WHO ARE RUNAWAY TOURS?
SYDNEY PRIVATE TOURS SPECIALISTS!
Runaway Tours is a dynamic local family owned and operated Australian business with over 25 years in the tourism industry. Since 2006, with our pool of over 20 English speaking and foreign language guides, luxury vehicles and vast tourism experience, we have become Sydney Private Tours specialists.
The owners are husband and wife, dynamic duo, Steve Arnerich, originally from New Zealand, and Mandy Stewart, originally from Tasmania. Steve, our Operations Manager, cut his teeth on 3 day camping trips to the Blue Mountains way back in 1996 and has been leading tour groups there for nearly 30 years. He now has a rich knowledge of the Sydney Tourism industry and a wealth of customer focused expertise and can answer all of your questions and help you find the best of our Sydney Private Tours to suit your occasion.
Mandy provides a custom consultancy service for our clients and will help you plan exactly the tour you want. She runs the engine room of the business and, as Tours Manager, will handle all of your enquiries with the speed and efficiency of a fighter jet!
WHY CHOOSE US?
Runaway Tours are very happy to work with you to get the personalised experience you want. From first contact to final drop off, we are focused on providing you with expert advice and professional guides, to ensure that you get the very best experience while visiting Sydney.
It is important to us that you have an enjoyable and rewarding time on our tours. We love Sydney and the surrounding region is a beautiful and exciting part of the world. We are excited to show it off to our national and international visitors!
We can also provide a specialised service for our foreign language visitors that makes us stand out from the rest. Runaway Tours has over 20 local guides who speak English, Italian, German, Polish, Korean, Chinese, Mandarin and more.
MEET OUR FLEET
“SYLVIE” or “FRANKIE”
For our small groups we use “Sylvie” or “Frankie”, our 2 luxury VW Caravelles. With seating for up to 8 passengers, you will travel in comfort on custom leather seats and be protected from the Australian sun with tinted windows and air conditioning.
“MIA”
For our small groups of 2 or 3 people, we use “Mia”, our luxury fitted SUV Kia Sorento Sports Plus. With all leather interior and superb comfort, you will tour in style in our newest vehicle to the fleet. With a third row of seats, this is perfect for families, or they fold down to provide ample luggage storage for your Airport or Cruise Port pickup.
“RENEE”
For slightly larger groups, or for extra luggage space, we use “Renee” our Renault Master Bus. With seating for up to 11 people, you can relax on reclining seats and enjoy the convenience of personal USB ports and curtains to keep the hot Aussie sun out. With all the mod cons this is taking the mini bus to a whole new level!
For midsize groups we use deluxe midi buses with 24 or 28 seats. We can also cater to large groups with luxury 5 star coaches.
MEET SOME OF OUR TEAM
Runaway Tours specialist tour guides ensure that your Sydney Private Tours are an enjoyable, relaxing and fun experience. Take a minute to meet some of our specialist tour guides:
GLENN
English speaking guide
Born and raised in Essex, England, Glenn is an English aficionado and, despite his birthplace, a true English gent!
Started in Sydney tourism in 2011 and ran his own one-man-band tour company for 7 years.
Glenn has travelled to over 50 countries on all continents (except Antarctica, but it’s on the bucket list). He spent 6 years working as an English language teacher in Asia before settling in Sydney.
His academic studies in England and Australia include criminal justice, international development and history – all disciplines intrinsic to Sydney and its convict past.
Despite growing up in a country notorious for bad food, Glenn is a serious food and wine (and beer) fan and looks forward to pursuing this interest with more vigour once his mortgage is paid off. Circa 2057.
High profile clients in Australia include CEO’s, world-class international Actors, Musicians and Artists.
Specialties
Sydney, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, South Coast, Southern Highlands
JEN
English speaking guide
Born and bred Australian – descendant from a First Fleet mariner and a Second Fleet convict.
Working in Tourism since 2014
Loves Sydney and thinks it is “The Bees Knees”
High Profile clients include: Judy Davis, Rachel Perkins, Dick Smith, Aaron Pederson.
Jen has been involved in hospitality since birth, coming from a line of publicans in South Australia. She knows her way around wine, having spent time in the wine regions of the Barossa Valley, Clare Valley and Adelaide Hills regions and their award winning wineries.
