in Sydney and getting lost in the stories of convicts, sailors and street gangs who occupied and worked in the area. Your guide will lead you to hidden sandstone ruins, old slums and underground cellars turned speak easy bars. The Rocks area is full of character, quirks and surprises.
Finish your tour in the heart of The Rocks nearby the Argyle Stores surrounded by historic pubs, converted storehouses, shops, cafes, and beer gardens
Our tour guide Bec was absolutely amazing! Very knowledgeable and personable, would 100% recommend this tour to anyone interested in the history of Sydney - from ancient to more modern!
The tour guide was excellent. He was very knowledgeable and enthusiastic but also had a great way of imparting info. Had it not been for him we would have missed a lot of the history surrounding Sydneys birth and history
Very nice walking tour through the Rocks district in Sydney. Mostly flat, but participants should be able to climb and descend stairs without assistance.
Bec is an amazing tour guide. Lots of good information on the origins of Sydney She is very knowledgeable and
This was an outstanding introduction to Sydney and our guide Max was amazing. We went on our first day in Australia and love it. We saw so many things we would have otherwise walked by without a thought. Small group. So much history!
Today’s tour guide Max was super informative and engaging. It was the perfect mix of factual information and humour to keep everyone engaged. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and I’m so glad I booked it as I learnt so much more than I expected. Thank you!
Max gave a great historical tour. It was Easy to follow the sequence of events in the early days of Australia.
Well worth it. Excellent tour guide. Very knowlegeable. Suggest he keeps in mind people may need to use a toilet during the 2-1/2 hours walk.
The tour comprehensively covered the history of Sydney from the arrival of the convicts to the evolution of 'The Rocks'. Our guide, Beck, was very knowledgeable and answered all questions patiently.
Turned up 30 minutes prior, in accordance with the instructions. A NO-SHOW from the guide which I can overlook as people get ill, family matters. But NO contact before or after. Message to TripAdvisor was ignored requesting an email so have given it up. Oh well, once bitten .........
Fantastic tour very interesting and informative tour of Sydney and the rocks area. Tour guide was very knowledgeable about the history and culture of the area.
Our guide was very knowledgeable and interjected her personal ties to the history. She was engaging and well prepared. She tactfully pivoted and told her story in spite of the crazy rainy weather conditions.
We really enjoyed our tour. The guide was informative and friendly. We learnt a lot and were able to build on our knowledge of Australian history. Thoroughly recommend.
Rebecca brought to life today what life was like yesterday. A sterling performance by a guide with solid knowledge of the history of her country and a racounteur's skill in sharing it. Full marks to her and to the organisers behind this great idea to learn more about this city.
Definitely one of the best tours I've been to. Very informative and being presented in an entertaining way. We all were fascinated about the stories told of convicts being shipped from England to Australia. Brought with nice anecdotes. One of the group was doing the tour second time, because of the impressive knowledge of Max.
We did this tour today and it was excellent. Guide knowledgeable, delivered information clearly and precisely. The historic pictures of the sites we visited really help us to understand the history of the area. However, this is a long tour and I wonder if the two subject area, IE the Rocks and the first settlers might be better done as two walks. Nonetheless, so glad to have done this .
Max had excellent knowledge and presentation. Highly recommend to persons interested in how the colonies that grew to become Australia began.
This was a fantastic walking tour, Max certainly knows his history and gave us so much information, there is no doubt that everyone was impressed with what we learnt about the early start of Sydney and how it was built. Some great humourous stories. I loved The Rocks area and I met some lovely ladies and we all went for lunch together afterwards. A perfect end to a perfect tour. Thank you Max
Very informative tour with entertaining stories and interesting locations. Enthusiastic tour leader made the tour very enjoyable. Highly recommend.
Excellent tour. Great history - gave us a good understanding of Sydney’s founding. Max certainly knew his stuff!
Excellent tour, substantive information, engaging delivery. We could tell that the information was accurate and well-grounded: not typical “tour guide urban myth BS” that some tours offer. Great overview of the history and geography of Sydney and the convict culture of the Rocks. Note: This tour covered a lot ground! Some hills and stairs, too.
This walking tour was brilliant, the guide has really studied his stuff and knew everything, full of energy and passion aswell
Max had an excellent knowledge of the topic. The way it was delivered reinforced what we had been told/seen earlier with stories that painted a real picture. Time flew by as he was so engaging. Can’t recommend enough. Worth every cent.
Walking tour focused on Sydney's history and its earliest settlers - who they were, why they came, where they were from, and what life was like for them. Our guide really brought to life what these people found when they arrived in terms of geography and climate. The tour ends in The Rocks which is a combination of preserved original houses and home sites and today's repurposed buildings for restaurants, bars, & shopping. We took this tour on a hot sunny day, and the guide was always sure to keep us in the shade when possible. Overall distance and many stairs call for sensible footwear!
Very interesting tour Lots of history filled with stories about people. Excellent tour. Choose this with confidence.
This tour was org aside for my parents as a Christmas gift . The following is the feedback they gave me. My parents have lived in Sydney the best part of 50+ years . They were so pleased with the experience . Max who ran the tour group was knowledgeable beyond his years , he told the stories , showed different locations of where and when events had happened during settlement , places my parents who have visited for years didn’t know held the history they did . The tour ran for 2.5hrs so when broken down it is exceptional value for money and well worth it . My parents left wanting more and had spoken to Max about some of the other tours , this time we will be booking as a family with brothers and grandchildren so that our kids learn a lot about the city they live in that would t be taught in school.
