Sydney Private Tours by Locals: 100% Personalized, See the City Unscripted

Walking Tour with Peter was Excellent!

Our walking tour with Peter was excellent. He was well organized, knowledgeable and responsive to all of our requests and questions. We learned a lot and had a great time doing it.

Fantastic day in Sydney

Peter Sullivan was a fabulous host. He had clearly done his research on my interests and had tailored the tour perfectly to suit my specific interests and requirements, which is something I deeply appreciate. I had a fantastic day sightseeing with Peter and we covered all the major attractions in Sydney. Peter is extremely knowledgeable about the area and it’s history, and knows exactly how to connect with a customer. Overall, a fantastic day with a superb host.

Great tour of Sydney

Our tour in Sydney was great! Our guide, John, helped us to navigate the public transportation system and took us to all the places we discussed prior to arriving. He listened to what we were interested in and tailored the tour to our interests. We really enjoyed seeing the city from a local's perspective.

Waste of money, book the $49 tour instead!

This was the biggest scam on this app! We had a guide that walked us over 6kms, despite being told the day before that there was an elderly smoker in our group! He couldn’t find us at a popular restaurant at Circular Quay! We had to find him! We found the toilets as he didn’t know where the public ones were. His first stop was the Opera House gift shop… he knew few facts about the Opera House. We walked kilometers around the Botanical gardens… he knew nothing about the sculptures or trees there. We paid $630 and he didn’t even have an itinerary set out (he told us that we wouldn’t be walking more than 300m at any one time) There were plaques on the walk around the gardens, no information about them. I asked if we could go to Mrs Macquaries Chair as I had seen it on other advertised tours and the signs said it was very close. Once there my elderly Auntie said she would get a drink at the next stop. Jon (the guide) started walking us back the way we had come, I saw a kiosk very close and bought some water. Then I set about finding toilets. Jon directed us to some that were closed. He then said he’d take us to the centre of town to show us a sculpture of fallen indigenous people and we were to catch the light rail. We said we had been there so he took us to the QVB building. I insisted he accompany my Aunty to buy shoes while I took Miss 13 to Mecca. We met up and headed by train to Bondi. After we had thrown our tickets in the bin he said we could have used them again!!! We went to a bar at Bondi. He wanted us to go upstairs to get a good photo, I noticed a lift and directed my Aunty to it. He stated he had never seen the lift. Once a few photos were taken there we headed back to town. He told us we could go all the way by bus, but the bus terminated at Bondi junction rail stn. This ‘guide’ knew nothing of the local surrounds or PT options. He knew very few facts and anecdotes. He could not answer any questions with specifics or interesting history. Instead he told us about his catholic upbringing, the reason he couldn’t ride a bike (his fathers fault), the reason he wasn’t a farmer (his father wouldn’t let him), the reason he was not ‘on the ball’… he stayed at his sisters last night and awoke at 2am and couldn’t get back to sleep! He asked for a schooner of beer when we stopped for a drink!!!! I was absolutely outraged that he didn’t even provide us with a bottle of water, much less tickets/info … There was more walking to dinner, Spice Alley- which was the single useful and interesting piece of information he gave us! And no, he didn’t buy us a drink or a meal, he saved our table while we bought our own! Useful info for others is that Spice Alley only accepts cards (no cash) this is information we could have used as we pay cash for everything!!! Another tip our guide Didn’t give us! But he did tell us that his daughter went to uni there and has switched courses etc etc. Avoid this tour at ALL costs!! It is a huge waste of money! Take a $49 tour if you really want to see Sydney’s famous sites!

One day in Sydney.

We flew to Sydney for a one day tour. It was very important to us to have a guide that was very organized and could create a day that would incorporate as much of what we wanted to cover with our guides expertise and coordination. I had provided all our flight info and needed to be sure we planned accordingly. We walked overall about 10 miles and were able to walk the bridge, walk around the Opra house and get some beautiful pics. Took the trains and buses to Bondi beach. Wanted to experience that. Went to the Australian wildlife sanctuary . Was ok, wish we had gone to the larger zoo in retrospect. Our guide wasn’t as organized as we expected and the tour and agenda could have been preplanned better keeping in mind our travel parameters.

Highly recommend!!

