Hobart is not only a lovely city with a world-famous museum but also the perfect base for exploring the broader region. Once you’ve done all the things to do in Hobart, it’s time to hit the road.
Day trips from Hobart will take you from the sparkling blue waters of Wineglass Bay to the misty forests of the remote southern tip of the island.
Most of these day trips can also be taken as organised tours, which is a great option if you are travelling alone, as I often do. In the last two years, I escaped to Hobart three times and spent most of my time exploring the region on organised day trips.
If you’ve been following The Wildlife Diaries, you know that my interest is in nature and wildlife adventures. So here is my guide to the best day trips from Hobart for nature buffs.
By the way, if you are planning a longer stay in Tasmania, I also have a nature lover’s guide to the best things to do in Tasmania.
Tasman Island Cruise
Tasman Island Cruise is probably my favourite of all-day trips from Hobart. Offered by Pennicott Wilderness Journeys, this tour keeps winning all the awards imaginable, and they are all well deserved.
Home to the famous Three Capes walk, the Tasman Peninsula coastline is all about the impossibly tall hexagonal dolerite columns and mysterious sea caves. The turbulent waters of the Southern Ocean are battered by the roaring 40s – the strong westerly winds that ravage the latitudes 40 degrees south of the Earth’s equatorial plane, which makes for an exhilarating boat ride.
This inhospitable wind-blasted world is home to colonies of seal and water birds, and if you are lucky, a curious whale might accompany you for some of the cruises. If you are looking for a sense of real adventure, this is the trip! Plus, you get to visit Tasmania’s most famous convict site at Port Arthur. Check the availability of the Tasman Peninsula tour for your dates.
For more details and images, see my full guide to the Tasman Island Cruise on a day trip from Hobart.
Maria Island
If you love Australian animals, you must visit Maria Island! Maria Island (pronounced ma-rye-ah) is wombat heaven and one of the few places in Tasmania where you can spot the Forrester kangaroo.
The amount of time you have on Maria Island on your day trip from Hobart will be determined by the ferry schedule from Triabunna. The first ferry arrives on the island at 10 am (check the schedule here) and the last one leaves for Triabunna at 4.15 pm.
You can pack quite a lot into your day. First, check out the low tide time on the info board on the ferry over. The island’s most popular scenic spot, Painted Rocks, is only viewed at low tide. The strikingly colourful coastal formations are underwater for the rest of the day. It is a 30-minute walk to the rocks from the wharf / Darlington area. So work out when you need to head there for low tide and organise your day around that.
Near the ferry wharf, the convict settlement of Darlington is an interesting place to check out. You can even spend a night in the former jail if you have more time.
Another set of cliffs to check out is the Fossil Cliffs. There are some enormous and extraordinary fossils to be found embedded in the cliffs here.
If you came to Maria Islands for the wombats, leave the last hour or two to hang out with them. The light is best late in the afternoon, and the wombats are more active. It is also a good time to see and photograph the kangaroos.
To visit Maria Island independently, you’ll need to get to Triabunna (85 km from Hobart) in time for the 8.30 am ferry. Alternatively, you can book the Maria Island Active Day Tour from Hobart.
For more details and images, see my complete guide to Maria Island day trip from Hobart.
Wineglass Bay & Freycinet National Park
If you haven’t visited Freycinet National Park and don’t have 2 or 3 days to explore it properly, you must visit it on a day trip from Hobart. Famous primarily for one of Tasmania’s most celebrated views— the curvaceous white beach and crystal-clear waters of Wineglass Bay, Freycinet is much more than the famous view.
The day trip from Hobart includes a 1.5-hour hike to see Wineglass Bay from above, a Cape Tourville walk, a stroll on Friendly Beaches, a visit to the absolutely gorgeous Honeymoon Bay, lunch in the picturesque Coles Bay, and even a stop in the charming historic town of Richmond to check out the famous Richmond Bridge.
The coastline in Freycinet is incredibly picturesque, and you get a full day of exploring it. I took this trip in winter when the days are shorter, and we drove out of Hobart into a fiery sunrise and watched an equally fiery sunset on the way back. And it was light jumper weather for the hike to Wineglass Bay lookout.
The drive from Hobart to Coles Bay is just under 200km, about 2.5 hours. If a 400km round trip sounds a bit much, I highly recommend a day tour. Check the availability of the Wineglass Bay tours from Hobart on your dates.
