Uncover Hidden Laneway Bars

Uncover the Melbourne’s best bars with a local bar expert.

Laneway Bar Tour Summary

5/5

Melbourne is one of the world’s best bar city’s and on this tour we’ll show you why. 

Spend three hours exploring four incredible bars, hard to find places you’ll never find on your own. Joined by a trusty local guide, you’re sure to meet some of the best bartenders in the world — from cocktail mixologists to gin distillers, you’ll explore a new side of the city as you uncover the laneway bar scene. 

This tour operates mid- to late-afternoon, because a good day out shouldn’t equal a bad night’s sleep. The added benefit of a late afternoon tour? Bartenders have more time to tell us about their favourite recommendations, and bar owners frequently come and introduce their venue to us. 

The timing also makes this an excellent pre-dinner activity. If you’re making dinner reservations, we recommend no sooner than 7pm, so you have time to fully enjoy your final drink. 

You’ll also get a personalised list of recommendations for more bars to visit, should you want to keep the evening going. 

By far our top-selling tour, this experience is one you won’t soon forget. 

Hugo Photo

Hugo Says:

“This is one of my favourite tours to guide, because after four bars the whole group has become fast friends.”

Your tour begins at Gordon Reserve (74-108 Spring St) – this is a park with a fountain and is located across the street from the Windsor Hotel.

  • Weather-Appropriate Clothing
  • Your Camera
  • A Filled Tummy
  • Money
  • Comfortable Shoes

Cancel up to 24 hours prior for a full refund

Book Online

What's Included?

What to Expect?

Over 400 5-Star reviews.

We're rated #1 on Trip Advisor. Come see what all the fuss is about.

"Just finished Bar tour with Hayden.. great guide, great knowledge and great bloke.... was a delightful experience in Melbourne and would have no issues recommending this tour for locals and tourists..."
Andrew Maher
"Was a great way to get out and walk around our great city and discover bars that you never knew where there. Hayden was terrific and really informative and had lots of fun. Would highly recommend taking a walk.'
Angela
Google Review
"We did the Melbourne bar tour with John and had an amazing time! John was so friendly, knowledgeable and really made the tour something different! Highly recommended, 10/10 would do again!"
Ethan Jones
"Thanks to Beau and the team for a great afternoon out. Dylan & I had the best time finding some amazing new places."
Natalie Aitken

Why Melbourne?

Melbourne is one of the great cocktail cities — not just in Australia, but the whole world. When hospitality experts speak of the planet’s best spots for cocktails they mention New York, Paris, London….and Melbourne.

The Victorian capital city’s urban design lends itself to small bars. As any local Melburnian will tell you, we are a city of laneways, and those dark, secret alleys are the perfect hiding spot for small bars. No two tours are alike, but we frequent bars in former brothels, restaurants with a secret door — even a bar with a bookshelf hiding its speakeasy.

Your guide will curate a tour just for your group, depending on the group size, time of year, and what’s hot at the moment. The bars will represent four very different aspects of Melbourne’s bar scene, so you’ll never head to four whisky bars, for example.

FAQs:

While we advertise the tour as 3 hours, we arrive to bar #4 just before the 3 hour mark,  so make sure to leave yourself enough time for one last round. We recommend scheduling an additional 45 minutes for mingling and revelry before heading home or to your next event.

Our bar schedule changes daily depending on which bars are open. We can’t tell you exactly where the tour will end, but it will be in the city centre and not ages from the start point. 


Don’t worry — it will be super-easy to get anywhere in the city afterwards and your guide can help with directions. If you need more specific info, shoot us an email at info@depotadventures.com with your intended travel date and we can give you more detail.

In the city centre, a small beer costs $5-10 while a cocktail is in the $15-$25 range. 

A great way to save money is to pre-purchase your drinks — with our drinks-included package, we can negotiate more aggressive rates with the bars and save you big money. 

Closed-toed shoes or sandals are important – some venues may not allow thongs/jandals/flip-flops inside after a certain hour.

Other than that — dress how you please! As long as you stay out of activewear and that stained t-shirt you normally only wear to bed, you’ll be fine.

Some like to dress up and continue the night after our tour completes, and some go more casual. Do what makes you comfortable. 🙂

We cap our group size at 12 people to ensure each person has the chance to have a personal experience with the tour guide and one another.

Of course! We are happy to host private functions on our personalised private tours. These are 3 hours tours we tailor specifically to your group’s requirements and interests. You can email us to enquire using our “Contact” page.

We pick four bars that are within walking distance, but occasionally we’ll have a 10-minute jaunt between some of our furthest-apart venues. Your walking distance would never be more than 1 mile.

Of course! Feel free to book on a public tour, or if you want your very own chartered tour shoot us an email using the “Contact” page

Tour Start Point:

Your tour begins at Gordon Reserve (74-108 Spring St) – this is a park with a fountain and is located across the street from the Windsor Hotel.

Grab a gift card.

Gift cards are only redeemable for Depot Adventures tour offerings. Gift cards are not redeemable for any third party offerings, including but not limited to offerings from “Get your Guide” and “Viator”.