The best way to discover a city is by walking. In Sydney, you have the opportunity to do it with a guide and for free! Here are some pictures and my review
REVIEW - SYDNEY FREE WALKING TOUR
This tour runs everyday (except on Christmas) at 10:30 pm & 2:30pm and you only need to pre-book if you are a group larger than 10. It is consider free in that you do not have to pay upfront, they are paid only via tips. So if you feel comfortable leaving without giving tips then, yes, it is totally free. It is done by I'm free.
The good
- Free, or at least cheaper than other tours
- You cover a lot of places within the city – snapshot style
- Guide was fun
- I discovered a viewing platform I did not know about
The not so good
- This is moving very fast and although I am not a history aficionados, I thought it was a bit light on explanations
- Too many people for my taste. It makes it more difficult to ask questions.
A tour opened to all
As this is a free tour a lot of people tend to participate. So you can be lucky and ending up alone with the guide or less lucky and end up in a group of roughly 50 people like I did. You just show up at the meeting point and let’s go!
Many places and monuments
This tour was absolutely not a narrative of Australia’s history. We just moved from one place to another and each time the guide, a local, share some pieces of information, stories and fun facts about the place. Each stop is actually very brief. After 2 hours we had a 10 min break to use the toilets and refuel.
Our walking path started at Town hall, then on the Queen’s Victoria building and its underground mall. We learnt about the statue in front of the QVB building (a gift from the Irish) and the talking statue of its dog, using the voice of a famous Australian radio personality.
Then we gathered in Hyde Park and talked a little bit about History, Australia Day (as they were preparing for the festivities).
And later to the Barracks and the oldest church which was actually the tallest building in Australia for 50 years!
On our way down to Circular Quay we stopped
- at the Hospital and its strange statue supposed to bring you luck,
- at the bank area to hear some facts about Australian Bills and forgeries
- at the general Post office
And some funny discoveries
When we arrived at the location of a permanent display of the ‘Forgotten Songs’ there was an over-the –top wedding photo shoot. This display consists of various bird cages attached between building with recording from bird species that once sand in Central Sydney.
Finishing in Circular Quay
A short stops in customs hous where you walk over Sydney (miniature display of the city) and we walked part of circular quay, climbed to the Argyle cut and down to see the famous harbor bridge from under.
We finished at a great view point I did not know about, At the end of the Overseas passenger Terminal you can climb to a viewing platform with great views of the city, the Harbour Bridge and the Opera House
Have you experience free walking tours somewhere else?
Pint it!
Yes I took a free walking tour in Zurich and it was awesome!