Separated from mainland Australia by the formidable, 160-mile-wide Bass Strait, Tasmania often feels a world apart from the rest of Down Under despite being easily accessible with direct flights via mainland Australia or New Zealand.
This heart-shaped island is a place to reconnect with nature, encounter unusual wildlife, taste artisan produce, explore unique heritage and ancient palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) culture, and find space to pause, breathe and recharge.
Some of the world’s purest air blows across the island and its pristine waterways. The contoured coastline harbors countless bays, coves, and beaches, many of them refreshingly lacking anything man-made and with a good chance that yours might be the only footprints along the shore.
The island’s 19 national parks — that’s twice as many as any U.S. state — range from coastal gems like Freycinet and Rocky Cape to the spectacular highland scenery of Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Hartz Mountains and Southwest.
Tasmania: Australia’s
Natural High
New South Wales
So many of the beaches here are one of a kind. Catch some rays and go for a dip at crescent-shaped Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park with its turquoise water and bright-white sand. Hike, bike or even drive a vehicle along 24-mile-long Ocean Beach on the island’s wild west coast. Or camp right beside secluded Trousers Point Beach on Flinders Island in Bass Strait.
Even more than its spectacular coast, the world’s 26th-largest island is known for a rugged heartland awash in granite peaks, deep evergreen forests and untamed waterways. In fact, almost 20% of the land area is safeguarded by the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Spanning an area larger than Yellowstone National Park, it’s one of the largest tracts of rare temperate rainforest anywhere on Earth.
The World Heritage area includes no less than seven national parks, all of them spangled with rocky highlands and pristine forest but boasting unique outdoor adventures.
Tasmania: Australia’s
Natural High
The world’s 26th largest island is known for a rugged heartland awash in granite peaks, deep evergreen forests and untamed waterways.
Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair is renowned for its Overland Track, a 40-mile trail through scenery reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands, while the Walls of Jerusalem takes its name from the towering, dolerite peaks that look like backdrops from Lord of the Rings. Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers offers Down Under’s best whitewater rafting, while Mt Field offers sanctuary to the swamp gum (Eucalyptus regnans), the world’s tallest flowering plant. With only one access road, the massive and extremely remote Southwest National Park is best explored by foot or boat.
Tasmania is a haven for distinctive wildlife, including wombats, wallabies, pademelons and the endangered Tasmanian devil. Spot some of these fascinating creatures in the wild among the extraordinary landscapes of Maria Island, Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula or Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park.
Wildlife sanctuaries and rehabilitation centers that rescue orphaned or injured animals — and that support captive breeding programs and adhere to animal welfare standards — are another way to view and photograph Tasmania’s eclectic creatures. Among the most reputable are the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo on Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula and the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary near Hobart.
Weather is another large part of the island’s natural charm. It's often hard to distinguish the seasons in much of Australia. But in Tasmania, there’s no mistaking them.
From March to May, brilliant fall colors sweep across alpine hillsides as the island’s only deciduous native, the fagus or tanglefoot tree (Nothofagus gunii), showcases its colorful foliage. Winter brings clear, crisp days and a dazzling dusting of snow to the highlands, as well as a chance to spot the shimmering Aurora Australis or Southern Lights.
Spring brandishes its own vivid colors from September to October, especially the tulip fields of Table Cape. And then comes the long days of summer (December to February), an ideal time to hike the hinterland, surf one of those big Southern Ocean waves along the south coast, or cast for the island’s renowned brown trout in highland lakes and streams.
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The Candlestick, Cape Hauy Tasmania
Newdegate Cave at Hastings Caves and Thermal Springs
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Tasmanian Devil Bonorong Wildlife Park
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The city also boasts Australia’s oldest working playhouse, the exquisite Theatre Royal, which first raised its curtain in 1837 and continues to stage a wide variety of comedy, drama, dance, cabaret and circus.
Launceston, the island’s second largest city, anchors the island’s north with sights like the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) and the outdoor adventures of Cataract Gorge. A dozen miles north of the city center, the Tamar Valley is the island’s premier wine region. With more than 30 vineyards, the valley produces world-class chardonnay, pinot noir and other varietals.
Tasmania preserves many poignant reminders of its notorious convict days. Between 1804 and 1853, more than 70,000 “prisoners of the motherland” were transported to the island. Most were British or Irish, and many were convicted of minor offenses that wouldn’t be a felony today. Once in Tasmania, they were forced into mining, construction and farming labor. In days gone by, few Tasmanians liked to admit they had convict ancestors. But nowadays it’s a badge of honor.
Poised at the confluence of the Southern and Pacific oceans, it almost goes without saying that Tasmanian seafood is super fresh.
With its cool Southern Ocean currents and clear, clean waters, Tasmania has some of the world’s best temperate diving: an underwater wonderland of sea caves, shipwrecks, giant granite drop-offs and colorful marine life, including weedy seadragons, seals and dolphins. In fact, many of Tasmania’s marine species are found nowhere else on the planet.
Hobart punches well above its weight when it comes to natural beauty and cultural attractions.
Poised at the confluence of the Southern and Pacific oceans, it almost goes without saying that Tasmanian seafood is super fresh. Mainland restaurants often brag that their shellfish is flown in daily from “Tassie.” But just imagine what it’s like straight from the boat in Hobart, Launceston, Strahan, St Helens and other Tasmanian coastal cities.
What’s on the menu? How about Pacific oysters on the half shell, bluefin tuna steak, blue mussels, wild abalone, freshwater trout and two different salmon species, and the island’s legendary rock lobster (also called crayfish in Tasmania).
Many of these maritime treats and more are served at waterfront restaurants and floating seafood punts at Hobart’s docks, which is also the city’s hub for floatplane flightseeing, wildlife-watching cruises, sailing trips, and boats over to Bruny Island with its artisanal wine and cheese, albino wallabies and fairy penguins.
Sprawling across the foothills of kunanyi / Mt Wellington on the banks of the River Derwent, Hobart punches well above its weight when it comes to natural beauty and cultural attractions, including the lush Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and the edgy Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) — the largest privately funded collection in the southern hemisphere.
Scattered along the 109-mile Midland Highway between Hobart and Launceston are relics like the Ross Female Factory Historic Site and the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Brickendon Estate, where guests can spend the night in 19th-century convict-constructed cottages (albeit with modern amenities).
Perched at the southern end of Turrakana / Tasman Peninsula, Port Arthur Historic Site – also World Heritage-listed – preserves Australia’s largest and most emotive collection of penal colony buildings including a penitentiary chapel, main prison blocks, guard towers, asylum and solitary confinement cells.
But like everywhere else in Tasmania, nature is never far away. Those dark green mountains on the far side of Port Arthur bay are the backbone of Tasman National Park. Like many of the island’s other parks, Tasman is nearly roadless. Time to break out your hiking boots again for a four-day hike along the Three Capes Track, a 29-mile route across wooden boardwalks, stone steps and clifftops, with views of the Southern Ocean that don’t end till they reach Antarctica, around 3,500 miles in the distance.
In fact, many of Tasmania’s marine species are found nowhere else on the planet.
