Hobart doesn’t need a long weekend to win you over. As Australia’s second-oldest city, founded as a penal colony back in 1804, it carries centuries of history along the Derwent River, with kunanyi/Mount Wellington watching over it from behind. It’s also the country’s smallest state capital by population, yet home to roughly half of all Tasmanians, with a small-city charm that’s hard to fake.
Once a whaling hub, Hobart port still plays a major role today, serving as the departure point for most of Australia’s Antarctic icebreakers. From the shock factor of MONA to the quiet lanes of Battery Point, here’s the list of things to do in Hobart, on the water and off it.
Head to MONA
MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, is the reason a lot of people put Hobart on their list in the first place. The story behind it is part of the appeal: local gambler-turned-collector David Walsh poured his winnings into art and antiquities and in 2011 opened what’s now the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere, tucked into the Berriedale peninsula along the Derwent River.
It’s far from boring. Ancient artefacts sit alongside confronting, sometimes downright strange contemporary work, all housed in galleries carved into sandstone underground, so you’re never quite sure what you’ll find around the next corner.
Even the trip to this museum adds to it, with the ferry ride up the river setting the mood before you’ve even stepped inside.
Discover Hobart Cruising
Hobart’s history was framed around the water, so it only makes sense to see it that way too. There are quite a few Hobart cruises departing right from the city, covering everything from calm river routes to wild coastal cliffs.
- Explore Bruny Island on a full-day cruise from Hobart, cutting through the Huon River and D’Entrecasteaux Channel before reaching the open coastline. Watch for seals, dolphins, and towering sea cliffs along the way, with most tours rounding off with a Tassie lunch and local tasting.
- Cruise the Derwent River right from Hobart’s doorstep, passing the city’s waterfront and historic docks before heading further out. It’s an easy way to see Hobart from the water without straying far from the CBD.
- Head out to the Huon River and cruise towards the historic township of Franklin. Once a bustling timber and apple port. Today, it’s known for its wooden boat-building heritage and orchard-covered hills, providing a charming rural contrast to the coastal routes.
- Cruise out to Tasman Island, passing the dolerite cliffs of Cape Raoul, some of the tallest in the Southern Hemisphere. Add-ons like the Port Arthur Historic Site or the Devil Unzoo let you turn it into a full-day outing.
Visit Salamanca and the Hobart Docks
Salamanca Place is where Hobart’s waterfront history is most evident. The row of sandstone warehouses lining the street was built by convicts in the 1830s, when the docks here were stacked with whale oil, timber, and trade goods rather than cafes and boutiques.
These days, the warehouses house galleries, restaurants and bars, but the real draw is Saturday, when Salamanca Market draws more than 25,000 visitors each week, with over 230 stalls offering local produce, crafts and food. It’s the kind of market that’s easy to lose an hour or three in. Right next door are the Hobart Docks, still very much a working waterfront, and a good spot to catch the harbour in action before or after a cruise.
Explore Battery Point
Just around the corner from Salamanca, Battery Point is where Hobart slows down. It’s one of the city’s oldest suburbs, filled with narrow streets, colonial cottages, and quiet corners that make it an easy, unhurried place to wander after the buzz of the markets.
The name comes from an actual gun battery installed on the point in 1818 to defend the young colony’s harbour, and the area grew up around it as a village for mariners, shipwrights, and merchants working the docks below. That maritime history is still written into the streets today, with heritage homes and old maritime cottages that have barely changed in over a century.
It’s worth visiting simply to slow down, grab a coffee, and take in a side of Hobart that feels a world away from the water just a few minutes’ walk back.
Climb Kunanyi/Mount Wellington
After a day or two by the water, it’s worth trading the harbour view for one from above. Kunanyi/Mount Wellington rises 1,271 metres directly behind the city, close enough that you can see it from almost anywhere in Hobart, yet only about a 30-minute drive to the summit along Pinnacle Road.
The drive itself is part of the appeal, winding through temperate rainforest and past dolerite cliffs before opening up into sub-alpine scrub near the top. Once you’re up there, the payoff is the view, the Derwent curving out toward the sea, Bruny Island in the distance, and Hobart looking smaller than you’d expect from ground level.
It’s worth packing a jacket regardless of the season, since the summit runs noticeably cooler than the city below, and conditions can shift quickly.
Final Thoughts
Hobart rewards a visit where you don’t rush. Between MONA’s underground galleries, a cruise out to Bruny or Tasman Island, the history layered into Salamanca’s warehouses, the view from kunanyi/Mount Wellington, and a slow wander through Battery Point, there’s enough here to fill a few days without ever feeling repetitive. Whether you’re arriving by ferry, by road, or straight off a cruise, Hobart has a way of making you want to stay a little longer than planned.