Tasmania - 11-day hiking and camping road trip

Tasmania may be called “Under Down Under” but it certainly cannot go unnoticed once you catch a glance at its magnificent natural diversity. From tropical looking beaches in the east to alpine landscapes with lush green forests in the west there is so much to see for anyone who likes nature. Being a small island it’s also very easy to drive around and it’s a perfect place for a road trip. There are several large national parks with numerous trails to be hiked from easy half-day walks to multi-day camping trips.This state lives up to its name as the Nature state as it must be the most natural and diverse state of Australia.

Here we would like to share our recent experience of a combined driving and hiking road trip around Tasmania with a good balance between camping in the nature and enjoying the comfort of the towns and cities of this island. This self-guided itinerary will take you around the major sights, clockwise from Launceston and back, in 11 days. Feel free to follow it step-by-step or just pick out bits and pieces that will fulfill your Tasmanian adventures.

When to visit

It is suggested to travel to Tasmania during the driest and warmest summer months, in December and January. However we chose late February-early March for our travels as the weather is still mild being the end of summer and to avoid the busy peak-season.

Getting to Tasmania

The two usual ways of getting to Tasmania are:

• By a ferry from Melbourne which takes just over 10hs and
• By catching a quick flight to either Launceston or Hobart.

If you are short on time the best is to take the most convenient flight you can find to either Launceston or to Hobart. It’s possible to start a road trip from either city. In our case, we took an early morning Jetstar flight to Launceston as it was cheap and fast.