Private Walking Tour of Melbourne City Baths

1 h 30 min Free cancellation Private tour

Private Walking Tour of Melbourne City Baths, photo 2 — Photos: the activity supplier, via Viator

About this activity

This is a self-guided exploration game where you'll be solving a paranormal case involving real people and their wandering ghosts. The file on Melbourne's East End has been open since 1972. You, with your detective and observational skills, and a little help from the Questo app, will try to close it in 2 hours.

The route runs from the Old Treasury's gold vaults through Chinatown to the old gaol, past 13 of its darkest addresses. Your job is to hear out the dead and check their stories against the record.

You'll discover dark stories like a singer who died on stage as the Devil and still bowed, a fountain carved in prison by a horse thief, and a man pardoned 86 years after his hanging.

Each location involves inspecting a real-world object and solving a challenge.

Best after dark with your phone torch on. About 2.7 km of walking, with unlimited breaks.

Hints and 24/7 support if you get stuck.

Perfect for Halloween or any night you're in the mood for creepy ghost stories.

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At a glance

Duration: 1 h 30 min
Confirmation: Instant confirmation
Ticket: Mobile or paper ticket accepted
Group: Your group only
People per booking: 1–30
Written guide: English
Operated by: Questo

Ages: Adults (14–99 years)

What is included

Included

Included: Full availability: Every day of the year.
Included: Flexibility: start, take a break and continue at your own pace.
Included: Access to the self-guided city exploration game in the Questo app

Not included

Not included: Live game master or physical guide
Not included: Private transportation
Not included: Meals

Itinerary

Old Treasury Building

7 min

You'll start outside the Old Treasury Building, where the app opens your case file and introduces the agent running it. Your first task is to find the plaque with the building's name and use a code to pull a password from it. You'll learn about the caretaker's family who lived in the vaults, right beside the colony's gold.
Stanford Fountain

7 min

You'll cross to the Stanford Fountain in Gordon Reserve, restore a question with its vowels missing and count the answer on the stone. You'll learn how a horse thief serving 22 years carved it in prison, and why it now faces the Parliament that sentenced him.
Princess Theatre

7 min

You'll stop at the Princess Theatre on Spring Street and pick the real gilded emblem out of four lookalikes. You'll learn about the baritone who died in 1888 while sinking through the stage trap as the Devil, and why the theatre still keeps a seat empty on opening nights.
Royal Australasian College Of Surgeons

7 min

You'll walk to the top of Spring Street and read the blue plaque beside the stairs of the College of Surgeons. You'll learn where nineteenth-century anatomists found the heads they studied, and how short the walk was from the gaol.
Little Lon Distilling Co.

7 min

You'll find the last old cottage on Casselden Place and fill a gap in a list of the people who once lived on the lane. You'll learn about Little Lon, the slum two streets from the gold vaults, where half the children on the block didn't reach two.
Museum of Chinese Australian History

6 min

You'll step into Chinatown off Little Bourke Street and solve a riddle about the stone guardian lions. You'll learn how the Chinese societies of the gold rush exhumed thousands of their dead and shipped the bones home.
Chinatown

6 min

You'll walk under the Chinatown gate on Little Bourke Street and look down to finish a riddle. You'll learn how one bestselling murder mystery from 1886 branded this street as the city's underworld for a generation.
State Library Victoria

6 min

You'll reach the State Library Victoria, decode a scrambled message and find the answer on the statue in the forecourt. You'll learn about Grace, the kind reading-room ghost who appears in none of the library's staff registers.
Former Melbourne Magistrates Court

6 min

You'll stop at the old Magistrates' Court and find the word missing from a line about its sandstone. You'll learn how the court, the cells and the gallows stood side by side on this one block.
Old Melbourne Gaol

6 min

You'll walk to the bluestone walls of the Old Melbourne Gaol and spot what's wrong with a photo of its sign. You'll learn about Colin Ross, hanged here in 1922 for a murder he didn't commit and pardoned 86 years later.
Eight Hour Day Monument

6 min

You'll find the Eight Hour Day Monument and work out the code hidden under the sticker in your photo. You'll learn how the stonemasons who cut the city's bluestone won the eight-hour day here in 1856.
Melbourne City Baths

19 min

You'll finish at the Melbourne City Baths, where the clues you've collected spell out the last question. You'll learn why the city built public baths for people with nowhere to wash, and why the ghost from Little Lon comes up to see the file closed.

Meeting point and pickup

Everyone meets at the meeting point.

Meeting point

The game starts at the Old Treasury Building. After booking, we'll message you a code and activation link. Activate with your own email, then log in to the Questo app with that email. No message? Open the Questo app, tap "Bought a quest somewhere else?" and enter your booking reference number.

End point

The game ends outside the Melbourne City Baths on Swanston Street.

Using your ticket

Thank you for booking with Questo. Your code is your booking reference number: the digits after "BR-".

Here's how to play it:

1. Activate your quest. Go to the unlock page on the Questo website (questoapp.com/unlock), enter your email and your code.

2. Download the Questo app on your phone (App Store or Google Play) and create an account with the same email used for activation.

3. Once you're logged in to the Questo app, open the Quests section. Your quest will be there, ready to be played.

IMPORTANT

Booked more than one ticket? You can invite the other participants right after activating, or later from the Quests section in the app.
If you don't see your quest in the Quests section in the Questo app, tap "Bought a quest somewhere else?" and enter your code again. You can also upload a screenshot of your booking confirmation there.

GOOD TO KNOW

The quest is available every day, at any hour. Go to the starting point and begin whenever you're ready.
Download the story and the map before you head out. After that, it works without internet.
Start with at least 50% battery.

Still have questions? Send us a message or talk to our customer support at: questoapp.com/chat

Cancellation

Free cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

If you cancel	You get back
At least one day before	100%
Less than a day before	0%

Good to know

Service animals allowed
Public transportation options are available nearby
Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
A charged smartphone with internet is required to play the game in the Questo app
Comfortable walking shoes are recommended