Gray Line Melbourne is an Australian family owned company offering sightseeing day tours in Melbourne and Regional Victoria. Operated by the Driver family, we strive to provide professional and engaging day tours taking in the best sights and attractions. Driver Group Australia owns and operates a fleet of over 140 vehicles with around 200 employees.
Driver Group Australia commenced with the operation of two buses on a route service in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs in 1931. During the seventies and eighties an operational relationship was forged with Ansett Pioneer, Australia’s leading tour and sightseeing operator at the time. This lead to the Driver family’s acquisition of Pioneer’s Melbourne day tour business in 1989. In 1991, Pioneer Tours Melbourne was accepted as a member of Gray Line Worldwide Sightseeing as Gray Line Melbourne. Other locations we introduced to the world of Gray Line include Sydney, Tasmania, Perth, Cairns, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Contact details for these locations can be found here
“Find a reason to go” and Gray Line will give you an experience that will capture your imagination and adventurous spirit!
It all began with a tenacious yet simple vision which we still hold onto over 700 locations and 100 years later.
In March 1910, a young restaurateur by the name of Louis Bush refurbished an old Mack Truck chassis, added a bus body, painted it blue and gray and began offering sightseeing tours around the city of Washington, D.C. Little did he know, his earnest endeavors would help establish the world's leading sightseeing tour company, known today as Gray Line.
By 1926, Gray Line had expanded to other booming cities including New York, Chicago, Detroit, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Francisco, as well as internationally to Toronto and Havana. With peacetime following World War II, Harry J. Dooley, a former Gray Line employee, acquired Gray Line Chicago and helped re-establish Gray Line in that location. Dooley soon became president of Gray Line and is today considered the father of the sightseeing industry.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done? These four friends traveled across six continents in 21 days to experience the world with Gray Line.
With the advent of jet travel and increased gateways in the late 40's and early 50's, Dooley expanded Gray Line's market throughout the United States and established Gray Line companies in Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and in 1963, Australia. The sudden popularity and growth of motorcoach sightseeing helped position Gray Line as the leader in the sightseeing industry for decades to follow.
2010 marked a major milestone in the history of travel, as Gray Line celebrated its 100th year of providing the best in sightseeing tours across the globe. Today, with over 100 years of experience, we're more dedicated than ever to helping you explore the world, one experience at a time. Some things really do get better with age.
Service – second to none… attentive, professional and helpful from the point of booking to the end of your tour. Our sole purpose is to give you a tour that you will enjoy, learn something about Australia and fondly remember.
Standards – it all comes together with our driver/guides, tour dispatch staff, reservations staff, brochures and web sites, premium coaches, the attractions we visit, behind the scenes support and the quality of the tour itself. Gray Line Melbourne strives to attain global standards of excellence in all areas of sightseeing to ensure your experience with us is to your complete satisfaction…and also a lot fun!
Family - Gray Line Melbourne is owned and operated by the Driver family with the second and third generations active in the business. We own and operate our fleet of over 140 vehicles from family owned facilities including our bus workshops and body shop, bus yard and administration buildings.
Recognition – Gray Line Melbourne has won many awards but none more significant than the award presented by Gray Line Worldwide CEO Brad Weber at Gray Line's 100th anniversary celebration in New York. Gray Line Melbourne along with Gray Line New York and Gray Line Alaska, were honoured with the 100 years of Innovation award. ”This award is at the pinnacle of all great honours in our industry. It recognizes the three companies that have most positively impacted Gray Line history. They are considered the best of the best. Considering we’ve been in business for over a century, this award is unparalleled" said Brad Weber.
We love to chat so whether you’ve got a question to ask, would like to make a booking, want to let us know how great your Gray Line experience was or to tell us that we could have done better….we’d love to hear from you.
You can choose from any of the traditional or new contact options below:
• Email us via our Melbourne Contact Us page
• Call our Melbourne team from within Australia 1300 85 86 87 or from a land beyond - +61 3 9538 6676
• Live Chat with us (when we’re not at home asleep)
• Social Media – take your pick:
