Australia’s largest island is refreshingly undeveloped and visitors often remark that arriving in Tasmania is like stepping back in time. Nature is on a dramatic scale here: over 3.4-million acres of its area is protected wilderness, including ancient rainforests, jagged peaks and powerful rivers.
In recent years, Tassie, as it is referred to by locals, has become easier to reach with more flights from Sydney and Melbourne luring travelers to discover its surprising range of attractions. A wave of plush new eco-lodges, wineries and gourmet food producers has recast the travel landscape in the last decade. Tasmania is quickly transforming from mysterious to downright alluring.
Following are 7 reasons you should consider Tasmania for your next trip.
1. chase waterfalls at mount field national park
Just a short 50 minute drive from Hobart, Mount Field National Park is an accessible option for experiencing the magic of the Tasmanian wilderness.
The most popular attraction in the park is Russel Falls, a gorgeous cascade of water accessible via a short and easy stroll from the visitors center. This walk also takes you past Mt. Field’s tallest tree: a 400 year old, 80 meter high Tasmanian Swamp Gum (Eucalyptus regnans).
2. witness the wildlife at bruny island
One of the most beautiful places to visit in Tasmania, you’ll need to hop on a short car ferry to visit Bruny Island. Once there, you’ll be rewarded with beautiful cliff-side views, plenty to do, and tons of delicious dining options. Be sure to find your way to Truganini Lookout, a popular viewpoint for admiring a stunning narrow isthmus of sand.
Animal lovers will especially be at home on Bruny Island, where you can visit with seals, dolphins, penguins, whales, and more.
For a unique way to experience the island, consider visiting as part of a boat tour, which will save you the car ferry journey and allow you to take in the island’s views from an entirely different angle!
3. feast on the best local produce – beer, superb wines and delicious seafood
Tasmania produces outstanding food, wine and beer with the emphasis on seafood. Enjoy fresh oysters in Barilla Bay and freshly caught Abalone, Crayfish and Australian salmon in Bicheno, just north of the Freycinet Peninsula. In Hobart, indulge in locally-sourced produce at one of the city’s cutting-edge restaurants.
If you’re interested in wine tasting, Hobart is surrounded by the southern wine regions. Here, you can enjoy lazy afternoons at charming vineyard restaurants where long lunches are accompanied by superb cool-climate wines.
Hobart is home to Australia’s oldest brewery, the Cascade Brewery. Dating back to 1824, its origins in the most unlikely of places – Hobart Gaol. While serving time for failing to pay his debts to England, Peter Degraves came up with his plan to harness Tasmania’s pure stream water to make the most exceptional cool, crisp and refreshing beer. He drew up the designs for the Cascade Brewery and the rest, as they say, is history.
4. spot tasmania’s unique creatures including the tasmanian devil
Tasmania’s isolation from mainland Australia makes it a refuge for animals and plants that are rare or even extinct in the rest of the world, including the legendary Tasmanian Devil, a marsupial the size of a small dog.
Tassie’s most famous critter is most often experienced through its nocturnal scream. But Tasmanian devils can be seen up close at sanctuaries across the state, like Bonorong. Don’t be fooled by their puppy-like appearance and lolloping gait. Time your visit for feeding time and you’ll see these marsupials screech, squabble and chomp straight through wallaby bones. On a more serious note, make sure you spare some time to learn about the devastating facial tumour disease threatening these Tassie natives.
5. shop, then linger at a café in historic salamanca market in hobart
Steeped in history, Salamanca Place is popular with tourists because of its grand Georgian sandstone buildings, artists’ studios and galleries as well as its buzzing café and bar scene. Visit on a Saturday morning when the square is closed to traffic for the colourful Salamanca Market – a Hobart institution. More than 300 stalls make up the market which is open from 8 am until 3 pm every Saturday. While you browse the bustling market, you’ll be entertained by buskers playing everything from folk or jazz to blues.
6. explore dark history at port arthur
Two centuries ago, a ticket to Australia was a terrible fate. The most harrowing final destination was Tasmania’s Port Arthur, one of Australia’s 11 penal colony sites. Port Arthur was thought inescapable: only a narrow band of land, Eaglehawk Neck, connected it to the rest of the island, and this was fiercely guarded by dogs. Today, Port Arthur has been conserved as an open-air museum. You can explore the former prison wings and convict-built chapel, board a boat to the lonely graveyards on Isle of the Dead and linger for a ghost tour if you dare.
7. be awed and appalled at mona in hobart
A ferry ride up the peaceful Derwent River doesn’t seem like the obvious start to explore your dark side. But in the subterranean galleries of Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art you’ll find some of the most controversial creations in Australia. Passion, death and decay are explored in unflinching detail in this avant garde museum in the northern suburbs of Tasmania’s capital, Hobart. Test your limits with art installations from the private collections of arty eccentric David Walsh.
Ready to plan a trip to Tassie? Contact Valise Travel Concierge to plan a Private Journey for you.