HOBART · TASMANIA
A mountain, a harbour, and the whole wild south.
Day trips and overnighters from Hobart. The kunanyi summit, the Port Arthur ruins, the Bruny Island lighthouse, the white sand at Wineglass Bay, and the Derwent on a good day.
Only in Hobart
Three things you can’t do anywhere else.
Capital cities with a mountain at the doorstep, World-Heritage convict ruins an hour out of town, and an endemic marsupial you can’t see on the mainland. The three Hobart days that don’t translate anywhere else. Plan the rest of the trip around them.
At the doorstep
kunanyi / Mt Wellington
No other Australian capital has a 1,271-metre mountain twenty minutes from the GPO. The dolerite columns at the summit are a geological signature; on a clear day you see the entire Derwent estuary, Bruny Island, the Tasman Peninsula and the Hartz wilderness laid out below. Drive it, hike it, cycle the descent, or wait for snow.
- 1 kunanyi/Mt Wellington Explorer Bus- Return Tour (2.5 hours)
- 2 Day Tour in Mt. Field, Mt. Wellington, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and Richmond
- 3 Hobart: Mt Wellington, Mt Field, Bonorong and Richmond Trip
World heritage
Port Arthur
The most intact convict-era penal settlement on the planet, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list as part of the Australian Convict Sites. Sandstone ruins, the Separate Prison, the Isle of the Dead, and an after-dark ghost tour through the cells. An hour and a half from Hobart, but a place you cannot replicate elsewhere.
- 1 Port Arthur Full-day Guided Tour with Harbour Cruise and Tasman National Park
- 2 Tasman Island Cruises and Port Arthur Historic Site Day Tour from Hobart
- 3 Hobart: Port Arthur & Tasman Park Full-Day Trip with Cruise
Only in Tasmania
Tasmanian Devils, Up Close
The Tasmanian devil has been extinct on the Australian mainland for around 3,000 years. Tasmania is the last place on earth to see them in the wild or at a sanctuary that rehabilitates and releases them. Bonorong is the working sanctuary thirty minutes north of Hobart; combine it with Richmond Village for one of the better days you can have without a long drive.
- 1 Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary Half-Day Tour from Hobart
- 2 Hobart: Admission Ticket to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
- 3 Bonorong Wildlife Park and Richmond Afternoon Tour from Hobart
Where most travellers begin
The first day out of Hobart.
If you only have one full day, this is the one. The most-booked guided experience out of Hobart, with tens of thousands of traveller reviews behind it, and still the day people remember from the trip.
The classics
Hobart’s Most Popular Day Tours
Port Arthur, Bruny Island, Wineglass Bay, the kunanyi summit, the Derwent on a good day. The shortlist that fills first when Hobart is your base.
By place
Pick a corner of Tasmania.
kunanyi for the summit drive. Port Arthur for the convict ruins. Bruny for the cheese and the lighthouse. The Tasman Peninsula for the cliffs. Wineglass Bay for the crescent. Richmond for the sandstone bridge twenty minutes north.
By tour type
Or pick the shape of the day.
A harbour cruise on the Derwent. A convict-history day on the Peninsula. A summit drive up kunanyi. A wine tour through the Coal River Valley. A multi-day loop to Cradle Mountain. Whatever you came south for, there’s a tour shape that fits.
Plan the Hobart days
How long are you here?
A cruise-day stopover, a long weekend, or a full Tasmania loop? The shape of your week decides which days are worth chasing. Match the time you’ve got to the days the regulars rate highest.
In port for the afternoon.
Cruise passengers and stop-over travellers. Stay close to the harbour, hit the headline sights, eat at Salamanca, and be back on the ship by five.
A proper long weekend.
The Hobart sweet spot. Time for kunanyi, the convicts on the Peninsula, a Bruny Island day, and a slow morning at the Saturday market in Salamanca. The trip most travellers come back from raving about.
The full Tasmania loop.
Time to push past Hobart. Wineglass Bay up the east coast, Cradle Mountain in the centre, Hastings Caves and Tahune in the south. Multi-day operators handle the driving so you keep the camera out the window.
The island day
A whole day across to Bruny.
The vehicle ferry from Kettering, then oysters straight off the lease, cheese from the dairy, a stop at the Neck for the penguin lookout, and the Cape Bruny lighthouse on the southern tip. Three Bruny days we’d send first-timers on.
On the water
Out on the Derwent.
Hobart was built on this estuary. The second-deepest natural harbour on earth. Half-day MONA ferries with art-bar fit-outs, sunset sails past Battery Point, fast-cat runs out to Tasman Island and the sea cliffs. Three we’d book before any bus tour.
Up the east coast
The Wineglass Bay run.
The crescent of white sand against the pink-granite Hazards is one of the most-photographed beaches in the country. Two-and-a-half hours from Hobart and almost always worth the early start. Our shortlist for the day trip up and back.
Wilderness on the doorstep
Tasmania’s wild south, in a day.
No other Australian capital sits inside a four-hour drive of three World Heritage wilderness areas. Russell Falls in temperate rainforest. Cradle Mountain’s ancient pencil pines. The Tahune Airwalk over the Huon River. The days that justify flying south on their own.
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