From mountain trails to historic tales, Tassie’s harbourside Hobart is a playground for all.

Hobart might be on the small side when it comes to cities (population 56,000 for the City of Hobart), but it has plenty to offer. Here, in the Antarctic-facing Tassie capital, you can be up the side of a mountain in the morning, traipsing the country’s oldest suburb by midday, boating about the harbour after lunch, and wining and fine dining by evening.

From world-class art to calendar-circling festivals and historical teasures hidden in plain sight, these are the best things to do in Hobart.

1. Watch the Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race

While the start of the annual Sydney to Hobart yacht race in Sydney Harbour gets top billing, watching the winners cross the Derwent River finish line can be equally thrilling, although, unlike the start of the race, you may not know exactly when this will happen.

This home stretch can be equal parts exciting and frustrating, depending on what the wind is doing and nothing is guaranteed.

But dedicated boaties will relish the jubilant reception of arrivals,  complete with cannon fire, as the winner and subsequent yachts cross the threshold and make their way to berth at Kings Pier.

2. Visit the historic Battery Point

So-named in tribute to the Mulgrave Battery, which guarded the port at Derwent Bar, Battery Point is Hobart’s first suburb. Back in the 1800s, it was the residential address of choice for everyone from whalers to sailors and jailers.

It’s beautifully preserved with workers’ cottages and merchant mansions and you can still take ‘Kelly’s Steps’, forged in the cliff as a shortcut by Captain James Kelly, up to Salamanca Place. Be sure to stop for a sip at Battery Point Distillery and the popular Jackman & McRoss bakery for a flaky croissant.

3. Mona, obviously

When the Museum of Old and New Art first opened in 2011 it immediately became the darling of the art world, ruffling feathers with its provoking exhibitions and smoothing them over with its cleverly considered experiences, from its onsite winery, restaurants and bars to its architectural significance.

It’s a bucket list attraction for the art-loving, art-curious and experience-hunting alike. Mona’s art-collecting, former gambling owner David Walsh is never afraid to do things differently.

And while it’s reported his motivation for creating the museum was to offset his guilt from making millions from gambling, considering the enormous benefit this cultural behemoth has brought Hobart and beyond, one might consider his moral debts cleared.

4. Day trip (or more) to Bruny Island

A babushka doll of a place, Bruny is an island, off an island, off an island. It’s well-known as a food-lover’s paradise and for its remote and wild beauty. Come to hike, explore Adventure Bay or take a gastronomic trail to sample everything from oysters to chocolate and cheese.

You can drive onto Bruny easily by taking a ferry from Kettering (a 30- minute drive from Hobart), or circumnavigate the island on a cruise that exhibits Bruny’s rugged coastline and seeks to showcase the inhabitants of the surrounding frigid waters. If you’d like to maroon yourself for longer, there are plenty of accommodation options, from luxe to less.

5. Enliven your spirit at Evolve Spirits Bar

A part of the storytelling hotel MACq01, Evolve Spirits Bar extends the narrative through its collection of ancient fossils and its rare and treasured spirits from Tasmania and beyond.

Sip and savour in the softly glowing, cave-like ambience of this award-winning bar and allow the savvy staff to direct you to your new favourite tipple.

6. Kayak through history

Backdropped by the city and kunanyi/Mount Wellington, the vista from Hobart’s harbour is worth paddling for.

Slip into a lifejacket and slide into a kayak to tour the city with Roaring 40°s Kayaking as you pass by Battery Point, tall ships and spot sea life, such as Sammy, Hobart’s resident seal.

The two-and-a-half-hour outing also includes a serving of fish and chips from one of the city’s floating fish punts.

7. Go for gigs In The Hanging Garden

Hobart’s nightlife is often associated with clandestine whisky bars and cosy fireside times, but you can also find pulsating action and live tunes at the music precinct, In The Hanging Gardens. Right in the CBD and sprawling over most of a city block, the venue is a network of enjoyment with music venues, beer garden, kitchens and bars. There’s the Odeon and Altar for live music, while club culture takes root at High Altar. Cathedral and The Garden are spaces to drink, dine and kill time day or night,  and there’s even a record shop to spin those memories at home.

8. Shop to it at the Salamanca Market

Want to watch Hobart come alive? Stop in at one of the city’s vibrant markets! There’s a number to choose from, but it would be practically sacrilegious to visit Tassie’s capital and not peruse the stalls at the weekly Salamanca Market, which has become something of a local icon.

