Journey Walks : Culture, Crime & History Tours & Events in Sydney

Our first experience of Journey Walks Tours with Max was a few years ago. Since that time we have done several tours each has been a unique and wonderful experience, full of a wealth of information about our early history of Sydney, the gangs and behaviours of our early settlers and an appreciation of how far we’ve come since colonisation. We just recently have taken family visiting from overseas to experience Sydney‘s convict Colony walking tour guided by Max! They thoroughly enjoyed it! Highly recommend all of Journey Walks Tours.

We had the joy - and honor of a walking tour of Paddington hosted by Max Burns-McRuvie last Sunday. Our family have always been history-smitten. This tour weas a logical opportunity as our daughter currently lives in Paddington and my Great Great Grandfather, Michael Griffin, a bandsman with the Welsh 12th Regiment of Foot stationed at Victoria Barracks in the 1840s and for several years a resident of Caledonia Street Paddington. Max brought colonial Paddington to life with his passion and deep knowledge along our almost 4km walk. Looking forward to another opportunity in the very near future to spend time with Max - next stop - Balmain where my great Grandparents lined in Mort Street, and where they both died a week apart in 1906 from plague pneumonia - leaving 9 children under 18.....

We did the convict walking tour (for the 2nd time) recently, with our Canadian relatives. We all had such a great time and walked away with so much info we didn’t know before! Max does such a great job of weaving in personal stories of real convicts and bringing to life what it would have been like in that time of history. This was our third journey walks tour overall and we have loved every one!

Our guide Max was very punctual and accomodating. Before rhe tour Max contacted us to confirm booking. The tour was informative and provided an insight into the history of establishing Sydney. Max used a folder of photos to emphasise the history and to add detail to the story of Sydney.

Max is bursting with interesting and unique knowledge of Sydney and its history. He is friendly, engaging and presents his wealth of information as if he is telling you his favourite story. We loved our tour of Sydney CBD and look forward to booking another one soon.

Highly recommend Max's tour of Sydney's Convict and early settler history. Great locations and stories, as you weave your way around Circular Quay and The Rocks. Whether you're a visitor to Sydney, or a local, you'll learn so much and see so many beautiful spots. Loved it so much we went and did the Once Upon a Crime in Paddington Tour which was amazing!! Back alleys and seedy stories, so much local history in one tour. Thanks Max.

We went on Journey Walks’ tour “Gangsters, Girls and Grog” and it was brilliant! Max was a fantastic tour guide, not only did he know a ton of super interesting history, he wove it together in a way that was really seamless and flowed perfectly throughout the tour. There’s a real difference between knowing your stuff and being able to impart it in a way that is engaging and really brings the facts to life - Max was awesome at it! I’ve lived in Sydney for 20+ years and learned heaps I didn’t know and saw so many wonderful pockets of history (the attached photo is what used to be the infamous Kate Leigh’s house!) over the course of our tour. To top it all off, Max took us to the coolest kinda ‘speakeasy’ bar to have a drink at the tour’s conclusion! Highly highly recommend doing a tour with Journey Walks, whether you’re a local or a tourist. I absolutely can’t wait to do another of Max’s tours - I’m aiming to do “Once upon a crime in Paddington” next…

I did the Journey Walks walking tour in Sydney last week and it was the highlight of my stay in Sydney. Max is a born storyteller and through his fast knowledge of Sydney's history and the city's spots and alleys he was really able to bring the history alive. The tour lasted about 2.5 hours, we were with a group of 8, and the general vibe was very relaxed throughout. I recommend doing the tour on one of the first days of your stay, as it will really make you see the city from a different perspective.