lubielody

We are from the US east coast and are planning a 5-night/6-day stay in Tasmania in Feb 2011. We can't stay longer 'cause of work and having to be in Sydney for a wedding.

HELP! We haven't a clue where to start. Having never been to that part of the world, we are in a quandary as to what to see in that short amount of time. I've been looking at the guide books but it appears to be so much that I'm getting dizzy!

Should we rent a car? Fine with us. What is the best itinerary so that we see the most but not just whiz by and not get a chance to walk around a bit?

A little about us...early 60s; we enjoy walking 2-3 hours at a shot along somewhat moderately difficult trails.; we're not real hard core hikers. We love the beach but don't like to sit and bake in the sun. We enjoy all aspects of nature.

Thx for any help you can give us!

DalaiLlama

You probably fly into Hobart. Book the return flight out of Launceston, not Hobart.

On the arrival day, just stick around Hobart, walk walk walk to get rid of the jetlag in the fresh air. Take a cab or bus to the Botanical Gardens near the Queens Domain. Go over the bridge to Bellerive near the Yacht Club, enjoy the waterfront, have a bite to eat near the intersections of Clarence and Queen Streets and Cambridge Rd.

Get into the center of town and be amazed how charmingly oldfashioned it is. While in town, get maps and guidebook stuff so you can plan your moves for days two and three. That'll be a good useful arrival day.

If you wish to go on a guided bus tour to Port Arthur the next day, make arrangements. If you wish to drive yourselves (recommended), wait til Day Two to get your vehicle. Make it a one-way drop-off contract, return the car in Launceston.

We took Budget the last time, went really well. 96 Harrington St, Hobart Tasmania - (03) 6234 5222, www.budget.com.au

On the way back from Port Arthur, when you see the Eaglehawk Cafe + Guesthouse on your right, take a right at the next opportunity, into Blowhole Road and follow it until you get to the Blowhole and walk up to the lookout - the way the waves play against the cliffs is great.

Day three take off, head north on Hwy 1 then take A10 towards Cradle Mountain. By now you will have read up and formed an opinion about which of the targets along the way you want to see. There are lakes, waterfalls, hikes... Some impressive mountain driving, too!

Stay the night wherever you feel like it, not much by way of fancy hotels. We stayed at a rough-and-ready place called the Top Pub (!) in Rosebery - nothing wrong with the place, except the dining room seemed to be the only game in town and the staff were overwhelmed by unannounced groups, so dinner took an eternity and was, well, honest pub grub. The beer was good, though...

Maybe Queenstown has something more "elevated" - but we didn't mind for just one night, it was ok really. And cheap!

This will be your third night, somewhere in the mountains near the west coast.

The next day drive to Burnie then spend the night somewhere near Penguin. Just let the wind blow you this way and that, the coastal towns are nice. you may get as far as Devonport - just west of town along the main highway is the Don River Railway (vintage) - follow the signs and check it out and visit the maintenance shed where the volunteers do their work. Very impressive!

This will be your fourth night, somewhere on the north coast.

Then drive to Launceston - along the way you'll see all kinds of nice distractions, yummy goodies for sale, antiques, and near Deloraine you may want to turn towards the mountains and go to the Great Lake for a legstretch before getting to Launceston.

Stay the last night in Launceston - it is a nice town, has some good food if you ask around, like the Me Wah that would be a classy place to have your last dinner in Tassie.

It’s clean, picturesque, largely rural - if you’ve ever been to NZ it will remind you of that.

Before you leave, read Hughes, The Fatal Shore - Port Arthur will impress you even more.

Carrabella

We lived in Tasie for six years, and although it was many years ago, I don't think the roads will have become much faster, so although distances are small, travel is slow, except on the main highway from Hobart to Launceston. With five days only (you need one for recovery!) I think you'll have time to do either the east coast, or the west coast, not both.
e.g. www.mynrma.com.au - "Travel" - Trip Planner, suggests Hobart to Strahan on the west coast, 289km, nearly 4 hours, but there's so much to see on the way, it would take much longer.

We are about the same age. For what it's worth, my favourite spots in Tasie are Coles Bay, on the East Coast, and walking in Cradle Mountain. Even on a wet day, the rainforest is ethereal and inspiring, at least it used to be. (I've visited the Hoh Rainforest in Washington, USA, and it compares more than favourably, and will be quite unlike anything you've seen on the East Coast of USA.)

Dalai has given a lot of thought, and has suggested a wonderful plan , but I think it's a tad ambitious. I'd rather see less, but more leisurely.
What time of year?

