Hyde Park Barracks

There is 4.5 of 5 because the listening guide experience still has improvement space. All of the item introduction only comes from listening guide. It means that there aren’t any “words” in the museum! Initially, I wasn’t used to the listening audio introduction. After a while, I found it made me immerse in the history as if I was going back to 19th. I spent about one and a half hours to finish my watching and I was learning a lot of history about Australia. Furthermore, the building still reserved the original equipments which let me know what environment they were living. However, there was a quite embarrassing while I was moving in the building. Sometimes, the audio guide was changing frequently just because I wasn’t in the correct position and I didn’t know how to replay it manually. In addition, in my opinion, I think if there are some word information, which is describing the items history or backgrounds, is suitable for tourists who prefer to read. All in all, I think the museum is beautiful and they provide different languages of audio guide. It is a worthwhile place to visit and you don’t need to pay entrance fee.
Kumo K - a month ago

Hyde Park Barracks Heritage Museum. Another UNESCO site! Incredible miniature dioramas that provided context to the rich stories being told on awesome technology. IPods and headphones automatically synced to your location) and made it an immersive experience (just like entrance, the are free and available in many languages). Completely changed my perspective on the history of Australia. Cannot recommend this more highly. A trip to Sydney without devoting 90 minutes to this site would be an EPIC FAIL!
Alan Bryant - 4 weeks ago

Nice modern museum and free entry. There was interesting diorama displays of life during convict times, life looked tough! There were objects, murals and nicely restored buildings. There was not many written displays as the museum is mostly via audio headphones. It would be great for older kids and adults.
Alice Moon-Star - 4 months ago

Free entry and would definitely recommend picking up the free audio guide as you enter, not many of the displays have written information and you would be a bit lost without the audio guide. Great information about the history of the Barracks and what life was like for the convicts, and later on the immigrants and asylum patients, who lived here. Recommend giving yourself about an hour to cover all three floors of the building
Grace Wright - 2 months ago

Free to enter. Tour by audio guide which works off GPS so no need to press any buttons on the headset. At times, there were pauses as the GPS caught up with where I was but, generally, it worked well. I am not the biggest fan of audio guides but enjoyed this one. The tour and history of the building were really interesting and informative. I only visited because I was in the vicinity with time to spare but am glad I did. Friendly volunteers. Shop. Toilets.
Lyndsey - a month ago