Under Down Under Comfort Tour - Ultimate Tasmania - Double Room

Map

DAY 1: HOBART TO QUEENSTOWN

Head north-west from Hobart into Mount Field National Park, one of Tasmania's first two national parks, for Russell Falls and its tiered cascades. Next is Lake St Clair, Australia's deepest lake at around 160 metres. In the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park you look over the Franklin River, saved from a dam in 1983, and walk through rainforest to Nelson Falls. Near Queenstown, the Iron Blow Lookout hangs over the flooded open cut where the Mount Lyell mines began, and Horsetail Falls spills down the bare hills. Dinner is with the group.

Overnight: Queenstown (Silver Hills Motel)

DAY 2: GORDON RIVER CRUISE TO BURNIE

From Strahan the cruise crosses Macquarie Harbour, about six times the size of Sydney Harbour, and out to Hells Gates, the narrow mouth convicts named for what lay beyond. You land on Sarah Island, a penal station from 1822 to 1833, then follow the Gordon River into the World Heritage Area for a guided rainforest boardwalk among Huon pines that can live more than 2,000 years. Lunch is on board, and back in town you visit a Huon pine sawmill. Then it's north to Burnie on the north-west coast, where you can join an optional evening walk to watch little penguins come ashore.

Overnight: Burnie (Burnie Central Townhouse)

DAY 3: THE NORTH-WEST COAST

Follow the coast west past Boat Harbour Beach and Table Cape, the flat top of an old volcano. In Stanley you have free time for lunch, then take on The Nut, a 143 metre volcanic plug rising straight from the sea; walk up the steep path or ride the chairlift. In the afternoon you reach Arthur River and the Edge of the World, where the river meets the Southern Ocean and the next land to the west is South America. Driftwood logs pile up on the rocks like matchsticks. You spend the night in Smithton, on the edge of the Tarkine.

Overnight: Smithton (Tall Timbers Hotel)

DAY 4: THE TARKINE TO DEVONPORT

The Tarkine holds the largest stretch of cool temperate rainforest in Australia. Your loop takes in Sumac Lookout, high above the Arthur River valley, and Trowutta Arch, a natural bridge of rock left standing when a cave roof fell in, with a green sinkhole pond beneath it. Back on the coast, stop in Penguin, whose giant concrete penguin has stood on the foreshore since 1975, and Ulverstone, then reach Devonport and the lighthouse on Mersey Bluff. Dinner is with the group.

Overnight: Devonport (Nightelier Gateway Devonport)

DAY 5: CRADLE MOUNTAIN TO LAUNCESTON

Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park is the alpine heart of Tasmania's World Heritage wilderness. Take the 6 km Dove Lake Circuit around the glacier-carved lake beneath the 1,545 metre peak, or the shorter walk to the Boat Shed, built of King Billy pine in 1940, and Glacier Rock. The Ronny Creek boardwalk is the place for wombats. On the way to Launceston, stop in Sheffield, which began painting its walls in 1986 and is now called the Town of Murals. The evening in Launceston is free.

Overnight: Launceston (Leisure Inn Penny Royal)

DAY 6: LAUNCESTON TO BICHENO

Start at Cataract Gorge, where the South Esk River has cut a cliff-lined ravine minutes from the city and wallabies graze the slopes. Then cross to the east coast for lunch in St Helens and a walk at larapuna (Bay of Fires), named by Captain Tobias Furneaux in 1773 for the Aboriginal campfires he saw along the shore. Its granite boulders are stained orange by lichen beside white sand. You end the day in Bicheno, where the blowhole spouts on a big swell and the lookout gives views along the coast. Dinner is included.

Overnight: Bicheno (Beachfront Bicheno)

DAY 7: FREYCINET NATIONAL PARK TO HOBART

Freycinet National Park, also proclaimed in 1916, is the east coast's showpiece. Climb about 1,000 steps to the Wineglass Bay Lookout (moderate) for the curve of white sand, then relax at Honeymoon Bay beneath the pink granite peaks of The Hazards. The boardwalk at Cape Tourville follows the cliffs to a lighthouse above the Tasman Sea. The afternoon is the Great Eastern Drive, one of Australia's best coastal roads, down to Hobart.

Overnight: Hobart (Travelodge Hobart)

DAY 8: BONORONG, RICHMOND AND KUNANYI

At Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary you meet Tasmanian devils, the largest meat-eating marsupials left on earth, alongside wombats and other rescued wildlife. Then cross the Coal River Valley to Richmond, where convicts built the Richmond Bridge in 1823; it's the oldest stone span bridge still in use in Australia. In Wellington Park you drive up kunanyi (Mount Wellington), 1,271 metres straight above Hobart, for the view down the Derwent to the sea.

Overnight: Hobart (Travelodge Hobart)

DAY 9: BRUNY ISLAND

A car ferry takes you across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Bruny Island. Climb to Truganini Lookout above The Neck, the thin sandy strip joining North and South Bruny, where little penguins and shearwaters nest in the dunes. In South Bruny National Park, Cape Bruny Lighthouse has stood on the cliffs since 1838. At Adventure Bay, where Captain Cook anchored in 1777, look out for the island's rare white wallabies, then taste some of the local produce. Back in Hobart, the evening is yours, perhaps in Salamanca.

Overnight: Hobart (Travelodge Hobart)

DAY 10: PORT ARTHUR AND THE TASMAN PENINSULA

Stop at the Pirates Bay Lookout above Eaglehawk Neck, then walk out onto the Tessellated Pavement, rock split into near-perfect tiles by salt and sea. Tasman Arch and Devil's Kitchen show what the waves have done to the cliffs. At Port Arthur Historic Site, a convict prison from 1830 to 1877 and now World Heritage-listed, your entry includes a harbour cruise. The tour ends back in Hobart in the late afternoon.

Map

• Warm layers, including a fleece or woollen jumper or puffer jacket — alpine areas can be very cold year-round
• Good quality rain jacket
• Comfortable closed-toe walking shoes or boots
• Toiletries
• Towel
• Wide brimmed hat and sunscreen
• Swimsuit (optional)
• 1 to 2 litre refillable water bottle
• Earphones for the free Port Arthur podcast
• Luggage limit of 20 kg

• Accommodation for 9 nights in a double or single room with ensuite
• 8 continental breakfasts, 1 lunch and 5 two-course dinners
• Gordon River cruise
• Port Arthur Historic Site entry and harbour cruise
• Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary entry
• Bruny Island ferry transfers
• Guided commentary
• Guided walks and free-walking options
• National park entry fees
• Pick-up and drop-off at selected Hobart CBD locations

Not included

• Some meals
• Travel insurance

Preparing for the trip

Private tours and families

Booking the trip

Who travels with us

Cost and Fees

Whilst on tour