Sydney's spookiest haunted sites & ghost tours

Q Station, Manly  

Q Station may sit pretty within a protected swathe of land on the city’s North Head, near Manly. But its buildings – the city’s former quarantine station – have seen their fair share of ghoulish action over the decades.  

The hotel embraces its history, and in addition to offering boutique accommodation, it runs after-dark ghost tours that reveal the paranormal occurrences entwined with the site’s 150-year heritage. Tread in the path of haunted souls while visiting the burial grounds, historic buildings and eerily empty pathways, your guide entertaining with tales of ghosts and paranormal occurrences. Then bed down in one of the rooms… if you dare.  

Cockatoo Island, Sydney Harbour 

Want to experience the darker side of Sydney? You’ve come to the right place. In the middle of Sydney Harbour, Cockatoo Island is a former convict prison and dockyard, and has a history of paranormal occurrences that stretches back more than a century. You’ll hear all about the reported ghost sightings and spine-tingling ‘felt’ experiences on the official Ghost Tour – it’s so spooky, it’s for those over 18 only.  

Wielding a K-II EMF reader and a pendulum (devices used in paranormal detection), your guide will test your mettle with hair-raising paranormal tales and macabre stories, including grisly murders, botched prison escapes and episodes of gang violence. 

Lantern Ghost Tours, The Rocks 

Sydney’s most historic colonial neighbourhood, The Rocks is full of stories of Australia’s past. It may look pretty today, but look (and listen) closely and you’ll discover a darker side to the city, with whispered tales of paranormal activity that have lingered for generations. 

Venture back to historic Sydney. A time when prisoners were the law, public executions were commonplace and the Rocks Push ruled the street. Discover slums overrun with mass burial pits, sly grog haunts, opium dens and ghosts searching for their loved ones and revenge on those who crossed them. 

The Rocks Ghost Tours, The Rocks 

Experience the darker side of The Rocks, one of the most haunted pockets of Sydney – if not Australia. On this walking tour you’ll discover the stories behind the country’s first European settlement, visiting well-known landmarks as well as normally inaccessible areas that hold some of Sydney’s most macabre stories.  

Guides know their stuff (they are researchers and historians), and add in a touch of theatrics to make your experience all the more spooky.  

Ghostly Garden Tours at the Royal Botanic Garden, Sydney CBD 

Take a twilight adventure through Sydney’s Royal Botanic Garden during this spine-tingling storytelling event. There aren’t many opportunities to visit the Garden after hours – this is one. Journey along shadowy tree-lined paths, creep past gloomy ponds and tiptoe through eerie grottos. 

Hear spooky and kooky stories of the Garden's past – tales of people long-since dead – as bats flit above your head and night creatures stare from the treetops. BYO torch… and sense of adventure.  

Sydney Investigation Ghost Hunt Tours, Campbelltown 

Are you ready for an exciting spooky adventure in Sydney’s southwest suburb of Campbelltown? Take a deep dive into the history of one of the region’s most haunted buildings (the Town Hall Theatre), your guides wielding paranormal equipment to test the vibrations of your situation. This excursion is so haunting it is reserved for those over 18 years of age only.   

Fisher's Ghost Explorer Tour, Campbelltown 

This driving tour also takes you on a tour of Campbelltown’s colourful history, and will have you uncovering the stories behind one of Australia's most famous supernatural residents – Fisher’s Ghost. Discover some of the region’s early colonial buildings, hear tales of Frederick Fisher, and revel in colonial scandals as you tour through Campbelltown, Leumeah and Menangle. 

Parramatta Gaol Ghost Hunt, Paramatta 

If you’re looking for a night of terrifying ghost hunting, then the desolate Parramatta Gaol (a former House of Correction) is the location that you’ve been searching for. With almost 200 years of history, this grim prison is one of the oldest surviving jails in the country. Safe to say, it has a few stories to tell.  

There have been many reports of ghostly figures sighted at this imposing location, as you’ll discover on a guided tour that reveals some of the region’s most infamous characters.   

Ghost Tour at Old Government House, Parramatta 

BYO torch to learn the unusual happenings in this convict-built house in Parramatta (the oldest inland settlement in Australia, founded in 1788), home to the first 10 governors of New South Wales. 

This is the ultimate way to not only gain insights into the country’s colonial history, but also explore the dark nooks of this World Heritage-listed property. History comes alive… whether you like it or not!