We just happened to come across Hyde Park Barracks whilst walking to Hyde Park in Sydney and decided to have a look around out of curiosity and very glad we did! The tour is done with a mobile device and headphones which detects where you are and gives you the appropriate audio. As a UNESCO World Heritage site, originally built to house convicts, it covers the history of the Barracks, the convicts stories and later as a women's immigration depot and the profound impact on the Aboriginal colonies from colonial expansion. Its very thought provoking and leaves you reflecting on history. Definitely worth a visit, and its free. Everyone should visit here!

Well worth an hour or so. A well balanced representation of the development of Sydney. The audio guide is really good. The last section really brings perspective and links those currently living in NSW with their past. Expresses a real desire not to forget the past but to use it as a platform to move forward together.

A really interesting museum perfectly set out to tell the story of how Sydney was created. The automatically activated headphones tell you everything you need to know just by standing next to stuff so you don’t need to fiddle with pressing buttons like at some places. Doesn’t take too long but you learn an awful lot.

I loved my visit to Hyde Park Barracks. It was a great introduction to Sydney & best of all, free! Advance booking isn’t really needed and it’s easy to spend an hour or two learning about it’s history.

This old barracks is a beautiful building originally built to house convicts sent from Britain in 5he early 1800’s. It now houses a wonderful museum that tells the story of the people who arrived in Australia, their lives and 5heir effects on the local people. An absolutely fascinating two hours of my life. The museum is very interactive and the audio guide works so well. One of the best museums I have ever visited. Don’t miss it if you are in Sydney

We really enjoyed this museum which tells the history of the establishment of colonial Australia from the arrival of the first convicts in the 1800s in a really absorbing way. We came away with our knowledge of this aspect of Australian history transformed by the experience. The advanced audio guide technology, which is free, guides you through the museum and provides automatic audio and text commentary at each point in your journey. Our visit took about 1.5 hours and was a highlight of our visit to Sydney. Excellent - Thoroughly recommended.

First of all this site was a place for prisoners . Second it used to be a British military fortress too. Third it is an upsetting place to visit , but it worth going to . . Lastly, it is charming in a way too.

Wow just wow. This museum is amazing. First of all it’s free and for the quality you get it’s insane. The audio tour did it for us. We really felt that we could follow along the path of a “convict”. It makes you feel humble. You will definitely learn a thing or two. Also good that the indigenous people are included in the whole story.

A quiet enclave, the free self-guided tour provides great insight into the history of Sydney and Australia. Headphones automatically relay stories of the building's waves of inhabitants over the years: convicts and then immigrant women, primarily Irish, as you walk from room to room. Impactful and well done. It brought the residents' stories to life.

Imagine you are sentenced to death for stealing a purse in 1820 and your sentence is commuted to being shipped to an unknown land. Now visit the museum and find out what that was like and what Sydney was like. The superb commentary from the perspective of the convicts brings to life the exhibits, the wonderful scale models and images of the museum. It shines a light on the plight of these men and women. Equally or more important it is.deeply humbling to see what happened to the native Australians at the hand of the colonists. Please take 90 minutes or 2 hours out of your trip to learn this important history and hopefully give everyone resolve to understand others and live in harmony. For the record there is no charge to enter. Do not be fooled by that. This is a first class museum. Thank you.