Melbourne: Ghost Tour, Hidden Bars & Murder History

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.84 (206 reviews) 93% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/13

Duration3h

GroupUp to 10

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Melbourne's Darkest Streets: Executions, Murders & the Bars That Survived Them

You walk through Melbourne's CBD learning about executions, murders and hauntings while stopping at three hidden laneway bars, including one with a pub quiz. A professional guide handles all the stories and timing, and you finish with a cocktail at one of the city's best spots, photos and a bar map in hand.

Step-by-step itinerary

Explore Melbourne's dark past and bars

Meet at Queen Victoria Market
Visit Melbourne's first cemetery
Stop at original gold rush pub
Learn about Old Melbourne Gaol
Enter Melbourne's oldest Chinatown
Drink at hidden laneway bar
Visit Melbourne's first marketplace
Hear ghost story of young lady
Learn about WW2 bar and serial killer
Explore Melbourne's best bars and restaurants
Drink at top cocktail bar
See Melbourne's famous graffiti laneway
Visit Federation Square's dark secrets

The Experience

"So which one do you think actually saw the ghost?" Your guide grins as you're standing outside one of Melbourne's oldest pubs, the kind of place that's been pouring drinks since the gold rush. That's the tone of this walking tour — part history lesson, part bar crawl, entirely focused on the city's scariest stories. You start at Queen Victoria Market, where the tour host meets you to begin the journey into Melbourne's dark past, moving through the first cemetery and into the graveyards of the CBD.

The Old Melbourne Gaol is where things get properly unsettling. More than 135 men and women were executed there, and your guide walks you through the most haunted parts of the building, pointing out the cell of the prison's most famous resident and explaining what happened to the first men hanged in Melbourne. After that, you head into Chinatown — the world's oldest continuous one — where crime, prostitution and opium once ran through the streets. There's a murder story attached to nearly every corner, and you stop at a hidden laneway bar for a drink while absorbing it all.

Three bars are built into the route, and the second one runs a pub quiz where you can actually win something. The stops include a WW2-era bar that once hosted Melbourne's hottest crowd, plus the serial killer who terrorised the city during wartime. Hosier Lane, famous for its graffiti, also has its own dark past — and a ghost many believe might have been connected to one of history's most notorious slashers. Federation Square closes the tour with a final drink at one of the city's best cocktail bars, though not before you've heard about the prostitute ghosts, dead fishermen and bodies in boxes that once occupied the space.

The whole thing takes about two and a half hours on foot. Your guide provides a free map of Melbourne's best bars, and photos from the tour are included at no extra charge. Dress is casual, and the tour runs through uneven surfaces — laneways, old streets, the kind of ground that's been walked for 150 years.

What’s included

Your tour includes a professional guide leading you through Melbourne's haunted history, entry to three hidden laneway bars with drinks, a pub quiz at the second bar with a chance to win a prize, a free map of Melbourne's best bars, and professional photos from the tour. Expert recommendations for food and entertainment across Melbourne are also available from the tour team.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportPublic transport nearbyNot for pregnant travelersNot for heart conditions

Operated by Drinking History Tours

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want Melbourne's dark history and best-kept bar secrets in one outing without planning the route yourself — the guide handles the stories, the timing and the three bar stops, which is what makes a full evening of it possible in under three hours.