The all-weather Salamanca Market has been opening every Saturday for 50 years, no matter the precipitation. With around 300 stalls selling everything from artisan food products to handmade arts and distilled drinks and even shoehorns, you’ll find something to fill your basket.

There’s also an incredible array of hot food to snack on as you soak up the market vibes.

9. Watch the sunset from kunanyi

An omnipresent sentinel overseeing the city below from a lofty 1271 metres high, kunanyi/Mt Wellington is an unmissable stop on any Hobart itinerary. Easily accessible by car, there are a range of walking and cycling trails you can take to explore the mountain by yourself, including the three-kilometre Sphinx Rock Walk that offers a thoroughly pleasing effort-to-reward ratio – even the kids can tag along on this one – with some stonking views over Hobart, the Organ Pipes and the River Derwent to boot.

If you’re after a guided experience, there are plenty of operators happy to show you the pinnacle. Walk on Kunanyi offers a Sea to Summit exploration and a Wild Wellness Fire and Ice Walk that includes coaching of the Wim Hof method.

If they seem a bit extra for you, heading to the pinnacle observation shelter for sunrise or sunset is a pretty spectacular way to tick the mountain off your hit list.

10. Taste convict life at the Hobart Convict Penitentiary

Right in the city, this original penitentiary was built in the 1830s to house the arriving convict population on their one-way ticket to Van Diemen’s Land.

During its initial usage, it was an unhappy home to around 50,000 men until the flow of convicts was stemmed and it became Hobart’s Old Gaol and Supreme Court.

Built below the unconsecrated chapel onsite were 36 solitary confinement cells, which lent services an eerie soundtrack of moaning and protests. Today, you can visit this portal to the past and even creep yourself out on a ghost tour.

11. Geek out at the Beaker Street Festival

Dark Mofo isn’t the only Hobartian festival on the annual events calendar. Come August, science nerds unite for the Beaker Street Festival of science and arts.

This is cool science and anyone who is interested in the world is invited and encouraged to attend the week-long festival that includes field trips, workshops, exhibitions and conversations.

Enjoy a delicious food event that explores how tech, trends and climate change will affect our plates, unpack the relationship between wellness and science and explore ‘Hobartica’ – Australia’s last frontier before the ice – where you can take a cold plunge and warm up in a Finnish sauna.

12. Get cultured at Theatre Royal

Australia’s oldest operating theatre opened in 1837 in a district rife with brothels, factories and pubs. At the time, you could come here to watch everything from cockfights to music, and while the gentry enjoyed the entertainment from the boxes, the undesirables would create their own drunken drama in the pit below.

The Theatre Royal has since seen many refinements and reforms, and now this more than 185-year-old offers an incredible wedge of Hobartian life and history. Don’t miss one of the many contemporary shows here while in the city.

13. Cycle the Meehan Ranges

Get on your bike in the city fringe at the Meehan Ranges – just a 10-minute drive away. While Tasmania as a whole has some incredible MTB trails further north, Hobart is not to be outdone, with plenty of rides to rattle along on the ranges.

They vary from easy to expert, but there are no amenities and you’ll need to BYO bike, so it’s a good idea to go with a local or someone who can show you the ropes.

14. Take a foraging tour with Sirocco South

Uncover what makes Tassie produce so exceptional on an excursion just on the cusp of the city. Forager extraordinaire Mic Giuliani runs Sirocco South, taking visitors on a tour through the peri-urban wilds to pluck whatever’s in season for a six-course gourmet lunch complemented with local wines.

The menu, naturally, changes with the seasons but can include wild mushroom paté made with just-foraged saffron milk caps and slippery jacks and served with warm sourdough; freshly foraged asparagus barbecued, steamed and tossed into a frittata; or perhaps stuffed lamb breast with weed salsa verde made of buckshorn plantain, ice plant, coastal saltbush and wild rocket.

15. Visit Lark Distillery’s Cellar Door

Taste a piece of Tassie history at Lark’s Hobart Cellar Door on Davey Street. Situated on the waterfront, this site was once a distillery and bond store. Today it houses Lark’s full range of single malt whiskies, including old releases and cellar door exclusives, which you can try as part of a specially curated tasting flight.

16. Drop by Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum

Strictly speaking, the Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum is not unique – after all the huts here are identical models to the ones still standing in Cape Denison, Antarctica, which date back to the early 1900s. But unless you have a spare $20,000 burning a hole in your back pocket, this Hobart museum is as close as you’ll get to the real thing. Moreover, proceeds from your visit go towards the conservation of the original huts.

