Tasmania, often dubbed the “Apple Isle,” offers a unique blend of natural beauty, abundant wildlife and a rich history. With so much packed into a small Scotland-sized space, ten days is the perfect amount of time in Tasmania.

Disclaimer: Me and my sister only visited Tasmania for nine days, so I had to get a bit imaginative with what to do on the last day!

Why visit Tasmania

Tasmania is effectively New Zealand with wombats: Similar to New Zealand, Tasmania boasts a temperate climate with lush greenery and dramatic landscapes. Tasmania is home to a much more diverse range of native animals however, including marsupials (wombats, kangaroos and the famous Tasmanian devils to name a few), monotremes (platypus and echidnas), a wealth of Australian birds and diverse marine life below the waves.

From towering mountains and ancient rainforests to pristine white sand beaches and rugged coastlines, Tasmania offers a wealth of different landscapes, and not exactly ones you’d think of when you think of Australia. One moment you could be driving through a lush forest with ferns the size of your car, next through the highlands where stone columns rise from a freshly laid bed of snow.

Furthermore, not a lot of backpackers make it out to this island, so you’ll get plenty of kudos in the hostels of the mainland.

Practicalities

• Getting to Tasmania: You can either fly to Hobart or Launceston, the two main cities in Tasmania. For the sake of this itinerary, I’d recommend flying to Launceston which, despite having a smaller airport, is further north than Hobart so cheaper to fly to from Melbourne.
• Transportation: Renting a car is the best way to explore the island at your own pace. Buses do connect many of the towns so if you’re unable to drive you could still get away with using public transport, but it will create a lot more headaches.
• Accommodation: Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia are the best options for finding accommodation, though you can only book Maria Island via the national parks website. 

Itinerary

Summary: Beginning in Launceston, head to scenic Cradle Mountain, stopping on the way at a platypus hotspot, then enjoy a couple of days of hiking through the mountainous grasslands and rainforests. Then head for the east coast, starting off in the bouldery beaches of Freycinet National Park, going south to the wombat haven that is Maria Island and the Giants’ Causeway-like cliffs of Tasman National Park.

Day 1: Launceston to Cradle Mountain

Start your journey in Launceston Airport or Devonport ferry terminal and head towards Cradle Mountain National Park. Along the way, visit the Tasmanian Arboretum, a fantastic place for platypus spotting. Even if you visit the small lake in the middle of the day, you’ll likely spot multiple platypuses bobbing about like ducks. 

These beaked mammals can be tricky to photograph and film, since their fur is waterproof so comes out extremely shiny. They also only spend a few seconds on the water’s surface, but you’ll get plenty of chances to practise since they frequently come up. A useful trick is to look out for their streams of bubbles as they dive, since these sometimes indicate where they will resurface.

Days 2-3: Cradle Mountain National Park

Mainland Aussies and locals alike agree: Cradle Mountain is Tasmania’s most iconic locale and a must for any itinerary. Named after a gold-mining cradle rather than that of a baby, nestled within its curvy peaks is Australia’s deepest lake and a network of trails running through verdant rainforests and amber alpine grasslands.

The most popular trails are the three-hour loop around Dove Lake which takes in the quintessential views, and the boardwalks that run parallel to the park’s main access road, though at some distance so you won’t hear the traffic. Besides, only the park’s shuttle buses are allowed up these roads. A word of advice: at the very least, do the one-hour hike from Dove Lake to Ronnie Creek, since this is where you have the best chance of spotting wombats. Because we did it in the winter, we saw them by the dozen (I reckon I counted a total of 30 up here).

You should factor in a couple of days here since the weather can change at the drop of a hat, even in the summer, which can affect whether or not the bus service will run.

Since we’d done a lot of hiking the previous day, we spent our other day at the ranger station and Cradle Mountain Lodge. Both are quite close together, and there’s a lot to do in the area. The ranger station has an informative museum, while Cradle Mountain Lodge has a lovely ski-style pub with an open fireplace. Nearby are a couple of easy hikes, neither lasting more than 30 minutes, that will take you to waterfalls and through mossy rainforests. We also saw a couple of wallabies and wombats here plus a lot of pademelons, and platypuses have been known to pop up in the streams.

Day 4: Cradle Mountain to Freycinet National Park

Drive to Freycinet National Park, stopping in Launceston to pick up a sleeping bag; you’ll need one for Maria Island later on in this itinerary. I’d recommend Anaconda since they do click-and-collect at bargain prices. They also have shops in Hobart, so you could head that way first if Launceston is out of stock.

You could base yourself for the night in the beach towns of either Bicheno or Coles Bay, since both have access to Freycinet National Park, though Coles Bay is half an hour closer.

