Only $30 to go on Ararat's two most popular Day Tours. Visit J Ward Lunatic Asylum, the home of the criminally insane on a 2 hour guided tour in the morning. In the afternoon join a 2 hour guided tour of Aradale Asylum.

Tours are operated by Friends of J Ward.

10am J Ward Day Tour

Meet at J Ward, Girdlestone Street, Ararat 3377  *2.5 hour drive from Melbourne

Take a guided tour explaining the early history of the goldfield times and later, the incarceration of the criminally insane.

J Ward is the premier tourist venue in the Victorian town of Ararat, visited by more than 10,000 people annually (greater than Ararat's population).

Relive its past by taking a guided tour conducted by the Friends of J Ward volunteers. These people are passionate about J Ward's heritage. J Ward is not just dry history. Our volunteers tell its story of people who lived, who broke the law, who couldn't help themselves, who feared, who died.

A normal tour will take 1-1.5 hours. Most of our guides will spend much longer than this with anybody who wants to hear more stories or who has questions to ask. It should be noted that the guides do not have access to records or have knowledge of former patients or medical procedures.

Due to limited availability of the volunteer staff admission may not be possible after the tour has started.

Light refreshments are available.

J Ward is an historic building and as such might appear to be unwelcoming to mobility impaired visitors. We have had many wheelchair conveyed groups successfully tour J Ward. If booking for a group with movement difficulties please inform us at the time of booking.

Entry can be arranged for wheel chairs at any time. A tour normally involves limited stair climbing but it can easily be avoided.

Approximate Duration: 1.5 hours 

Venue: Mainly Indoors 

Terrain: Moderate walking, some steps

2pm Aradale Asylum Day Tour

Meet at Aradale Asylum, Grano Street Entrance, Ararat

Take a guided tour of the institution that housed Victoria's mentally ill for over 140 years. Aradale Asylum was an Australian psychiatric hospital, located in Ararat, a rural city in Victoria, Australia.

Now a ghost "town", Aradale was once known as the Ararat Lunatic Asylum. Aradale and its two sister asylums at Kew and Beechworth were commissioned to accommodate the growing number of "lunatics" in the colony of Victoria. Construction began in 1860 and was opened for patients in 1865. It was closed as an asylum in 1998. At its height, Aradale had up to 900 patients yearly and is a large complex with up to 70 interesting historic abandoned buildings.

• Walk through the cavernous wards and halls of the institution that treated and housed the mentally ill of Victoria for over 140 years.
• Tours each Sunday and Wednesday, 11am and 2pm, 90-120 minutes duration
• Group bookings can be arranged for other times.
• Limited to 25 people per group

F.A.Q.

• Tours are conducted by the Friends of J Ward volunteers
• Age limits – parental discretion advised
• Accessibility – stairs, no wheelchairs
• Toilets – available during the tour
• Photos – yes
• Participants will gain a greater understanding of the history of Victorian Mental Health System.

Approximate Duration: 2 hours 

Venue: Indoors  and Outdoors

Terrain: Moderate walking, some steps

No refunds. Change of date permitted with a minimum of 48 hours notice  BEFORE your scheduled experience for a fee of $5 per order. New date must be chosen at time of reschedule. Non-attendance and late cancellation voids your order.

*Photos by Cindy Lever