Planning a trip to Tasmania.. what to do?

I've been thinking on going to tasmania for the long weekend of queen's birthday and was wondering if any locals or anyone who's been down there can give me a few ideas of what to do while I'm there...

- First of all, I'm in sydney and I'll have to fly friday night to get there (hobart I guess).. but, wouldn't the trip be too short for saturday, sunday, and monday (flying back at night)?

- would Hobart be the preferred place to arrive?

I'm interested in bushwalking, scenery, rivers/lakes (maybe sailing if it's possible)...

any ideas..?

Yep. Head to Hobart. It's my favourite Australian capital city.
Three days would be fine.
Get a car.
Do Port Arthur and Bruny Island and make sure you go up Mount Wellington.
It's a great estuary, so I'm sure there is plenty of sailing.

What about a tour of the Cadbury factory?

hmm interesting ideas... the Cadbury factory is worth investigating as well, although the tour itself is around 4 hours...

My husband & I flew into Hobart for a Queens birthday w/e a few years back now. It was the perfect place for a long w/e.

We hired a car & visited Salamanca Market (i think this is on a Saturday). We drove up Mt Wellington which had a little bit of snow on it (it was a very cold w/e). We visited Port Arthur. Did a night tour of an old gaol. Had dinner at the casino one night & at a nice restaurant somewhere another night.

It was an enjoyable long w/e.

Have fun!

Above Average

Agree with AA. These are all a must do. If time allows, on the way to Port Arthur stop at Eaglehawk Neck which is just off the highway.

There you'll see the beautiful coastal rock formations of the Blowhole, Devils Kitchen, Tasmans Arch and Tessellated Pavement.

Worth a look and gives you a glimpse of what Tasmania has to offer.

Above Average said:

We hired a car & visited Salamanca Market (i think this is on a Saturday). We drove up Mt Wellington which had a little bit of snow on it (it was a very cold w/e). We visited Port Arthur. Did a night tour of an old gaol.

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Cadbury factory is now closed to tourists; I was there last Christmas. You can still go into the shop and pick up 4kg boxes of seconds for around $25 - but you have to watch a movie first. Still worth checking out as the movie's really informative - and they give you chocolate!

Another cool place to check out is the Cascade Brewery tour. Book well in advance for this! Amazing old factory backing onto Mt Wellington.

My GF really enjoyed a tour of the bay/harbour - there are a number of companies down on the dock giving you different options of tours. We did one that went out to the mouth of the river and then came back in and checked out the waterfront back to the bridge across to Glenorchy/Bellreive. Lunch on board wasn't too bad either!
Down on the dock there are heaps of great fish and chip shops - T42 (I think) and Muirs were our favourites. So fresh!

If you fly into Launceston, the gorge there is just spectacular! You can also do a Boags Brewery tour and there's a great car/bike museum in town. It's a really under-rated city imo.

Otherwise, the above touristy things mentioned by others were great. The night tour of Port Arthur was done really well, the guide we had was an amazing storyteller! Stay close to the area if you can the night you do it.

We had three weeks there and found that this amount of time wasn't nearly long enough! If I wasn't a North Queenslander and hated the cold, I'd move down there in an instant!

I'd definitely recommend the Salamanca markets in Hobart on Saturday morning.
If convict ruins are not your thing, I would recommend driving to Strahan on the Saturday afternoon. This will give you all day Sunday to do the boat trip to Gordon River / Sarah Island, an absolute highlight.
Leaves Monday to get back to Hobart and fly home.
Marg

Yeah, a stroll around the markets is nice on a sunny morning.

My wife went down to Hobart last year with a couple of girlfriends for a week. I shouted them a meal at the Casino restaurant - if a city has a revolving restaurant, I always go there. They had a good night.

They did a sausage making course one day on Bruny Island and had a good time there.

There is a guy down there somewhere who does a course that runs several days called the 'whole hog'. You start with a live pig on day one and by the end every bit of it has been cooked and either eaten or turned into smallgoods.

depreciator, Hobart is also my favorite capital city and Tasmania my favourite state.

I always leave there thinking I'd love to live there. If not for the ties in SA I probably would.

I know a bloke in north Queensland who has a farm outside Hobart. He goes there for a few months in the middle of summer. Perfect arrangment.

...or Launceston. (Including Tamar Valley).

http://www.visitlauncestontamar.com.au/pages/about-launceston-tamar-valley/

Cataract Gorge: http://www.visitlauncestontamar.com.au/pages/cataract-gorge-launceston/

Other: http://www.visitlauncestontamar.com.au/pages/attractions-and-activities/

...and only just a thing I enjoy, is not only climbing things but flying by the seat of my pants through, and down things..treetop adventure:

http://www.visitlauncestontamar.com.au/accom_result1/hollybank-treetops-adventure/

Cascade is nice, but Boag is better (cool site):

http://www.boags.com.au/

Have fun.

If you were there for longer, I'd recommend flying in/out via Hobart/Launceston and driving up. I did this once and it was such a fab holiday... took the East coast route (Wineglass Bay, Bicheno, fruit picking farms etc)

A long weekend to tassie still sounds good! Enjoy!

Thanks guys.. I've bought my tickets now.. now to start planning!

marg4000 said:

I would recommend driving to Strahan on the Saturday afternoon. This will give you all day Sunday to do the boat trip to Gordon River / Sarah Island, an absolute highlight.

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I have to second this, the river experience there is absolutely stunning. The cleanest air I've ever breathed, and the water was so calm and flat in places it was like mirrored glass... the reflections of the clouds were 100% clear and un-moving, like you could just fall into the sky.

Plus at the other end you get to do a little board-walk through some rainforesty area.

The food and wine on the boat wasn't bad either!

The idea of flying into Hobart and departing via Launceston is good (even for 3 days).

I liked the drive from Hobart to Launceston (via inland). The coastal way would have more attractions though-Port Arthur, then drive to Cole Bay and walk into Wineglass Bay, from Cole Bay), Bicheno, St. Helens

If you had more time I'd recommend the west coast (specifically Strahan, take a high speed boat to Gordon below Franklin , Maria Island and see Hell's gate)...the untamed west coast.

http://www.sharonleestrahanvillas.com.au/attractions.html

Spent a couple of weeks there January
great place mt wellington is great go there
when there is no fog

http://www.discovertasmania.com/

http://www.puretasmania.com.au/home.html

Ajax said:

The idea of flying into Hobart and departing via Launceston is good (even for 3 days)

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In general, wouldn't it better to fly into Launceston, drive down to Hobart and depart from there?

BV said:

In general, wouldn't it better to fly into Launceston, drive down to Hobart and depart from there?

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But reverse gear isn't as quick as 3rd or 4th.