Tasmania, Australia is a place that is brimming with energy but not always mentioned as a travel hotspot. While it may be overlooked by some (except when one mentions its famous Tasmanian devils), the team at Luxury Travel Advisor believes the island is a place to go.
Visit Australia’s website calls Tasmania intimate and beautiful. It says travelers should go to the region for history, wilderness, food and wine. Luxury Travel Advisor reached out to Tourism Australia to get a sense of where travelers can stay, what they can do and what they can eat. Here are some of the experiences offered.
Where To Stay
Truffle Lodge
Truffle Lodge is located on the banks of the Derwent River, which is nearly 25 miles from Hobart. Designed to look like an Australian Bush Camp, it sits in its Australian landscape, with an overlay of "Tales of the Arabian Nights" meets steampunk. It is encompassed by nature.
On-sight activities include exploring on flat-wheeled bikes, taking a dip in the river, or fishing. Off-site excursions include visits to Russell Falls and Mount Field National Park, The Tall Trees Walk and Nant Distillery. These are accessible by car.
Pumphouse Point
This is a new all-inclusive wilderness experience at the border of the Lake St. Clair. It is surrounded by native bush. The 1940s hydroelectric pump house has been converted into a retreat, at the end of a pier in World Heritage Tasmanian wilderness. The Pumphouse is also planning to release The Retreat, a hidden refuge for two to showcase the lake’s beauty. The property has also enlarged its Shorehouse by adding a dining wing, featuring a menu of Tasmanian produce.
The facility was originally designed to pump water from Lake St Clair into the nearby St Clair Lagoon where it gets stored and fed to the Tarraleah Power station as required. The facility was no longer needed once the site was decommissioned in the 90s.
Thousand Lakes Lodge, Tasmania
This is a nine-suite retreat encompassed by World Heritage wilderness in a landscape with native wildflowers, spread out boulders, broad plains and several lakes. The resurrected luxury turned building, which is managed completely off-grid, works with preserved features and materials when possible. These include original floor tiling and doors made with pine logs repurposed from the old building. The lodge also has an honesty bar with local produce, Tasmanian craft beers, wines and spirits, and daily menus that change.
Things to do at Thousand Lakes Lodge include E-bike adventures, bushwalking trails, nature-watching and fishing.
Marriott Luxury Collection
This not-yet-named hotel opening in 2018 is going to be the first of Marriott’s luxury collection to be opened in Australia. Marriott International’s Luxury Collection has signed a hotel in Hobart. The company plans to open it in 2018 after a full-scale renovation. The hotel is set to include 128 guestrooms and suites with original windows, floorboards and fireplaces. It will be located in repurposed heritage buildings in Parliament Square.
What To Do
Check Out New Tours
- Wukalina Walk: This is the only palawa (Tasmanian aboriginal) guided walk in the region. Operating from January 2018, the walk takes travelers through the cultural home of the palawa in north east Tasmania where they will sleep in purpose-built standing camps and a cottage within a lighthouse precinct. The tour is the sole opportunity to walk with palawa guides on the cultural homeland of wukalina and larapuna. Travelers can experience firsthand palawa creation stories and perennial cultural practices.
- Gordon River Cruise: The cruise provides interpretive tours in the focal point of the UNESCO Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Gordon River Cruise launched the most environmentally sensitive vessel of its type in Australia in early 2018.
- Flinders Island Walking Adventure with World Expeditions: This walking tour explores Flinders Island’s scenery, wildlife and Aboriginal and European history. After a flight from Launceston, guests can summit the granite peaks of both Mt. Strzelecki and Mt. Killiecrankie, the former being the highest point on the island with 360-degree views of the whole island.
Attend a Major Upcoming Event
- The Unconformity (October 19-20): This is an arts biennial event in Queenstown, Tasmania. It is inspired by a rare geological formation and the paradoxes of this mining town. Tourism Australia says this is a distinctly Tasmanian event.
- Effervescence Tasmania (November 16-18): The “Effervescence Tasmania” Sparkling Weekend is a celebration of sparkling wines originating from the Island State of Tasmania. Tourism Australia says it is described as one of the best sparkling wine festivals in the world.
- Festivale Tasmania (February 1-3, 2019): Festivale is a three-day celebration of Tasmanian food and wine, beer, cider and spirits, arts and entertainment.
Where to Eat & Drink
- Gold Bar Hobart: This speakeasy is nestled away in a former flour mill down by the waterfront. The eatery has spirits, cocktails and comfort food.
- Agrarian Kitchen Eatery & Store: This is a 60-seat restaurant and kitchen shop located within a former mental asylum in New Norfolk, which is a little over 30 minutes away from Hobart by car.
- Institut Polaire: This is an eatery focus on Tasmania’s cool climate. Tourism Australia says the drinks are chilled, the interior is luxe and the fire glows. Tip: Make sure you try the Süd Polaire Antarctic Dry martini.
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