Day Trips from Hobart Without a Car

Every usual day trip from Hobart can be done without a car, but almost never by public transport: the answer is a tour that meets in the centre or collects you from your hotel. The mountain above the city and the art museum up the river are the exceptions: each has its own transport from Brooke Street Pier. Bruny Island is the clearest case for a tour, because there is no public transport on the island at all. Tassie Tours Tasmania’s Bruny Island day picks up in the Hobart CBD and includes the ferry and a National Parks Pass: from US$125 a person, checked November 2026.

The calendar above is the guided Bruny Island day, with 961 reviews (checked November 2026). Food and drinks are not included.

Where the tours start

Most tours start from one of three places on or near the waterfront, or come to your hotel. Davey Street, Brooke Street Pier and Franklin Wharf are all in the centre.

Pickup lists change by date and option: the exact point and time come with the booking.

Trip by trip, on public transport

kunanyi / Mount Wellington: yes, by the mountain’s own bus. The Explorer Bus leaves Brooke Street Pier and works as an all-day hop-on hop-off pass, and the City of Hobart says it runs during road closures if conditions allow. It cannot beat a maintenance closure: from 16 to 19 November 2026 the Wellington Park Management Trust allows no vehicles to the summit. Is Mount Wellington open? has the details.

Mona: yes, by the museum’s ferry. It leaves Brooke Street Pier and takes about 30 minutes, and there are 99 steps up from the landing, with an accessible entrance through a tunnel. The museum is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays until 30 June 2027.

Bruny Island: the crossing, yes; the island, no. Metro Tasmania’s routes 415, 416 and 417 run from Hobart via Kettering, and foot passengers ride the Bruny ferry free. But there is no public transport on the island, by Tourism Australia’s guide, and the sights are spread along it, so on foot you would see little beyond the landing at Roberts Point.

Port Arthur: not as a day trip. The only public bus, route 734, leaves Hobart Interchange at 3:45pm on weekdays (3:00pm at weekends) and reaches Port Arthur at 5:28pm (4:38pm), and the Historic Site closes at 5pm. The first bus back leaves Port Arthur at 6:13am on weekdays, before the site opens. A tour is the only way to see it in a day without a car.

Maria Island, Mount Field and Freycinet: by tour. Maria Island’s ferry leaves from Triabunna, 85 km by road, and the tours above carry you there; Mount Field and Freycinet tours collect you in the city.

The Tasman Peninsula without a car

Beyond Port Arthur, the peninsula’s sea cliffs are best seen from the water, and two Pennicott Wilderness Journeys days include the bus from Hobart, so no car is needed. The Tasman Peninsula tour, cruise and Port Arthur day pairs a 3-hour wilderness cruise with Historic Site entry, morning tea and lunch; the Tasman Peninsula day with the cruise and the devils swaps the Historic Site for the Tasmanian Devil Park. Neither includes a morning hotel pickup. tasmanislandcruise.com covers the Tasman Island cruise from Hobart in depth.

From a cruise ship

TasPorts says Hobart’s main cruise berth is Macquarie Wharf No. 2/3, with the cruise terminal on Hunter Street, and that shore-excursion coaches wait alongside the ship. From the terminal it is 0.8 km on foot to Brooke Street Pier, about 10 minutes, routed, where the kunanyi bus and Mona’s ferry leave.

Few day tours on GetYourGuide are built around a ship’s hours, and the ones that are carry far fewer reviews than the main day trips. iWander Tasmania’s Hobart Wanderer shore excursion picks up at Macquarie Wharf No. 2 and visits the top of Mount Wellington and Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, with 21 reviews (checked November 2026); the day can be shortened if the ship’s times change. Island of Tasmania Tours' 2-hour small-group trip to the Pinnacle starts at 20 Davey Street and offers an optional drop-off at the cruise terminal. For anything longer, check that a tour’s return time leaves a wide margin before all-aboard.