Tasmania road trip: an itinerary for a two-week adventure in nature

Most trips to Tasmania will start in Hobart. This is a vibrant and energetic harbour town, where modern galleries and museums sit inside colonial sandstone buildings and 19th-century pubs rub shoulders with a trendy gourmet food scene.

You’ll spend two nights in Hobart, with one day for exploring the city, and another for taking a day trip to explore the nature of the south. Aim to arrive early in the morning on your first day, so you have plenty of time to explore Hobart itself.

If you coincide your arrival to be on a Saturday, you’ll be able to take in the famous Salamanca Markets, where over 300 stalls showcase local arts, crafts, and some of Australia’s finest fresh produce (treat yourself to breakfast or lunch). The markets are open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Though even once the stalls have cleared, the boutiques, galleries and restaurants at Salamanca Place are still open seven days a week.

Just before sunset, enter ‘Pinnacle Road’ into your GPS and drive to the summit of Mt Wellington. Locals call this ‘The Mountain’, and from the observation platform at the top, you’ll be greeted with sweeping panoramic views over the city.

Block off day two for a day trip from Hobart; there are ample opportunities to choose from depending on your interests. History buffs can spend the day at Port Arthur, nature enthusiasts can head south to the Huon Valley, and wildlife fans can take the ferry for the day to Bruny Island and their unique white wallabies.

An hour and 15 minutes from Hobart is the sleepy fishing town of Triabunna; the gateway for reaching the wildlife haven of Maria Island. Escape civilization and visit an island full of natural wonders.

You’ll stay in Triabunna for two nights, with the chance to explore the town (the marina is full of shops, galleries, and fantastic seafood), before spending the next day on Maria Island. Most travellers completely miss the island, though that’s well and truly their loss.

A short half an hour ferry takes you over to the island, where you can spend the full day exploring isolated white sand beaches, ruins of convict settlements from the 1800s, and fossilized sea cliffs. This is the only island in Tasmania to be protected as a National Park and is one of the best places to encounter wildlife like wombats, Forester kangaroos, and Tasmanian Devils in their natural habitat. There are no cars or shops on the island, so pack a lunch.

Driving further north, it’s an hour and a half to get to the infamous Freycinet National Park. You should make the drive first thing in the morning, though don’t hurry; driving along the coast means there are many secluded beach pull-offs along the way.

Entrance fees are charged for all Tasmanian National Parks at $22 per vehicle (per day). But since you’re visiting so many National Parks on this road trip, it would be more economical to purchase the Holiday Parks Pass, which allows unlimited entrance over a period of eight weeks for $56. You can buy a Parks Pass online from the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service.

This region is known as a mecca for bushwalking, and you should plan to dedicate a whole day for exploring Wineglass Bay and the Hazards Mountain Range. An iconic crescent-shaped beach flanked by two mountain ranges, and a narrow forested isthmus, if you’re only interested in a short walk you can take the 40-minute climb (it’s steep) to the Wineglass Bay Lookout, for stunning views over the postcard-worthy landscape.

For those more adventurous, at the top of the lookout is a track which leads actually down to the beach, and while the lookout itself is always quite crowded, as soon as you start on the Hazards loop trail, 95% of the tourism disappears. This is a full day walk; a five-hour loop that will take you through secluded beaches, forests, bays and mountains. If you’re not keen on spending the whole day bushwalking, you can experience the park by sea kayak, scenic flight, or quad bike.

An hour north of Scamander is the stunning Bay of Fires, and you’ll spend your day exploring this region of the coast. This is a conservation reserve known for its sugary-white sand beaches, impossibly clear water, and orange granite boulders which are so large you can walk across them. The region extends for 50 kilometres from Binalong Bay north towards Eddystone Point, so taking the coastal road allows you to pull over as you wish, explore small secluded beaches, and pick your own self-guided walks.

One of Tasmania’s biggest attractions is Cradle Mountain National Park, and with good reason. Allowing direct access to the alpine wilderness of the island’s north, here you’ll have the opportunity to hike through ancient rainforests, and if travelling in the winter, see wombats padding through the snow and visit glacial lakes with views of dramatic and rugged mountain ranges.

Cradle Mountain is a two-hour drive from Launceston, and along the way, you can stop at Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm for some of their famous raspberry pancakes. Spending two nights in Cradle Mountain will give you ample time for taking in the highlights, like the two-hour walk around Dove Lake, or for something with fewer crowds, tackling the Cradle Mountain Summit. You can also walk sections of the iconic Overland Track; normally a six-day walk that connects Cradle Mountain and Lake St Clair National Parks, basing yourself in the park allows you to walk sections of the track and come back, without having to commit to the whole track.

Tasmania is known for its incredible landscapes, but one place to truly immerse yourself is in the wild country that is the island’s west coast. Compared to the millions of travellers who visit Hobart annually, the West Coast hardly features on travellers’ itineraries.

Granted, it is a remote region, and very much out of the way, but a two hour drive from Cradle Mountain will place you in Strahan, where you’ll have the chance to take a cruise through a UNESCO World Heritage Area (Gordon River Cruises), a luxury train through an ancient tangled rainforest (West Coast Wilderness Railway), hike to thundering waterfalls (Hogarth Falls), and visit a treacherous ocean beach (Ocean Beach).

You’ll spend three nights in the quaint fishing village of Strahan, and spend a full day for the West Coast Wilderness Railway, a full day for the Gordon River Cruise, and then another day exploring Ocean Beach. This is the longest beach in Tasmania, and gets the full force of the screaming winds of the Roaring ’40s, being the first piece of Coast the Southern Ocean meets.

Swimming here is not safe due to the intense winds and strong currents, though it is a spectacular sight to see sand flying through the air, waves crashing violently to the shore, and stumbling across a graveyard full of enormous whale bones.

Hard to believe it’s been two weeks! It’s now day 14, and time to make the four and a half hour drive back to Hobart. Book your flight for late afternoon / evening to give yourself plenty of time for the drive.