This post contains affiliate links. I do receive a commission when you make a purchase through one of my links. Thank you for supporting Sydney Moving Guide and keeping the lights on.
Six Free Historic Self-Guided Sydney Walking Tours
Sydney Moving Guide's Very Own Free Walking Tour of Sydney's CBD
That's right. I've written my very own walking tour of Sydney's CBD. I've included a free downloadable PDF.
The walk starts at the David Jones food hall, then loops around to Circular Quay, then on to the Royal Botanic Gardens. After the gardens, the tour wanders over to Woolloomooloo wharf then back to the NSW Art Gallery. The walking tour then ends at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park.
It's an easy walk and, as I already said, it's FREE.
Powerhouse Museum Walking Tours App For iPhone and Android
There are five free self-guided walking tours included in the Powerhouse Museum app with the option to purchase the Sydney Heritage Pub Crawl walk for $1.99, but you don’t have to if you don’t want to.
Each of the walks includes narration by museum curators Anni Turnbull or Geoff Barker.
The three walks that cover old Sydney (The Rocks, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and George Street) are well worth it. Just be sure to download them before you hit the street.
Installing the app on your phone doesn't also download the individual walks, at least not for the iPhone. I haven’t checked the Android version. You have to download each walk individually within the app. Don’t worry. The walks are still free.
Each of the old Sydney walks takes between 1 – 2 hours depending on how fast you walk. If you’re up for it, I would suggest doing The Rocks tour then moving on to the Sydney Harbour Bridge walking tour. I know that sounds like a lot, but you’re in the same area, and there are plenty of places to stop and take a break with a nice cold pint or get a bite to eat.
City of Sydney Historical Walking Tours
The City of Sydney has a list of walking tours that you can download for free in the form of PDFs so load up your tablet or Kindle and hit the road.
If you haven’t done the Powerhouse Museum historic walking tours, I would start with the city’s Colony Walking Tour. This walk starts at Customs House and ends at Millers Point. There are over 30 points of interest in this tour. You’ll visit pubs, churches and the archaeological digs in The Rocks.
If you plan your time right, a stop at Lord Nelson pub for a pint and a pie is a must. The lamb burger is also delicious if you’re not in the mood for a pie.
The PDF is full of historic photos from years past, adding a nice contrast to the city you’ll be walking through. The whole tour will take about 2 hours, give or take a half-hour.
Besides the Colony Walking Tour, I would suggest downloading the Hidden Tour that takes you through Sydney’s little laneways and the Water Tour that actually feels more like a scavenger hunt than a tour as you explore the city’s different water features, not just fountains but pools and old fashioned toilets.
Razorhurst Sydney Walking Tour
The Sydney suburb of Darlinghurst and Surry Hills are now best known for their trendy restaurants and bars, but that wasn’t always the case. This area and the nearby suburbs (Kings Cross, Woolloomooloo, Potts Point) are historically known as Razorhurst.
Razorhurst was once overrun by razor gangs, called such because the gangs carried straight-edged razors instead of guns. This time in Sydney’s history has been glamorized by the Australian TV series “Underbelly: Razorhurst” and, I completely admit, is the first time I had ever heard about Tilly Devine or Kate Leigh, the two women that ruled over the razor gangs.
If you are a fan of Boardwalk Empire and mobster history in general, be it US or UK, then this is right up your alley. It certainly has all the trimmings of a good gritty crime drama with brothels, pimps, pickpockets, con artists, sly-grogs (aka speakeasies), six o’clock swill, and the roaring ’20s and ‘30s in Sydney.
You can download the map PDF from the Razorhurst website, but it does not include a description of each point so hopefully you have a tablet or smartphone and are set up with an Australian mobile network to access the website tour points of interest.
Do not download the mobile app!!
1. It’s $5.49, kind of pricey for an app.
2. It’s not a walking tour but a game that, judging from the reviews, it's not very good.
But other than that, the info on the website is interesting, and the mapped route will take you through an interesting part of Sydney well worth further exploration.
Here’s some more info on Razorhurst on CNN Travel.
If you’re keen to learn more then book an actual guided tour. The Sydney Crimes and Passions Walking Tour is $41.56 per person and takes about 2 hours.
