Old Beechworth Gaol

Old Beechworth Gaol

Old Beechworth Gaol
4
Historical & Heritage ToursBike ToursNight Tours
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Monday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Tuesday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Wednesday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Friday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Saturday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Sunday
9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
About
The Old Beechworth Gaol is home to the OBG Cafe, Historic gaol tours, E-Mountain bike hire, Indigo Epic shuttle service, movie nights and venue hire. Historic guided tours run daily at 10am, 11am, 12pm and 1:30pm. During busier periods we run extra tours. So make sure you visit our website to confirm tour times you can either purchase your gaol tour ticket online, hire a E-Mountain bike and go on a backroad Beechworth riding adventure or book a Bike shuttle. Our cafe is open from 9am so grab a coffee and bite to eat while visiting us at the OBG. FYI - The gaol tours usually run for 45min, sorry no pets allowed on the tours. We look forward to seeing you soon ;-)
Beechworth, Victoria, Australia

Awards
Travellers' Choice
2024

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Most Recent: Reviews ordered by most recent publish date in descending order.

Detailed Reviews: Reviews ordered by recency and descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as waiting time, length of visit, general tips, and location information.

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4.0
4.0 of 5 bubbles451 reviews
Excellent
255
Very good
109
Average
42
Poor
28
Terrible
17

Tahlia A
10 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Feb 2022 • Couples
Great, interesting experience. Highly recommend. Glad we did it. Tour ran for about an hour which was a good amount of time. The tour guide we had was fab, good fun and very knowledgeable. Allowed good amount of time for both guide presenting and wandering on your own. My only recommendation would be to get their early and grab your ticket as you can't prebook and they only allow 40 people at a time. We went at 9am when the cafe opened and they allowed us to "put our name down" for tickets for the 11am tour - we went back at 10.45am, she remembered us and it was no problem getting our 4 tickets.
Written 20 February 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Ross F
Wodonga, Australia251 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2020
My wife and I visit Beechworth often but hadn't been on the gaol tour until recently. Perfect timing as we arrived right on 11 am and although we were the only 2 patrons the tour guide Rhianna was happy to take us and gave us the full tour with lots of insights and historical data. It is a very interesting place to see and the guided commentary made it all the better. We enjoyed a coffee and cake afterwards in the cafe (inside and outside seating available) and it is great to see this local landmark coming to life again after many years of closure. Highly recommended.
Written 9 February 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Aussie_2012
Melbourne, Australia962 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2022
We went on an early 45 minute tour and was surprised to learn that the jail was only closed as late as 2004. Even more surprisingly we discovered that the plumbing was installed only in 1994, so it was pretty rough for the prisoners for such a long time. The tour was excellent. Learnt so much about the construction and inmate history in particular about the Kelly family who were infamous in the local region. There's a small cafe near the entrance which always seemed quite popular and the staff were more than happy to answer questions.
Written 8 January 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

kevinpatrickbarker
Chiang Rai Province, Thailand211 contributions
2.0 of 5 bubbles
July 2022 • Couples
Old Beechworth Gaol

Beechworth

not worth the money to listen to a story tellar,

848180308

the guided tour was a waste of time and money .The guide was unless telling only a small part about the history and went on about court cases in the early days . the guide did not tell you enough about the workings of the jail throughout the years . Told a story about a prisoner who was an inmate there and was made the executioner and was paid 5 pounds and told a story about the prisoner wanted to stay there and keep his job. , only 2 pounds short of the governor. The executioner who was a prisoner in Melbourne was brought up by train , his name was michael Gately who only perform one hanging .There was only 8 hangings in beechworth jail, including one female

He did not talk about the food that was given to the prisoners
Written 17 July 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

CDTaylor80
Melbourne, Australia365 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Mar 2024 • Couples
I recently had an incredible experience at the Old Beechworth jail. Our tour guide, old mate Santa, was not only knowledgeable but also very enthusiastic about the history of this well preserved old prison. The tour was fascinating, we got to explore the various sections of the jail and learn about the stories of the prisoners who once called it home. From the original cells to the displays of historical artifacts, everything was well presented. Old mate Santa's storytelling skills were amazing. He had a way of bringing the history of the jail to life, making it engaging and captivating for everyone in the group. I highly recommend visiting the old Beechworth jail if you have an interest in history and enjoy exploring unique historical sites.
Written 18 March 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Skeney57
Sydney, Australia24,991 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2022
What was a forbidding place till only recently is now a great experience for all to have. The site is used by several ventures and post Covid seem to be going well. It was strange to come upon an Airstream Caravan operating as a cafe in the forecourt. Good coffee though! Bookings appear to be only online & you can only enter the gaol proper via tour. The tour was good value at senior rates and certainly ticked all the boxes with friendly guides & interesting stories.
Written 28 November 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Shanz80
194 contributions
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Jan 2024 • Family
We love a good prison tour and Beechworth came highly recommended both in person and by reviews.

The Gaol itself is fascinating to see and wander through, however the tour itself is very very basic and more of a generic prison tour, consisting of very basic and generic information.

We were expecting it to be much more history informative, linking stories of those before us and especially The Kelly Gang; unfortunately it was more along the lines of what they ate, their daily routines, info regarding the cost of the build along with the cost of plumbing and dates of closure and possible government corruption within the walls

Nothing was confirmed historically regarding any inmates, everything was heresy; for example;

- “ one prisoner must have been very upset when they banned tennis, you can see this and we know this because the racquet is on the roof!”

- a mural on the outside wall was painted by an inmate, but we don’t know much about him or why there was what we believe to be an American inmate painted as well; ensue terrible American accent as to why they believe he was painted!

Like I said, we absolutely love a prison tour, not only for the historical side but to be in the actual presence of history and to hear confirmed factual information.

$77 for a family to here generic information that could literally be any jail, was a little disappointing
Written 11 January 2024
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

lilfishd
London, UK1 contribution
3.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2022
Great tour and entertaining guide . Unfortunately the only way to purchase tickets is online . Not everybody has access to the internet . Also not everybody is keen to make payments via the internet. The day of our tour a family of 5 wanted to join the tour . Was too difficult for them to do online and they subsequently didn’t attend . Loss of income for the Gaol . The cafe next to the entrance of the jail would be an ideal place to buy tickets .
It is also a shame the cafe closes at 2pm , just as the tour ends . Would have loved a coffee .
I passed on my thoughts to the Tourist Information centre . Apparently out of their control but have had several complaints about the Ticketing.
Written 9 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Duncan B
Melbourne, Australia25 contributions
5.0 of 5 bubbles
Nov 2020
The guided tour of the gaol was particularly interesting. All areas were included, with a good amount of time allowed in each section to look around. Our tour guide was most knowledgeable and informative, which made the tour so much better. Minimising questions during the tour, but allowing those who wanted extra information to remain behind at the end was a very good strategy. A most interesting part of Victoria's history.
Written 11 December 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

Sharlsandco
Melbourne, Australia164 contributions
4.0 of 5 bubbles
Apr 2021
Tour guide was very knowledgeable and her information about the gaol was interesting covering the historical, and more recent aspects of prison life. The guide allowed plenty of time to explore, and ensured everyone had time to look at what they wanted. Reasonably priced. 2nd level was off limits (worksafe Vic has an issue with the stairs apparently. although they will allow people to walk around the old asylum), which was disappointing.
Written 14 June 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.

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