DalaiLlama

It may seem ambitious, but we never left before 8:30 in the morning or even later, and always arrived well before dinner time, and did lots of things en route - stops, hikes, visits... And we only had four nights!
Yes, it rained cats and dogs up on Cradle Mountain and it was magical. Rain blown sideways as we came over the top and heading towards Queenstown - dramatic!
Tassie is such a great place! I wish you had three weeks - we never really got to the east coast on this trip, nor down to the water on the west where we would have loved to stay in the rain forest and near the ocean for a while, to retrace earlier trips (remembering the dramatic '70s with the political fights over conservation!), but four nights this time were a lot better than none. You'll have five, so make the most of it!
Enjoy.

Bgale

On my last trip I had exactly the same amount of time in Tasmania (5 day/6 nights). We stayed in Richmond for 3-nites, which is a short drive into Hobart. Did the wonderful market in Hobart, Port Douglas, etc.

I agree with Carrabella about doing the east or west coast but not both in that short time. We drove across to the west coast to Strahan and it was an "all day drive" with just a couple of stops. We got there late and almost missed dinner because all the restaurants close early. As we were exploring Launceston and the many small towns around it on the east coast, we agreed the time spent driving across the island to Strahan could have been better spent on the east coast.

I also agree with DalaiLlame that Tasmania is WONDERFUL and has much to offer and you could spend 3 weeks there and not see it all. Whatever you decide, enjoy your trip!!

Susan7

Maybe with such a short amount of time you could see two or three places on the West coast. For me the real highlights of Tasmania are the wilderness areas. Hobart is nice if you have time but it's not spectacular in the way the bush is.

I'd suggest flying into Launceston, hiring a car and driving to Cradle Mountain, which I agree with Carabella, is ethereal--that's absolutely the right word for the beauty of the rainforest there. From there you could drive to Strahan for the river cruise. The town itself is very touristy, but the access to wilderness areas unreachable by any other means makes it well worth it. You could possibly continue to Lake St Claire then return to Launceston.

misiawmercer

Thanks to all for all your help. For some reason my old ID did not work so I created a new one.

I had wanted to do Freycinet, too, along with Cradle Mtn but that appears to be too much, right? If we just did Cradle Mtn, then where else should we go? To Strahan for the wilderness tours? Does anyone know the driving time from Cadle Mtn to Freycinet? Many thanks!

shandy

You would need to allow 3 - 3 1/2 hours driving time from Freycinet to Cradle Mountain.

We spent 7 nights there about a month ago and had a wonderful time. As we have been to Tassie several times before we didn't feel the need to try and rush all over the place.

We spent 3 nights at Freycinet at the Lodge itself and did some wonderful walks around Wineglass Bay and the short boardwalk near the lighthouse is excellent as well. Because it was winter we were able to stay at the Lodge for half price and we were very happy with it. However it will no doubt be peak prices in February and you can probably do a better deal elsewhere at Coles Bay if you want to. If money is no object the new Saffire looked fabulous from the outside.

We then headed over to Cradle Mountain but spent 2 nights on the way in Deloraine at Peppers Calstock which was absolutely wonderful. A heritage listed property with fabulous rooms and the food was fantastic. A real foodie/luxury/time out destination. However, with your limited time you probably just want to head straight to Cradle Mountain. If you could fit in one night in one of king spa rooms upstairs I would say go for it.

We then had 2 nights at Cradle Mountain which we thoroughly enjoyed. Great walks - nothing overly strenuous. We stayed at the Highlanders Cottages and, once again, excellent accommodation. We chose the Snowgum Cottage which is their most expensive one (but still cheaper than Cradle Mountain Lodge) and the reviews on Tripadvisor for the cheaper Highlander cottages are also very good. It is a very short walk from the Cottage to the Tourist Info office and where the shuttle bus departs to take you up into Cradle Mountain itself which is very handy.

If you fly out from Launceston, it only took us 2 hours from Cradle Mountain straight to the airport.

With only 6 nights I would certainly try to limit it to only 3 destinations. As previously mentioned, the west coast is great as well, with the cruises into the World Heritage areas excellent but, realistically, I think you need to choose between west coast or east coast. Bear in mind that, generally, doing the west coast means quite a lot more driving time than the east coast. As it is in the middle, you should be able to fit in Cradle Mountain regardless of whether you do the West Coast or East Coast.

As you will be spending time in Sydney, you might want to consider forgoing spending time in either of Hobart or Launceston and use your time in Tassie for being in the countryside. Don't get me wrong, they are 2 very nice cities, but I think Tassie's greatest assets are outside of the cities - anyway something to consider.

Incidentally, do you know the www.whereis.com site. This will give you an indication of driving times in Australia.

misiawmercer

Many thanks for your information. I am very excited about our trip and your suggestions make me even more anxious to get there and see all the beautiful places I'm hearing about!