Tasmania, Australia School holiday Holiday Packages

Having longer is better, but a week is just enough time to discover Tasmania’s bounty of majestic waterfalls, glacial lakes, gourmet food, wine and picturesque roads. To maximise your time in the Apple Isle, we’ve narrowed down the must-sees, starting from Launceston and ending in Hobart:

1. Cataract Gorge – just 20 minutes outside of Launceston and home to the world’s longest single span chairlift

2. Josef Chromy Wines – a cellar door hidden within an 188-s homestead, serving up views with cool-climate wines

3. Cataract on Patterson restaurant – grill your steak to perfection on a sizzling volcanic hot stone at your table

4. Cradle Mountain – don your hiking boots and get a dose of crisp, alpine-worthy air from the lookout

5. Coal River Valley – get your wine on en route to Richmond at Frogmore Creek, Puddleduck Vineyard and Pooley Wines

6. Salamanca Market – Eat your way around this Saturday market, where you’ll find over 300 colourful stalls and shoppers milling between

7. Cascade Brewery – After a hike to the summit of Mount Wellington, attend ‘beer school’ at Australia’s oldest operating brewery

8. Sullivans Cove Distillery – Sample a dram of one of the world’s most acclaimed whiskies – so acclaimed that you need to enter ballot to purchase

9. Hartshorn Distillery – Treat your senses to small batch distillations at an award-winning distillery that uses sheep whey to create peat vodka, gin and more

10. Get Shucked Oyster Farm – visit this Bruny Island institution for the oysters so fresh it’s like ‘being kissed by the ocean’

Need more inspiration? Check out our travel guides for Hobart and Launceston.

If you prefer your 5 star stays in a city overflowing with fine dining, trendy craft breweries and food festivals, then Hobart is the place to be. Choose luxury accommodation like Vibe Hobart in the heart of the city to be perfectly placed to discover Saturday’s Salamanca Markets, catch the ferry to the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and venture on a road trip, with just-shucked oysters on Bruny Island or cool-climate wines in the Huon Valley an easy meander away. If you prefer relaxed roadtripping to historic towns filled with farm-gate stalls, distilleries and cellar doors, all bordered by beautiful landscapes or surrounded by unique architecture, then Launceston is the perfect launchpad. Choose a 5 star stay in central Launceston to discover Cataract Gorge, visit Josef Chromy Wines, take a tour of James Boags Brewery and enjoy incredible dining at the likes of Cataract on Paterson, home to the original volcanic stone steaks.

Tasmania is ripe for discovery year-round. Even during the winter ‘off season’, Tasmania still provides the goods with the likes of Dark Mofo painting Hobart red in June, the Festival of Voices in July and the Tasmanian Whisky Week in August. Normally chilly Tasmania is at its busiest and warmest in Summer as the state comes alive for festival season, with Festivale in Launceston and Taste of Tasmania in Hobart. If you prefer a more active escape, Autumn is the prime season for guided touring and walking tours, especially through the Bay of Fires and along the coast, while some of the freshest produce is on offer at events like the Devonport Food and Wine Festival and Agfest. With the return of longer, warmer days, Spring is the perfect season to savour fresh food, hike through nature and breathe in the revitalising mountain air.

Start in Hobart to discover cultural oddities in the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) and handmade wares at Salamanca Market. Head south to Bruny Island for straight-from-the-sea oysters, before learning more about the state’s penal history at Port Arthur.

Your next destination depends on what you want to do on a holiday in Tasmania. Head west to explore the mountains, rivers and gorges of Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park and Cradle Mountain, or wind up the East Coast for the powder-white beaches of Wineglass Bay and Bay of Fires.

No matter what type of Tasmania holiday package you choose, a stop in the state’s second biggest city, Launceston is a must. From the restaurants celebrating local produce, and the vineyards and farms of the Tamar Valley, to the spectacular Cataract Gorge and Narawntapu National Park, every visitor will discover something to delight.