Top Bar Crawls in Sydney

Sydney is surrounded by beautiful views – from the Blue Mountains National Park on the edge of the hinterlands to world-famous beaches and historic harbours. Sounds like the perfect backdrop for tasting Sydney’s most beloved brews, right? If that was your first thought, we’re right there with you. This city isn’t shy about its love of imbibing, and you’ll fit right in when you join up with a pub tour and start exploring the top bars in Sydney, one pint at a time. (Psst! Wine and fizzy drinks are available, too.)

Take a Pub Tour So Good, It’s Criminal

If you have a taste for IPAs infused with intrigue, the City’s Dark History & Pub Walking Tour may be the best 2.5 hours of your life. You’ll start this fermentation foray at Harts Pub in The Rocks and learn all about the original settlers who built and boozed their way through town. Let leading Aussie beermakers, including John Boston, the country’s first brewer, fill your glass with liquid courage as you relive Sydney’s most fascinating history.

Drink With “Convict”-ion

It’s no secret Sydney was once home to some folks you may not have wanted to take home to mum. The Rocks is Australia’s oldest settlement, where mayhem was a regular occurrence and the Rocks Push gang called the shots well into the late 19th century. The Rocks Convict Pub Walk takes you sip by sip through the city’s historic centre with tons of sordid tales to help wash down the ales at the city’s oldest pub, the Fortune of War.

Cross the Bay to Balmain

The seaside suburb of Balmain is more than a sleepy hideaway with quiet dockyards and colourful Queen Anne houses. Balmain is an OG brewing town (that’s short for “original gangster”). Join the Balmain District Pub Walk for a tasting tour through the area’s oldest pubs, including the Dry Dock Hotel, established in 1857. Begin your tour at East Village Hotel on Darling Street, hear tell of the Balmain Tigers rugby team and other small-town legends over delicious brews, and conclude your stroll at The Riverview Hotel.

Make a Day of It

When you want to pair your day drinking with a gorgeous lunch, make time for the Full-Day Brewery Tour of Inner West with Lunch. The vast land that is the Inner West encompasses several unique neighbourhoods, and this day-long romp through three uber-hip breweries will show you all the best spots. Learn what happens behind the scenes of your favourite wicked elixir, from harvest to hangover, at producers like Rocks Brewing Company, Willie the Boatman, or Young Henry’s. No hair of the dog needed on this brewery tour – eats are included!

With a smorgasbord of smashing seacoast activities and plenty of laid-back vibes to go with them, it should come as no surprise that Sydney knows how to find its chill. It all starts with great drafts at everyone’s favourite pubs and breweries. Whether you’ve been a Sydneysider your whole life or you’re faking it till you make it, you know there’s nothing like a pub walk to get to know a new neighbourhood. Ready for hours of history and hops? Drink it all in!