Jen became involved with tourism because of her love of history and learning. She considers Australians very lucky to have a relatively short European history, and so have a unique documentation of our society from day one. She feels this allows us to put human faces on our historical figures.
Jen also spent 7 months living in the Purnululu National Park as a Tour Guide in 2017. She took tours to the Bungle Bungles in the remote Kimberley region of Western Australia and trained indigenous guides. She has gained a keen insight into the culture and history of the Aboriginal people, the traditional owners in both urban and regional areas.
Jen is also a Western Australian tourism award winner for a tour she designed and implemented.
Specialties
Blue Mountains, Sydney City Sights
BETTINA
English, German, Dutch speaking guide
Born in Germany, Bettina spent 3 years in Dublin before heading to the Netherlands and received a tourism diploma. With a love for travel, she travelled the world looking for the whitest beach in the Seychelles, diving in Turks and Caicos, going on safari in Zimbabwe and looking for that Triangle in Bermuda!
Bettina moved to Australia in 2005 and completed a Masters in Tourism Management and began guiding in 2013. She loved it so much, she also teaches Travel/Tourism and was awarded Best Travel and Tourism Trainer in 2023.
Bettina says she loves the diversity of all the tours she leads and a special highlight is the interaction with customers and seeing their excited smiles at the end of each tour.
Specialties
Sydney City Sights, Blue Mountains, Hunter Valley, South Coast, Southern Highlands
ANDREW
English, French and German Tour Guide
Born and raised in Sydney
Started in Sydney tourism in 2011.
High profile clients in Australia include: 2 princes and a princess, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and many major international CEO’s
Andrew taught French and German for 22 years in Sydney and in the UK in some of the most prestigious schools. He has conducted exchanges to Europe from both countries as a teacher and has led nine tours to Europe.
Andrew has used his exceptional language skill to conduct translation work at Sydney University (where he also tutored) and interpreting work for a Berlin orchestra and even assisted with Angela Merkel’s visit to the NSW Parliament before she was the German Chancellor.
After travelling extensively, Andrew has a great knowledge of France (and her vineyards), Germany, Switzerland, Austria and has dabbled in a little taste of Italy. Andrew also worked in fine wines so is somewhat of an aficionado when it comes to our wine tours.
Specialties
Sydney, the city and its unique history, the Opera House as a guide and even an opera singer once, National Parks (especially the Blue Mountains) and the vineyards of the Hunter Valley and Southern Highlands.
LIZ
English speaking guide
Liz landed in Sydney from South Africa in 1999—just in time to feel the electric buzz of the 2000 Sydney Olympics. From the very first moment, it was love at first sight.
After a successful career in Graphic Design, she swapped computer screens for open roads and started doing overland tours around Australia. She discovered her true passion: tour guiding and has never looked back.
Today, Liz pours that same passion into sharing the stories, and sheer beauty of Sydney with visitors from around the world. For her, showing off this incredible city isn’t just a job—it’s a pleasure.
Specialties
Sydney, the city and its unique history. The North Shore, northern beaches and everything in between.
JOE
English and Italian Tour Guide
A proud Sydney-sider, Joe was born and raised in Sydney by Italian migrant parents and grew up immersed in his family’s hospitality business. Frequent trips to visit relatives in Italy sparked his lifelong love of travel and cultural exchange.
Following a corporate career in IT, Joe embarked on a six-month journey across Europe that reignited his passion for hospitality. Upon returning home, he went on to own and operate one of Sydney’s iconic hospitality institutions before embracing a new chapter in tourism.
After completing formal studies in Tour Guiding, Joe has been working as a full-time guide since 2024.
Bilingual in English and Italian, he thrives on connecting with people from diverse backgrounds. Through engaging storytelling, Joe brings Sydney’s vibrant neighbourhoods, historic landmarks, and multicultural spirit to life for visitors from around the world.
Specialties
Sydney, both the half day and Eastern Suburbs as well at the full day and North Shore and Blue Mountains tours
Take a Private Sydney Day Tour and you too will be jumping for joy!
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Sustainability
We’re playing our part to make a positive difference to the planet. Our office is 100% powered by solar panels, our water bottles are 100% bio degradable, we also recycle all of our water bottles and supplies, our office is paperless, we bank with Bank Australia, one of the few Australian banks that does not finance fossil fuel companies and we strive to emphasise the importance of minimal impact on the places we travel.