Hyde Park: A Story of Lawless Beauty Walking Tour

Since the 1790s, Sydney’s Hyde Park has been a cherished retreat—an oasis where locals and visitors alike can escape the city’s relentless pace, bask in the sunshine, and stroll beneath towering fig trees. By day, it is a place of tranquility and grandeur, home to war memorials, fountains, and gardens that reflect the city’s history.
But when the sun sets, Hyde Park has long been a magnet for Sydney’s underworld—a gathering place for the city’s most notorious and marginalized figures. Beneath the glow of the gaslights and shadows of the Moreton Bay figs, the park has been a stage for larrikins, razor gangsters, sex workers, boys in drag, preachers, polemics, and cold-blooded killers.
Join historian Elliot Lindsay on this captivating walking tour through 200 years of lawlessness and intrigue. Uncover the hidden stories of Hyde Park’s after-dark denizens—from the early convicts and street gangs who ruled its corners to the criminal networks and outcasts who sought refuge beneath its trees. Hear the tales of preachers clashing with radicals, illicit lovers meeting in the dark, and violent crimes that shocked the city.
Hyde Park is not just a park—it is a living, breathing chronicle of Sydney’s darker history. Step into the past and discover its secrets.

It will finish at St James Station (Hyde Park north).