Hobart: what to see, where to stay and how to get around

Now in Hobart--:--:--

--°

Hobart, founded in 1804 on the estuary of the Derwent under the mountain kunanyi, is the second-oldest capital in Australia. Tens of thousands of convicts were shipped to Van Diemen’s Land, and they built the sandstone town that still stands on the waterfront. Half a day on foot; bring a warm layer, whatever the season.

A short history of Hobart

Hobart was founded in 1804 and is the second-oldest city in Australia after Sydney. For decades it was a destination for convicts sent from Britain to Van Diemen's Land, which was renamed Tasmania in 1856. During this period the island's Aboriginal people were almost wiped out. In 1845 the Hobart Synagogue was opened in the city, the oldest building in Australia still in use as a synagogue. Since 1945 the famous Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which starts every year on 26 December, has finished in the city's harbour.

The ten best sights in Hobart

1
Battery Point
The old mariners’ quarter
2
Arthur Circus
Cottages around a green
3
Kelly’s Steps
Up from Salamanca
4
Constitution Dock
Where the yacht race ends
5
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
The thylacine and the palawa; free
6
Hobart Synagogue
The oldest in Australia
7
Parliament House
A convict-built customs house
8
St David’s Park
The colony’s first burial ground
9
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
Founded 1818
10
Cascade Brewery
Tours and a garden

sleepntripJules Verne, 1872 · us, 2026Around the world for $80 a night

A quality hotel in every city. We checked every room for you.

Find a room

What is an audio walk?

Tours in Hobart →

A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Hobart:

Free walking tours in Hobart

The convict port

Hobart Synagogue · Consecrated in 1845 in the Egyptian Revival style, it is the oldest synagogue in Australia, built on land given by Judah Solomon, a Jewish convict who became a merchant after his release. At the back are benches said to have been set aside for Jewish convicts brought under guard.
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery · Its gallery of the thylacine, the Tasmanian tiger, tells how the last known one died in a Hobart zoo in 1936, two months after the species was finally given legal protection; the museum also tells the story of the palawa, the Aboriginal Tasmanians.
Constitution Dock · Every year since 1945 the Sydney to Hobart yacht race, which leaves Sydney on Boxing Day, finishes here, and the dock fills with yachts and celebrations around the New Year.
Salamanca Place · A row of Georgian sandstone warehouses of the whaling and wool trade, built in the 1830s and 1840s, now galleries and cafés; every Saturday since 1972 a market of some three hundred stalls fills the street.
Kelly’s Steps · Stone steps cut in 1839 by James Kelly, a sailor, whaler and explorer who circumnavigated Tasmania in a whaleboat, to link the docks with his property on the hill above.
Arthur Circus · In Battery Point, the quarter of the mariners named after a gun battery of 1818, a ring of small Georgian cottages around a green, almost unchanged since the 1840s.

MONA and the mountain

Modern Hobart has two great draws: MONA, a museum dug into a cliff up the river, and the mountain over the city, from whose top the whole south of Tasmania lies below. A full day; the ferry to MONA leaves from the waterfront, and the mountain road can close in snow.

Brooke Street Pier · A floating pier from which the ferry to MONA leaves, about twenty-five minutes up the Derwent; part of its deck has sheep-shaped seats.
MONA · The Museum of Old and New Art, opened in 2011 by David Walsh, a professional gambler who made his fortune with systems for betting, and built three floors deep into the sandstone; he called it a subversive adult Disneyland.
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens · Founded in 1818, among the oldest botanical gardens in Australia, with a sub-Antarctic plant house kept cold and misty for the plants of Macquarie Island.
Cascade Brewery · A Gothic stone brewery at the foot of the mountain, founded in 1824 and the oldest continuously operating brewery in Australia, using water that runs down from kunanyi.
kunanyi / Mount Wellington · A mountain of some twelve hundred and seventy metres right above the city, its top a plateau of dolerite columns called the Organ Pipes; it can snow there in midsummer, and the temperature at the top can be fifteen degrees colder than at the waterfront.
Shot Tower · South of the city, a round sandstone tower of 1870 where molten lead was dropped from the top to form shot for guns as it fell; visitors can climb the narrow stair to the top.

