Tasmania holidays

Our most popular Tasmania tours are all about the freedom to explore the island on your own schedule. Self drive holidays usually get underway in either the capital, Hobart, or Launceston, and we’d recommend allowing at least two weeks, ideally three, to get the most of Tasmania. Is there enough to do here to fill three weeks? It’s a question often asked, and the answer is a resounding yes. This is a big island, the size of Ireland, and you will most likely spend a lot more time out of the car than in it.

Walkers and wildlife lovers will relish the thought of so many well marked routes threaded through national parks and protected areas that are easily accessible by car. There are markets and roadside food stalls to pick up snacks, artist studios, wineries, and coastal restaurants selling seafood plucked from the waves that morning. All of which means your trip has substantial benefits to local communities. Our Tasmania holidays are tailor made, allowing you to arrange the itinerary to include whatever interests you most, and take your own time getting around.

Cast aside any thoughts of big chain hotels when travelling around Tasmania. Expect small, family-run hotels instead – and when they offer the option to include breakfast, bite their hands off. If they don’t grow their own produce, your hosts will likely have more than a few neighbours who do, so your bread will be freshly baked, your yoghurt from the cows in the field down the road, your jams and honey made by local producers too.

This is especially a highlight of our self drive tours, as this kind of hotel can only take a few guests at a time. Depending on where you are, you might be staying with passionate conservationists who rescue injured wildlife, expert fishing guides, professional chefs or amateur birdwatchers with a list of sightings as long as your arm. There’s no better introduction to Tasmania, no better advert for travelling here.

Tasmania has no fewer than 19 national parks, along with many other protected areas, that walkers can explore. Australia’s only island state is criss-crossed with hundreds of marked trails that will take you over mountains or through rainforest, along capes and cliffs, or onto smaller islands. What’s more, you can walk here at any time of year. In short, make sure you pack a good pair of shoes.

Our Tasmania holidays include small group walking trips where you can enjoy the charms of the sunny east coast, among them the famous Bay of Fires walk and the pink granite tors of the Freycinet Peninsula. There are also tailor made, self guided options that might take you to Flinders Island, Maria Island National Park, Cradle Mountain and Lake Saint Clair National Park, or perhaps combine Tasmania with mainland Australia. Entrance fees are payable; there’s a range of permits available, and this very reasonable charge goes towards protecting these areas and the wildlife within them.

Walking is one of the best ways to explore Tasmania, with routes available to suit any level of experience and fitness. On our holidays the accommodation is carefully chosen to be suitable for walkers. You’ll often stay in locally run bed-and-breakfasts – this form of slow travel is ideal for enjoying regional producers of everything from wine to honey, and your hosts will be happy to make recommendations among their neighbours.

In other places, such as Maria Island, the accommodation on the trail is a lot more basic. You might stay in tents, but not just any heap of canvas – these are tents designed to blend in with their environment, with compost toilets employed and water usage minimised. Tasmania is a beautiful place for walkers, and our holidays help keep it that way.

Like many islands, Tasmania harbours a great number of endemic species, among them the endangered Tasmanian Devil, and its close cousin, the quoll. There are wombats, wallabies and downright bizarre duck-billed platypuses, dolphins, possums and whales: come summer humpback, southern right and killer whales migrate along the east coast, making their return journey a few months later.

Tasmania’s wildlife is harboured by vast, yet easily accessible protected wilderness areas – Bruny Island is thrilling for bird watchers, with species including endangered forty-spotted pardalote, swift parrots, and the stunningly pink robin and the olive whistler. On car-free Maria Island, there are forester kangaroos, echidnas and Tasmanian devils – ranger-led nighttime walks are often the best opportunity for wildlife spotting, as many species are most active after nightfall.

Many owners of the bed-and-breakfasts that our travellers stay in help to protect wildlife. More animals are sadly killed on Tasmanian roads than anywhere else, and local hoteliers will often take in and care for injured animals. Others provide free guided wildlife tours, while still others are helping to breed Tasmanian Devils, helping this iconic mammal to survive in the wild. Our holidays help to fund these efforts.

We also have specialist wildlife tracking trips among our Tasmania holidays, where a record is kept of all sightings, the data passed on to scientific researchers.