For more details and images, see my full guide to the Great Short Walks in Freycinet National Park.
Bruny Island
As an island off an island state off an island continent, Bruny Island is as ‘down under’ as it gets. It’s a gem for nature lovers like me and foodies alike. The island is mostly famous for its fresh produce – cheese, honey, and arguably the world’s freshest oysters. You can even taste saltwater with Bruny oysters.
I went to Bruny in hopes of spotting one of the unique white wallabies, and I wasn’t disappointed. We found one browsing in a paddock in the company of its brown cousins in Adventure Bay.
Bruny’s other claim to fame is the Neck – the narrow strip of land that connects the north and the south Bruny islands. The view of the Neck from Truganini Lookout will be one of your most memorable Tassie experiences.
On top of food and wildlife, Bruny has a stunning coastline, and a trip to Cape Bruny lighthouse in South Bruny National Park is the perfect opportunity to enjoy it.
To visit Bruny Island independently, drive to Kettering (33 km away) where you will board a car ferry for the ride to the island. The jetty is located on North Bruny, and it is about a 60 km drive to Cape Bruny at the southern tip of South Bruny. You’ll need to keep an eye on the clock to avoid missing the last ferry back.
Alternatively, consider taking an organised day tour. There is a lot to see and do on Bruny Island, and the tour does the organising for you and keeps you on schedule. Check the availability of the Bruny Island tours from Hobart for your dates.
For more details and images, see my full guide to the Bruny Island day trip from Hobart.
Hastings Caves & Tahune AirWalk
If you feel like going off the beaten path and getting away from it all, a day trip to remote Far South Tasmania to explore Hastings Caves and the ancient Southern Forest is the perfect escape. It is one of the more unique day trips from Hobart.
On top of Tolkienesque misty mossy forests, this day trip takes in the charming Huong Valley with a coffee stop in town and another in Franklin to check out the gorgeous wooden boats.
The southern forest is home to some of Tasmania’s oldest trees. It’s a magical place at the end of the world with impossibly tall trees, a lush understory of ferns, and tendrils of moss hanging down the tree branches.
The walk in the tree canopy on Tahune AirWalk, 30 meters above the forest floor, is downright enchanting, as is the 3 km loop trail along the banks of the Picton and Huon Rivers with swinging bridges spanning across both rivers.
If you enjoy exploring caves, Newdegate Cave, extending 3 kilometres into the hillside, is a must-see. It is perhaps not as ornamental as Gunns Plains cave in north west Tasmania, but it is vast. It is the largest dolomite cave in the country and one of the largest caves of this type in the Southern Hemisphere. Check the availability of the Hastings Cave tour for your dates.
For more details and images, see my full guide to the Hastings Caves & Tahune AirWalk day trip from Hobart.
Cradle Mountain
Yes! It is possible to visit Cradle Mountain on a guided day trip from Hobart (I wouldn’t recommend the self-drive option – it’s a 4-hr drive each way). The guided tour is a long day, departing Hobart at 6am, but that means you get a sunrise and a sunset thrown in for free.
The first stop is breakfast in Deloraine, followed by 5 hours of hikes and viewpoints at Cradle Mountain, including the park’s most famous walk around Dove Lake and an optional visit to the Interpretation Centre set in a patch of magical mossy rainforest.
Or, if you are feeling weary after the day’s adventure, you can opt to chill out by the fire at Cradle Mountain Lodge. In the afternoon, the grassy lawns around the lodge are teaming with wombats, pademelons and Bennett’s wallabies.
Dinner is in Sheffield, about halfway back to Hobart. Keep an eye out for Sheffield’s iconic street art when you are in town. Check the availability of the Cradle Mountain tour for your dates.
For more details (and if you have more time in the region), see my full guide to things to do in Cradle Mountain.
Mount Field National Park
My Field is Tasmania’s oldest National Park and one of its lushest. With its giant trees, prehistoric-looking ferns, and fairytale waterfalls, it seems to have remained unchanged from the Jurassic period.
Lying only 70 km northwest of Hobart, Mount Field is an easy day trip from the city. The area around the Visitor Centre packs quite a lot in a relatively small area. You can take just one (6km) walk and see three different waterfalls and some of the tallest trees in the world and enjoy the incredibly atmospheric temperate rainforest with its moss-covered tree trunks and ancient ferns.
