Tasmania (Hobart Region)

The main shopping area is Elizabeth Street Mall, roughly in the centre of the CBD (the City Business District); Elizabeth Street slopes down from North Hobart, known for its many fine restaurants, to the Elizabeth Street Pier on Franklin Wharf. Here, at the harbour, fishing boats and yachts are moored, and cruises leave from Brooke Street Pier. 

Salamanca Place, with its row of Georgian warehouses, is on the waterfront on the south side of the cove; a steep climb up Kelly’s Steps brings you to Battery Point, to the south. Following the Derwent River around from Battery Point, you reach salubrious Sandy Bay, with its casino and Royal Yacht Club. To the north of the centre are the parklands of the Queens Domain, with the Royal Botanical Gardens along the waterfront; from the Domain, the Tasman Bridge crosses the river to the residential eastern shore.

There are relatively few sights in Hobart other than the streets themselves, but these are enough to keep you wandering around for hours, stopping at a few museums and parks along the way. While walking through the city, it’s worth glancing up occasionally to observe the street signs; the streets are often named after important local figures and the signs have portraits and biographies of them. Around the docks area, and in Battery Point, there are also interpretive boards pointing out historic and architectural features.

• Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts
  One of Australia's finest collections of rare books, furniture, ceramics, silver and glass from the 18th and early 19th centuries. 91 Murray Street, Hobart. Open each weekday 9.30am - 5.00pm (Public Holidays excepted)
• Bonorong Wildlife Centre Brighton, 20 minutes north of Hobart
  Experience devils, koalas, wombats and feed the friendly kangaroos. Visit the Bush Tucker Shed for traditional Australian food, billy tea and damper.
• Mount Field National Park
• The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
  Situated only 2km from the centre of Hobart and established in 1818, the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens contain a great many features both historical and botanical, which rank them among the finest in the world. An historical feature of some note is the Arthur Wall, an internally heated wall built in 1829, and one of only two such walls ever constructed in Australia. The Superintendent's residence (1828) is now the Garden's Museum and Education Centre and features displays of botanical and historical interest. A magnificent Conservatory where floral displays are changed four times a year is a must for the visitor. Other outstanding features include a tropical glasshouse, a Cactus house, a fuchsia house, a herb garden and various fountains and water features. There is also an easy access garden for the disabled, a floral clock and a rose garden. The Japanese Garden contains thousands of plants originating in Japan and a zig-zag bridge, water wheel and replica of Mt Fuji.

Events

• Hobart Summer Festival
  Held from December 28 to January 3 the festival attracts 180 000 people and includes the Taste of Tasmania - the biggest open air restaurant in Australia and a showcase for fine Tasmanian food and wine. Entertainment from 11am till midnight each day includes jazz music, fashion parades, buskers, street theatre, bush bands and multicultural bands.
• Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race
  The biggest ocean yacht race in Australia and one of the world's great ocean racing classics. The yachts leave Sydney on Boxing day, most arriving before the new year and a giant party is held to welcome home the fleet.

Getting there & around

Hobart’s public transport system, the Hobart Metro (timetable and fares hot line tel 13 2201), is useful for getting to less central accommodation and some more distant points of interest. You can pre-purchase Metro Tens (a pack of ten discounted tickets) and get timetables from the Metroshop, inside the GPO on Elizabeth Street; the area outside – Elizabeth Street, Franklin Square and Macquarie Street – acts as the bus interchange. The handy yellow-painted Busy Bee bus does a circuit from Franklin Square through Battery Point and up Sandy Bay Road to the casino and back again. Single tickets, available from the driver, are valid for ninety minutes and cost from $1.20 (for a one- or two-zone journey); off-peak day-rover passes are $3.10. Buses run until around 11pm from Monday to Thursday, until midnight on Friday and Saturday, and until about 10.30pm on Sunday (only a few services). 

The MV Cartela private ferry runs to Bellerive, on the eastern shore, from Brooke Street Pier (tel 03/6223 1914 for times); the weekday peak-hour service ($2 one-way) is direct, while the weekend service stops en-route at the casino at Sandy Bay ($5 one-way; $2.50 to casino only). You can hail a taxi on the street, or there are taxi stands around the city, with the major one outside the Town Hall on Elizabeth Street.

Tourist Information

On a more alternative note, the Tasmanian Environment Centre, 102 Bathurst St (Mon–Fri 9am–5pm; tel 03/6234 5566), is a relaxed resource space with lots of books and information on Tasmania and notice boards featuring environmental events, rooms to let and items for sale. Organizations such as Bicycle Tasmania, and the Hobart Walking Club (visitors can join their walks) use this as their base, and the centre operates its own programme of walks and talks throughout the year.

For bushwalking information and a full range of Tasmaps, head for the Service Tasmania Shop at 134 Macquarie St (Mon–Fri 9am–4.45pm; tel 03/6233 3382); upstairs, the Parks and Wildlife Service (tel 03/6230 8011) has information sheets and can refer you to a parks officer for advice; other general and bushwalking maps are stocked at the Tasmanian Map Centre, 96 Elizabeth St (tel 03/6231 9043).

