Hobart & Beyond Highlights Tour

5 Days / 4 Nights
Hobart & Beyond

Travel to Tasmania for five days to discover the highlights. Immerse yourself in historic Hobart with heritage listed accommodation, while your days include markets, waterfalls, convict ruins, museums and wildlife. We’ll be taking in famous places like Salamanca Markets, Port Arthur, Mt Wellington, MONA, and Russell Falls. Fall in love with Tasmania on this classic tour. 

Your Trip Includes:

4 star Hotel or similar
Airport coach transfer return
Private Coach tour and included entry fees: Mt Wellington, Hobart, Port Arthur,
MONA, Russell Falls, Bonorong Park

Itinerary

Thursday (Day 1): Arrive in Hobart

You will be collected from the airport and transferred for check-in at the 4 star Rydges North Hobart. This is a fantastic central setting, very close to both the Hobart CBD and historic precinct, only 20 minutes walk from the famous Salamanca Markets, and waterfront.

Accommodation: Rydges Hobart is a modern boutique hotel in a heritage listed building, allowing us to stay in 4 star comfort, while immersing ourselves in the essence of historic Hobart. Rooms will have 2 x twin singles, or a king, and there is a fold out double sofa available for triple & quad rooms in the separate lounge room. Our booking includes breakfast each morning, and free WIFI throughout our stay.

Afternoon: At 3 pm we depart from the hotel on a private coach to visit Kunanyi / Mount Wellington, an iconic landmark that locals call ‘The Mountain’. A short 20 minute drive from Hobart, once we reach the summit there is an open air lookout which provides spectacular panoramic views of Hobart, Bruny Island, South Arm, and the Tasman Peninsula. Spend some time here taking in views of the World Heritage Wilderness Areas Tasmania is best known for. You’ll want to wear a jacket as the winds can be quite chilly!

Mt Wellington/Kunanyi is located in Wellington Park, and we’ll drive through temperate rainforest to get to the summit. The mountain is at least 35,000 years old, Kunanyi being it’s Indigenous name. Keep an eye out for wildlife while taking in the views - Wellington Park is home to native animals like potoroos, pademelons, bettongs, bandicoots, possums, quolls, and echidnas.

At 5pm we’ll be dropped off in Salamanca for dinner at Botanica Bar or the hotel. This is a local favorite with a great selection of burgers, parmis, schnitzels, and plates to share. There’s sometimes live music in the evenings.

After dinner the evening is free, and your time is your own. Either head straight back to the hotel, or take in the nightlife of Hobart’s historic precinct. To give you the freedom to enjoy the evening, make your own way back to the hotel when you’re ready to do so. Transport options from Salamanca to Rydges Hobart include:

Friday (Day 2): Tour Day

One of Tasmania’s most famous convict World Heritage Sites, after breakfast at Rydges (included), we’ll be collected by a private coach to travel to Port Arthur Historic Site.

This is the best preserved convict site in Australia, and among the most significant convict era sites worldwide. It is a historic settlement with 30 buildings and ruins, and we’ll tour the remains of places like the penitentiary to see the dormitories and cells which housed hundreds of convicts in the 1800’s, and buildings like the convict church, which were once the center of the village.

The buildings and ruins here are spread out across 100 acres, so this is where we’ll spend the morning. The site was first established in 1830, and is famous for having been home to the British Empire’s most notorious convicts. As we tour the site, we will learn about it’s dark history and stories of the harsh reality of life here.

On our way back to Hobart, for lunch we’ll stop in at the famous Richmond Bakery to see the oldest bridge in Australia and have the “tassie famous scallop pie”. Lunch is on your own though, and Richmond is full of quaint cafes and shops, so feel free to walk the historic streets and have lunch where you’d like.

The most notable landmark here is Richmond Bridge, Australia’s oldest stone bridge still in use today. Look for the inscribed date on the sandstone which reads 1823, and if it’s a beautiful day you may wish to enjoy your lunch on the grass in front of the bridge (it’s a local tradition to feed the ducks).

The whole town was built by convicts, so there are plenty of historic buildings here to take in as you make your way back to the coach. Richmond Gaol is another historic highlight, dating back to the same period as the bridge, having remained in use until the 1920s. You can explore the gaol and its convict cells via daily self-guided tours if we have the time.

The famous and eccentric MONA will be our last stop for the day, and you’re in for a surprise! This is the Museum of Old and New Art, and it has become famous throughout Australia for its eccentric, controversial exhibitions across three underground galleries. The exhibits are wacky, modernist, and completely out of this world from anything you’ve ever dreamed you would see.

We’ll be dropped back at the hotel by 5.30 pm, where dinner is then your choice. Walk into North Hobart (500 m) and there are a huge range of restaurant options, we recommend these local favorites:

Amici for authentic Italian: https://www.amici-restaurant.com.au/
Roaring Grill has the best steak in Hobart: https://roaringgrill.com/
Republican Bar: https://www.republicbar.com.au/

There is of course dining available at 1898 Restaurant & Bar which is directly adjoined to the Rydges Hotel.

Saturday (Day 3): Salamanca

Wake up and enjoy breakfast at Rydges (included), though save room to pick up something delicious at the famous Salamanca Markets. One of the country’s finest markets, Salamanca Markets has captured the hearts of locals and visitors for over 40 years. There are 300 + stalls every Saturday from 8:30AM until 3 PM, and you’ll find all sorts of treasures including books by local authors, locally grown produce, local handicrafts, bath and body care, clothing, hot food, jewellery, and unique local souvenirs.

Walk down whenever you wake up for the day; entry to the markets is free and so is the live music that fills the area while you’re browsing the stalls (though the buskers appreciate donations). After visiting the markets, grab a spot of grass in Princes Park to relax, or continue shopping in the laneways and hidden secrets of Hobart’s CBD.

Your afternoon is free to explore Hobart on your own, and you can take in other attractions around Battery Point. A self guided historic walking tour will take you past Kelly’s Steps (this narrow staircase was cut into the cliffs from which stone was quarried by convicts to construct many of the area’s historic buildings), old colonial residences, and not too far away are a number of other notable attractions including the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum which celebrates Australia’s most notable Antarctic explorer Douglas Mawson, and the Tasmania Museum and Art Gallery with its exhibit of artefacts relating to the now extinct Tasmanian tiger.

Bounce Trampoline Park is a great family group activity to take part in, close to the city. With the best trampolines, rock climbing, dodgeball that Hobart has ever seen, hang out on the high ropes, or practice flips and tricks in the air mat.

Sunday (Day 4): Russell Falls

Today we’ll take a private coach an hour out of Hobart, to Mt Field National Park where we will discover Russell Falls. In addition to being one of Tassie’s top waterfalls, it is also one of the easiest to see. An easily managed 20 minute walking circuit allows even small children and older visitors to take in these truly stunning falls.

We’ll be back for lunch at our favorite secret local hotspot for burgers and excellent coffees, hot chocolates, milkshakes, before heading to Bonorong, which is a Tasmanian Wildlife Park. There’s the unique opportunity to appreciate & interact with animals like feeding Tasmanian Devils.

Once dropped back at the hotel, enjoy a leisurely dinner of your own choice either at the Rydges, or in North Hobart - this is your last night, so don’t miss out on Hobart’s fantastic restaurants.

Monday (Day 5): Departure

Wake up and enjoy a final Tasmanian breakfast before checking out at 10 am and heading to the airport for your departure.