If you don’t feel like the full 6-km walk, you can take several short and easy trails.
An easy 15-20-minute walk from the Mount Field National Park Visitors’ Centre takes you to the beautiful three-tiered Russel Falls – one of Tasmania’s prettiest waterfalls.
Another 20-minute walk, this one uphill, takes you to an even prettier waterfall – the Horseshoe Falls.
The Tall Trees Walk is also a short walk that takes you past some of the tallest flowering trees in the world. If you haven’t visited the Southern Forest, this is your chance to experience the magic of Tasmania’s famous old-growth forest.
As you walk through the park, look for Tasmanian pademelons, the island’s bouncy small wallaby.
Mt Field National Park is an easy drive from Hobart. Alternatively, there are Mount Field tours from Hobart that visit all three waterfalls, the Tall Trees Walk, plus a bonus visit to the wonderful Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary.
You can find more details and images in my guide to visiting Mount Field National Park on a day trip from Hobart.
Mount Wellington
Towering over Hobart, Mount Wellington is one of the most iconic views in town. It stands to reason that the view from the summit of the mountain should be spectacular. And it is. The trick is to visit on a clear day. Because the summit of the mountain rises 1,271 meters (over a kilometre!) high, it is often shrouded in clouds.
I’ve had the worst luck catching a sunny day for a hike at the summit of Mt Wellington. And when it’s cloudy, you can’t see the fingers on your outstretched hand at the observation deck on the summit.
Here’s the view I’ve been trying to catch:
And here’s the view I got on my last trip:
There is, of course, more to Mount Wellington than the view from the summit. There is an entire tourist drive with a number of stops at trailheads.
If you have a car, great. This is an easy half-day trip from Hobart. Although keep in mind that in winter, the windy road to the summit might be covered in snow and ice. An alternative is the Hop-on-Hop-Off shuttle that goes all the way to the summit and stops at the key stops.
If you are a hiker, take the trails between the summit and the Springs via the Organ Pipes formation—the coolest geological feature on the mountain. If you are not a hiker and are not sure which trails to take, there is a 2.5-hour tour that takes you to the highlights of Mount Wellington. So, if you find yourself in Hobart on a sunny day with a few hours to spare, consider a quick and easy escape to nature on Mount Wellington.
Huon Valley
The Huon Valley is an incredibly picturesque, lush green countryside fringed by the national parks of Tasmania’s UNESCO World Heritage Wilderness Area.
The three main National Parks and Reserves in the Huon Valley are Hartz Mountains National Park, Hastings Caves State Reserve, and Southwest National Park. There is also Tahune AirWalk – a canopy walkway that stretches 610 meters, 30 meters above the forest floor, with the final cantilever section sitting at 50 metres above the Huon River.
You can visit this section of Huon Valley on the Hastings Caves & Tahune AirWalk tour from Hobart that I described above. But if you want to explore the part of the valley that lies between the mountains and the ocean, you’ll need your own set of wheels.
The most picturesque town in Huon Valley is Cygnet. That’s right, the town is called after a swan chick (i.e. a cygnet). If you are looking for a lunch spot, the Old Bank cafe is full of cozy country charm and has a tiny vineyard in the garden.
The town lies at the northern end of Kangaroo Bay on the Huon River, and the coastal drive is particularly picturesque, especially in autumn when the trees turn multiple shades of orange and yellow.
Huon Valley is a cherry-growing region, so you might want to visit a cherry farm like the Platinum Ridge Farm.
More Nature Adventures in Tasmania
- 15 Best Things to Do in Launceston: Where to Play, Eat, and Stay
- Things to Do on Bruny Island: Guide to Itinerary Planning
- 6 Things to Do in Hobart for Nature Buffs, Including Platypus Spotting & the Aurora
- 4 Great Short Walks in Freycinet National Park
- Sea caves and wildlife on the Tasman Island Cruise
- Tarkine Drive: 2-Day Itinerary, Attractions & Accommodation
- North West Tasmania Travel Guide: Iconic Highlights & Local Secrets
- Hastings Caves and Southern Forest – a journey to Far South Tasmania
- 15 Things to Do in Stanley – Tasmania’s Prettiest Small Town
- Travel Guide to Edge of the World, Tasmania
