Duration: 2-3 hours
Price Guide: Depends
Last Reviewed:

The cost of this guide is technically zero, however, how much you spend depends on how much you drink.

Prices indicated were correct at the time of publication.

Make your way to Central Station and head to the Bus Station outside the George Street exit.

You want to take the no. 378 bus from stop A (the journey will take around 10 minutes and costs $1.70). Ask the driver to stop on Oxford Street in Paddington. Keep your eyes out for The Light Brigade on your left, this is our first destination.

The Light Brigade has just been renovated, keeping with the popular Art Deco style. It hosts a fairly spacious drinking area, friendly staff, a cocktail bar, a wine bar and restaurant upstairs. Food is available for $11 per meal, which isn’t bad. There were still some building materials up when i went, due to renovations, but i can’t imagine they will be there for long.

As you come out of the Light Brigade turn right and continue down the road. You will pass an ANZ branch on your right. Just after the ANZ is The Paddington Arms.

The Paddington Arms has a modern-looking interior with bar-style tables, stools, subtle lighting and quiet music. Food is available from $8.50 and upwards and there is a good choice of cocktails for around $15.

As you come out of The Paddington Arms turn left, continue along the road past a set of traffic lights and turn left onto Elizabeth Street. Roughly 75m along Elizabeth Street, on the right, is The Grand National.

A simple bar/pub with a slightly less modern feel with separate eating and drinking areas. Reminds me of some English pubs, with simple decor, again mostly stools for seating, a couple of TVs for those who enjoy watching their sports and food is also available.

As you come out of The Grand National, turn right and continue along Elizabeth Street. After about 100m, The London Hotel will be on your right.

The London Hotel has a much more spacious environment with comfortable leather couches. Food is available from $12 per meal, there is a courtyard, games room and TVs.

Turn left as you exit The London Hotel, directly in front of you is William Street. Follow William Street until you reach the main road. To your left (on the corner) is the Paddington Inn.

Paddington Inn greeted me with amazing smells of tasty food. It had a relaxed atmosphere, with cozy leather couches and some funky colour schemes. There is a lounge and terrace upstairs, some crazy lighting, food and a small smoking area downstairs. Definitely finishing with my personal favourite.

There are more pubs etc in Paddington, which you’re more than welcome to experience the art of drinking in, however this is the end of my tour. If you follow the the directions back to the start of this tour you can get buses back to Central from here quite easily.

Duration: 2-3 hours
Price Guide: varies depending on how much you drink and eat
Last Reviewed:

Make your way to Central Station and head outside to the George Street bus stop A.

From the bus stop, take the 393 bus to Surry Hills. Ask the driver to stop for you at Cleveland Street and the Surry Hotel. This journey took approx 5-10 minutes. Once off the bus head into the Surry Hotel.

The Surry Hotel is a cosy pub with a bistro, outside smoking area, TV and sports, gaming room, food available from $9.00 and up. A nice pub to start the tour.

Head outside the Surry Hotel and cross the road to make your way down Cleveland Street. On the right hand side (at the first set of traffic lights down this road) is the Norfolk Hotel.

The Norfolk Hotel is again quite small, there were lots of TVs playing sports and a gaming room, seemingly more of a gambling pub. The hotel joins onto a bottle shop and snacks are available at the bar.

After you have finished at the Norfolk Hotel you want to continue making your way down Cleveland Street. The Crown Hotel is on the next set of traffic lights along this road.

The Crown Hotel is a large, spacious pub with refreshing decor. Food is available from $9.00 up. There is also a games room and a TV that was showing sports.

Once outside the Crown Hotel, turn left at the crossroads on to Crown Street. Make your way down Crown Street until you get to the first crossroads. Trinity Bar is on these crossroads.

Trinity Bar is about as close to an English pub that i have seen so far. There is a gaming room, food available and an outside sitting area. It has a library feel to it with lots of bookcases and old books that make up some of the decorations. I liked this pub a lot.

Continue along Crown Street, keeping your eyes out for the Clock Hotel on your right.

The Clock Hotel is a light and airy bar with more of a modern feel. It looks a bit more swanky than the the pubs i have seen so far. Food is available, but a little pricey and there are a couple of pool tables as well.

When you come out of the Clock Hotel, make your way back down Crown Street in the direction you came from. Keep a look out on the right for Devonshire Street. Turn right down Devonshire Street and continue along it. You will go past a park on your left-hand side. A little further than the park is the Shakespeare Hotel.

The Shakespeare Hotel is a really nice and cosy pub with an English theme and a good finisher for this tour. Happy hour is from 3pm to 6pm. Although the pub is a little on the small side, I definitely recommend it if you like English pubs. It is probably my favourite venue on this tour.

Duration: 1-2 hours
Price Guide:
Last Reviewed:

Businesses mentioned in this tour were trading at the time of publication.

Make your way to Central Station and take the Western Suburbs Line to Newtown Station.

Turn right as you exit the train station and continue walking until you reach the Bank Hotel on your right, just past the chemist.

The Bank Hotel is a pretty smooth-looking, comfortable pub and a nice start to a tour of Newtown. There is a really nice outside area on two levels. Food and cocktails are available.

As you come out of the Bank Hotel, make your way to the other side of the road. Directly opposite the Bank Hotel is a road called Eliza Street (in between Holey Moley Zanzibars). Make your way north down Eliza Street until you reach the Memorial Park.

The Memorial Park is a nice place to stop to have a picnic etc. There is a children’s play area, a nice, green open area. Good place to enjoy the sun and relax for a bit before doing some shopping. There is also a pub just outside the park called The Court House Bar.

Make your way back down Eliza Street to King Street and turn right on to King Street. Just past the Newtown Medical Practice (on your right) is a market square.

A small but nice market with some quirky stalls selling various bits and bobs.

Once finished at the market, make your way back the way you came (towards Eliza Street) along King Street. Continue along this road until you reach the shopping strip, which has lots of options.

King Street has lots of shops on it. There are plenty of clothes shops, bohemian cafes, old buildings, an alternative cinema that’s one of the Dendy chain, which shows arthouse films. There are also loads of restaurants, homeware shops and stands on the side of the road selling various things. For the non-shoppers reading this, there is also the Coopers Hotel on the left in which I enjoyed a refreshing pint in before i went home.

When you have finished make your way back to Newtown Station to get home.