Day 5: Wineglass Bay and Bicheno penguins

Freycinet National Park’s top draw, Wineglass Bay’s delightful-sounding name is the first thing you’ll love about this place. There’s much more to come when you reach the viewpoint: its white sands snake around a bay that turns turquoise on a sunny day, while the peaks of the Hazards mountain range loom behind.

It’s a 45-minute walk uphill to the viewpoint through a dry forest and a hillside strewn with pear-shaped granite boulders. Most visitors call it a day here, but it’s definitely worth hiking down to the beach itself then taking a left turn up the coast. Awaiting you here are rocks covered in tangerine-coloured lichens, a gorgeous sight to photograph, and rockpools full of starfish.

Even with this little extension, Wineglass Bay can be done in a morning, and you might even want to consider going up at sunrise if it looks like it’ll be a clear day.

As for what to do with the rest of your day, head north of Coles Bay towards Bicheno in the afternoon, and be sure to stop at the Freycinet Marine Farm for a plate of deliciously fresh seafood. While the oysters are their signature dish, the eatery has a street food vibe with wooden picnic tables under a corrugated iron roof. You can also don a set of waders on one of their walking tours and get to know how oyster farming works.

However long you linger, be sure to get to Bicheno by nightfall. At this time fairy penguins, the world’s smallest penguin species and no bigger than an iron, come ashore to waddle back to their nests. It’s worth taking a guided tour to a colony just outside town, a conservation labour of love that’s seen the number of nesting penguins grow from 30 pairs to over 300. Dim orange fairy lights illuminate the trails and guides with red torches (these don’t disturb the penguins) will show you around. In a small group, you’ll be taken to nestboxes where glass panels and opening roofs will let you see the adults at home and their chicks, and to viewing platforms by the beach where groups of penguins scurry up the shore. Sometimes they like to take their time as they wait for one brave individual to lead the way, so the guides will fill this time with a seemingly endless supply of facts about these birds.

Day 6: Freycinet to Maria Island

Head out early on this day to get the morning ferry from Triabunna to Maria Island, home to the finest wildlife viewing in all of Tasmania. The most famous residents are its hundreds of wombats which have absolutely no fear of humans. Case in point: I almost tripped over one during a night walk. There are also scores of pademelons, wallabies, kangaroos, bandicoots and birds, most notably the rather menacing Cape Barren geese. What’s more, you won’t have to walk too far to spot them since they all like to hang out in the fields and forests near the ferry terminal.

Staying overnight makes for an interesting experience, with accommodation in a former prison camp. The cabins’ verandas and fireplaces have made them a touch more homely, though they don’t have electricity and you will need to bring along all your food and bedding.

Day 7: Maria Island to Port Arthur

Drive on to Port Arthur, another historic convict site with stunning coastal scenery in its backyard. There are two routes you could take with the more direct one going over dirt tracks – this one’s best avoided if there’s been heavy rain recently, but you’ll be fine in a 2WD otherwise. Either one will take you roughly an hour and a half so feel free to spend a bit more time on Maria Island, take it easy in Triabunna or stop off at the historic town of Richmond on the way.

Days 8-9: Port Arthur and Tasman Peninsula

Shielding Hobart from the stormy expanses of the Southern Ocean, the Tasman Peninsula is the perfect answer to the Joker’s conundrum of an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object – that object being the area’s vast dolerite cliffs. An extremely hard rock type to break, Tasman Peninsula’s coastline looks like what one would get if one took the Giant’s Causeway, cut it down the way and made cliffs from it (and the two are, indeed, made from the same material). Add in a smattering of caves and stacks, plus a very isolated lighthouse on the southern tip.

Boat trips from Port Arthur are the best way to experience the area’s geological wonders in a short space of time, plus there’s a good chance of spotting fur seals basking on the rocks, seabirds fishing out at sea and dolphins swimming alongside the boat. 

Port Arthur itself is also a must-visit for history nerds, with its sprawling UNESCO-certified Historical Site the best preserved convict settlement in all of Australia. The main site boasts a cathedral, several large jailhouses and a cluster of homely English-style houses, one of which is said to be the most haunted house in Australia. Take one of the ghost tours after dark to find out more.

There are various ways you could spend your last day: if you fancy sticking around the Tasman Peninsula there are various hiking trails along the coast and more secluded beaches to the east, plus there’s the Tasmanian Devil Unzoo nearby – self-styled as such because of its natural-looking enclosures – if you’ve yet to spot any Tasmanian devils. 

Alternatively, if you don’t mind a couple of hours of driving, go all the way around the bay past Hobart to Bruny Island where a unique population of albino wallabies can be found.

Day 10: Head to Hobart or back up to Launceston

Finish up in Tasmania’s state capital Hobart or head back up to Launceston and catch a flight home. If you have time to kill in either, Hobart has MONA, an exceptionally quirky museum even by modern art standards, and Launceston has the dramatic Cataract Gorge walk just a short distance from the city centre.