Hobart Day Tours

Six day trips cover most of what people mean by a day tour from Hobart: two islands reached by ferry, Bruny Island and Maria Island; the convict site at Port Arthur; kunanyi / Mount Wellington above the city; the waterfalls of Mount Field; and the long road up the east coast to Freycinet. This page leads with Tassie Tours Tasmania’s From Hobart: Full-Day Bruny Island Tour with Guide, which puts hotel pickup in the Hobart CBD, the round-trip ferry and a National Parks Pass in one price: from US$125 a person, checked November 2026. Food and drinks are not included, and lunch at the Bruny Hotel is at your own cost.

The short answer

Choose the place first, then the tour. For beaches, lookouts and food, Bruny Island. For a walking day with no cars and no shops, Maria Island. For history, Port Arthur. With only half a day, kunanyi / Mount Wellington, 20 km by road above the city. For waterfalls and tall trees, Mount Field, 74 km away. For Wineglass Bay, Freycinet, the longest day of the six: 193 km by road to Coles Bay, each way.

Bruny Island is the nearest of the two islands, 33 km by road to the ferry at Kettering, and the question is what happens once you land: there is no public transport on the island, by Tourism Australia’s guide, so you need a car or a tour. Tassie Tours Tasmania’s day covers that gap: a pickup in the Hobart CBD, the ferry both ways, a National Parks Pass and a live guide for 10 hours. It has 961 reviews (checked November 2026) and free cancellation up to 24 hours before.

Check dates for Bruny Island

One day tour for each destination

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide, checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

How far each one is

Driving distances from the Hobart CBD, one way, routed, without traffic:

Day trips from Hobart by distance adds Richmond, the Huon Valley and Cradle Mountain, with a tour for each.

The Bruny Island day, from pickup to drop-off

Tassie Tours Tasmania collects you from your hotel in the Hobart CBD and drops you back there; pickup runs from select locations around Hobart, and you contact Tassie Tours Tasmania after booking to arrange yours. Starting times show when you pick a date. The road runs 33 km to Kettering, where Island Connections’ car ferry crosses to Roberts Point in 20 minutes. Island Connections sails 365 days a year, lets foot passengers travel free and sells tickets at the terminal, so drivers need no booking; on the tour, the round-trip crossing is in the price.

The morning is the active half, at an easy to moderate level: walking tracks to beaches, lagoons and temperate rainforest, the viewing platform at the Neck, Cape Bruny Lighthouse and a look for the albino wallaby, with swimming optional, weather permitting. The guide sets the stops by the weather and the group, and not every one fits into a single day. The National Parks Pass in the price covers South Bruny National Park, where the Parks and Wildlife Service requires a valid pass; at the Cape Bruny lighthouse, the same service lets vehicles into the grounds from 9.30am to 4.30pm, and walkers at any time.

Lunch is at the Bruny Hotel, at your own cost, with choices for different budgets and dietary needs. The afternoon is slower: tastings of local produce, from oysters and honey to chocolate, wine, beer and cider, also at your own cost and as time allows. Food and drinks are not included at any point of the day. Bring comfortable shoes, water, rain gear, a sun hat, sunglasses and swimwear. The day needs a minimum number of guests to run; if that is not reached, you are offered another date or a full refund. It takes 10 hours in all.

See dates and the live price

Maria Island: the walking day

Maria Island is the other island, and a different day: on foot, with no cars and no shops. It can only be reached by ferry from Triabunna, and the Parks and Wildlife Service says bookings on that ferry are essential. Tours Tasmania’s Hobart: Maria Island National Park Active Full-Day Tour carries the coach, both ferry legs and the national park fees in one price, from US$164 a person (checked November 2026), with free cancellation up to 2 days before.

From 1 October to 30 April the group meets at 6:40 AM at the Tasmanian Travel and Information Centre, 20 Davey Street, and the coach leaves at 6:45 AM; from 1 May to 30 September it meets at 7:55 AM for an 8:00 AM start, and the plan is flexible, set by the group’s pace for the shorter daylight. The coach takes about an hour, the ferry 30 minutes, and there are no cars on the island. The walking is the day: the World Heritage convict settlement at Darlington, the Painted Cliffs, about 4.5 km there and back, and the Fossil Cliffs loop, another 4.5 km, where the rock holds marine fossils. Allow for about 10 km in all, on unpaved tracks, back in Hobart around 5:00 PM.

Three things shape it. The Parks and Wildlife Service says the Painted Cliffs rock platform is safest within two hours of low tide, with no way down from the clifftop, so the tide on your date decides how close you get. It asks visitors to keep 2 metres from all wildlife. And the tour suits walkers: the minimum age is 8, it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments or wheelchair users, and luggage or large bags are not allowed. Meals and drinks are not included, and the island has no shops or cafes, so bring lunch, a full water bottle, a jacket and closed-toe shoes. Groups are capped at 15. Bruny Island or Maria Island sets the two islands side by side.

Closures and dates to know

These were checked on 4 November 2026 at the bodies named.

• Pinnacle Road on kunanyi / Mount Wellington is closed for maintenance from 16 to 19 November 2026 (Wellington Park Management Trust). There is no vehicle access to the summit; on 18 and 19 November the lower road is open to The Springs only. Walkers and cyclists are not allowed on the road while it is closed, and every track in the park stays open.
• Snow and ice close the same road. The Trust counted 95 nights of closures for snow and ice in 2025-26; on 46 days the closure ran into the daytime, and on 14 days the summit could not be reached by private car. The City of Hobart says the road can close at any time and posts its state on the Pinnacle Road status page. Is Mount Wellington open? covers the bus on those days.
• Mona is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 30 June 2027, by the museum’s own opening-hours page, and open 10am to 5pm on the other days. A day built around Mona needs one of those five days.
• Targa Tasmania runs from 18 to 22 November 2026, and the Parks and Wildlife Service warns that public roads across Tasmania will be closed for the rally. On those days, check the route of any drive or tour.

What is not a day trip

Circuits of several days that start in Hobart are tours of the island, not day trips, and this page leaves them out. Cradle Mountain is 320 km by road from Hobart to its visitor centre, one way: day trips from Hobart by distance shows the one tour that does it in a day and what that costs in hours. The Gordon River cruises leave from Strahan on the west coast, which belongs in a stay of two days or more: gordon-river-cruise.com covers them in depth.

Without a car

Every tour above meets in central Hobart or collects you from a hotel, so a car is optional for all six. Public transport is a different matter. Bruny Island has none at all, so it is a car or the guided day. The only public bus to Port Arthur, route 734, leaves Hobart at 3:45pm on weekdays and arrives at 5:28pm, after the Historic Site has closed for the day at 5pm. kunanyi has its own bus from Brooke Street Pier, and Mona its own ferry from the same pier. Day trips from Hobart without a car takes each trip in turn, with a section for cruise passengers.