DISCOVER THE HIDDEN STORIES OF BALLARAT

Small-group Ballarat walking tours and hosted local experiences that tell the city’s story through gold rush ambition, Eureka, hidden laneways, grand hotels and larger-than-life characters.

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Discover the Layers of Ballarat’s gold rush story

Ballarat is more than beautiful old buildings. It is a city of hidden laneways, grand hotels, gold-rush ambition, strong community, and larger-than-life characters whose exploits and adventures shaped the streets beneath our feet.

Hidden Lanes creates small-group Ballarat walking tours and hosted local experiences that help visitors feel the city, not just see it.

EXPLORE BALLARAT WALKING TOURS

CHOOSE YOUR BALLARAT EXPERIENCE

From our signature City Tales walking tour to food, gin, vintage style and private group experiences, Hidden Lanes helps you explore Ballarat through stories, local places and hosted small-group tours.

Our signature tour Ballarat City Tales walking Tour

Ballarat Foodie & Gin Distillery Tour

Ballarat Vintage Fashion Tour

Two women shopping in a vintage store, both wearing colorful fur coats and hats, examining small decorative items and ornaments.

Private & Group Walking Tours
Black and white illustrated poster of Ballarat featuring a clock tower in the city center, surrounded by decorative floral and tree motifs.

created by local

storytellers, artists

& guides

Hidden Lanes is made by people who live in Ballarat, love its strange corners, and spend far too much time thinking about old buildings, forgotten characters, and beautiful shopfronts.

Our guided walking tours bring together local history, original artwork, careful research, and a touch of theatre, helping visitors experience Ballarat as a living city.

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  • "A superb guided tour of Ballarat. Local guide, who knew his stuff! Small group, easy pace… access to some of the buildings which you wouldn’t get to see on your own."

    —Hamish H

  • "Absolutely brilliant! Was well paced and your guide Jarrod took care of us all the way through even with a pram ... highly recommend!!"

    Ricky M

  • "our guide brought the history of Ballarat alive. Surprising and quirky details included along the way showcased his knowledge and humour.”

    —Karen W

  • “Jarrod didn’t shy away from the difficult parts of the history… Jarrod took us to hidden gems and presented a really interesting picture of Ballarat. Highly recommended.”

    Jean-Frances

WHY CHOOSE HIDDEN LANES TOURS?

Hidden Lanes is for visitors who want more than a quick wander past old buildings. Our Ballarat walking tours are small, personal and carefully hosted, with local stories, historic places and details you’d easily miss on your own.

• Local guides who know the city — from gold rush ambition and grand hotels to strange corners and forgotten characters.

• Small groups and an easy pace — no big crowds, no being herded along, and plenty of time to ask questions.

• A richer way to see Ballarat — hidden laneways, atmospheric streets, historic spaces and stories that bring the city to life.

Experience Ballarat with a local.

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Before creating Hidden Lanes, Jarrod and Emma Hall spent nine years in South Korea. One summer, they walked, cycled, filmed and mapped their way around Jeju Island.

Their Jeju project followed quiet coastal roads, forest paths, villages, cafes and volcanic landscapes, and became both a slow travel guide and a film featured at the Korean Expat Film Festival in Seoul and the World Bicycle Film Festival in Poland.

That journey shaped the way we create our Ballarat walking tours today: slow enough to notice the details, curious enough to follow the side streets, and personal enough to feel like you’ve been welcomed into the place.

Slow Travel Inspired by

Korea’s Jeju Island

Learn more

Our Ballarat tours were developed on the Country of the Wadawurrung who have performed age old cultural ceremonies, celebrations and traditions here for thousands of years. We would like to pay our respects to the Elders past and present.
All recommendations and travel information is accurate to our knowledge but the information given should be fact-checked and never be considered official safety, travel or legal advice.