Aradale Day Tours

I've never been anywhere like it. A thorough tour of a fascinating place. A hidden gem

Absolutely fantastic day history tour! Our tour guide was Graeme and he was fantastic, so informative and got to see so much of the grounds and buildings

Very enjoyable, great vast storylines of history and acknowledgement of the prime architecture. Some stories are facinating and some are fairly Grim with a dark past, but don't let that get to you, a good 2hr tour. They cover 85% of the grounds and buildings.

Great tour from the friends of J Ward. It's a pity the place is rotting away due to roof leaks.

A very nice and sometimes eerie and creepy experience led by great volunteer tour guides who told some interesting stories about the place and it's patients. Definitely a go-to place when visiting Ararat

Awesome tour. Hope the place either remains untouched or restored and preserved. Well worth a visit

Very interesting history of Mental health patient care. Amazing buildings and some very sad stories. Unfortunately many buildings are in disrepair and under review for future work. Grateful to the volunteers for their time to show us history.

Hosted by charming and insightful volunteer guides. So much history and personal stories. If you're in the area, highly recommended.

Aradale ghost tour was amazing. Raven, our tour guide made the tour both interesting and eerie. We can't wait to do the 6 hour paranormal tour.

Such an amazing tour, I definitely recommend doing it and making a weekend of it in Ararat! J Ward tour guide Alex had many great stories to tell us along the tour, my entire family loved every second!

What a tour
You can't do Ararat without the tour of the Aradale site. There is so much history here, and so raw and unblemished, the sense of sadness and desperation still lingers in much of the hallways.
The your guide was a "friend of J Ward" not a "friend of Aradale" and I felt that his storytelling was a little bit lacking. We could read from the same book he did at our own pace, but it was interesting. He was very political in his comments about Melbourne Polytechnic, and how that should be doing more than they are to preserve the place, and that is very sad that the workers from the prison are mostly out of towners and how these things contribute to a decline in Ararat as a township. That was a bit of a drag.
Also, it was about 33deg and sunny, with about 93% humidity. Outside was okay, but he could have "read the room" a bit and shortened some of the time we were inside. One poor woman almost collapsed.

That aside, please do visit this place, and but some of the merch (we got a couple of books, and they're awesome)

Great insight into what happened with people who were classed as insane etc.
Pity the authorities who govern this location don't invest money into the restoration of this historic property

Loved it Mags got the chills, l had my sciatica tell me 4 hours on my feet was enough Gruesome history of mans inhumanity to man. Needs retelling

Did an extended ghost tour at night. Was creepy as all hell. Guide wasn't great but the place itself is worth visiting

Great 4 hr tour, a chilly look into the past. Tour guide had great insights and history to share.

Very friendly and knowledgeable guides, an interesting peak into life in the past, both near and far, for those living with MH issues

An absolute must-do while you’re in Ararat. The tour offers a really fascinating look into the history of Australia’s mental healthcare system. The grounds and the buildings are absolutely beautiful.

Wasn't what I expected, not scary just very interesting stories of the past. Creepy some parts but maybe coz it was dark

I strongly recommend this fascinating tour that entertained and surreptitiously educated my 10-year-old for two hours.

Awesome, highly recommended the night tours, Lithium is a fantastic tour guide! Will definitely be back.