David Walsh, a professional gambler from Hobart, spent a fortune building a museum into a sandstone cliff on a peninsula in the Derwent river and opened it in 2011. The Museum of Old and New Art is largely underground, entered from the top and descending three levels through rock, and it is the reason a great many people now visit Tasmania at all.
It also changed the shape of a Tasmanian trip. Before MONA, the island was a wilderness destination reached through Hobart. Now Hobart is a destination in itself and the wilderness is the second half.
The two halves
Hobart is a small colonial port city of 200,000, with sandstone warehouses on the waterfront, Salamanca Place, Mount Wellington rising 1,270 metres directly behind it, and a food and drink culture that punches far above the population. MONA is twelve minutes upriver by a boat that leaves from the waterfront.
The wilderness is the other 40 percent of the island, which is protected. Cradle Mountain is four hours northwest, Freycinet and Wineglass Bay two and a half hours northeast, and the Tarkine and the southwest are further and harder.
They are not close to each other. Tasmania looks small on a map and the roads are slow, winding and often single-lane. Hobart to Cradle Mountain is a genuine four-and-a-half hours.
The nine below are grouped by half.
Hobart
The waterfront, Salamanca and the city, with the MONA ferry from the pier.
MACq 01 Hotel occupies a 1940s building on Macquarie Wharf, converted with each room telling a story from Hobart's history, and it sits directly on the water with the mountain behind. It is the most complete hotel in Tasmania.
MACq 01 Hotel
Macquarie Wharf, Hobart · 5★ · $$$
On the water with a story attached to every room
Check availabilityThe Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart sits on Davey Street across three linked buildings including an 1847 sandstone house, with a courtyard, a spa and the best restaurant of any hotel on the island.
The Tasman, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Hobart
Davey Street, Hobart · 5★ · $$$$
An 1847 sandstone house and the island's best hotel kitchen
Check availabilityThe Henry Jones Art Hotel occupies a restored 1804 warehouse on the waterfront, Australia's oldest, with an art collection through the corridors and rooms looking at the boats.
The Henry Jones Art Hotel
Hobart waterfront · 5★ · $$$
Australia's oldest warehouse, hung with contemporary art
Check availabilityIslington Hotel sits in a Regency mansion in a garden a few minutes from the centre, with eleven rooms and a conservatory. It is the quietest stay in Hobart.
Islington Hotel
South Hobart · 5★ · $$$
Eleven rooms in a Regency mansion and garden
Check availabilityMövenpick Hotel Hobart occupies a waterfront position with contemporary rooms, a good bar and rates below the heritage properties.
Mövenpick Hotel Hobart
Hobart waterfront · 4★ · $$
Contemporary rooms below the heritage rates
Check availabilityAt MONA
Mona Pavilions occupies eight pavilions on the museum grounds at Berriedale, each named after an architect or artist, with the collection at the door and a wine bar on the site. Staying here means having the museum before and after public hours.
Mona Pavilions
Berriedale, at MONA · 5★ · $$$$
Eight pavilions on the museum grounds
Check availabilityThe wilderness
Two and a half to four and a half hours from Hobart. Roads are slow and the distances are real.
Freycinet Resort sits inside Freycinet National Park above Great Oyster Bay, with twenty suites, an all-inclusive programme and views to the Hazards. It is the finest lodge in Australia and it is two and a half hours from the city.
Freycinet Resort
Coles Bay, Freycinet · 5★ · $$$$
Twenty all-inclusive suites facing the Hazards
Search hotels in TasmaniaPeppers Cradle Mountain Lodge occupies a site at the entrance to Cradle Mountain National Park with cabins in the forest, a spa and open fires. It is four and a half hours from Hobart and the base for the Overland Track.
Peppers Cradle Mountain Lodge
Cradle Mountain · 4★ · $$$
Forest cabins at the park gate with open fires
Search hotels in TasmaniaPeppers Silo Launceston sits in Launceston in a converted 1960s grain silo at the head of the Tamar valley, with rooms in the silos themselves. It is the northern base and it is an hour from Cradle Mountain's eastern approaches.
Peppers Silo Launceston
Launceston · 4★ · $$$
Rooms inside converted 1960s grain silos
Check availabilityWhat we have left off
The cottages and self-contained accommodation across the east coast and the highlands are excluded. In a place with this much distance between towns they are the standard way to travel, and they are houses rather than hotels.
What to do
Take the ferry to MONA rather than driving. It leaves from Brooke Street pier, takes about twenty-five minutes and the boat has sheep-shaped seating, which sets the tone accurately.
Salamanca Market on a Saturday morning, then walk up through Battery Point, which is the intact colonial village above the docks.
Drive up Mount Wellington for the view down over the city and the Derwent, and dress for it: it is often ten degrees colder and windy at the summit.
Walk to the Wineglass Bay lookout at Freycinet, which takes an hour return, or to the beach itself which takes two and a half.
Eat and drink. Tasmania produces most of Australia's best cool-climate wine, its whisky is taken seriously, and the oysters are outstanding.
Practical notes
Hobart airport is twenty minutes from the city with flights from the mainland capitals. Launceston serves the north. The ferry from Melbourne takes a night.
The seasons are inverted and Tasmania is genuinely cold. December to February is summer with long days and the busiest roads. March to May is the best window: settled weather, autumn colour in the highlands. Winter is cold, dark and quiet, with Dark Mofo in June being a considerable event.
Distances take longer than the map suggests. Do not plan Hobart to Cradle Mountain as a half-day.
Explore 4 & 5 Star Tasmania Hotels
Questions people actually ask
Is MONA worth planning a trip around?
For a great many visitors, yes. It is unlike any other museum and the boat is part of it.
Hobart or the wilderness?
Both, with the driving accounted for. Three nights in Hobart and three on the road is the right shape.
How cold is it?
Colder than mainland Australia in every season. Pack layers even in January.
How many nights?
Six. Fewer and you are choosing between the city and the parks.