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 afternoon out in the beautiful city of Melbourne Bridgette was very fun and full of information. Friendly and we had a great afternoon exploring the city.
One of my favourite things to do is explore the city, even better with a friendly guide.read moreread less
Rachel W15/04/24 - Great tour, fantastic guide We did this on our first day in Melbourne and it was a great way to get a sense of the central city, the history.. and have a cheeky drink or two on the way.
Our guide was awesome, her knowledge far wider than the history of Melbourne. She pointed us to the best place to buy F1 supporter gear and confirmed some good restaurant options as well!
Thank youread moreread less 
Pebblesy1726/03/24 - Would certainly recommend it to visitors and locals Great tour. Our guide Bridget was so informative about the history. Great bars, some jaw dropping great evening . Of course some great drinksread moreread less
Mary O23/03/24 - Highly recommend this tour! Thank you Bridgette! Our tour guide was Bridgette. She was very knowledgeable and passionate (and very qualified for the job). We loved each of the bars we went to and the history on the way to each was fantastic. Bridgette also gave us heaps of recommendations for other bars, food and places to go during our stay in Melbourne. We would highly recommend this tour! Thanks for having us!read moreread less
583izzyc21/03/24 - Informative with a dash of humour, and a pint of beer. This tour was fantastic. Lenny had so many stories, delivered in an informative and interesting way, with a dash of humour. It really opened Melbourne up for me. The pub stops really brought the group together.I would definitely recommend.read moreread less
cathjb202419/03/24 - Helps form a rolodex of convo starters and sweet meeting spots. Love getting the quirks and features of things and now I know some of Melbourne's! Great hearing things from someone at PhD level interest in history.read moreread less
sentient r18/03/24 - Great even for locals We loved this. I've lived in Melbourne all of my life but didn't know 95% of what we covered. Lenny was a great guide, very easy to talk to.read moreread less
Travel4874607349317/03/24 - Great fun! The bars we went to were great and the drinks we sampled were excellent. Lenny was a fantastic guide: personable, knowledgeable and fun. We did the tour on an extremely hot day, but that did not impact the fun that we had.read moreread less
JulianMelbourne31213/03/24 - Exploring Melbourne's Creepy History with Brigette Absolutely thrilled to explore Melbourne's enchanting streets and laneways with Brigette! ️ the Venetian voyager. Her tales, a captivating blend of interesting, weird, and downright macabre, added a unique flavor to the city's rich history. The hidden bars were a surprise, making the afternoon a perfect mix of history and hidden gems. Big thanks to Brigette for turning a stroll into a memorable adventure! #MelbourneCreepyTales#HiddenBars #WalkingTourWonderread moreread less
215jenm11/03/24 - 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).