One week in Tasmania is the perfect amount of time to spend there in order to see most of what the island offers, from cityscapes to national parks to beaches. Despite that, we wish we had allocated more time to our trip, so as to diminish our driving fatigue and enjoy the island more slowly. A 10-day trip would have been better for this itinerary.
Regardless, below is our 7 days itinerary for eco things to do in Tasmania, plus the things we decided to skip. Note that although using public transport is the most sustainable option, renting a car or doing a tour is the most efficient way to maximise your time and efficiency for a 1 week trip.
If you don’t want to drive, here are the three guided tours I recommend:
Before you start your trip, read the things to know about Tasmania in order to properly prepare, and avoid our mistakes.
And don’t forget your free pdf for step-by-step guidelines on sustainable travel.
Assuming you’re flying into Tasmania, you can land either in Hobart, the capital city, or Launceston. We started and finished our journey in Hobart.
Since we arrived on Saturday morning, we went to Salamanca market in the morning (it’s only open on Saturdays). We had a light breakfast there and bought some pastries to go.
Local tip: go early as this market gets crowded, not just with tourists but with locals too.
Afterwards, we spent the day on Maria Island. It’s a great place to explore if you’re looking for untouched nature and want to find wildlife. The ferry to get there takes about 45 minutes. It’s also a great spot for walks and cycling.
At night we drove to Tinderbox to try and see if the Aurora Australis (the Southern Lights) would grace us with its presence (it didn’t).
Still in Hobart, we drove to Tasman National Park for a short walk and tried to spot some wildlife, particularly the Tasmanian devil. Interesting points of interest we found there are: devil’s kitchen, tasman arch, and tessellated pavement.
We skipped the recommended Tasmanian Devil Unzoo, because their latest reviews were not very favourable and at the end of the day it’s still a zoo, and we would never recommend going to a zoo. We decided to see Devils at a sanctuary in the north instead (on Day 5 of our itinerary, more details below).
We explored Mount Wellington in the morning. It’s half an hour from the city centre, and you can hike and cycle to the top, but you can also drive if you’re short on time. We drove. It was way too windy and cold to hike. At the top you get amazing views of Hobart, and from the west side you can see Southern Tasmania.
Afterwards, we went for lunch at Cascade, a historic bar by Mount Wellington, and the oldest brewery in Australia. There’s a beautiful beer garden to explore, great views, and you can also do a tour.
After lunch we drove to Mount Field and did the 6 km walk around Three Falls Circuit (if you do this hike, keep an eye out for Swamp Gums, the world’s tallest flowering plant).
In the morning we drove to Cradle mountain by the Lake St Clair UNESCO National Park. There are a lot of stairs to manoeuvre there, so we didn’t feel like doing another hike, although there are plenty of hiking options.
Two main attractions here are the Dove Lake, and you can do a 6 km loop hike around it, and Marion’s lookout (you will have to do a steep walk of about 3 hours or 10 km). We skipped these two as we still had a bit to drive to reach our accommodation.
Local tip: if you’re in the Dove Lake area at night and in winter, look for the Southern Lights.
We stayed at a sustainable farm (Cricklewood Farm) where they make their own jam, bread, and preserves. It was a lovely stay, and the hosts were very nice and helpful.
In the morning, we went to Trowunna Wildlife Sanctuary, a conservation sanctuary for wombats, Tasmanian Devils, a few birds, kangaroos, and quolls, which are nocturnal marsupials native to Australia and New Guinea. The sanctuary helps to rehabilitate and rescue animals that are injured or orphaned.
You can join a free feeding tour where they feed the wombats and Tasmanian Devils, or wander around by yourself. Note that the feeding tour for the devils can be quite gruesome. I could not watch it. However, prior to that, they give interesting information about their animals and the sanctuary’s work.
After our visit to see the endemic animals, we drove down along Binalong Bay towards St Helens town. Binalong Bay is one of the best places to spot the orange rocks. These orange rocks are unique rocks with orange lichen, a plant-like organism made of algae and fungi.
Eco tip: an ecological way to explore this area is by cycling along the St Helens mountain bike tracks (one of the most scenic tracks in the world). It’s 42 km (26 miles) long, so we did not do it as we did not have enough time. However, you can also do shorter trails like around Bay of Fires.
Afterwards, we drove north to Garden Lagoon beach to see the turquoise ocean lined with more orange rocks.
Local tip: at Garden Lagoon Beach, be wary of jellyfish.
We left St Helens and drove to Bicheno where we went to witness amazing blowholes and looked for penguins at Redbill Beach.
Local & eco tip: the penguins usually come at sunset and leave in the morning around sunrise, so it’s rare to see them during the day. Do not take flash photography or a torch as this disturbs the penguins, and definitely do not try to pet them. If you want to know more about these birds, book a tour.
After Bicheno we drove to Coles Bay, a popular beach area and right by the Freycinet National Park (make sure to get your pass. The funds go towards conservation of the national parks).
The main attraction there was the Wineglass Bay lookout. It was a small hike to get there, about 45 minutes to an hour up, but it was not difficult and offered amazing views). You also see Coles Bay lookout on the way. There’s also a beach (Wineglass Bay Beach) you can reach from the Wineglass Bay lookout, but it takes an additional hour and about 1000 steps to go down (though coming back is faster).
In the morning we drove back to Hobart and went to the Tasmanian Museum (it’s very family-friendly, educational, and fun). We skipped the MONA museum, a private museum full of ancient and contemporary art.
Even those these were recommended by other fellow travellers, we decided to skip the following:
Based on my experience, Tasmania is absolutely worth visiting. It’s known to have some of the cleanest air in the world, has unique wildlife and beautiful landscapes, is not overcrowded with tourists, and people are friendly.
It really depends on what you want to do. If you just want to see Hobart and a few things around there, maybe a few days is enough. We spent 1 week and we enjoyed a nice long road trip, but ideally to see the whole island we would have needed a few more weeks, maybe a month.
There are venomous snakes (e.g. tiger snakes) and spiders in Tasmania, but we did not see any during our trip, despite being in the mountains and staying on farms.
Some recommend about 10 days to see everything, while some say that just a few days is enough. We settled for something in between and chose a 7 days itinerary for Tasmania, which was the perfect amount of time for us to discover all the eco things to do in Tasmania, enjoy some hikes and views, and see the unique things from this underrated piece of Australia without really rushing through.
If you’re travelling to New Zealand after Tasmania, here’s our list of eco activities for a 14 day trip. Check out the best green places to stay in NZ’s north island, and get some insights into New Zealand culture before going.