Richmond and Port Arthur

East of Hobart lie the convict village of Richmond and, on the Tasman Peninsula, Port Arthur, the most notorious penal settlement of the empire, now a World Heritage site. A full day by car; Port Arthur alone needs at least half a day.

Richmond Bridge · A sandstone bridge built by convicts and finished in 1823, the oldest bridge in Australia still in use; the stone was carried by convicts from a quarry nearby.
Richmond Gaol · A gaol of 1825, older than Port Arthur and among the best-preserved convict buildings in Australia, with solitary cells barely larger than a man lying down.
Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary · A rescue sanctuary where visitors meet Tasmanian devils, whose wild population has been devastated since the 1990s by a contagious facial cancer; the sanctuary runs a hotline for injured wildlife.
Tessellated Pavement · At Eaglehawk Neck, the narrow isthmus to the peninsula, the rock shelf is cracked into almost perfect tiles by salt and tides. Across the neck the convict authorities chained a line of savage dogs to stop prisoners escaping from Port Arthur.
Tasman Arch · A natural arch in the sea cliffs, the remains of a cave whose roof fell in, beside the Devil’s Kitchen chasm where the waves boom below.
Port Arthur · A penal settlement from 1830 to 1877 for convicts who reoffended in the colony, with a model prison of silence and separation; the dead were buried on the Isle of the Dead in the bay. In 1996 it was also the scene of a mass shooting, after which Australia passed its strict gun laws; a memorial garden stands by the old café.

sleepntripWonders of the world12 wonders, and a hotel near each

For every wonder: a nearby city, a route and a hotel up to $80.

To the wonders

Getting to Hobart and getting around

Hobart Airport · Twenty minutes east
Brooke Street Pier · The ferry to MONA
Kettering · The ferry to Bruny Island

Cheap eats in Hobart

Hobart’s counter is on the water: fish and chips from the punts moored in the docks, where the boats sell straight to the queue; and the Tasmanian scallop pie, scallops in a curry sauce under pastry. Fish and chips cost about fifteen to twenty-five dollars; a scallop pie about ten.

Constitution Dock · Fish from the punts
Salamanca Place · Scallop pies at the market
Elizabeth Street Pier · Oysters on the pier

Museums in Hobart

A museum of the thylacine, a museum underground and the convict sites.

MONA · Old and new art
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery · The thylacine
Port Arthur · The penal settlement

Holy places in Hobart

The oldest synagogue in Australia, in a convict town.

Hobart Synagogue · 1845
St David’s Park · The first burial ground

Things to do in Hobart with kids

With children: Tasmanian devils, a tower to climb and a mountain with snow.

Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary · Devils and wombats
Shot Tower · The climb
kunanyi / Mount Wellington · Snow in winter

Nature and day trips near Hobart

The mountain, the gardens and the sea cliffs of the Tasman Peninsula.

Tasman Arch · The arch
Tessellated Pavement · The natural tiles
Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens · The sub-Antarctic house

sleepntripMystery worldPlaces whose story is not over yet

The moai, the Nazca lines, Göbekli Tepe and more.

To the mystery world

Frequently asked questions about Hobart

What is there to see in Hobart?

The top sights in Hobart are Battery Point, Arthur Circus and Kelly’s Steps. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.

How many days do you need in Hobart?

Three to four days are enough to see the best of Hobart without rushing, including at least one walking tour.

Is there a free walking tour in Hobart?

Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Hobart, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: The convict port.

How do you get to Hobart and get around?

The main ways are Hobart Airport, Brooke Street Pier and Kettering. Full details are in the transport section on this page.

Where to stay in Hobart, and for how much?

sleepntrip shows only rooms in Hobart that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.

Looking for a hotel in Hobart for your dates?

Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.

All hotels in Hobart

Plan a trip across AustraliaA continent of beaches and wild→