Sydney Razorhurst True Crime Walking Tour

In the 1920s, Sydney was the crime capital of the world — a city ruled not by gangsters in suits, but by razor-wielding women. This walking tour takes you through Razorhurst, where cocaine queens, brothel madams, and corrupt cops built bloody empires. Meet Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh, and Nellie Cameron — the real-life crime bosses who made Sydney more dangerous than Chicago. If you love true crime, scandal, and stories too wild for the history books, this tour is unmissable.

Meeting Point

126 Elizabeth St

126 Elizabeth St, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia

Please meet at the Anzac War Memorial in Hyde Park South (Elizabeth Street side). Your guide will be wearing a grey “Bloody Interesting Tours” jacket and cap. Please arrive 10 minutes early. Look for us near the front steps of the memorial.

What's included:

• Exclusive insights you won’t find on plaques, in guidebooks, or other tours
• True crime tales from Sydney’s 1920s–30s underworld
• Guided walking tour led by a professional storyteller

What to expect:

Duration: 2 hours, 30 minutes

Anzac Memorial

Hyde Park South, , Sydney, 2000, New South Wales

We begin at Hyde Park — once sacred Gadigal land, later a colonial parade ground, and now home to a bold monument of grief and power. The Anzac Memorial’s striking art deco design reflects a city grappling with loss, identity, and control.
By the 1920s, those same tensions exploded. Sydney shifted from solemn remembrance to chaos, becoming the crime capital of the Commonwealth. The streets around us turned from marches to mayhem — and the Razor Wars were just beginning.

15 minutes

Francis Street

Francis St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

Norman Bruhn came up from Melbourne in 1926 — a career criminal with a bad temper, a sawed-off shotgun, and plans to take over Sydney’s booming vice scene. He wasn’t just challenging men — he was challenging the razor queens already running the show: Tilly Devine, Kate Leigh, and their armies of girls, grog-runners, and crooked cops.
Bruhn set up just steps from here. Less than a year later, he was ambushed and shot dead on this very street — a violent end that didn’t kill the chaos, but ignited it. His death marked the true beginning of the Razor Wars — Sydney’s bloodiest chapter.

15 minutes

Riley Street

Riley St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

In the late 1920s, Riley Street was the power base of Kate Leigh, Sydney’s most formidable sly grog queen. Operating from her home at 104 Riley Street, she built an empire of illegal pubs and cocaine supply. Just a few blocks away, Tilly Devine ran her brothels. The city wasn’t big enough for both — and as their empires collided, Sydney descended into the chaos of the Razor Wars.

15 minutes

The Strand Hotel

99 William St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

This William Street pub became one of the most infamous landmarks of Sydney’s Razor Wars. It was the scene of a fatal shooting, a near miss, and whispered threats over whisky. Frank Green, Barney Dalton, Nellie Cameron — their stories all passed through these doors.

15 minutes

Woods Lane

Woods Ln, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

For years, these laneways were the beating heart of Tilly Devine’s brothel empire. Her girls worked the terraces, protected by razor gangs and bribes. It was here, in the shadows of Chapel Street, that deals were made, rivals were slashed, and Sydney’s sex trade turned bloody during the Razor Wars.

15 minutes

East Village Hotel Sydney

234 Palmer St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

Once known as the Tradesman’s Arms, this pub was a notorious Razorhurst watering hole. Gangsters, brothel madams, and crooked cops drank here — often at the same table. Deals were made, threats exchanged, and more than one punch-up started right at this bar.

15 minutes

Eternity Playhouse

39 Burton St, Sydney, 2010, New South Wales

Once the Burton Street Tabernacle, this site was where Arthur Stace heard the sermon that inspired his famous one-word graffiti: “Eternity.” From a house of worship to a theatre of stories, this corner has echoed with conviction, redemption, and a touch of the divine ever since.

10 minutes

Darlinghurst Goal ( now National Art School)

Forbes St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

Behind these stone walls, Sydney’s most notorious criminals were locked up — and some never left. In 1889, Louisa Collins became the last woman hanged in NSW after four trials for poisoning her husbands. Her execution sparked outrage — and marked the beginning of the end for public hangings.

15 minutes

Kinselas Hotel

383 Bourke St, Darlinghurst NSW 2010, Australia

Once a funeral home, Kinselas has seen its share of drama — long before it became a Darlinghurst icon. Rumour has it Tilly Devine’s rivals were laid out here. Today, it stands on the bones of Razorhurst, reborn as a bar, a stage, and a celebration of the city’s rebellious past.

15 minutes