17. Peruse the collection at TMAG

Dip your toes into Hobart’s rich cultural scene at TMAG – The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery. This Hobart institution has a behemoth of a collection, with more than one million objects that span from decorative arts to zoology, First Peoples’ culture, and Tasmanian plant specimens all under its guardianship. And some of the TMAG Precinct buildings are relics themselves, dating back to the early 1800s. Beyond the obvious draws for adults, this Hobart museum and gallery also has plenty to offer younger visitors, with some exhibitions designed expressly for those aged seven and below. It’s easily one of the best free things to do in Hobart.

18. Visit Hobart’s ‘Pooseum’

Kids aged five and up will no doubt have a fit of giggles at the prospect of visiting this unique Hobart attraction, dedicated to animal droppings. The Pooseum promises to answer all those burning questions your little ones have, such as: how long does it take an elephant to defecate? And: why should you never walk barefoot on a tropical beach? There’s a host of interactive displays (including a fart machine), plus PooTube videos, and even a ‘Pootrid’ shop, which does exactly what it says on the tin.

19. Take the brood go-kart racing

It’s not only younger  kids that get all the fun in Hobart. Teens can also feel included with a stint at Hyperdrive Kart Racing Hobart. This electric go-kart track in Kingston – just a 15-minute drive south of Hobart CBD – offers some high-octane thrills for all the family, with some of the fastest karts around. There are 1600 square metres of the indoor track to race around, plus an outdoor track that spans over 2500 square metres.

20. Head out on a ghost walk

If your kids aren’t too easily spooked, then consider a Port Arthur Ghost Tour. The guided, lantern-lit tours go for 90 minutes and take in the dark recesses of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Port Arthur site. Expect vivid stories of unexplained events that have terrified convicts, free settlers, soldiers and visitors alike.

21. Take to the water on a Pennicott Wilderness cruise

Swap a car for a boat and see Hobart and its surrounds from a different angle with one of Pennicott Wilderness Journeys’ many sightseeing cruises. This eco-friendly operator offers tours of Bruny Island, Tasman Island and plenty more beyond, all departing from Franklin Wharf in the thick of the city.

22. Find Tasmanian Devils

Come face to face with Tasmania’s most famous marsupial at Tasmanian Devil Unzoo. This wildlife sanctuary on the Tasman Peninsula – an hour’s drive southeast of Hobart – allows the endangered carnivorous creatures to run wild.

Take the zoo’s Devil Tracker Adventure and you’ll enjoy a guided 4WD tour in the native forest to see how they’re being tracked and monitored.

Alternatively, head 30 minutes north of the city and you can visit Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary. Alongside Tassie devils you’ll find wallabies, wombats, kangaroos, echidnas, emus, snakes and more. You can amble around at your own pace or book in for one of the sanctuary’s daily 45-minute tours.

23. Try a cooking class at The Agrarian Kitchen

The Apple Isle is renowned for the strength of its artisanal food scene as well as the local passion for produce, and at The Agrarian Kitchen in New Norfolk (located just 35 minutes from Hobart), both aspects are proudly showcased. This regional restaurant is a fine spot for some destination dining, but the real cherry on the cake is the establishment’s cooking school, which also offers lifestyle and gardening classes.

24. Admire Hobart from above on a double decker sightseeing bus

The novelty of riding up top on an open-air double decker bus won’t be lost on little kids (or, perhaps, their grown ups). This hop-on hop-off bus transports you to 20 of Hobart’s most popular locations (think Brooke Street Pier, Salamanca Place, Battery Point and Cascade Brewery) on a 90-minute loop and offers commentary to clue you in too.

And if you’re pondering a visit to kunanyi/Mount Wellington or Richmond village you can add that onto your ticket rather than going to the fuss of renting a car.

25. Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

Tucked away in the heart of Hobart, the secluded, serene and picturesque Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens is a dreamy spot to while away a few hours.

Once a working farm, established in the early 1800s, the 35-acre site has now transformed into a mesmerising patchwork of plants.

You’ll find a few extremes here, from the Conservatory, where exotic blooms thrive in a balmy greenhouse microclimate, to the Subantarctic Plant House, an immersive exhibit replicating the wild environment of remote Macquarie Island—complete with swirling winds, ambient rain, and the haunting calls of elephant seals and seabirds.

Don’t miss the Lily Pads: a trio of architecturally striking, circular timber platforms that appear to float above the Gardens’ iconic lily pond. They were designed by local firm Inspiring Place to commemorate the Gardens’ 200th anniversary in 2018.

This article was originally written by Chloe Cann with updates by Lara Picone