Hobart is located in the South of Tasmania and is the state’s capital city. In 2017, I visited this beautiful city twice, once with my friend and the other at the start of my family’s ultimate Tasmania road trip. There’s plenty to do here; whether you’re interested in history or art or you like to spend time outdoors, there’s something for everyone! Here are 10 of the fun things that I did in and around Hobart city, in no particular order. Want to see some of the highlights? Check out the video below or by clicking here!
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1. Mt Wellington (that mountain behind Hobart CBD)
Everyone who is visiting Hobart should at least drive up to the summit of Mt Wellington! It’s the most notable feature of the city, towering up behind the CBD. From the top, you get great views over the surrounding area.
If you’re feeling a little more energetic, there are a lot of trails around the mountain. Short walks include the Sphinx Rock walk which takes hikers through the bush to ‘Sphinx Rock’ – a great place for a picnic and a different view off the mountain.
There are plenty of full day walks to choose from as well, but the most popular longer walk is to hike up and/or down the mountain! My friend and I chose to hike down one morning and took detours to Sphinx Rock (for said picnic), the organ pipes and a cute little waterfall near the base of the mountain. You don’t have to hike the whole way down the mountain – near the base there is a bus stop with regular bus services so you can get a cheap and easy ride back to the city. It was a really nice walk so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who’s into hiking.
My number one recommendation for visiting Mt Wellington is to dress for the weather! The top of the mountain is usually 10 degrees Celsius colder than the city below… Which is not something I thought about before hiking down the mountain and I ended up wearing shorts when it was 2 degrees!!! Not my finest moment… I must say, though, that I didn’t regret having shorts on once it warmed up a bit!
2. Port Arthur
Port Arthur is another one of those must-dos when you’re heading to Hobart, especially if you’re into history. It’s one of the most famous convict settlements in Australia, with over 30 historic buildings, ruins etc. to check out. My favourite part was the gardens – they’re a really nice place for a picnic and are really well maintained. It’s clear that they take great care of the site.
Honestly, though, Port Arthur was the creepiest place I’ve ever been to and I never want to go back ever. It’s totally haunted. You can actually do a ghost tour at night to see said ghosts. Port Arthur is also the site of Australia’s only mass shooting, which definitely adds to the sad and creepy air of the place.
I’m not really writing a very good review, am I? But just because it creeps me out, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go. My friend found it super interesting and even went back again! But she’s much more interested in history than I am. Entry to the site costs $42 AUD for an adult and is valid for 2 consecutive days. Your ticket includes entry to Port Arthur and its gallery, a 40 minute walking tour and a 25 minute cruise on the harbour. The cruise would have been nice if it didn’t go to islands full of dead people!
3. Tessellated Pavements
Not far from Port Arthur at Eaglehawk Neck, you can visit the Tessellated Pavements. This place is super cool: the marine platform on the shore has eroded to form consistently-sized rectangles that look like pavement or tiles! There’s two different types of tessellated pavement here, the pan formation where the middle of the pavement is raised, and the loaf formation where the edges of each rectangle are raised. I’m not sure I did a very good job of explaining it but you can see in the picture below. Anyway, science aside, it’s a really cool place and you should definitely check it out if you’re heading down to Port Arthur!
4. Richmond
Richmond is a really cute town which is kind of on the way from the Hobart airport to the city. It is home to the oldest stone-span bridge in Tasmania. I’m not sure what stone-span bridge means (a bridge made out of stone spanning a river, I suppose) but it’s actually really pretty. Like most historical things in Tasmania, it was built by convicts.
Richmond is about more than just its bridge, though; it’s also a really cute town! I bought the cutest echidna earrings here and we all got a delicious ice cream at the local sweet shop. It’s a great place to spend an afternoon or a morning, especially on a nice summer’s day.
5. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
Is it a post by me if I don’t talk about some kind of wildlife? Much to my eternal disappointment, on my first trip to Hobart I only saw one wallaby and a few birds. So the next time I visited, I dragged my family to Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
The really cool thing about this sanctuary is that almost all of the animals are rescues and will eventually be released back into the wild! Your entry fee funds the rescue and care service provided by the sanctuary, so if you go to any sanctuary or zoo in the Hobart region, this one is a good choice. We decided to pay a little extra and do a baby wombat encounter. One of the keepers brought out this gorgeous little baby wombat for us to meet! This is the only time it is acceptable to touch wombats… But even then we were only allowed to lightly stroke her arm. Baby wombats stay in care until they are two years old so no doubt that gorgeous little girl is out in the wild now, hopefully living her best life!
On the other hand, some of the animals are permanent residents. The Eastern Grey Kangaroos can be hand-fed and were super hungry here! (That’s very unusual for a zoo, FYI). There was also a sulphur-crested cockatoo who was over 100 years old! He even had a letter from the Queen from his 100th birthday! It was quite funny.
