Ten days is enough for a rewarding Tasmanian loop if you accept that one coast will always tempt you to stay longer. Carry warm layers in every season and leave room for weather to change the order.
Hobart to the east coast
Leave Hobart for the Tasman Peninsula or head directly to Freycinet. National park entry needs a valid pass and popular camps around Freycinet use booking arrangements that can change by season.
Continue north through Bicheno to the Bay of Fires. Use established campgrounds, protect fragile dunes and expect simple facilities away from town.
- Freycinet National Park
- Bicheno
- Bay of Fires
North to Cradle Mountain
Launceston is the best place to restock before turning west. Cradle Mountain weather can move from sun to sleet in a single afternoon, and the visitor transport system affects how you reach walks.
Stay at a campground or holiday park that suits your heating, power and shower needs. A cold wet night is easier when your gear has somewhere to dry.
West coast and the return south
Strahan and the west coast bring long bends, wet forest and slower driving. Fuel early and avoid building a tight schedule around a road that rewards patience.
Return through the central highlands or Mount Field National Park. If conditions turn poor, choose the lower and safer route rather than forcing an alpine plan.
Getting the vehicle there
The Spirit of Tasmania sails Geelong to Devonport and takes vehicles, with day and night crossings across Bass Strait. Fares are set by vehicle length and height, book out over summer, and the strait can be genuinely rough.
Flying and hiring locally is the alternative and frequently cheaper for a shorter trip, since the ferry plus fuel to Geelong adds up. Hire vehicles in Tasmania are limited in peak season and should be booked early.
Whichever way you arrive, Tasmania has strict quarantine on fresh produce, plants and honey. Eat or dispose of fruit and vegetables before boarding rather than having them confiscated.
- Ferry priced by vehicle size
- Flying and hiring is often cheaper
- No fresh produce across the strait
Ten days and the shape of the loop
A clean circuit from Hobart runs east coast to Bay of Fires, across to Launceston, west to Cradle Mountain, down the west coast through Strahan, and back via Lake St Clair and the Derwent Valley. That is roughly 1,400 kilometres.
Tasmanian distances look small and drive long. The roads are winding, often narrow, and the west coast in particular is slow. Budget well above what the map suggests, especially in a campervan.
Two nights at Cradle Mountain and two on the east coast are the ones worth protecting. Everything else can flex around weather, which in Tasmania it will need to.
- Roughly 1,400 km loop
- Roads drive far longer than they look
- Two nights at Cradle Mountain
Cradle Mountain and the park pass
A Tasmania Parks Pass is required for vehicle entry to national parks and a holiday pass covering all parks for eight weeks is far better value than individual day entries if you visit more than two.
Cradle Mountain runs a mandatory shuttle bus from the visitor centre during the day, with private vehicle access restricted. Plan around the shuttle timetable and book the pass in advance in peak season.
Dove Lake circuit is the accessible highlight at around two hours. The summit climb is a serious six to eight hour day with exposed scrambling and weather that changes fast, and it is not a casual walk.
- Buy the holiday parks pass
- Shuttle bus is mandatory at Cradle
- Summit climb is a serious day
Weather and the west coast
Tasmania's weather is the most changeable in the country and the west coast is one of the wettest places in Australia. Four seasons in a day is a genuine description rather than a saying, and alpine areas can get snow in any month.
Carry warm and waterproof layers even in January, and treat any walk above the treeline as an alpine outing regardless of the forecast at the car park. People get into trouble on Tasmanian day walks every season.
The west coast towns of Strahan, Queenstown and Zeehan are worth the detour for the Gordon River cruise and the mining history, and they are considerably quieter than the east.
- Snow possible in any month
- Treat walks above treeline as alpine
- West coast is wet and quiet
Wineglass Bay and the east coast
Freycinet's Wineglass Bay lookout is around an hour and a half return and the beach itself adds another hour each way. The car park fills early in summer and a shuttle operates in peak season.
The Bay of Fires further north has free and low-cost camping behind orange lichen-covered granite and white sand, and it is one of the best stretches of coastal camping in the country.
Bruny Island south of Hobart adds a day and delivers cheese, oysters, a lighthouse and some of the best coastal scenery in the state.
Book the Spirit of Tasmania as early as your dates allow, because vehicle spaces on the popular sailings sell out months ahead over summer.
- Freycinet car park fills early
- Bay of Fires has free camping
- Lookout is 90 minutes return
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