Balmain Sydney Walking Tour
Leichhardt Council has free historic walks of Balmain that you can download. There are mp3 files that the site says can be downloaded, but it doesn’t appear so. Or at least I couldn’t figure it out. The PDF is full of historical info about Balmain.
Balmain is a quick ferry ride from Circular Quay, or you can walk from Circular Quay along the harbor then take the ferry back. There heaps of shops, restaurants, pubs, and cafes in Balmain. It’s definitely worth taking a day to explore the suburb, plus there are some beautiful views of the harbor.
Explore Sydney Suburb by Suburb
Urban Walkabout is an interesting site for exploring Sydney’s different suburbs. It has a directory of several different suburbs in Sydney with PDFs that list shops, restaurants, bars, and cafes plus locates each on a map of the suburb, also part of the PDF. The only drawback is, the information on each suburb is in no way complete. For example, I checked out my suburb of Woollahra, and there were only two restaurants listed. I know for a fact that there are more than just two restaurants in all of Woollahra. But Urban Walkabout is updating and adding to the site all the time, which is why I’m mentioning it here.
The Urban Walkabout walks are curated by different Sydneysiders but aren’t that fabulous or well thought out. I would stick to the suburb PDFs for now.
Two “Free” Guided Sydney Walking Tours
I used the quotes above because only the Royal Botanic Garden Tour is really free. I’m Free operates on a tip basis, so technically, they’re not totally free as most people end up tipping something. But hey, it’s up to you how much you feel it’s worth. I’ve done the I’m Free Sydney Sights Tour and ended up tipping $20 without hesitation. Ross did a fantastic job.
I’m Free Sydney Walking Tours
I’m Free is probably the most popular walking tour in Sydney. You may have read about it in Trip Advisor, where it has over 500 glowing reviews.
There are two different tours: the Sydney Sights Tour and The Rocks Tour. The Sydney Sights Tours meets at Town Hall twice a day (10:30am and 2:30pm) EVERYDAY, rain, shine or snow (ha ha, just kidding). To see all the sights will take about 3 hours.
The Rocks Tour meets every day at 6 pm in front of Cadman's Cottage. That’s the small cottage next to the Museum of Contemporary Art. If you stand in front of the MCA with you back to Sydney Cove, Cadman’s Cottage is located in the park, to the right of the museum. The Rocks Tour is 1 1/2 hours long.
Like I already said, I’ve done the Sydney Sights Tour and wholeheartedly recommend it! Have yet to do The Rocks Tour. If you’ve done The Rocks Tour, let me know what you think in the comments below.
Royal Botanic Garden Free Guided Tour
If you’ve got a green thumb then this free guided tour of the Royal Botanic Garden is for you.
Don’t have a green thumb? Don’t worry as this tour isn’t not all about plants. The tour also includes information about the history of the gardens and Sydney.
The Royal Botanic Garden Tour meets daily at 10:30 just outside the Garden Shop at the Palm Grove Centre and takes about 1 1/2 hours. There is an additional tour at 1 pm Monday to Friday, March-November only.
What Are You Taking to Sydney When You Move? Do You Know Yet?
The truth is you don’t need to know right now, for sure, what’s going with you.
But you do have to get a shipping quote ASAP, especially now.
Why? Because international moving companies need to schedule your move to Australia far in advance, some ask for 6 months in advance. Yes, COVID has changed everything, including international shipping.
When filling out the form below…
- You don’t need a street address for where you’re moving to, only the city and country. What they really want to know is the main shipping port.
- Moving date is an estimate. You don’t need exact dates right now. Go with your best guess.
- Estimate volume is an estimate. Don’t bother with calculating your volume. Use one of the estimates below for your estimated volume.
- Studio or 1 Bedroom —> 20 m3
- 2 Bedroom —> 25 m3
- 3 Bedroom —> 30 m3
- 4 Bedroom or 3 Bedroom + Car —> 50 m3
- Use your “real” contact details for BOTH phone and email. Yes, the form is secure. If you don’t use your real contact details, then they can’t get in touch with you for your quote. Makes sense, right?