Banrangaroo, Sydney history and architecture, Manly. Our tour guide Peter Sullivan is outstanding. .

Great open tour

John was an experience! Really down to earth and he told to write in the review that he's got a sarcastic sense of humor which he really does. He's really flexible with what you want and won't mind changing stuff on the fly. My niece and I wanted to go to the fish market and he hadn't been in some years so we went and had a blast! He originally had something else planned in the afternoon but the weather cleared and we ended up at Bondi Beach and just chilled out for a bit. He took us on a walk across the Sydney Habour Bridge and it's a bit of a walk about 2 miles but really worth it. Just take your time!

Super

My wife and I participated in the 8 hour walking tour of Sydney, which included a ferry trip to Manly Beach. We visited all the places on the pre-arranged list, and then some. Peter was terrific (and quite entertaining). He has deep knowledge of the city and its history, and pointed out sights that most tourists would miss. He also helped us identify other places to visit if we had time on subsequent days in Sydney. To top things off, Peter led us to a pub where we had a wonderful dinner. We highly recommended City Unscripted (and Peter).

Great guided tour of Sydney

Peter, our tour guide, communicated with us in advance via email to ensure he understood our reasons to visit Sydney and Australia to ensure he would show us those sites we would be most interested in We covered a large swath of sites in Sydney and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Peter is one of the best tours we ever had.

Great day in Sydney

Ross is awesome. Had a great day walking about Sydney and Manly Beach. Ross adjusted plans to match our wishes.

Great day in Sydney

Ross was very interesting and chatty guide. He reached out for in advance of the trip to get our preferences. He designed the day around our desires and we happily to be flexible with the plans.

Excellent time in Sydney

Excellent and fully tailored to our needs and what we wanted to see and do. Such a great mix of history and local favorite spots. So happy to get out of the tourist areas and see some of the best loved areas of Sydney.

Great four hours.

Malcolm was a great guide. Four hours in Sydney and he covered SO much ground. Was well versed in history, architecture, flora and fauna, government, etc and, because he is a traveler himself, he had great points of reference for comparison. Lovely time with him. Would definitely recommend him.

Great tour!

We joined the tour with my family including small kids. our guide, malcolm knows a lot and very kind. Our kids were tired in the tour and he flexibly changed the plan. We really enjoyed the tour with him.

Sydney Highlights!

Great tour of Sydney! John tailored the tour to those things we wanted to see and do. We walked 13 kilometers and saw it all, the Harbor Bridge, the Opera House, Circular Quay, Botanical Gardens, Hyde Park, the Westfield Tower, Wildlife Zoo, and retail on Market, Pitt and George Streets. It was a full and fun day!

Be aware this is a walking tour.

We had no idea this is a WALKING TOUR!. When reading the description of this tour there is one mention that uses the word “Walking”. Both my wife and I have multiple artificial joints and the last thing in the world we need to do is walk. The guide Peter Sullivan was EXCELLENT - well informed and knowledgeable about the city and its history. He was most considerate about our mobility problems..

Perfect tour that saw heart of the city within 4 hours

Peter was great and put together a perfect itinerary to really get a sense of Sydney within just 4 hours. We did the tour on our first day, and it was the perfect way to orient ourselves with the city while we stayed for a few more days after. My wife also uses a wheelchair and Peter made sure everything we visited was accessible.

great walking tour in the city

Peter was amazing! showed us the transit system and really personalized the tour, even taking our 7 year old on a double decker train! He was really knowledgeable about the city and it was a great day!

Great tour

My sister and I greatly enjoyed spending four hours on a walking tour of Sydney with Peter. Knowledgeable, personable, and very accommodating. Great way to get an overview early in your trip so you can plan out the other activities you want to do while there. Highly recommend!

Customized tour of the city

Great tour of the city based on my questionnaire responses and communication with my guide. Peter was also super flexible and accommodating after our flight was canceled. Would recommend.

Wonderful private half day walking tour

John prepared in advance by asking us what we especially wanted to see and do in order to customize our experience He was very knowledgeable and made sure we were walking at a comfortable pace The tour covered six miles over mostly flat ground and and visited every place we really wanted to see while learning so much

Great overview of Sydney!

