All About the Locals
Local Way started it’s days right here Melbourne and has grown to become a widely respected and well-reputed tour operator within
the Australian tourism scene. Providing authentic, immersive and memorable tours of Melbourne and its surrounding regions.
Our Team
Our Guides are what make our tours!
Handpicked for the individual talents and stories they bring with them, each one of our guides shares a passion for showcasing their beautiful backyards, and a genuine love for engaging with, and entertaining our travellers.
Our History
We’re proud of our roots as a multi-generational family business. While we’ve grown over the years, we’ve never lost the passion, personal touch, and genuine care that started it all.
It runs in the blood…
It would be hard to talk about Local Way without mentioning the family behind the creation. Both Ray’s Mother and Uncle have been passionately involved in the tourism industry for decades. His Mother, Joanne, starting her own tour business in 2008, operating tours all over Australia. And Gavin, his Uncle (Joanne’s brother), being a highly regarded coach-tour driver for over 20 years, driving tours through some of the most beautiful and remote locations Australia has to offer.
The Local Way story holds at its heart the Tour Local story – and its hard to talk about one without talking about the other.
Tour Local was the dream of both Joanne and Gavin – one they had heald since their early days in Australia, and even their days on the coaches in New Zealand.
It became a dream realised; and when Ray joined the business in 2015, the three shared an unbreakbale bond and love for touring; journeying across Australia, and creating life-changing moments as they went.
Sadly, we lost Gavin to MND (Motor Neurone Disease) in 2021. Now when we tour, no matter where we are throughout this wide brown land, we know that he is down the road with us – enjoying the freedom that touring brings.
Finding my passion…
Growing up, I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but I loved traveling. No matter how far I went, I always felt called back to Melbourne, my home. After a year in Sweden in 2015, I returned jobless and unsure of my next step. I reached out to my mother, who owns Tour Local, for a temporary gig—10 years later, here we are!
I think touring was in my blood!
Working with Tour Local, I traveled across Australia, learning the ropes and refining my passion for the industry. This experience led me to create Local Way Tours, where my handpicked local guides and I showcase the best of Melbourne and Victoria, offering a local’s insight into why these places are so special. The lessons I learned at Tour Local are now at the heart of Local Way.
- 1. It’s the people who make the tour—from the engaging guide to the locals you meet along the way, and the fellow travelers by your side.
A memory shared, is one remembered. - 2. The best spots aren’t always in the guidebook. That’s why we focus on off-the-beaten-path locations, the truly local experiences, the ones that cant be mass-produced.
- 3. You never know which moment will become a lifelong memory—often, it’s the simplest ones that stay with us forever. ‘And its normally these moments that literally change our lives for the better – creating real transformational experiences.
The Local’s Way…
We didnt want Local Way to just be another tour operator on the scene, driving the long drive to the 12 Apostles or the Penguin Parade – there were already enough jam packed buses doing this.
We wanted to offer a difference.
Don’t get us wrong, we love the 12 Apostles and the Penguin Parade – but there is so much to see along the way; so much that makes Victoria such a truly special place to be!
We wanted to stop in at wineries and sample some of Victoria’s finest; we wanted to visit eco-friendly wildlife parks, where the owners are as passionate as we are; we wanted to take our travellers to the places that you don’t read about in the guide books.
And we wanted to do it all with authentic small-groups on board our buses. Meaning that we aren’t trying to fill every seat, and that our travellers are actually able to relax and enjoy themselves on the long journey.
We wanted to create memorable and transformational experiences, whilst touring with a social and sustainable conscious – and this is what we are doing!
