Tasmania’s natural landscape features the best breathtaking views. They include a wonderful oceanic coastline, six beautiful lakes, lots of mountains, and more. With a size not more than 200 miles across, this place is very convenient for road trips. By the way, Tasmania is the smallest among Australian states with its airport in Hobart. Also, it is famous for its unique parks and reserves with untouched wildlife.
Take the road trip with your friends
Do you find the idea of multi-day trips attractive to you? About one week will be enough to discover Tasmania and go on the road trip of a lifetime! Just grab the company of your friends, rent a car, and plan a group trip on your own. You can use a 7-seater car hire from Hobart Tasmania airport service if you want to start your convenient road journey through the island.
Half of the magnificent Tasmania Island is a national reserve protected by the government. For your guidance, there are marvelous waterfalls, dense forests, flatlands, and hills. This southern Australian state is famous for its vineyards and fruit gardens. Furthermore, you can try excellent fishing and meet cute Tasmanian devils. Taking a car is the most optimal way to move around the island because new possibilities to visit interesting locations become available to you as a traveler. You are free to choose the route and to take with you all your necessities. That’s why so many travelers prefer to hire a 7 seater car for their journey.
Let’s start from Hobart
The capital of the island and the second-oldest city in Australia is Hobart. If you look at the map of Tasmania, you can see the airport in Cambridge City is not so far from Hobart. The distance is about 17 kilometers to the east. By the way, a rather good choice of cars for hire in Hobart will surprise you. This place is full of adventure. You can enjoy within a 20 km radius of the city:
- Surfing;
- mountain biking;
- rock climbing;
- Kayaking;
- Hiking;
- Abseiling;
- and more.
On the other side, Hobart is full of art galleries and interesting museums. One of the exciting places you certainly have to visit is the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG).
Curious tourists will find it interesting to walk around Salamanca Square. The approach is a large cultural center with the same name. It is a complex of beautiful sandstone buildings, originally used as warehouses.
An attractive place to walk is the harbor, as it is the busiest place in the city. Near the harbor, you can see Gregorian-style mansions and on Battery Point interesting monuments of colonial times. There are plenty of religious buildings in Hobart, such as:
- St David’s Cathedral;
- St Mary’s Cathedral;
- the Hobart Synagogue.
Visit the Fortress of Port Arthur
You will get to Port Arthur by a 1.5 hours drive by car 102 km away from Hobart. Amazing local natural formations surround this place, such as Devil’s Kitchen, Tasmanian Arch, and Blue Hole.
A long time ago, the British sent dangerous criminals to serve their punishment in the fortress city of Port Arthur. The convict prison operated from 1833 to 1877. Port Arthur Prison included different buildings like towers, temples, and hospitals. By the way, there was even a post office. The prison was closed at the end of the 19th century.
Legendary prison
A few years later, misfortunes began to fall on the buildings one after another. Fires destroyed almost all buildings. People believed that this was the way the former convicts took revenge on the hated place. Locals claim that even today you can still meet ghosts of former prisoners in the corridors. There are many myths and legends associated with the legendary prison.
However, it is now a popular tourist attraction. In Port Arthur, you can see the restored walls of the main prison, hospital, and convict church. Or you can take a tour of the museum, during which you can see the exhibits, try on shackles, or hang on the rack. For extra emotions, you can take a walk through the local cemetery at night. Take part in a mystical tour called “In Search of Ghosts”, which takes place on the grounds of the penal colony and lasts 90 minutes.
History and Architecture of Tasmania
Launceston is another notable city for tourists. Here in the city, notable sites such as the Town Hall and the Town Clock Tower are located. The Holy Trinity Anglican Church and Pilgrim Uniting Church are among the religious landmarks that will be of interest for a tour. The beautiful Georgian-style Franklin House and the delightful Victorian Albert Hall are a couple of other interesting sites in Launceston. The Old Umbrella Shop, which is famous for its rich history, is well worth a visit. Today it is one of the few remaining souvenir shops from the early 20th century.
The town of Longford is famous for its mansions. Among the interesting buildings is the Woolmers Estate built by the architect William Archer. The house is of unique Georgian style and its outbuildings appeared in 1829. At the same time, the island is home to many excellent estates from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. These include:
- Claremont House in Claremont;
- Entally House in Handspan;
- Clarendon House in Evandale.
The City of Sheffield, famous for its masterfully graffitied walls of buildings (known as Tasmania’s Town of Murals), is a very interesting place to visit. There are some outstanding lighthouses to see on the island:
- Cape Tourville Lighthouse in Freycinet;
- Cape Bruny Lighthouse on Bruny Island;
- Cape Wickham Lighthouse on King Island.
