We are 50 something Aussies who've not yet been to Tasmania.
We enjoy local food (especially seafood), history, walking, architecture, nature, art of many varieties. I'd welcome suggestions for staying places, eating places and things to do. I'd like to keep the staying budget at $100 pn, but we can be flexible.

I have booked a flight to Hobart arriving 14.25 on Monday 31/10/16, and the Spirit of Tasmania ferry departing Devonport to Melbourne on Saturday 12/11/16 at 9.00. Nothing else is set in stone.

Here's my rough itinerary -
Hobart 4 nights (Mon - Thurs) stay in Battery Point/Salamanca area. MONA is a must do.

Pick up hire car drive to Bruny Island, stay 1 night (Fri).

Drive to Hobart for Salamanca markets on Saturday morning, then on to Freycinet NP for two nights (Sat & Sun). Stay in Coles Bay or Bicheno ? Or somewhere else ?

Drive to St Helens area for two nights, (Mon & Tues).

Drive to Launceston for two nights, (Wed & Thurs).

Drive to Devonport for one night (Fri) drop off hire car.

What would you recommend or change ?

Port Arthur is a must - give it the best part of a day out of Hobart.
I recommend the drive across the rugged landscape to Strahan, Queenstown, then around Rosebery to Cradle Mountain where I believe there is a refined resort - not sure, check it out.

Yay! We're headed to Tasmania ourselves in January, following NYE in Sydney, so I cannot wait to read about your experiences on the island. We will have 9 nights, dividing 4 nights in Hobart, 2 in Strahan, and 3 at Cradle Mountain.

Hi sartoric -

Unfortunately, it's been too many years since I visited TAS to offer much advice.

I'm curious why'd you not continue on to Bruny Island on your day of arrival? Of course it just occurred to me that maybe you don't want a car for those four days in Hobart?

I thought the Pacific oysters cultivated in Tasmania were delectable. Someone has kindly put together a list of where to taste them, including "Get Shucked" on Bruny Island.
http://www.urbanwalkabout.com/austra...rs-in-tasmania

We didn't get to Bruny Island, but we ate at Drunken Admiral Restaurant in Hobart, which is also mentioned on the above list. It was an experience, the restaurant has an almost-kitschy nautical decor, and was very crowded and bustling. It's not fine dining but offers a good range of seafood, simply prepared. My husband loved their seafood platter. http://drunkenadmiral.com.au/menu/

Tasmania's farmed Pacific salmon is also of high quality and widely available (though, being from coastal California, I'll always be partial to wild salmon from the Pacific Northwest).

You didn't mention wine, but for us a highlight of staying in Launceston was being able to tour the wineries of the nearby Tamar Valley. Some of them, like Piper's Brook, have lovely settings. We also enjoyed Seahorse World at Beauty Point. (Later on our trip we saw seahorses and sea dragons in the wild, while scuba diving off Bicheno.)

In Launceston, we ate twice at Stillwater Restaurant, which had well-prepared food, a nice setting, but was pricey. http://www.stillwater.com.au/
We also visited Launceston's Cataract Gorge, which was very crowded. We didn't find it too interesting. You can visit Cradle Mountain as a day trip from Launceston, I think this would be time better-spent. We didn't make it Cradle Mountain—I can't remember why; we were probably too busy wine tasting.
https://tasmania.com/itineraries/tas...ain-day-drive/

In Freycinet National Park, the walk to Wineglass Bay Lookout is a must. http://www.parks.tas.gov.au/?base=1472
We got off to a late start, so we didn't have time to walk to the bay itself.

MONA might interest you. http://www.mona.net.au/
It wasn't open when we were there, but we visited Moorilla Winery.

We also drove to Taranna to visit the Tasmanian Devil Park (it might be called the "Tasmanian Devil Unzoo" now). It was small but we were able to see a Tasmanian Devil mom tear some meat away from her cubs.

I've been intending to revisit Tasmania and this Tasman Peninsula cruise is on the top of my to-do list.
https://www.viator.com/tours/Hobart/...379-5500TIC_FD
https://www.tasmancruises.com.au/

I see MONA was already on your list. You probably put the idea into my head.

So much food (er, excuse me) for thought. Perhaps I should rely on tasting Bruny Island seafood elsewhere, and include Port Athur instead....thx MichelH.

TP, we're going to wing it mostly, as it's low season. I'll report anything really interesting for you.

Mel, yes hoping to stay around Battery Point area with no car for a few days.

Thank you for the links Diamantina, some research for me there. Wine is good.
Pacific oysters are definitely on the list, along with fresh abalone and scallop pie.

I'm focused on the seafood aspect, and there's so many beautiful spots on the east coast. With such little time, maybe Cradle mountain and most points west will have to wait until next time

Any accomodation reccos anyone ?

I too will look forward to hearing about your trip. Thanks for mentioning the ferry. I didn't know about that and will look into it.

I would recommend My slice of Pie between Hobart-Huonville for fresh, home-cooked lunches.

You might also like to try the oysters and wine at Bangor Oyster Shed near Dunalley. The Cannery overlooking the fishermans wharf in Dunalley has pleasant outdoor tables with views over Boomer Bay.

If you make it as far as Port Arthur, Lucky Ducks in Nubeena is a good place for lunch or coffee and cake. Its possible to do a circular drive from Port Arthur to Nubeena and then return to the highway at Taranna.

Bruny Island is one of my favourite places, I have written 3 reports of visits within the last 3 years, the first contains a number of comments on the island eateries:

http://safaritalk.net/topic/11012-is...and-house-sit/

http://safaritalk.net/topic/15361-br...nd-march-2015/

http://safaritalk.net/topic/16467-bruny-break/

Thank you Treepol. Your photos are great.
I'm torn now between Port Arthur and Bruny Island, I don't think we'll have time for both. I really like the idea of get shucked....love oysters.

We really enjoyed both Port Arthur and Bruny Island (wish we had stayed there overnight but we did it as a day trip from Hobart). What about giving up one day in Hobart to do both places, I think you have too much time there anyway.

Thanks FromDC. The airline changed our flights, so we won't arrive in Hobart until around 6 pm on the Monday night.
I definitely want to see MONA, and some other sites in Hobart, but perhaps you are right, we could take a day trip to Port Arthur on the Thursday, head for Bruny on Friday morning, and be back for the Salamanca markets on Saturday morning before moving north. Cheers.

Funny you say that about the flight change. We had the same problem and had to switch around our plans and hotel reservations, then the original flight was reinstated! I personally thought there were fewer interesting things IN Hobart than the day trips FROM Hobart. I enjoyed Bruny Island and Port Arthur more than the time we spent in Hobart itself. We didn't go to MONA, just not my thing. Enjoyed Salamanca Market but it was only for a few hours.