14 Day Road Trip (with lots of pictures) of Tasmania
So ….. was our lap of Tasmania road trip all about old buildings and trees – (as per my previous post )? Or was it so much more? Read on to get a full summary (with lots of pictures) of where we went, what we saw and if a Tassie road trip is for you.
Day 1 Hobart to Lake St Clair.
We had a fabulous first day of our Tassie 14 day road trip. The scenery was spectacular. The road was a little windy in places, but the stunning views along the way made it all worth while.
Our lunch stop was at the Derwent Bridge Hotel before we headed to our accommodation at Lake St. Clair.
The location was incredible and the Lake St. Clair walks were breathtaking. Our favourite was Waters Meet where two rivers combine (pic 2).
Day 2 & 3 Lake St Clair – Strahan
This was a particularly windy part of our Tasmanian Road Trip. Landscape was so beautiful with mountains, waterfalls and towering trees as far as the eye can see.
We stopped at Nelson Falls to break up our trip today. There is an easy to follow track that leads you on a 20 minute stroll from the carpark to the waterfall.
It is so pretty with babbling brooks, tree ferns, and moss-covered trees leading the way to the waterfall.
Strahan is a lovely little harbourside town. It is also the home of the famous heritage Gordon River Cruises.
We did the sunset cruise which left at 3.30pm. The ship takes you all around Macquarie Harbour and out to “Hells Gates” and then into the word heritage national park site.
We felt so lucky to be able to visit this incredible place and would definitely recommend doing this cruise.
The next day we wandered around Strahan and found another beautiful waterfall plus some lovely places to eat – including fresh ocean trout – straight off the boat at the Regatta Point Hotel.
Days 4 & 5 – Cradle Mountain
A road trip around Tassie wouldn’t be complete without visiting this world-famous national park.
The drive to from Strahan to Cradle Mountain was one of our favourites because we discovered two amazing places to visit that we hadn’t heard of.
The first was Montezuma Falls. This is a 10km walk and goes along an old tram line all the way to the base of Tasmania’s highest waterfall which is 104m high. Find out more here. https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/attraction/montezumafalls
We then stopped for lunch at a little place called Tullah and found a lovely little restaurant/café right on Lake Rosebery. It was so beautiful.
When we finally reached our accommodation at Cradle Mountain we were pretty tired – so we enjoyed happy hour and then dinner – and probably our favourite wine of the trip (Bell and Gong Sauvignon Blanc). https://www.bellandgong.com/
We spent a full day and night exploring the national park. First, we hiked around Dove Lake and then at sunset we did a wildlife spotting tour where we finally saw some gorgeous wombats.
Day 6 – Stanley
The landscape changed once again as we headed to Stanley. You can see the famous “Nut” from miles away as you drive along the northern coastal roads. The Nut is a sheer sided bluff and is all that remains of a volcanic plug. https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/attraction/thenut
The Nut is the most popular tourist sight in Stanley. It takes about 45 minutes to walk around the top and you can either walk up a steep path or catch the cable car. Guess which one we did – yep the cable car.
There is a quaint little main street, with some lovely restored historic houses as well as a variety of gift and food shops.
Our recommendation for dinner is the Stanley Hotel (but book ahead).
Day 7 - Launceston
There are so many places you could stop along the way to Launceston, but we chose Penguin for our brunch stop.
Our next stop on our way was Deloraine. Such a beautiful little town with a stunning river flowing right through the middle. It’s a great place to stretch your legs with a short walk along the river and over the suspended walk bridge.
https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/about/regions-of-tasmania/launceston-and-north/deloraine
When we arrived in Launceston we checked in to our accommodation and headed out to walk to Cataract Gorge. This is Launceston’s most popular attraction. It is an amazing sight to see right in the middle of a city!
Days 8 & 9 Grindelwald – Tamar Valley
A short drive (30mins) from Launceston to Grindelwald Swiss Village for our wine tour stay.
Grindelwald is very unique and like the name suggests is a copy of the famous Swiss town of the same name. https://www.discovertasmania.com.au/attraction/tamarvalleyresortgrindelwaldattraction
Our accommodation here was the cheapest of our whole road trip in Tassie.
We enjoyed playing putt putt golf (and I beat Lyle quite convincingly!) The bar and bistro were really nice and very handy to be able to walk from our accommodation.
We did a full day wine tour with Tamar Valley Wine Tours – which was a one of trip highlights.
https://www.tamarvalleywinetours.com.au/
Day 10 – St Helen’s (Bay of Fires, Binalong Bay)
Another well known area of Tasmania is the Bay of Fires. As we only had one night here, we made sure we saw the famous orange rocks, white sand and crystal blue waters of Binalong Bay and the Bay of Fires – spectacular.
This is also where we had one of our favourite meals – the seafood laksa at The Wharf restaurant in St Helens. https://www.thewharfbarandkitchen.com.au/
Day 11 & 12 – Freycinet National Park
Our trip today was very enjoyable with a brunch stop at Bicheno. The Bicheno Blowhole is the sight to see here (and it also the best place to see penguins in this area of Tassie).
We arrived at Freycinet Wilderness lodge and were very happy with our luxury cabin (it was my birthday – so we splurged a little)
After a long hot spa bath we headed to dinner – and oh what a sunset view from the deck.
We had planned a long walk the next day with a water taxi return – but the wind and weather conditions caused the trip to be cancelled, so we just hiked to the top of the lookout to see Wine Glass Bay.
Day 13 & 14– Port Arthur
No lap of Tasmania would be complete without a visit to Port Arthur.
There is so much to explore and learn at the Port Arthur Historic sight. So glad we took our time to wander around and learn all about the history – both recent tragic events (1996) plus all about the convict settlement.
We thoroughly enjoyed our road trip of Tasmania.
Were there lots of trees and old buildings? Definitely. But there was also so much more to enjoy. We loved the hikes, waterfalls, the food, the wine, the fresh air, friendly people and Tasmania is just a stunning place to visit. We will definitely be going back and can’t wait to try some more Tasmanian wines!!