Tasmania is remote and wild in the most delicious ways. The small island state off the south coast of mainland Australia faces Antarctica to its south and is home to vast areas of undeveloped lands protected as nature preserves. A big part of its beauty is it’s not on everyone’s radar—yet. Buzz about “Tassie” has been building since the opening of the outrageously daring MONA museum courtesy of an eccentric Tasmanian billionaire. The thriving culinary scene entices food and wine lovers and the great outdoors beckon hikers and campers. While it does get its fair share of visitors these days, Tasmania’s hidden gem quality remains 100% intact. Between the wildness and its smaller population size (just over half a million), Tasmania feels like its own little country or planet. There’s zero sense of hustle and bustle; even the biggest cities of Hobart and Launceston with the largest population concentrations feel quite chilled out. My six-day introduction to Tasmania included four nights on the rural east coast and two nights in Hobart.
STAY
I spent the first part of my Tasmanian adventure exploring with my parents from a home base in a small coastal community called Dolphin Sands. Set on Great Oyster Bay overlooking the Freycinet Peninsula, our “Beach Haven” Airbnb was perched above dunes just steps away from the pristine Nine Mile Beach coastline. Though there were a handful of other properties in sight from the house, we rarely saw another soul when walking on the beach or viewing the dramatic sunrises and sunsets from the top of the dunes. Having that majestic stretch of sand all to ourselves felt quite luxurious. All we ever heard were the sounds of the waves crashing and winds blowing—plus the occasional bird call.
In Hobart, I stayed at the new Macq 01 boutique hotel on Macquarie Wharf with unencumbered views of the harbor. My spacious room had a large bathroom with a soaking tub fit for a tall person like me, which was very useful for eliminating any trace of chill from adventures around the windblown city! All harbor side rooms have a small deck with a sliding glass door that opens to let in fresh sea breezes. The full service hotel has a destination restaurant that attracts locals and other non-guest visitors, as well as a cozy bar—both with floor-to-ceiling waterfront views.
DO
We spent a half day in Freycinet National Park, where we trekked up to the Wineglass Bay look out, one of the park’s shorter hikes. After working up an appetite we had lunch at the Freycinet Lodge and then lounged on the gorgeous white sands of Friendly Beach.
Another morning, we set out to do part of the scenic Great Eastern Drive traveling northward along the coast through fishing villages and holiday towns before heading west into lush rainforests and rural countryside. We stopped in Tasmania’s “second city” Launceston for a late lunch before looping back towards Dolphin Sands.
We spent one day visiting the wineries closer to “home” on the East Coast Wine Trail. We tasted at Devil’s Corner Cellar Door, Milton Vineyard and Spring Vale and picked up some delicious eats and art along the way.
In Hobart, MONA is a must. In fact, people fly in just to visit the Museum of New and Old Art, as it’s also known. More than a museum, MONA is an immersive experience offering four levels of provocative art, several restaurants and bars, performance spaces and a winery. I spent the better part of a day at MONA, arriving via MONA’s own ferry, which conveniently departs from Brooke Street Pier, a short walk away from the Macq 01. I pre-booked tickets to experience the James Turrell light installation duo of Unseen Seen and Weight of Darkness, which each only accommodate two guests at a time and were well worth the advance planning to secure a spot.
EAT
Tasmanian chefs make great use of their abundant seafood and produce—and grilled halloumi must be a trend because preparations of the cheese appeared on nearly every menu I encountered there. On the first chapter of my trip, my favorite meals included a long lunch at Sophie’s Restaurant in the Milton Vineyard house where we savored the French-inflected fare and enjoyed the warm, relaxed hospitality. Devil’s Corner winery proved to be a great spot for gourmet takeaway treats courtesy of their two permanent food stalls: The Fishers (we came back a second time to buy more of their smoked salmon pate, it was that good!) and Tombolo Café (excellent wood-fired pizza enjoyed in the comfort of our Airbnb).
Stillwater Restaurant in Launceston deserves its critical acclaim. There, I devoured Tasmanian oysters paired to Tasmanian bubbles and had a vegetarian dish described as a “green bowl” that was filled with heavenly, unexpected flavors and textures.
In Hobart, I had outstanding dinners at Dier Makr and Templo—the latter being a teeny tiny Italian restaurant off the beaten path, which came highly recommended by the chef at Dier Makr. Rightly so, and I was lucky to arrive just in time to score the last open table. At Dier Makr, I sat at the chef’s counter for their Casual Sunday service, the only night of the week they offer an a la carte menu instead of the regular chef’s tasting menu format. Every morsel was insanely good and the flavor combinations were different than anything I’d ever tasted, making Dier Makr my tip-top culinary experience in Tasmania.
I was also crazy about the “breakfast salad” from the room service menu at Macq 01 and enjoyed an elegant lunch service at the hotel’s Old Wharf Restaurant. And lunch at MONA’s Faro was a detail-oriented, aesthetically delightful and palate-pleasing affair, from the staff’s creatively styled attire and the striking glassware to the artfully presented tapas-style Spanish cuisine and pink-hued oval table. My table was probably the best in the house with a full view of the sea out the floor-to-ceiling window wall and the James Turell Unseen Seen pod.
INFO
I started following Discover Tasmania’s @tasmania Instagram account for inspiration before my visit and it remains one of my favorite travel accounts—and that’s not only because it brings all the good memories back! It’s very well curated and the nature images are just so dreamy and transporting. On my Qantas flight heading back home to California, I watched the eight-episode "Kettering Incident" series because it was set in Tasmania. Sci-Fi storyline aside, it captured the wildly beautiful landscape so well and is good inspiration for anyone wanting to get a feel for Tassie’s cinematic style.
