My husband & I are celebrating our 20th anniversary in Tasmania - where we have never been. Arrive early April for 5 days. Please advise (sight seeing wise) what should not be missed and advice - any place on the island where to stay that has clean sheets, hot water for a shower, & a comfortable bed - price is not a major issue, but not looking for 5 star necessarily.....(also do not want to camp outside!!) Thanks to all, D

Tassie is a great place. So much to choose from. We booked all our hotels/motels on Wotif.com and there wasn't a bad one in the bunch during our 16 day stay. I've pasted the link to my trip report from our visit in October/November - it might give you a few ideas.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threadselect.jsp?fid=3

Oops, that didn't work. Just type Tasmania in the search box and you'll pull up several posts on Taz that might help you.

Have fun!

Hi there,

My husband and I had our first trip to tassie last March and spent 10 days driving around the whole island.
In 10 days we didn’t get to see all of what we thought we would but I guess you need to have a good idea of the kind of holiday you want especially with only 5 days available to you. Are you interested in scenery, hiking, history, wineries, B&B’s etc?

If you were flying in, then I would probably stick to the Hobart region and spend the majority of your time in the one hotel. That way you can completely unpack and settle in without having to live out of a suitcase for a week.
As many of the main attractions are close to Hobart, you can get away with doing the necessary ‘day’ trips to where you want to go.
The things that I would definitely recommend that you do is the following:

Take a trip up to Mt Wellington simply to experience the huge drop in temperature.

Take a drive out to Richmond – there are some wonderful cafes and quaint little shops not to mention the historic Richmond Bridge. Also some very good wineries along the way, which are picturesque, and worth a visit even if you’re not into wine. Stop at Meadowbank Wines and check out the amazing timberwork of the building.

If its going to be your only trip to tassie then you would have to go down to Port Arthur for the day. We actually gave this a miss on our trip because we knew that we would be coming back in a couple of years (relatives to visit) so wanted to keep a few things for the second trip.

Hobart itself is actually a good place to spend one full day exploring. The shopping is not great if your used to the likes of Sydney or Melbourne, but there are some treasures to be found. Go to Battery Point for coffee and sit amongst the federation houses with a view over the harbour.

If you are in Hobart over a weekend make sure you go to Salamanca Markets for a few bargains.

Also take a drive along the Huon valley to see all the apple orchards and eventually head towards the great tree walk.

There are many other things worth doing but with only 5 days I would definitely concentrate on the things you know you would enjoy.

Regarding accomodation we stayed at the Grand Chancellor which is right on the Harbour and I think it cost us just on $100 per night. It is 4 or 5 star and was the best hotel service we have ever received. very large and clean rooms, King size beds that are comfortable too, and very convenient location. Accross the road is Muirs Seafood which was one of best dinners I've had - and very cheap.

Cnicho26 has given you some excellent advice. Staying near Hobart is a good idea considering you only have five days. There's a ton of stuff to do in the area. We spent four nights there and could have easily stayed longer.

You can easily take day trips to several areas from Hobart.

Ditto The Grand Chancellor. A class hotel. We arrived early and our room wasn't ready. They checked in our baggage and served us tea and dessert, gratis. It was Saturday and they recommended a visit to Salamanca Market while we waited for our room. Walking distance.
Nice memories of Hobart.
John

Thanks to all who gave us recommendations; we are really excited to be going and are plannig how to wrap all suggestions into a too-short time. Best regards, D.

Mahalo are you in Hawai'i?

We spent 5 days in Tasmania last April 1/2 day Hobart at each end. Long and gorgeous drive out to Strahan and Gordon River Cruise back for a morning in historic Richmond. Onto Freycinet for a days worth of hiking and the evening in Bicheno (Old Tram Road B&B)to see fairy penguins wonderfully low tech. Pretty drive across a forest preserve and down to Port Arthur for a day and a night and back to a wonderful last night at the Lenn in Hobart via the ER at Royal Hobart Hospital. Exhausting but fascinating. Only wish we had a night to break the drive to Strahan at Lake St. Clair.

After that marathon we rested up w/ 3 days relaxing sail through the Whitsundays.

AndrewDavid