Meet your guide at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music for your behind-the-scenes tour of this Sydney icon, and enjoy exclusive access to areas previously off-limits to visitors.

One of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia, the Gothic-style Sydney Conservatorium of Music sits next to the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens and is the city’s only castle. Walk through the building with your expert guide to see 12 locations that illustrate 200 years of Australian history. Uncover remnants of the earliest colonial settlement, including a sandstone cistern and drains laid by convict work crews. View arches and turrets along with other original features of the government horse stables, which was the original purpose of the building when it was commissioned from a convict architect in 1815.

One hundred years later, the New South Wales government closed the stables and remodeled the building to create the conservatory. Your guide shows you the maze of teaching studios, practice rooms, performance halls and the largest music library in the southern hemisphere, all of which lie underneath the Sydney Royal Botanic Gardens.

From aboriginal land to international music school, the Sydney Conservatorium of Music embodies the sweep of Australian history. It also represents a Sydney musical icon that existed long before the Sydney Opera House opened in the 1970s.

Have a choice of four time slots for your booking and enjoy a complimentary short musical performance in the conservatory before or after your tour.