Saturday 14th Jan: Paddington Walking Tour

Tour length: 3.5 – 4 hours with midway stops at two local heritage Pubs

Description: Paddington is a beautiful Victorian-age village near the city centre that boasts the highest concentration of 19th century Terrace Houses in Australia. This tour rewinds the clock to explore its incredible rise, fall and restoration as we wander a myriad leafy streets, back lanes and parks while revealing stories about its infamous local characters, crimes, relics, pubs and heritage architecture.

• The expansion of 19th century Sydney from the original settlement and town into the nearby hills and valleys that surround the harbour
• The development of the iconic Sydney Terrace House and its explosion throughout Paddington as a near village was formed house the mass arrival of the middle-class
• Unique examples of Victorian Sydney architecture and landscaping including residential, churches, pubs, shops, police stations, arcades, gardens, quarries and parks
• The downfall of Paddington in the early 20th century which saw an esteemed neighbourhood descend into a slum riddled with social problems, crime and street gangs
• Local tales of murder and mayhem, cat burglars, illegal ‘grog shops’, gambling haunts and underworld heavy-weights
• The onset of Paddington’s post WWII bohemian phase and creative restoration through the 1960s and ’70s to secure its unique Victorian village-scape
• The contemporary heart-beat of Paddington, a place riddled with cafes, art galleries, boutique shopping, hidden restaurants, thriving pubs and magnificent street-scapes