City Breaks in Hobart & Launceston

The sparkling city on the Derwent, Hobart has an array of sophisticated pleasures to complement the natural glories of the island state. Don’t miss this stirring trio.

Best walk

The Battery Point waterfront precinct was first settled in 1804, and remains largely residential, with many historic buildings still in everyday use, including historic fishermen’s cottages and old pubs. Take a stroll around Arthur Circus, where whalers’ cottages form a colourful circle around a small park, and don’t miss the galleries, art studios, antique and craft shops, and cafes of this delightful area.

Luxury accommodation Hobart City

Best museum

Housed in one of Hobart’s earliest colonial homes, Narryna Heritage Museum has a superb collection of furniture, china, silver, paintings and examples of fine arts housed inside a classic example of Georgian architecture. The gardens are a delight.

Best market

The cafes and arcades in the distinctive Georgian sandstone ware-houses of Salamanca Place are at their liveliest on Saturdays between 9am and 3pm, when Salamanca Market brings together 300 stall-holders selling arts and crafts of every description.

Gateway to the green playground of northern Tasmania, Launceston is a proud, handsome city packed with things to do. Here are a few options.

Best museum

From the Tasmanian tiger to models of extinct giant marsupials, and colonial paintings to contemporary crafts, facets of the Tasmanian experience are stitched together at the city’s excellent Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery. The exhibits also include a Chinese joss house, complete with the fittings and regalia put there by Chinese tin miners in the late 19th Century.

Luxury accommodation Launceston and northern Tasmania

Best woodwork

Tasmania’s rainforest timbers and hardwoods have been transformed into works of art and practical objects by highly skilled crafts-people, and the Tasmanian Wood Design Collection is a showcase of some of the very finest.

Best brewery

J Boag and Son has been brewing on the banks of the Esk River since 1881, and while the technology and equipment might have changed, the pride and craftsmanship comes straight from the past. Join a tour at Boag’s Centre for Beer Lovers Museum, open weekdays.