Two Weeks in Tassie: The Ultimate Tasmanian Road Trip Itinerary

Come down for air, goes the iconic slogan from Tourism Tasmania. How you soak up all that fresh air is up to you – there are so many fantastic ways to experience Tasmania, like a road trip. Few destinations in Australia unfurl by road as brilliantly as Tassie; no matter where you start, adventure extends in every direction. 

The challenge is creating the ultimate itinerary. Easier said than done. Don’t worry, you can get started by learning what each part has to offer, so keep reading to explore our outline of the state and how to plan the ultimate Tassie road trip.

Tasmania by Compass: the best places to visit 

On a map, Tasmania has a wonderful, compass-like symmetry that lets you divide it into four distinct regions—perfect for planning a route that packs adventure. Given the island’s small, accessible size, if you fly into the capital, you can pretty much hit any destination you like. Right from your Hobart accommodation, you can head south to Bruny Island, north or east. Below, we’ll outline what each area has to offer.

The South 

Cockle Creek

For this itinerary, let’s start in Hobart. Car loaded, it’s a two-hour drive to Cockle Creek, a place as far south as you can reach by car in Australia. The fact alone would warrant Cockle Creek’s inclusion on any road trip itinerary, were it not for the scene that awaits you. 

A pristine bay celebrated for exceptional (and free) camping and for being the doorstep to the World Heritage Southwest National Park, this is genuine edge-of-the-world stuff. There’s something awesome and humbling about knowing you could sail south from Cockle Creek and not strike land until you reach Antarctica.  

Bruny Island

From the edge of Australia, head north to Bruny Island. There’s an excellent chance you know this place already; Bruny Island Neck, the thin stretch of land connecting north and south Bruny Island, has a strong claim for Australia’s most Instagrammed spot.

Don’t let that dissuade you. Camping, fairy (yes, fairy) penguins and oysters await – and no one of sound mind would turn down all three.  

The East 

Wineglass Bay 

Certain places seem dreamt up, until you feel the sand between your toes and the cool, lapping tide on your ankles. Wineglass Bay is such a place. From a helicopter (which you can do with Freycinet Air) you’d swear it was somewhere in the Mediterranean or the Whitsundays, given its blinding sand and azure shallows. 

If you’d rather keep closer to sea level, take a cruise around the Freycinet Peninsula and let the postcard beauty of this place make your heart sing.  

Bay of Fires

Crisp white, topaz blue and pumpkin orange; if there’s a better combination of colours anywhere in nature, it’s not marked on any map we’ve studied. This is what greets you in the Bay of Fires. The white and blue are courtesy of the gold-standard beaches found everywhere in Tasmania; the orange belongs to the lichen that grows wild on the rocks in Seaton Cove. See it once and you’ll never forget it. 

Again, the camping is diverse and bountiful. Just imagine waking up to those colours each morning! 

The West 

99 Bends

Less of a destination and more of an experience, 99 Bends is the name given to the stretch of road that delivers you from the east into Queenstown — when you take it, you’ll know why. Queenstown’s brutal beauty is the culmination of rich mining ventures a century past; it’s a beauty you won’t encounter anywhere else. 

No road trip is complete without a visit to an iconic pub. The Empire Hotel fits this bill. It’s the perfect launching point for a west coast mountain bike adventure. 

Cradle Mountain 

We couldn’t leave out Tassie’s most celebrated landmark, Cradle Mountain. It’s a place that appears lifted from a fantasy novel, a landscape filled with alpine lakes, rainforests, and prolific wildlife. 

Cradle Mountain is also the start (or end) of the world-renowned Overland Track walk, which ends at Lake St Clair, Australia’s deepest freshwater lake, no less. 

The North 

Tasting Trail

If you’re a fan of visiting food and wine regions like the Hunter Valley, then the Tasting Trail, a culinary stretch from Launceston to Smithton, is an automatic entry to your itinerary. Almost 40 producers dot this trail, which for a drive that’s under three hours, amounts to a lot of delicious food. You’ve been warned. 

Floating Sauna, Lake Derby

Derby was once a tin-mining town. Now, it’s one of Tassie’s premier mountain biking destinations. And what better way to treat the bruises from a day on the trails than visiting Lake Derby’s Floating Sauna? 

It’s your chance to experience what the Scandinavians have been practising for centuries; cathartic heat chased with rousing cold. It will heal and inspire you, trust us.  

What kind of road trip do you want?

All great road trips have an element of unpredictability; without it, you end up with a trip that’s more routine than adventure. Just be sure to plan enough so that you get the most from your road trip, so by selecting which region you’ll like to experience the most you’ll have some dedicated destinations to aim for, while still having some time left for spontaneity.

Explore Tassie in Just a Fortnight

“Compact”– of all the superlatives you can give Tasmania—and there are many, this one best sums up the island state. So much beauty and adventure is stuffed within its coastal border it’s hard to work out how it all fits without feeling cluttered. 

One thing to remember is that you don’t need to work it out. Tasmania is a destination open to exploration, not a puzzle you solve. It’s best enjoyed when you let its charm wash over you like a wave in Wineglass Bay, so if you don’t complete your list the first time around, don’t despair. Instead, look at it this way: you’ve already started planning your next Tassie road trip.