Our cruise ship will be in port in Hobart for a day in January. We've been advised there is some beautiful countryside near Hobart. We do enjoy being outdoors and enjoying beautiful views, rather than visiting museums, so we don't think the convicts historical site would be our thing. We will have visited wildlife parks in previous locations. We'd appreciate suggestions for some natural scenic beauty and the best ways to access it. Walking trails appeal to us. Thanks.

Hey, my cruise ship will be there too.
Celebrity Mercury on the last week?

Actually the convict settlement at Port Arthur is quite interesting and more a ruin than a museum, but otherwise Cradle Mountain National Park is the place to go if you have the time or the Huon Valley. A trip to Richmond is also worthwile.
http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/home/index.cfm

But they only have a day, for heaven's sake.

OP - your best bet is Mt Field Nat Park.

You will have to hire a car and driver - you don't have time to take a bus, and I guess that form of transport is beneath you anyway. So, a car and driver - not new to you doubtless.

I am amazed yet again by the ignorance of people who are rich enough to do this kind of trip.

Sorry, but we are not rich enough and do not have enough money at all to hire a car and driver. We do usually take public transportation. It sounds as if the bus would not work for accessing the National Parks areas in a day. Perhaps we'll just explore Hobart on foot.

Greetings meggies

If your ship will be in Hobart over a weekend you might enjoy the Salamanca street market.

try this web site

http://www.discovertasmania.com.au/h....cfm?SiteID=89

We were there about 6 weeks ago and really enjoyed Hobart. The Port Arthur ruins was very interesting and educational if you are into history. But it might be too far away given your timeline with the cruise ship.

We think chimani needs a little decaf. Haven't a clue as to why he/she would written that last paragraph in their post

Cheers

Steve

When our cruise went to Hobart a few years ago, it olffered a shore excursion to Mt. Field National Park. It also visited a salmon farm on the way. This was a very worthwhile trip if your cruise offers it. Mt. Field was well worth the time to get there.

http://www.holidayspecialpackages.co...FQ8nawodbRyi8g
another site to checkout.
As Hobart is one of Australia's oldest settlements it is an interesting small town to explore. Salamanca Place has been mentioned and don't miss Battery Point.

I hope that one of our extremely rude posters will take her medication and stop this " I hate anyone with enough money to do this or that".
Perhaps the poster, Chimani, spent years studying to get a job which paid well. Perhaps the poster, Chimani, worked their heart out for years to save money for a trip somewhere. If you didn't do those things then fine but do not ever condemn people who you do not know for having some money, it is rude and offensive and I have to say NON AUSTRALIAN - as we know that you are not Chimani. Why don't you take that chip on your shoulder back to where you came from and get a Council House suppled by the UK - at least there you can walk to everything.

OK Meggies, I feel better now. Depending on what day it is when you arrive in Hobart i.e. if it was a Saturday then you could spend most of the day at the Salamanca Markets which are opposite the wharf that you arrive at. If not then here are some things that you can do perhaps. Walk about 100 mtrs to some of the kiosks on the wharves and see what tours you can do from there. There is the Cadbury Chocolate Factory tour which leaves from the Wharf, there is another tour which goes to Peppermint Bay for lunch and which is a beautiful spot and the boat trip is lovely too. There are other tours and trips from the wharves also that you can take but I do not have a list of them but I am sure that they will be in attendance for the docking of a cruise ship.
One thing that maybe still going is the display at the museum ( about 250 mtrs from the Wharves ) of Frank Hurley's pictures taken on the Shackleton expedition to Antarctica. They let you have 3D glasses to see those pictures which are fantastic. Ask around the landing area for the main City bus stop and see if you can get a bus out to Richmond which is a lovely little convict village with plenty to see and do and with luck it may be the scallop season and you can eat a scallop pie from the bakery which makes some wonderful things. Visit the gaol there as well as that is rather interesting. It is only about 15 minutes drive from the Wharf so it would be possible, if there was not a bus, to take a taxi to Richmond, especially if you can share with some like minded people. Ideally though, a trip to Port Arthur would be nice and I will see what I can find out for you about tours from the boat and post later.

And I too am wondering why chimani feels the need to be so pointlessly offensive to someone who asks a civil question. (LizzyF, I don't know that there is a medical treatment appropriate to SOL).

A bloody good dose of Epsom's salts is pretty good for SOL.

Hi again meggies and anyone else who is on a cruise and stopping in Hobart. I don't know the times of your arrival and departure but here is a website that may help with ideas and some tours.

http://www.tas.gov.au/tasmaniaonline...?Topic=Tourism

Hope this helps and I hope that you enjoy your cruise - even though the time spent in Hobart is far too short.

Just for something different I decided to read some of chimani's other posts

Probably should change their nic to chip-on-my-shoulder.

Wow what a nasty disposition - I don't think the epson salts would solve that problem....if you really want to invoke the wrath of chimani-just mention that you spent more than $30.00 us for a room anywhere - rotflmao

-s

Thank you, Lizzy and other posters, for your very helpful suggestions. Lizzy, I like the ideas of the Peppermint Bay trip and the trip to Richmond. Are the tour operators' kiosks all along the wharves or more to the right or left direction? I imagine they will be quite visible if they are so close to the pier. I don't think we will be in port on Salamanca market day. Is there a place right in Hobart where we can get a peek at and take some pictures of Tasmanian Devils? We don't see them every day, so since we're there, we'd hate to leave without getting a glimpse. Is the Tas. Devil Conservation Center far out of town?Can someone on this board please share the website address for the Hobart local bus service or the Hobart to Richmond bus schedules? Thanks for all ideas.

If you dock as the cruise ships usually do then you come from the ship with Salamanca directly on your left - at the end of that wharf then turn right and you will see the kiosks right on the waterfront. The cruise to Peppermint Bay has its own Kiosk and rather nice yacht and if I remember correctly it is the first one.
There is nowhere in Hobart where you can see the Devils - the closest is about 15 mins the other side of Richmond or down near Port Arthur. A taxi ride to Richmond would probably be around $25 Au. I will check to see if there is a bus web site but I doubt it.

Here is the web site for the bus routes but it seems that there is not one for Richmond - they must only have tours!
http://www.metrotas.com.au/index.html
I had trouble working out the map myself so good luck - you could try going down either the Channel or Huonville which would be nice.

I don't know if this is the place Lizzy means, but I love the Bonorong Wildlife Park where you can feed the wallabies and kangaroos, pet (but not hold) a koala
and have a good look at the devils. No getting close if you value your body parts!


http://newnorfolk.org/~bonorong/

OliverandHarry - yes that is the one I was talking about and I cross checked with the Metro bus but I could not find one that went directly to the Park. So I phoned the park and asked about a bus there but the attendant said that there used to be a bus to the Park but they don't go past there anymore. There is a bus into Brighton but then the walk to the park is about 3 Klms. If you are up to that meggies then you could head to the park for the day or part of the day and then you will get your fill of wildlife and Devils.
To the snotty person who cannot believe that I make phone calls to places for verification of bus times and costs - please note that my calls are free ( nationally and locally) and I use Skype Internationally and a phone call with a question only takes me about 30 seconds so it is hardly "great lengths". Sorry about that meggies but I did want to get that in somewhere and it was appropriate here in case the same snide poster writes rude comments about me making phone calls again. The park is about 30 klms by bus route from Hobart so I would say about 20 klms by road and it is a Taxi ride from Hobart if you would like to do that. About the same cost as to Richmond.

Thank you for making the phone call, Lizzie. Your kindness,and that of other Fodorites here, is truly appreciated.