I had always pictured Tasmania as somewhere you need a car, a tent and two weeks. In the end I gave Hobart four slow days in spring with a friend, mostly on foot, and it was enough to fall for the place. Spring here is a mixed bag: one morning was bright blue and almost warm, the next brought icy wind straight off the mountain. Pack layers and you will be fine.
From the airport, a shuttle bus takes about thirty minutes to the city centre. Hobart is small, so once you are near the waterfront, almost everything in this post is walkable.
kunanyi / Mount Wellington
The mountain behind the city is officially called kunanyi / Mount Wellington, and at 1,271 metres it dominates every view in Hobart. From the city you can pick out the Organ Pipes, a wall of tall rock columns below the summit, and the tall transmission tower on top.
The tall transmission tower on the summit of kunanyi Mount Wellington against grey and blue sky
The drive up takes about thirty minutes, and the road gets steep and narrow near the top. Without a car, we booked a seat on the Explorer Bus, a hop-on hop-off tour bus that runs to the summit with a guide on board. The ticket was around 45 AUD (about $29 USD), and it was worth it just to avoid the hairpin bends.
Nothing prepares you for the wind at the top. Down in the city it was pleasant, but on the summit it felt like single digits and our hair was flying everywhere. The view, though, is incredible: the whole city, the wide River Derwent, the bridge, and bays and peninsulas stretching to the horizon. When it gets too cold, step into the Pinnacle Observation Shelter, a glass-fronted lookout that is surprisingly warm.
The weather on kunanyi changes fast. On some days the summit sits inside a thick cloud and you see nothing but a white wall, and in spring it can still snow up there. The road may close in bad conditions, so check the City of Hobart updates before you go, and bring a warm jacket even if it is sunny in town.
Salamanca Market on Saturday
Sandstone warehouses at Salamanca Place with white market tents in front
If you can, plan your trip around a Saturday. That is the only day Salamanca Market runs, roughly from 8:30 am to 3 pm, along Salamanca Place by the harbour. The market began in the 1970s with just a handful of stalls and now has hundreds, selling Tasmanian wood and glass, ceramics, leather, cheese, bread, wine and lots of hot food. Get there early; by mid-morning it is packed and the stalls in front of the warehouses get very crowded.
The backdrop is half the charm. Salamanca Place is lined with 19th-century sandstone warehouses that once stored whale oil, grain and timber. Today they hold galleries, craft shops, pubs and cafes, and on a clear day the mountain rises right behind them.
For food, follow your nose to the stall with a huge hotplate covered in sausages and caramelised onions. It is the simplest Australian snack and somehow perfect in the cold morning air. We also found a stall from Smith’s Pies, which many people call the best pies in Tasmania. The scallop pie came with big whole scallops in a mild curry sauce and flaky pastry, an odd combination that works beautifully.
On weekdays Salamanca Place is much calmer, which is lovely in its own way: you can sit outside a cafe in the sun and look at the old stone buildings without the crowds.
Wandering Battery Point
A quiet sloping street of old brick houses in Battery Point, Hobart
Just behind Salamanca Place, a short climb takes you up into Battery Point, one of the oldest parts of Hobart. It is a quiet residential area of old sandstone and brick houses, many with lacy iron verandas and tidy front gardens, and it feels more like a village than a city suburb. The streets were almost empty, and roses were already climbing over some of the verandas.
Red and yellow roses in front of a brick house with a white iron-lace veranda in Battery Point
We stopped for breakfast at Jackman and McRoss, a popular bakery cafe in the middle of Battery Point. The pastries and coffee were so good that we went back the next morning too.
MONA: A Museum Like No Other
The outdoor terrace at MONA with kunanyi Mount Wellington in the distance
The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) is the reason many people come to Hobart. It opened in 2011, it is said to be the largest private museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and its owner, the gambler and collector David Walsh, has described it as a subversive adult Disneyland.
The easiest way to get there is by ferry from the Hobart waterfront, about thirty minutes up the River Derwent, with return tickets from around 30 AUD (about $20 USD). From the outside MONA looks small, because most of it is dug deep into the sandstone cliff. You walk down a long spiral staircase to the lowest level and work your way back up through dark, maze-like galleries, using a phone app instead of wall labels to learn about each work. Some pieces are beautiful, some are funny and quite a few are deliberately shocking, so it is not for everyone. Outside, the grounds have a winery, a terrace and lawns with a great view of the mountain.
Tips for Hobart in Spring
- Dress in layers. Spring days swing between sunny and freezing, and the summit of kunanyi is always much colder than the city.
- Be there on a Saturday. Salamanca Market is a weekly highlight and only runs on Saturdays.
- You can do Hobart without a car. The centre is walkable, the Explorer Bus covers the mountain, and the ferry goes to MONA. For places like Bruny Island, join a day tour.
- Book MONA ahead. Tickets and some special exhibits need booking, and the ferry can sell out.
Final Thoughts
Hobart surprised me. It is a small harbour city, but it packs in a mountain you can almost touch from the main street, one of the best markets in Australia, sleepy historic lanes and a museum that will stay in your head for weeks. Spring adds blossom, cold clear air and fewer crowds than summer. Coming from the endless heat of Saigon, standing in that freezing wind on top of kunanyi was the most alive I felt all year.
