The Original Walking Tours of Melbourne
est. 2004
03 9663 3358 (A/H +61447868788)
Sharing Melbourne Evolutions
 

Hidden Secrets Tours – Melbourne

Hidden Secrets Tours is a Melbourne touring business whose mission is to share a unique walking tour experience that you will only find in Melbourne. The best secrets are sometimes just hiding in plain sight ready to be shared..   Our hero’s are the Laneways, the local characters, the creative heart and of course the city herself..

Founded in 2004 and established to showcase the urban vitality to locals and visitors alike. We seek to share with our clients a quintessential insider experience of Melbourne. Touring around the city we focus beyond the tourist traps, and celebrate all things Melbourne. Hidden Secrets are the original laneways walking tours of Melbourne

Respecting country

Melbourne City is where Hidden Secrets Tours operate. These are the lands of the Kulin Nation - The meeting place, the trading place, the unceded lands. The area is known as Naarm.  This is country of the Bunurong, Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri, Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation.  Our walking through and observing the land, our making small tracks are some of the ways in which we pay our respects and acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land. We are grateful for the Elders : past present and future and the opportunity to learn from them.

Our Philosophy

Hidden Secrets Tours  is a tourism business that focuses on what makes Melbourne tick. We are proud to be a sustainability focused tourism business that operates on foot, or public transport. We choose to have as many of our products as possible locally sourced and manufactured – both by our friends that we visit on tour and what we do and consume in-house. We believe in supporting small business first, and ask for no commission on any purchases that our clients make on our tours of Melbourne. We respectfully use the city, and give back to it too. See who we support here

Our Community

Hidden Secrets Tours is keen to embrace and learn from diverse communities. Our charitable efforts are towards access support for travellers – via Travellers Aid, and to offer support to groups engaging in homeless assistance – via StreetSmart Australia. Hidden Secrets Tours are members of the Tour Guides Australia, VTIC, City Precinct, Collins Street Precinct and ATEC.

Our Industry Achievements

We are honoured to have been recognised by our industry and our peers – see more here

Our Beginings

The Melbourne hidden secrets tour concept began with publisher Michelle Matthews and a Small Business Development Grant from the City of Melbourne in January 2004. The company’s owner, Fiona Sweetman, took the first tour of Melbourne in May 2004 as Hidden Secrets Tours. A focus on small business, especially on local content, alongside innovations in urban design and culture, amongst Melbourne’s diverse community, make these urban walking experiences unlike any other!

Fiona and her company continue to evolve, with acquisitions of additional tours of Melbourne including, Vintage Outings, and Golden Mile Heritage Walks. Hidden Secrets Tours continue to discuss with creative thinkers on developing new itineraries to extend your relationship with Melbourne, the creative capital of Australia. In 2016, Vintage Outings took on the world, and continues, but with sole management by its founder.

All destinations included in the tour itineraries do so by invitation, after consultation on their strengths in customer service, product, and / or design origin, and they participate without commissions.

Do you have any questions or ideas for us? We love to promote Melbourne!

 

Media Enquiries

Would you like to work with us?

 

Fiona Sweetman and the team at HST  are always looking for keen and suitable guides. We have a particular style and offer part time work.  Please send us your CV and reasons why you would like to work with us. You do not have to be from a traditional tourism background, but have strong sense of service, and be resourceful.

Employment enquiries

Hidden Secrets Tours guides at the start point of Lanes and Arcades tourFiona being interviewed for Sunrise TV - Hidden Secrets Tours Best Job in the world

Click here to meet our Tour Guide Team

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We are fortunate to have worked on many great events in Melbourne including,

AIME 2016, 2015, 2013 and 2012, Sharing Melbourne with CondeNast 2012, The Oprah visit in 2010, and so many more great clients including, Lendlease, Cotton On, RMIT, Kids Under Cover, MSFW, Westfield, Telstra, Sacred Heart Mission Dine with Heart, William Angliss, Boral and so many more