Matty met my daughter and I at our hotel. He immediately checked what we already had seen, if we had eaten, and what we were most interested in (architecture, history, art). We saw so many hidden gems! The hours went by quickly and we covered a lot of ground. But Matty found food, shade, sunscreen and frequent waters breaks to keep us fueled & comfortable. We only had a couple of days to enjoy this large city and we felt we did it right with City Unscripted.

Great tour of Sydney

Our group of 4 from the US spent a good part of the day with Peter, seeing the sights of Sydney. Some of us had been to Sydney before, but this tour brought us to places and sights we had not seen before. For some, the highlight was the Coastal Walk from Bondi Beach, which was spectacular! We have done a lot of traveling around the world and we do not hesitate to say that Peter was one of our best guides ever. Highly recommended!!!

A very good option if you’re first time here

Our guide John Campo is very good and very knowledgeable about the area. The tour was customized and very flexible based on our desires

Excellent value for money

Provided what we asked for and much more.Saw so much more than if we tried to do it ourselves lots of hidden gems and our guid Olivia went at our pace what a credit she is to this company

Excellent in depth private tour

Peak was an outstanding guide. Both knowledgeable and personable. It was a real pleasure to experience a close up look of the local scene, including fun stops like Tokyo Taco for lunch. We enjoyed learning to navigate the the local transportation systems and we appreciated the flexibility and customization to our interests.

Great Tour!

Our tour guide, John C. was very pleasant and knowledgeable and gave us a great tour of Sydney. We highly recommend this private tour whenever you are in Sydney.

Great guide, but hard to match specific requests from the company.

Our tour was private, our tour guide was fun and listened to our primary requests which was just to take us on mostly hikes. We saw some sweet views and a waterfall. Our tour guide was an awesome person. No complaints. But for trip advisor itself- I specified I wanted someone knowledgeable of the species (tree or animal) on the hike- so I thought we would be matched with someone with better natural history knowledge. Maybe the company didn’t have any guides like that- but that would be a shock if that was true.

Excellent - disembarking day tour! have 4-8 hours in Sydney? DO THIS!

John C gave us a tour we wont soon forget. We covered all the things on my list of wanna see's and do's . It's a walking tour, but John was able to get us onboard busses and trains with an overview of how the Opal card , and Tapping Credit Card options. We did the tapping of the credit card.. you have to use a different card per person, this so the system can identify the fare to charge . Based on my initial booking contact form : John gave me a proposed itinerary a few days before our ship docked in Sydney,.. He took us into the local non touristy areas of Sydney. which is what I wanted... He also insured we were on course to get on our international flight home. (he accompanied us on the train, and made accomodations for our handicap friend who wasn't even on our tour but met us at the train) John is passionate about what he does, and he genuinely cares and enjoys people. We saw many monuments, visited historical areas, learned an interesting variety of Sydney's history We enjoyed an amazing lunch at a local cafe. Highly recommend

Great city tour!

Malcolm was great!~ Super knowledgeable and really gave us a good taste of the city. Highly recommend!

A storied walk about Sydney experience

Malcolm does a wonderful job at creating a walking experience through Sydney told with historical, cultural and local expertise. He can customize the pace and content to your liking.

Wonderful even under the rain

Malcolm was outstanding. I learned a lot of history from him. He was also very accomodating as I needed to change my tour time due to work. Very kind too. Had a wonderful time! Now I need to come back and see Sydney under the sun! It was pouring when I was there!

