Tasmania: Wilderness, Whisky & the World's Cleanest Air

Tasmania is Australia's wild card — a compact island state where old-growth forests, wild coastlines, and a food culture built on the world's purest air and water combine into something that feels more like New Zealand's South Island crossed with a Scandinavian farm commune. MONA (the Museum of Old and New Art) alone justifies the flight, but the Freycinet Peninsula's Wineglass Bay, Cradle Mountain's alpine wilderness, and Bruny Island's oyster farms and cheese dairies provide the rest.

1. Day 1

   Arrival in Hobart

   Fly into Hobart Airport. Private transfer to The Henry Jones Art Hotel, a converted waterfront jam factory on Hobart's harbour — original industrial architecture filled with Tasmanian contemporary art, and a location on the docks where fishing boats still land. Evening: welcome dinner at Templo, a 20-seat tasting-menu restaurant — Chef Patrick Fung's creative Tasmanian cuisine (wallaby tartare, ocean trout, Bruny Island oysters, and a chocolate dessert using Tasmanian cacao).

   • Stay: The Henry Jones Art Hotel — Harbour-view suite
   • Culinary: Templo tasting menu

2. Day 2

   Hobart: MONA, Salamanca & Mt Wellington

   Morning ferry to MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) — David Walsh's private museum carved into a cliff above the Derwent River. The collection ranges from ancient Egyptian sarcophagi to immersive installations about death, sex, and the human condition. It's confronting, brilliant, and unlike any museum you've visited. Return to Hobart for the Salamanca Market (Saturday only — Tasmania's best producers gather under the plane trees) or Salamanca Place galleries. Lunch at Dier Makr in Salamanca — Tasmanian produce in a casual setting. Afternoon: drive to the summit of kunanyi/Mount Wellington (1,271m) for a panoramic view of Hobart, the Derwent River, and the Tasman Peninsula. Evening at leisure.

   • Cultural: MONA museum
   • Scenic: kunanyi/Mt Wellington summit
   • Culinary: Salamanca Market, Dier Makr lunch

3. Day 3

   Hobart to Freycinet: Wineglass Bay

   Drive east to Freycinet National Park (2.5 hours). Check into Saffire Freycinet, one of Australia's finest luxury lodges — 20 suites overlooking Great Oyster Bay and the Hazards mountain range, with a day spa, restaurant, and in-house experiences. Afternoon: hike to the Wineglass Bay Lookout (1.5 hours return) — the crescent of white sand and turquoise water set against granite peaks is one of Australia's most iconic views. For the fit: descend to the beach (another 30 minutes each way) for a swim in water that is cold, clear, and magnificent. Evening: dinner at Palate, the lodge's restaurant — ocean trout, Tasmanian wagyu, and Freycinet marine farm oysters.

   • Stay: Saffire Freycinet — Luxury suite
   • Scenic: Wineglass Bay hike
   • Culinary: Palate restaurant dinner

4. Day 4

   Freycinet: Oysters, Kayaking & Wildlife

   Morning guided kayaking along the Freycinet coast — sea eagles above, seals in the water, and the pink granite of the Hazards at eye level. Visit the Freycinet Marine Farm for an oyster-shucking experience — learn to shuck Pacific oysters straight from the racks and eat them with a squeeze of lemon, standing in the water. Lunch at the farm. Afternoon: guided walk on the Freycinet Peninsula to spot wombats, Bennetts wallabies, and sea eagles. Evening: your second night at Saffire.

   • Scenic: Freycinet coastal kayaking
   • Culinary: Marine-farm oyster shucking
   • Wildlife: Wombats, wallabies, sea eagles

5. Day 5

   Freycinet to Cradle Mountain: Alpine Wilderness

   Drive northwest to Cradle Mountain–Lake St. Clair National Park (4 hours through the Tasmanian midlands — rolling farmland, hedgerow towns, and increasingly wild terrain). Check into Cradle Mountain Lodge, a wilderness lodge in the national park — King Billy pine cabins, a spa, and the only accommodation within the park boundary. Afternoon: guided walk along the Dove Lake Circuit (6 km, 2 hours, easy — the lake reflects Cradle Mountain's jagged profile, and the surrounding forest is ancient pencil pine and pandani). Evening: Tasmanian devil encounter — a guided night walk to a feeding station where the endangered marsupials emerge from the bush (their jaws are astonishingly powerful, and their screams are blood-curdling, but they're smaller than a terrier).

   • Stay: Cradle Mountain Lodge — King Billy pine cabin
   • Scenic: Dove Lake Circuit hike
   • Wildlife: Tasmanian devil night encounter

6. Day 6

   Cradle Mountain to Hobart: Return via Bruny Island

   Drive south to Hobart (4 hours) via the Bruny Island detour — ferry to Bruny Island (20 minutes from Kettering). Visit Get Shucked oyster farm (more oysters, just as good as Freycinet), Bruny Island Cheese Co. (hand-crafted from local cow and goat milk), and the Bruny Island Smokehouse (smoked salmon, ocean trout, and wallaby). Lunch: a picnic assembled from your farm visits, eaten on a beach. Walk to The Neck, the narrow isthmus between North and South Bruny with boardwalk views in both directions. Ferry back to the mainland and drive to Hobart. Farewell dinner at Dier Makr's sister restaurant or Fico, a Hobart fine-dining restaurant — a tasting menu celebrating Tasmania's extraordinary produce with whisky pairings (Tasmania's whisky distilleries now rival Scotland for quality).

   • Culinary: Bruny Island oysters, cheese, and smokehouse, farewell dinner with Tasmanian whisky pairing
   • Scenic: The Neck lookout

7. Day 7

   Departure

   Transfer to Hobart Airport. Your Byline concierge confirms flight details.