Tasmania Road Trip

We went to Tasmania and loved it! Tassie for short, it’s a beautiful large island surrounded by many islands south of the main island of Australia. We had less than two weeks and spent 10 days of it on our Tasmania road trip. Here’s where we went and what we loved!

Why Do a Tasmania Road Trip

Tasmania is the 26th largest island on Earth, about 1/2 the size of England and the same size as West Virginia. It is known for its diverse wildlife, natural beauty, and for having the cleanest air in the world. We also noticed Tasmania’s delicious fresh seafood and produce, extensive craft beer and wine scene, and a relaxed and fun lifestyle.

Tassie is located in the Roaring 40s, notorious to sailors for strong winds and big waves that damage ships. Now you understand why we didn’t sail. Over 26,000sq miles, Tassie’s compact size means a road trip is an ideal way to see Australia’s smallest state.

The vast majority of visitors to Tasmania are mainland Australians. They visit for a different climate (colder), and for the nature and wildlife. Tasmania has different wildlife than mainland Australia. And probably to party in a different place. Hobart is a party town.

Logistics

We rented a car and stayed in a mix of hotels and apartments for our Tasmania road trip. A lot of people rent campervans, but when I suggested it to Brian, he gave a hard no. Seems like our time in a camper van in New Zealand was enough.

Planning for our Tasmania Road Trip

I like to plan ahead before I visit a new place. I download travel guide books from the library, read blogs, and ask friends who’ve been for their favorites. Since we arrived in Australia, we’ve wanted to visit Tassie. I created a couple of tentative itineraries in the hopes we would make it to the heart shaped island.

However, we couldn’t book far in advance because we had to find a place to leave the boat and someone to care for Domino. That all came together quickly on a Friday so we began to book for the following Wednesday. Since I had a route planned, we coordinated flights, a rental car, and hotels and apartments along our route.

Driving in Tassie

Driving in Tasmania was interesting. Brian is now comfortable with the left side driving, probably more so than right side after so many years. Our rental car had some good tools, especially the android connection feature with the large screen for the map. The roads were well paved and traversed through a wide variety of landscapes, from oceans to farms to forests and plains. We drove through cute compact towns and saw lots of cows and sheep.

I tried to plan our route so when we moved accommodations, the new destination was less than a couple hours away. This way, we could stop along the way and enjoy the scenery. That’s the point of a road trip! We also stopped for geocaches and to eat local food.

We learned to input the destination before we left a place, because we often lost cell and internet signal. Brian and I have different providers in Australia so usually one of us is connected, but that didn’t hold true on the road in Tasmania. We could always see where we were on a map, and it’s not a big place, so we never got lost. Tasmania would be a fine place to get lost. It’s beautiful and the people are nice.

When to Visit Tassie

The best, and busiest, time to visit Tasmania is Australian summer, December – March. We went in mid February, which I felt was ideal because it’s after the kids return to school but before cold weather sets in. Plus, we still managed to time it for some fun festivals in Hobart.

Road Trip Stops

Our Tasmania road trip route focused on a lot of the Tasmania hot spots. We drove north along the east coast, then went west and up north before starting back south and east. Since we only had ten days, we usually spent one night in a place, aside from three stops for two nights.

the east coast north from hobart

We started in the capital city, Hobart, which is where we arrived in Tasmania. After a few fun nights in Hobart and a day exploring beautiful Bruny Island, we hit the road. Our route took us north along the east coast. Our first night we slept in Orford for proximity to a day trip to Maria Island, where we got to see wombats. Maria Island was one of our Tasmania highlights, for the wombats and more.

After that fun day we drove further north to Coles Bay for two nights, with a hike around the Wineglass Bay in Freycinet National Park. For those two nights we stayed in an apartment with a deck and barbecue, which meant we didn’t have to drive at night. Driving at night worries us because of the likelihood of hitting kangaroos. In our travels around Australia, we’ve seen some unfortunate road kill. TMI? Back to the road trip route.

The most travelled part of the road trip was the drive up the east coast. Freycinet and Bay of Fires, our next stop, are popular tour stops from Hobart. Bay of Fires is known for its stunning coastline, and we were lucky with beautiful weather and views, including of penguins!

Driving and listening to the radio, we heard about the Tassie heat wave of 26C (79F) temps on the coast. Although we packed our swimsuits, it still wasn’t warm enough for us to swim in the ocean. It was penguin temperature. The highest it gets is around 20C or 68F.

driving west

We spent a night in St. Helen’s near Bay of Fires and then drove west into the heartland. Our plan was to head to Derby, a mountain biking town. Unfortunately, the morning brought rain showers, preventing us from stopping to hike to waterfalls along the way. We did stop at a beautiful forest for a quick walk, but the rain kept us from biking in Derby, sadly, but we did see some very muddy cyclists in town. Instead we enjoyed a couple breweries in our only night there.

From Derby, we headed west and north up to the coast along the Bass Strait, the notorious waterway separating Tasmania from Australia. We made our lunch stop in Devenport, where the ferry from Melbourne arrives daily. We also stopped in the town of Penguin, naturally, before making our way to Burnie for the night.

Why Burnie? Because you can see the penguins each night returning to shore to feed their young. It was adorable!

South to cradle mountain

From Burnie, we headed south because we wanted to visit one of Tasmania’s World Heritage sites, Cradle Mountain National Park. With hindsight, we should have stayed in Burnie and been closer to civilization. I didn’t know it was just as close as where we did stay, Waratah.

Because we booked only a week in advance, and it was Valentine’s Day weekend, all the hotels in Cradle Mountain were booked. Our airbnb was overpriced and had very bad internet connection, but it could have been worse for two nights.

And not to diminish Waratah, which had lovely waterfalls, interesting history, and a great pub.

Cradle Mountain was beautiful, but the animals were hiding because it was cold and rainy. We powered through the Dove Lake circuit walk and were rewarded with a day of sleet and rain after our hike. We even saw snow for the first time in years.

Cradle Mountain was beautiful and we can’t do much about bad weather. Tasmania is known for a mix, and we got it all: from heat waves to snow and everything in between. In fact, the day after we hiked Dove Lake was sunny and temperate.

East to launceston

Launceston is the second biggest city in Tasmania and was our final stop. The drive from Waratah to Launceston was winding and hilly.

We found a few places to stop along the way, including the mural town of Sheffield, which reminded us of Katikati, NZ. Our only goal was to get to Launceston in time for our 2pm winery lunch, so we dawdled and stopped for scenic lookouts.

Another great road trip stopover, Launceston is Tasmania’s second biggest city. Known for it’s gastronomy, it has heaps of wineries, farms, and all the good food and drink you’d expect. We could have spent more time in Tasmania, and Launceston in particular.

We really loved our Tasmania road trip. It came together quickly and imperfectly, but what a great visit. Visit Tasmania for delicious food and wine, towns with cool last century architecture, and unique nature and wildlife. Take a road trip because driving was safe and smooth, and the scenery is spectacular.

Have you been to Tassie and do you have recos for us if we go back? Share in the comments!