This publish was written by Chelsea Loren, the Weblog & Content material Supervisor of The Blonde Abroad.
My accomplice and I lived in Tasmania for 2 years whereas he was finishing his Ph.D. program on the native college. Whereas he had visited Australia earlier than, neither of us had visited Tasmania and weren’t actually certain what to count on.
We hoped for one of the best, booked one-way tickets, and signed a lease for an residence (there was much more to it than that — take a look at this information to working vacation visas in Australia).
And we’re so glad we did. The rugged and wild fantastic thing about Tasmania is unmatched; it’s a land crammed with so many tales and unimaginable wildlife.
Whereas we spent a lot of our time in Hobart, we appreciated to use our weekends to discover the remainder of the island. As a observe, until you’re sticking to the town of Hobart (extra so a city—whereas it’s residence to most of Tasmania’s inhabitants, it’s small in comparability to locations like New York or Los Angeles), you’ll completely want a automotive to enterprise across the island.
Whether or not you’re from Australia and planning a Tasmanian getaway otherwise you’ve all the time dreamed of visiting the land the place the Tasmanian devils are from, these are a few of the greatest issues to add to your Tasmania itinerary.
Listed here are the highest issues to do in Tasmania!
Salamanca Market on a Saturday Morning
Discover Hobart
The capital of Tasmania, Hobart will put fairly the spell on you. Its waterfront is lined with previous sandstone warehouses (an space affectionately often known as Salamanca), and the town is brimming with colonial-era cottages and funky eateries. Whereas it’s buzzing for Tasmania requirements, it’s nonetheless quaint.
Hobart captures that quintessential salty-air coastal city feeling; you possibly can stroll the seashore in the morning and benefit from the sand between your toes whereas sipping espresso, after which head into city and wander at your individual tempo.
Uncover alleyways and hidden gems, have a protracted lunch and savor the delights, after which indulge in cocktails on the waterfront.
Considered one of our favourite locations to get breakfast is Jackman & McRoss on Hampden Street — a avenue recognized for vintage purchasing, positioned in the significantly charming neighborhood of Battery Level.
Whereas in Hobart you possibly can go to Cascade Brewery — Tasmania’s oldest brewery, courting again to 1824 (it simply so occurs to be the oldest regularly working brewery in Australia).
In the event you time your journey good, you’ll completely need to head to Salamanca Marketplace for its iconic Saturday farmers market.
Strive to Catch the Southern Aurora
There’s a superb probability you’ve heard of the Aurora Borealis and seen magnificent pictures of it from international locations shut to the North Pole…however do you know there’s a Southern Aurora, too?
Yep, often known as the Aurora Australis, it may be seen in locations like Tasmania and the South Island of New Zealand (and, if it’s a extremely sturdy one, generally even on the mainland of Australia!).
The caveat: it’s not normally practically as sturdy because the pictures you see in locations like Iceland, on prime of that, it’s not one thing you possibly can actually plan for. Whereas there are methods to set your self up for achievement (discovering a superb vantage level with minimal gentle air pollution), there’s no assure of when they’ll happen.
Whereas we have been dwelling in Tasmania just a few stellar ones occurred, we did get very fortunate one evening after we have been street tripping up the coast and bought to witness the Southern Aurora from a really darkish seashore.
Positively add this to your Tasmania bucket record, and in the event you’re visiting for an prolonged time period — you might get fortunate — however don’t be disenchanted or discouraged in the event you don’t catch one. It simply means you’ve bought to return in the longer term, proper?
Keep at Captains Relaxation in Strahan
Captains Relaxation, in my opinion, is without doubt one of the dreamiest Airbnbs you may ever keep at. The island is now chockful of attractive Airbnbs, however Captains Relaxation holds a particular place in my coronary heart.
Positioned in a distant fishing village that takes about four hours to drive to from Hobart or four hours from Launceston, it’s fairly a trek to get on the market…but it surely’s so value it.
The drive from Hobart will take you on winding roads by means of misty forests and as soon as you find yourself in Strahan, you’ll breathe in the crisp air and discover your humble abode.
The restored fishing cottage set on a lake has these attractive giant home windows that permit the sunshine flood in with a view of the nonetheless waters, it’s quaint and comfortable and you may simply spend a few days enjoyable right here.
Go Mountaineering in Freycinet
Wineglass Bay is the place it’s at!
This might completely be added to a street journey up the coast (it’s about 2 hours from Hobart), or function a vacation spot all by itself.
Freycinet Nationwide Park is totally attractive with many alternative hikes to select from, although some of the widespread is Wineglass Bay (for good cause); Wineglass Bay occurs to be some of the photographed spots in Tasmania.
It’s a gentle uphill monitor that’ll positively get you huffing a bit of bit, however the path isn’t tremendous lengthy — about 2.5 hours to full the entire thing. You’ll have views of pristine coastland, and turquoise waters, all framed by rugged peaks.
