Wangaratta Historical Society is initiating a new program of interest to both tourists and locals, with free historic walks to be held monthly in Wangaratta from the beginning of 2026.

The society has a number of enthusiastic volunteers to lead the walks, which will all start from the Marmungun Rock in Apex Park near the footbridge over the Ovens River at 10am on the first Saturday of each month, commencing on 3 January.

One of the volunteers, Adrian Twitt, has conducted three trial walks in recent months.

His walks have focused on the historic development of Wangaratta, but each leader will be focusing on areas of interest to them, so each walk may differ from the previous one, which may encourage participants to go on more than one walk.

The walks are planned to be no more than 90 minutes each and will usually end at the Museum in Ford Street, which is also run by the Wangaratta Historical Society.

The distance of each walk ranges from two to three kilometres at an easy pace.

Mr Twitt, who is coordinating the walks, says the program should entice tourists to stay a little longer in Wangaratta.

"We hope they may also inspire more organisations to arrange programs to attract tourists as well as serving the local population," he said.

Wangaratta Historical Society president Prue Noble is enthusiastic about the program and encourages people to join them.

They are free, but bookings are essential as each walk is limited to 15 people.

Bookings can be made on the Visit Wangaratta website, but anyone having difficulties with booking or using the QR code, can phone Adrian Twitt on 0470 403 875.