Sydney Small-Group Walking Tour with Local Historian

Your tour begins in Sydney Cove, the main ferry terminal in the city. Start with the Aboriginal groups that lived in this area and their culture, and then discuss the arrival of the First Fleet. Using this cove—now a lively plaza of bustling activity—as your jumping off point, look at the entire sweep of British history in Australia through the lens of this first contact and settlement.

From here, head towards the Museum of Sydney, which occupies the site (and preserves the remains) of Australia’s first Government House, the convict-built obelisk on Macquarie Street, and salvaged remains of one of the First Fleet ships lost in the South Pacific. Continue up Macquarie Street and explore a number of very notable historic structures, including the Hyde Park Barracks, St. James Church, and King Street Law Courts. Learn about Governor Governor Macquarie and his wife, Elizabeth, who were a major force in early Sydney and built some of the city’s earliest, most iconic buildings.

Along the way you may step into the State Library, where there is usually an exhibit of historic artifacts—manuscripts, household items, etc.—from this period. You may also visit the local mint and the Sydney Hospital, originally built as the “Rum Hospital” where you may discuss the Rum Rebellion and other moments of strife. Your tour will conclude in Hyde Park, one of Sydney’s best green spaces, and also a legacy of this early period, where you can take shelter from the sun in a cool, shaded corner, and wrap up the discussion. Emerge from your time on tour with a sharper sense for Sydney—and, indeed, Australia’s—early history from the First Fleet (1788) through the middle of the 19th century, with hints here and there of modern and contemporary life.