Fun short trip to Sydney

My husband and I booked a Sydney Layover Tour with a Local on our way to Tasmania. We really only had a short stay between flights! Our tour guide John was on the ball. The company reached out early with plenty of time asking us for our interests. With the time and interests they crafted an itinerary for us to review and adjust as needed. John met us at the airport and helped us to navigate the public transportation and locate luggage storage, that he scoped out for us to use. John was a great tour guide for us! Very helpful and knowledgeable. I really felt I had a local guiding me. Good, friendly rapport, John made friends with everyone and generally enjoys talking with people. It was a very good introduction to how nice the people of Australia are! He is very into local activities and government and was happy to explain things to us that we would not have known about. When we walked down a street that had a historic display that was removed he immediately knew which city representative he was going to reach out as soon as the tour was done. At first he seemed a little scattered brained and I had a hard time piecing together the history he was telling. To be fair I had slept sitting up on a plane from the states so I wasn't thinking the most clear either! Once I got used to his style it started to make a lot more sense and I really enjoyed talking with him. From John I get the sense that the tour guides really care about the work they do and take a lot of pride in it. On the tour John showed us a lot of things he had paid out of pocket to preview in advance, and since he had gone the extra mile was able to explain to us what these locations were. For the tour itself it's important to remember that you are paying for the local guide, and any other activities are not included even the ones the guide has worked with you on to make your itinerary. My husband had planned it so I wasnt aware of that coming in to it. Despite the cost, for us to have our 10 hour layover (total to go through customs, and back through on a flight) and get a Sydney experience I think we got to see as much as we did because we had a local tour guide helping us get on trains, ferries, navigating walkways, etc. It would have taken us a lot of research and time to get an experience like we had on our tour in such a short time.

Sydney must sees in a day

I was pleasantly surprised with the day tour. Our guide John covered all the must sees with us where we learnt so much about the history of Australia whilst visiting the historical monuments and walking around the city. We visited the Opera house, Mrs Macquire’s bench, Hyde Park, Botanical Gardens, the Art Museum and the library and also stopped by key landmarks. We were given several opportunities to capture views of the Harbour and the Opera House. We also got the chance to experience local transportation to the area of New Town which was quite different to the city area. Our tour guide went above and beyond to accommodate our needs and he was very pleasant to spend the day with. I highly recommend this tour if you would like to experience Sydney in a day.

John made the day about me Asked before the tour When we started the tour and asked if I wanted to adjust during

John is a very likable person Very knowledgeable Adapts to what the customer wants and the challenges brought about In our case it was rain He structured the tour to take advantage of what to see under the current weather . Studied my reactions to certain topics and made suggestions of what options we had . He made the tour about what I wanted. Further he made suggestion of other things I might do . I give John the highest rating possible plus 5!!!!

Wonderful insiders view of Sydney

Peter was knowledgeable and friendly. He gave us a real insiders view to the city. We would highly recommend both this tour and Peter!

Great Start to a Great Vacation!

We had a great experience with our guide, Olivia. We had a food tour with various stops. She was knowledgeable and gave us exactly what we were looking for- an opporutnity to see not-so-popular dining establishments while getting a great lay of the land in Sydney. She was easy to talk with and answered our questions. She had a good knowledge of history and lots of insider tips on shopping and eating that we utilized for the remaineder of our trip.

Aussie Vacation

Narjis was the best tour guide! From the moment I met her, I appreciated her warm, friendly, welcoming approach. I've never done this before - especially in a new country, but she made me feel comfortable right away. We had a great time and I loved learning about Sydney and seeing it from the insider's point of view. What an amazing and enjoyable experience - I fully recommend Narjis and City Unscripted without reservation! Thanks for making my trip special!! Vicki - Arizona, USA

Newton

Our guide, Olivia was very knowledgeable when showing us around. We started off by visiting the Rocks where you can also admire the Opera house to then head to Newton. We loved the place, very Bohemian/low key. Not crazy hipster as Shoreditch (in London) yet with the right amount of good eateries, independent shops and cafe. Although we are not vegan ourselves, we try to limit the amount of meat we eat. We loved our vegan Vietnamese lunch (Golden Lotus), and found a vegan butcher with an amazing selection of cheeses.

Great Private Tour

We enjoyed the private tour with our guide. He did a great job on the planning. He contacted me before the tour to ask what we would like to do. He was flexible in the planning stages. We enjoyed the tour and his recommendations with the ferry ride, lunch, and walking all around Sydney.

An awesome tour with Peak

We booked a full day tour in Sydney to help us get oriented in the city and with the transportation system quickly so we could maximize our remaining days in Sydney. It was Peak’s first tour with the company and he did an awesome job customizing the tour to our unique requests including finding an awesome easy to access SCUBA diving center, a vegan restaurant for lunch, and many off the beaten path photography opportunities. At the end of the day we felt comfortable using the train and ferry system. Thanks Peak! You’re awesome.

Excellent introduction to Sydney

Excellent guide Malcolm. Friendly sensible guide with great knowledge of Sidney, its history and that of Australia.