A true masterclass on Sydney’s early history and the history of The Rocks. It shows what a great difference it makes to employ a real historian as your guide. I just wished we had done the tour on the first day of our stay in Sydney - it would have made my whole experience of the city even more enjoyable. My only advice would be for them to change the name of the tour: the convicts tour does not give the dimensions of how good it actually is. It is a tour about convicts, but it is more than that — it really intertwines personal stories of convicts with the wider history of Sydney and Australia.
Amazing guide she was brilliant patient and full of information. I would highly recommend taking this tour earlier in stay to appreciate the historic sites. My 15 and 18 year old sons LOVED IT !
Overall the tour was fine. Nothing really stands out for us as memorable or engaging, it was just a nice walk through the Rocks. The day we chose was particularly busy so a little difficult to move around
Really enjoyed this walking tour with Beck. She was very knowledgeable and interesting. A great way to start exploring Sydney!
Brilliant experience, so much information about the Rocks and its history, learned loads Max definitely knows his stuff and has an eng as going friendly approach Loved it would highly recommend
It was a brilliant walking tour. So informative. Our guide Max was so knowledgeable. He pointed out things that you would walk by a million times and not know they were there. Really enjoyed it. Highly recommend.
We had a great walk with Beck who covered much of the historical centre of Sydney. It was a lot of fun and we only regret that we did not book this tour at the start of our trip as it provided a lot of information about places we had already visited on our own. It is astonishing that the city managed to prosper given all the challenges the early settlers faced!
Bec had so so many interesting stories. We so enjoyed her tour. She was mindful of my sore knees and chose our path with that in mind. I'd highly recommend any tour she does. Her knowledge is extensive. I loved how she added in some personal stories. Great tour.
Excellent tour, insightful guide, interesting storyteller. After having walked around the Rocks and Quay area previously, it was interesting to learn more about what has shaped the area over time. Would absolutely do it again!
Really enjoyed this very informative tour. The guide was a pleasure to listen to and made the subject entertaining. I would definitely recommend.
Informative and fun, the tour was exactly what we wanted. Our guide was super knowledgeable and pointed out (and explained) so many interesting things that we would otherwise have completed missed. Would highly recommend, worth every penny.
This was a very informative tour & Bex our guide was very knowledgeable. She conducted the tour with so much enthusiasm & made it very interesting. We learnt a lot about the convicts and The Rocks and how Sydney became Sydney. Bex was able to answer all questions confidently. There was only 4 people on this guided tour so we were able to hear everything that was said, and also the tour was well paced. I would highly recommend this tour to first time visitors to Sydney.
Our tour guide was great. The tour was interesting and informative, but this 3-hr tour should be about 1.5 hours.
Excellent content and presentation. Read the ‘Fatal Shore’, go on Max’s tour and understand the colonial birthplace of Australia.
Our guide, Beck provided us with a well structured and very interesting account and tour from the arrival of the British to Australia and the development of Sydney up to the present day. The illustrations she brought with her were particularly helpful.
Bec, our tour guide, was wonderful - engaging, knowledgeable, and friendly. We enjoyed her sharing so many stories about Sydney and the Rocks. And wonderful to be able to walk around while learning history. Would highly recommend.
The walking tour was excellent from start to finish 👏 . Our tour guide Beckie was very knowledgeable and dealt with all questions with interest and intusium.
Really informative and interesting walking tour around Sydney’s harbour. Beccs (our guide) was well informed and engaging which helped bring the history to life. Mostl of this walk is at street level, but there are a number of steps at the end of the tour, so most people should manage it quite well, however, I would check before you book if you have any accessibility needs as I’m not sure there is any alternative for wheel chairs, etc. All in all, well worth taking a couple of hours out of your time in Sydney if you can spare it, you will see a side to the city most will miss.
Fantastic guide so knowledgeable. Would recommend this tour interesting, entertaining and an easy walk.
As cruise ship passengers, we only had a day in Sydney, and this tour was perfect! Max is a fantastic guide and a master storyteller. We've had guides in the past that recite boring names and dates that we'll never remember, but not on this tour! With Max, we heard fascinating true stories about the convict history of Sydney and much more. We were left us with a much richer understanding of the area - thank you Max!
This tour brings alive early history of the rocks and why that location was important to the development of Sydney and the larger region. Our guide, Max, is a history teacher and that was evident in the way he wove the history and culture together to help us develop a feeling for what that place was/is about.
Rebecca was a fantastic tour guide. She wove the whole tour into a wonderful history lesson about the Rocks and Sydney. I would definitely recommend this tour!!
Max was our guide. He was simply the best guide we had in the three weeks in Australia (about 10 different tours). Besides completely knowing the subject, Max wove the history of the US into the history of Australia. Max provided anecdotes about each stop and foreshadowed future stops that became so much more meaningful when we got to that next stop. There was a lot of walking, but Max was patient, kept our group together and gave rest (and shade) when we needed it. Max was funny, informative and helpful. He offered suggestions on other things to do and see in Sydney. We were ready to sign up for his class. If you have any interest in better understanding the history and culture of Sydney, please sign up for this tour and specify Max.
Very informative walking tour through the rocks, Max our guide was a wealth of information. Definitely a must do while in Sydney
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