HOBART · TASMANIA
The mountain, the harbour, the wild south.
Bruny Island days, Tasman Peninsula sea cliffs, Port Arthur and the mountain over the city. Harbour cruises, Tasmanian devils, cool-climate food and wine, and the wilderness that starts where the streets end.
Only here
Things you can only do this far south.
Wildlife parks, harbour cruises and historic sites turn up everywhere. The Tasmanian devil, the tallest sea cliffs in the country and the convict ruins at Port Arthur belong to this island and nowhere else.
Found only here
The Tasmanian Devil
The devil survives in the wild on this island and nowhere else on earth. At Bonorong, a sanctuary north of the city, you meet them after dark, up close, alongside wombats, quolls and the orphaned joeys the keepers raise by hand.
- 1 Day Tour in Mt. Field, Mt. Wellington, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and Richmond
- 2 Hobart: Mt Wellington, Mt Field, Bonorong and Richmond Trip
- 3 Hobart: Port Arthur, Richmond & Tassie Devil – Active Tour
The tallest cliffs
The Tasman Sea Cliffs
The dolerite cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula fall more than 300 metres straight into the Southern Ocean, the highest sea cliffs in the southern hemisphere. A wilderness boat noses into the caves and under the columns while seals, dolphins and migrating whales work the swell below.
- 1 From Port Arthur: Tasman Island Wilderness Cruise
- 2 Port Arthur Full-day Guided Tour with Harbour Cruise and Tasman National Park
- 3 Tasman Island Cruises and Port Arthur Historic Site Day Tour from Hobart
The convict story
Port Arthur
Port Arthur is the most intact convict settlement left anywhere, a UNESCO World Heritage site around a quiet green harbour an hour from town. The ruins, the Separate Prison and the boat to the Isle of the Dead lay out how Australia began, in a single afternoon.
- 1 From Port Arthur: Tasman Island Wilderness Cruise
- 2 Port Arthur Full-day Guided Tour with Harbour Cruise and Tasman National Park
- 3 Port Arthur Historic Site Admission and Tour Options
Start here
The one day out almost everyone takes.
More travellers book this than any other trip out of Hobart. If you only leave the city once, start with this one.
The classics
Hobart's Most Popular Day Tours
Bruny Island, Port Arthur, kunanyi/Mt Wellington and the Tasman coast. The days most people come to Hobart to take.
Where to begin
The days a Hobart trip is built around.
Bruny Island, the Tasman sea-cliff cruises, Port Arthur, kunanyi/Mt Wellington, the east-coast beaches and the wildlife parks. The handful of days most trips are planned around, and the best way to do each.
The big decision
Which day trip from Hobart?
Hobart is the base, and the best of the south fans out around it. You cannot do it all in one trip, so the real question is which way to point the car. Four days out, each worth the early start.
kunanyi / Mt Wellington
The mountain at the end of the street.
kunanyi / Mt Wellington climbs 1,271 metres straight off the waterfront, close enough that the summit road is a half-hour drive from the city centre. The pinnacle looks out over the whole of the south, the dolerite Organ Pipes fall away below the lookout, and the weather can swing from sun to snow before you are back down.
Read the guide: kunanyi / Mt Wellington tours →The cool-climate table
Cold seas and cool-climate vines.
The latitude that makes Tasmania wild also makes it delicious. Cool-climate pinot and sparkling from the Derwent and Coal River valleys, single-malt whisky that has beaten Scotland at its own game, oysters off the cold clean water, and farm-gate cheese and berries on the island runs.
See the food and wine days →The Derwent
A harbour at the edge of the world.
The River Derwent opens past the city into Storm Bay and the Southern Ocean, with nothing between here and Antarctica. It is a working harbour still: fishing boats, the Antarctic icebreakers, and every December the finish line of the Sydney to Hobart. Cruise it past the cliffs, or ride the fast catamaran up-river to MONA.
Harbour cruises & boat trips →The city
Sandstone warehouses and a Saturday market.
Hobart is one of the best-preserved Georgian towns anywhere, built by convict hands from honey-coloured sandstone. Salamanca Place lines the waterfront with warehouses turned galleries, fills with Australia’s best street market every Saturday, and climbs into the tight lanes of Battery Point behind it.
- 1 Hobart History, People & Places – 2 hour city walk
- 2 Hobart: 3-Hour City Sightseeing Tour
- 3 Hobart City Sightseeing Tour including MONA Ticket
Beyond the city
When two days is not enough.
Hobart is the start line for the rest of the island. Multi-day trips run out to Cradle Mountain, up the east coast to Wineglass Bay and the Bay of Fires, and across to the wild west, with the driving, the park fees and the nights sorted so all you have to do is look out the window.
See all 14 multi-day trips →By place
Out of the city, six ways.
Bruny Island for the wild coast and the cheese. The Tasman Peninsula for the convict ruins and the cliffs. kunanyi for the view over everything. Freycinet for the famous beach. Richmond for the oldest bridge in the country. Mt Field for the falls and the forest.
By activity
Or pick how to spend the day.
A cruise if you want the coast and the cliffs. A wildlife park if you want the devils. A walking tour for the convict streets. Food and wine, the high country, or the harbour after dark.
Plan it
Three perfect days.
Never been? Here is a long weekend out of Hobart that hits the essentials without a wasted hour.
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