12 Days to Explore Tasmania - Info Request

In terms of Port Arthur, I would recommend it as a day trip from Hobart, particularly since the days are the longest of the year. I would recommend MONA (considered one of the world's greatest modern art museum by many although it is very confrontational) and its wine tasting, Richmond for a late lunch and then Port Arthur. There are several north Hobart wineries and also some south of Hobart which have cellar door tastings.

Salamanca Market on Saturdays in Hobart is great, particularly if you are looking for gifts to take home. It should be open on the 30th I would have thought. NYE in Hobart can be busy, the boats are coming in from the Sydney-Hobart race and it is a great festival atmosphere. Book your accom early.

I have stayed at Cradle Mountain Lodge several times. If you can afford it, stay there but there is a caravan park nearby. BYO wine as there is little opportunity to buy any takeaway within reach of Cradle Mtn Lodge.

I have visited Port Arthur multiple times and always enjoyed it. The late afternoon light on the sandstone buildings is particularly beautiful so it is great to visit it around that time of day if possible. Nearby are lots of natural scenic sights.

Another place in Tasmania you might consider is Bruny Island (can be done as a day trip). I also really enjoyed visiting Cockle creek but it is a bit out of the way of everywhere else you were thinking

I thoroughly recommend visiting Cradle Mountain. If the weather is clear you can walk to the peak of the mountain - although it might be in the strenuous category. An alternative is just up to the look out. Also you are likely to see a of wildlife in the evenings/late afternoons around this area - many years ago my dad was even bitten by a Tasmanian devil when outside our cabin (it sniffed his foot and when he moved it away it pounced).

I don't know if you are interested in food much, but Tasmania is great for it. In Coles Bay area there is an oyster farm where you can pick up some great fresh oysters, Bruny Island and elsewhere also has great oysters, cheeses, fruit and other fresh seafood.

With only a week you are going to be busy as there is a lot to cover and even though the distances are short the driving is not easy, particularly through the mountainous areas. Think hairpin bends and an average of 60km/h at best. Another "problem" is that there are a lot of little side-trips and bushwalks along the way which can easily eat up the daylight. My suggestion would be to skip the East coast - there really is not that much there and we found St Helens and Bicheno both very uninspiring. Wineglass bay.....? .we hiked to a lookout from where we could see it but the walk to the beach itself would be a solid day's trek and, really, hardly worth the effort in my opinion.

We had about 3 weeks in a hired camper van and our highlights were:

Strahan where we did the very memorable Gordon River cruise and saw the entertaining play "The Ship That Never Was". Strahan is a very solid day's driving from Hobart, in fact, in our campervan, we stayed halfway at Bronte at a very basic caravan park but there is also a nice lodge there. Queenstown is another historical town along the way and well worth a short visit.

From there we moved on to Cradle Mountain. If you are keen hikers there are some world-class walks around here with something for everyone from Granny to Bear Grylls. Unless you are staying in a Hotel with meals provided you will need to take all your food in as there are no grocery shops anywhere in the park. Plenty of food choices around but all a bit pricey.

From there we moved East stopping at Marrakoopa caves and doing their bushwalk and cave tour before stopping at Deloraine which is one of the prettiest towns we saw with a fascinating local museum. From Cradle mountain to Launceston the travelling is pretty easy and you can make good time. Launceston would also be worth a couple of days, particularly if you want to do one of the boat trips.

From there we moved on to St Helen's but I would suggest you head straight "down the hill" to Hobart as you have probably used up your 7 days by now and the East Coast really is not that exciting in my opinion.

From Hobart, if you have a spare day or two, I would also visit port Arthur and do the guided tour followed by lunch in the restaurant. Also consider one of the boat rides up the coast from there. The one we did was a half-day tour out of the harbour and North up the coast to Eaglehawk neck. The coast is spectacular and after that we visited a few of the coastal gorges and saw the tasselated pavement on the way back to Hobart. In all we spent two days there.

If you enjoy history, Richmond is a great historical town barely an hour's drive from Hobart with ancient buildings and Australia's oldest stone bridge plus a couple of our oldest churches. There is also a great open range zoo called the "Tassie Devil UnZoo" They have African animals as well as the usual Australian fauna and reptiles and you can feed a lioness through a grille if you are game.

One thing is for sure - you will have plenty of things left to do if you decide to come back again for another look.

In Hobart Mt Nelson is a viewing are that does not attract the crowds like Mt Wellington, altho Mt W is also good
https://www.tripadvisor.com.au/Attraction_Review-g255097-d591100-Reviews-Mount_Nelson_Lookout-Hobart_Greater_Hobart_Tasmania.html
Around the Coles Bay Area ( and probably other areas) there is kayak hire available.
http://www.freycinetadventures.com.au/
As Mad Mick suggested Strahan area is well worth a visit and the performance of " the Ship Than Never Was". ( true story!) is a must see.
http://www.westernwilderness.com.au/west_coast_walks
"THE WALL" is amazing!!! Situated in a very scenic area and I can't remember the altitude but the car registered the outside temperature dropping by 6 degrees between Launceston and Derwent Bridge! This was in January Ha ha
https://www.google.com.au/search?q=the+wall+tasmania&rlz=1C9BKJA_enAU628AU628&oq=the+wall+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0j5j0.10046j0j7&hl=en-GB&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
Tamar Valley Wetlands have a beautiful walk and depending on the time of day there will be many birds.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.