6. Bruny Island
Remember how I said I saw one wallaby and a few birds on my first trip to Hobart? Yeah well it was here, on Bruny Island. This is a really cool little island not far from Hobart and is a nice, easy day trip. If you don’t have access to a car, there are quite a few different tour options. The ferry will land at Roberts Point and from there you should drive south as there are quite a few cool things to check out. One must-do is to stop at “the neck”. Here, you can walk up to a lookout over the neck; it’s really cool to see how thin the land is here! There are also meant to be little penguins living here but we didn’t see any. We did see some nests, though!
There are also quite a few walks to do on Bruny Island. We chose to do the Fluted Cape walk, which is one of Tasmania’s 60 Great Short Walks. This walk starts at Adventure Bay and there is a shortened version for if you don’t want to walk up the massive hill. The short version goes to Grass Point, which is a cool place to see lots of nesting birds! The rest of the walk was actually really hard as it just kept going up and up and up! Right when we thought we’d made it to the top, IT KEPT GOING!! I don’t recommend this hike if you’re bad at walking uphill like I am.
A little side note: here are all of the 60 Great Short Walks I’ve done!
When I was looking for the above hike, I went to the 60 Great Short Walks website and I realised that most of the walks I talked about in my last post were on the list! I would totally recommend all of these, and given that I enjoyed them all I hope to head back to Tasmania to do more of the Great Short Walks! So here are all the walks that I have done:
- Cape Tourville (Freycinet National Park)
- Crater Lake (Cradle Mountain)
- Dove Lake (Cradle Mountain)
- Fluted Cape (Bruny Island)
- Fossil Cliffs (Maria Island)
- Organ Pipes (Mt Wellington)
- Painted Cliffs (Maria Island)
- Russell Falls (Mt Field National Park)
- Tall Trees (Mt Field National Park)
- Wineglass Bay Lookout (Freycinet National Park)
7. Walk around Hobart city and check out some of the museums
So far I’ve mostly talked about places outside of the city, but the Hobart CBD is really cool as well. There’s so many nice historic buildings that you can admire, as well as parks and museums. The Tasmanian Museum is free and has some interesting exhibits about Antarctica and Tasmanian wildlife (including the extinct Tasmanian Tiger).
The Female Factory is also a cool place to visit. It’s a lot smaller than Port Arthur but I liked it better because it was less creepy and had lift the flaps that told you facts about some of the convicts that lived there. My friend paid extra to do the tour while I just wandered around on my own. I personally loved the lift the flaps (I swear I’m a real adult) and she loved the tour so it was a win-win! She also says their performance is really good and uses characters based on records of real people. If you don’t have time to go all the way out to Port Arthur but still want to learn about convict history (or you have a history-loving friend like me), I’d definitely recommend the Female Factory!
8. MONA (Museum of New Art)
Sticking with the theme of museums for now, MONA is also somewhere you should consider visiting. My friend and I got a student discount, but entry for an adult is $30 AUD. Modern art is kind of hit and miss for me, and no doubt for others as well. I really like modern art when it’s interactive. So I loved the exhibits where we could walk in or touch things or whatever. There was also a lot of stuff that was plain weird and which I kind of hated.
MONA is HUGE and I was sick of it by the second floor. I’d recommend starting at the bottom because that’s where all the cool stuff is (in my opinion). Definitely take the time to have a jump on the trampoline outside (assuming it’s still there) and admire the view. We also had quite a nice lunch at the cafe. I wouldn’t recommend getting there by bus because there was a super long walk up the driveway. Probably better to get an Uber. Or, if you have the money, catch the ferry! I think catching the ferry over would be a really nice way to travel with lots of views of the city and river.
9. Sculpture Walk from Battery Point to Hobart CBD
This is a cute one that you probably haven’t heard of before. There’s a sculpture walk from Battery Point into the city! I stayed in Battery Point on both of my trips to Hobart, and the first time the apartment was mere meters from the first statue! My friend and I did the whole trail one day as we were walking back from the city and it was actually really fun. Some of the sculptures were really cool; my personal favourites were the one floating in the river and the one made out of a hedge (even though it was only half grown). Each sculpture is a number relating to the area and has a cool fact attached. I’m not usually one to read signs but I must admit these ones had me curious!
I’d highly recommend taking a morning or afternoon to do this walk, especially if you’re staying in Battery Point. If you’re not, Battery Point is quite a nice place to visit and admire the view of the river, so you should go anyway!
10. Wander around the most famous market in Hobart: Salamanca Markets
Last but certainly not least, if you’re in Hobart on a Saturday you have to go to the Salamanca Markets! It’s such a vibrant market with over 300 stalls selling everything from food to clothes to souvenirs and everything else in between. It also attracts quite a few buskers if you’re into music. My favourite was this young girl playing violin – I gave her all my coins because I wouldn’t have had the guts to do that when I was her age! Still wouldn’t to be honest. At the markets, I bought some cute wooden wombat earrings and a print of a Tasmanian Devil.
No matter how long you have to spend in Hobart, I’m sure you’ll have a great time! It’s a really nice city and as you can see, there’s a huge range of things to do. I hope you’ve enjoyed my Tasmania series (of two whole posts and videos) and I hope we can get back to exploring soon!