In the event you’re making a visit of it, there are just a few mattress and breakfasts in the world, campsites, or the luxurious resort of Saffire Freycinet.
Go to Port Arthur
Port Arthur is basically fascinating because it combines an idyllic coastal setting with a brutal and storied historical past.
The historic web site in southern Tasmania is an open-air museum that particulars Tasmania’s growth as a penal colony. Ruins on the location embody an enormous penitentiary, together with a shell of the Convict Church.
It’s a somber expertise to stroll by means of the grounds and see the solitary confinement cells and picture what life was like for these shipped to Tasmania.
In case you’re not acquainted, about 12,500 convicts have been shipped to Tasmania and served sentences between 1830 and 1877.
Port Arthur is a couple of 90-minute drive south-east of Hobart.
See the Animals on the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
Tasmania is brimming with unimaginable wildlife and in the event you’re road-tripping, you’re sure to catch a glimpse of a few of the native fauna like echidnas, wombats, Tasmanian devils, paddymelons, or kookaburras. If you’d like to make sure you get to see these animals and never go away it to probability, head to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
Bonorong is basically cool because it’s a rescue heart that provides up-close viewings of endangered wildlife together with instructional excursions.
In the event you’ve ever wished to stand up shut to a kangaroo, that is the place; right here, you possibly can sit on a grassy hill and kangaroos will jump over to you so you possibly can feed them small pellets.
It’s about half an hour north of Hobart.
Bicheno, Tasmania
Street Journey Alongside the East Coast
Tasmania, as an entire, is extremely lovely, however the East Coast of Tasmania is understood for being an unimaginable stretch for street journeys!
From the sleepy coastal city to Bicheno (the place they’ve penguins) all the way in which up to the Bay of Fires, you’ll discover some unimaginable locations to uncover alongside the coast.
Do a Bruny Island Meals Tour
I’d suggest a meals tour, however on the very least, go to Bruny Island!
Positioned off the south-eastern coast of Tasmania, the island is separated into North and South Bruny — practically break up by a slender isthmus referred to as the Neck.
Bruny Island is well-known for its unimaginable native produce, recent seafood, honey, artisan cheese, fudge, and extra. Due to all of the culinary delights that come from right here, I’d extremely suggest reserving a Bruny Island Meals Tour and having somebody function your information for the day.
Ebook a Advisable Meals Tour Right here!
See Wombats on Maria Island
Tasmania is understood for its plentiful wildlife and quite a lot of indigenous animals that may solely be discovered on the island…however generally they’re not all that straightforward to discover, until you recognize the place to go.
Enter: Maria Island —the nationwide park off the east coast of Tasmania, the place you will discover all the state’s eleven endemic birds, Tasmanian devils, and myriad different Australian wildlife.
Maria, pronounced like ma-rye-uh (as in Mariah Carey) and never ma-ree-uh, is a hiker’s paradise with its many trails, scenic views, constructing ruins from the 1800s, and nearly untouched nature.
To get to Maria Island, it’s a couple of 45-minute drive up from Hobart to Triabunna, the place you then board the Maria Island Ferry. You’ll want to e book each a Parks Cross (as it’s a nationwide park), in addition to your ferry ticket—it’s greatest to e book forward as seats can promote out.
The Parks Cross and the ferry tickets can all be bought collectively on the Encounter Maria Island web site. You can too add on baggage, or a motorcycle, in the event you’re selecting to carry both of these. You’ll want to verify in on the Triabunna Customer Data Centre (adjoining to the wharf) at the least 30 minutes prior to the departure time.
It takes about 30 minutes or so to journey throughout the waters and if you arrive on the island it’s turquoise waters so far as the attention can see. You may spot the occasional wombat, together with a number of buildings leftover from when the island was a burgeoning penal colony.
There aren’t any meals locations, so that is the sort of journey the place you want to pack your individual picnic and sunscreen.
Go to MONA
You’re in for a singular expertise on the Museum of Previous and New Artwork. It could be some of the stunning (if not essentially the most stunning) museums in the world, and so they lean into that!
From a room with a poo machine — it actually digests meals and produces waste (you possibly can solely think about the scent), to a wall of vaginas, MONA is all concerning the shock. However hey, when in Tasmania, proper?
Useful Tip
As many of those locations require you to drive, hold in thoughts that a lot of Tasmania’s wildlife are crepuscular — which means they’re most lively in the course of the twilight interval.
As a result of that is when gentle is beginning to fade, street kill is a severe challenge in Tasmania. Keep vigilant if you’re driving.
There are positively quite a lot of different locations to see, together with unimaginable vistas and hikes (I didn’t even get to Cradle Mountain!), however this can be a nice begin when planning out your Tasmania itinerary.
Have you ever been to Tasmania earlier than? Let me know in the feedback beneath!