Reliable, fast and sensitive hydrogen detection is central to safety in the emerging hydrogen economy. Extensive research has highlighted nanostructured materials as an approach to meet these demands. In this work, arrays of palladium nanotubes and nanorods have been characterised as optical hydrogen sensors. The fabrication of nanorod and nanotube arrays using a bottom-up template method is presented. Electrodeposition into alumina templates is shown to produce ordered arrays of structures across glass substrates, confirmed through microscopy techniques. Utilising the purpose built characterisation facility, the sensitivity and response of palladium nanotubes have been demonstrated to improve upon nanorods, which in turn offer performance enhancements over traditional thin film sensing elements.