Rooftop Bars & Ripping Tales Tour
Rooftop bars blend with tall tales on this CBD tour.
Melburnians have always loved drinks with a view – from Australia’s first rooftop bar in 1969 to the rooftop boom following changes to smoking laws in the 2000s.
Following months of extensive research, we selected some of our favourite rooftop bars and combined them with Melbourne’s most interesting alcohol-related tales to create a unique and memorable experience of sky-high Melbourne.
From our booziest Prime Minister to divas taking champagne baths, join us for an unforgettable afternoon.
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Visit 3 Rooftop Bars
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Ripping Stories
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CBD Start & Finish
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2.5-3 Hours
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Small Groups (12ppl)
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$140 Bonus Value
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Tour Inclusions
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Visit 3 Rooftop Bars
Your tour host will handpick three of Melbourne’s best rooftop bars. You’ll have a beer, wine, cocktail, low shelf spirit or soft drink at each venue.
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Unearth Melbourne's Boozy History
You won’t get this kind of history from any other tour: from golden beginnings to divas taking dips in champagne baths, wine prescribing doctors, pistols & pinot and drunken PMs, we uncover the boozy side of Melbourne’s past.
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Unlock the DHT APP
Exclusive for our guests, the DHT App unlocks more of Melbourne’s unique history including content, bar maps and more.
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Bonus Goodies!
More than $140 worth of extras! Naked Wines ($100 off).The Whisky Club (free gift with purchase). Grip6 Wallets ($10 off). Clementine’s (gift with purchase over $50).
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Get Expert Tips
Need some help with other parts of your Melbourne trip? Contact Ben the Boss and he’ll email you back some custom recommendations!
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"Drinking History Tours is a Melbourne gem...get on it."
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"If you find walking tours too sober and pub crawls declassé, this is the walk for you."
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"The perfect combination of history, humour, socialising and, of course, drinking."
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Great tour and super tour gude Bridgette was a super fantastic tour guide.. we loved this tour which was super informative and everything promised in the itinerary. Thanks for a great tourread moreread less
JenJenRubes10/11/24 - Great fun, highly recommend Did this tour with Bridgette on Saturday 2 November. Her knowledge and zest for history made this tour so much fun.
Would highly recommend- was a wonderful day out with friends and being a tourist in my home town.read moreread less Ski48304/11/24 - An interesting tour of laneways, artwork bars, history and people. This tour company gives you what you pay for folks 👌👌 We were running a little late for the start but when we arrived, our tour guide Bridgette and the rest of the people in the tour were very understanding and we set off. Bridgette was very informative on all facets of the tour and kept us informed. The 3 bars that we visited in the tour were all different and very, very interesting. The times we all had a drink, we all got to know each other and from the time we were together, we found some really interesting and nice people to chat with whom we would love to bump into, at other opportunities and times.read moreread less V6088UTjohnw02/11/24
- An entertaining and informative exploration of Melbourne's facsinating laneway history. Terrific walking tour of the tiny laneways and hidden bars of Melbourne's CBD. Our guide, Tom, is a passionate student of history and conveys it in a very entertaining and informative way. One could explore Melbourne's historical landmarks for months but this is a great way to get the abridged version over a few hours. Plus the 3 funky bars we got to check out were places we would have never found without this tour. Thoroughly recommended.read moreread less FNQFoodie01/11/24
- Australian “Scotch is excellent. Vast knowledge of the history of booze and its affect on the early days of the city. Great way to see this history of the city. It was three hours of very interesting. Booze was pretty good also. Did not like last bar that requested tips on drinks. Nowhere else in Australia or New Zealand asked for tips. Will not be going back to that place.read moreread less 328charleym31/10/24
- Exercise and bars - winner This is a great tour the tour guides are top notch. Fab way to experience Melbourne in 3 hours and learn stories and history. Nice to walk around while enjoying 3 bars.read moreread less Debbie C20/10/24
- Bar Hopping Brigette did a fabulous job walking us around and regaling us with lots of snippets of Melbourne's past with alcohol and imbibing. She took us to three great bars and we enjoyed some new cocktails.
We are wondering what tour to do next!read moreread less suzies120/10/24 - Best birthday present idea Lenny was the best tour for our tour. My friend and I did this together and we learned so much and really enjoyed all the fun facts. We have both done a few tours now and Lenny was by far the best one we have had as he also took the time to get to know all the people on the tour as well. 10/10 recommended and would love to do another tour with him!read moreread less Monique S20/10/24
- Hidden Bars and laneway legends revealed. Brigette led our group of 15 (we were a family group of four adults) on the ‘Hidden Bars and Laneway Legends’ tour with lots of energy and great knowledge. We learnt lots about our own city and its alcohol inspired past. Bars were varied, drinks were tasty. A great experience. Highly recommend.read moreread less Nicoff420/10/24
- Top class bar crawl! Michael was a cool guide and a lot of fun plenty of stories and historical anecdotes. We enjoyed three top bars, and a couple of them would never have been found! Recommendread moreread less
Holly L11/12/23
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Our Guarantee
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ONLY GOOD BARS
We only take you to bars we really like (no kickbacks or commissions).
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MONEY BACK GUARANTEE
If you don’t have one, we’ll give you your money back.
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FLEXIBILITY
If you need to cancel 24 hours before your tour, you’ll get a refund or a gift voucher.
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Final Details...
Frequently Asked Questions
Which bars will I get to visit?
We work with more than 6 rooftop bars, and we like to rotate through the bars we visit so no one tour is the same!
Are drinks included?
Depends on the ticket price – we have options for both.
Do you do private versions of this tour?
For sure! You’ll find all the information you need to book a private tour on our private tours page. Our tours are great for birthday parties, corporate events, or just getting together with friends for a fun night out.
Are tours wheelchair accessible?
Yes, with a but. We’ll need you to contact us before you book so we can make sure the bars we select for your tour date are wheelchair friendly
How much walking is involved?
This tour is a gentle 1km of walking. The pace is not designed for elite athletes – a basic level of fitness will do!
How long does a tour last?
This tours lasts ~2.5 hours, all up, although they can go for up to 3 hours if we have delays or if everyone is just having a really great time!
That includes about 1.5 hours of walking (no more than 10mins without stopping) and 1.5 hours of socialising/bar visits.
During that time you’ll visit three of the city’s best bars, with 30-40 minutes at each bar to try some delicious drinks and soak up the atmosphere.
Of course, we finish our tour at the final bar, so you’re welcome to stick around there for as long as you want!
Does the tour include food?
How long do we stay at each bar?
We stay at bars 1 and 2 for about 30mins – enough for one drink. We appreciate that feels like a small amount of time, but if we stayed any long the tour would be too long, and we wouldn’t get to see everything! We finish the tour at our final bar, so you are free to stay on after the tour has finished.
I want to buy a gift card! How does that work?
Sure! So gift cards can be bought on this page, by selecting “Buy Gift Card” instead of “Book Now”.To redeem your gift card, simply return to this page, select “Book Now”, choose your date and enter the Gift Card voucher code at checkout.You can buy gift cards for any tour, but sadly, we can’t sell single value cards (i.e. $100 Gift Card).
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A FULL BELLY
The tour includes a drink at each bar, but not food, so please eat before the tour..
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RAIN, HAIL OR SHINE
The tour departs regardless of what the Thunder God throws at us.
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APPROPRIATE CLOTHING
Take a jumper/jacket or your hat/sunscreen. Wear comfortable footwear (no thongs, but sandals are fine).