Eating & Drinking

• Da Angelo Ristorante, 47 Hampden Rd, Battery Point (tel 03/6223 7011). A great village spot for a more upmarket Italian meal plus gourmet pizzas; tasty food, generous portions and good service. Licensed. Dinner nightly.
• Fish Frenzy, Elizabeth Street Pier. A stylish modern fish café – order your food at the counter and find a seat. Cheap food is terrific but the waiting process is hellishly slow despite the name – you can, however, get into a frenzy of drinking while you wait for your fish, since the place is licensed.
• Garden of Earthly Delights, 247 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay (tel 03/6223 4471). Good home cooking, with meat, vegan and vegetarian dishes. Sit in the outdoor courtyard in summer, or inside beside the fire in colder months. BYO. Tues–Sat 11am–10pm.
• Jackman & McGross, 57–59 Hampden Rd, Battery Point. Stylish eat-in bakery that fits in with the upmarket village atmosphere of Battery Point. Excellent pastries and baked savouries, and gourmet baguettes and rolls. Mon–Fri 7.30am–7pm, Sat 7.30am–5pm.
• Kaos Cafe, 237 Elizabeth St, North Hobart. Trendy, gay-friendly coffee spot. Jazzy music, fresh flowers, mags to read. Focaccias, real fruit muffins and cakes plus delicious all-day breakfast. BYO. Mon–Fri noon–midnight, Sat 10am–midnight, Sun 10am–10pm.
• La Cuisine, 85 Bathurst St, and the Trafalgar Centre at 110 Collins St. Two café-patisseries serving great cappuccino and excellent pastries, plus mounds of healthy salad. Mon–Fri 9am–6pm, Sat 8am–1pm.
• Machine, 12 Salamanca Square. This quirky combination Fifties retro café-laundry with outside seating is the place to come for a coffee and join the city’s young trendies (often with babies in tow). Unfortunately portions are measly and the food’s not great. Mon–Sat 8am–6pm, Sun 9am–6pm.
• Mako, Constitution Dock. Takeaway seafood from a boat moored in the dock; best fish and chips in town. Daily 10am–8pm.
• Marti Zucco, 364 Elizabeth St, North Hobart (tel 03/6234 9611). Italian restaurant serving imaginative dishes, including fish, schnitzels and thick-crust pizzas. Large and very popular, with a casual atmosphere; licensed and BYO. Mon–Thurs & Sun 5.30–10pm, Fri & Sat until 11.30pm.
• Mit Zitrone, 333 Elizabeth St, North Hobart (tel 03/6234 8113). Chic café-restaurant, very much in the Melbourne style, with a cosmopolitan menu favouring fish. If the delicious main dishes are out of your range (around $16), there’s a cake selection and excellent coffee. BYO. Mon–Sat 10.30am–10.30pm.
• Mummy’s Coffee Shop, 38 Waterloo Crescent, Battery Point. Recently extended café that’s now very trendy; it’s best feature is its range of delicious cakes; main meals from Contemporary Australian menu. Licensed and open late. Mon–Thurs & Sun until midnight, Fri & Sat until 2am.
• Mures Fish Centre, Victoria Dock. Food centre on two levels (open daily), set among yachts and fishing boats; with three restaurants, a fishmonger, bakery (great scallop pies) and café. Mures Upper Deck (tel 03/6231 1999) is an upmarket restaurant which has lovely harbour views; Mures Lower Deck has bistro food, with cheaper prices; Orizuru (tel 03/6231 1790; closed Sun) serves authentic sushi – their salmon is delicious.
• Orient Express, 147A Little Collins St. Good, cheap servings of Malaysian, Indian and Thai food; there’s a small eat-in area, but the emphasis is on takeaways. Closed Sat & Sun.
• Palette’s Studio Café, 14 Davey St. A handy spot to recharge, right near the Travel and Information Centre and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and located below an artist’s studio. Mon–Fri 10am–4pm.
• Renown Milkbar, 337 Elizabeth St, North Hobart. A Hobart institution whose windows are full of imported chocolates. Good for a coffee or snack after a movie at the nearby cinema. Daily 8am–11pm.
• Retro Café, 31 Salamanca Place. Relaxed, light and airy place serving the best espresso in town, plus amazingly frothy cappuccinos and wonderful breakfasts. A good place to find out what’s on – notices and flyers cover one wall. Outside tables popular on market day (Sat). Mon–Sat 8am–6pm, Sun 8.30am–6pm.
• Shipwright’s Arms Hotel, cnr of Colville and Trumpeter sts, Battery Point. Old pub, popular with the yachtie crowd. Dishes up a legendary fresh seafood platter.
• Sisco’s on the Pier, Murray Street Pier (tel 03/6223 2059). Waterfront Spanish–Mediterranean restaurant guarantees a fine, though pricey, feast. Licensed.
• Vanadol’s, 353 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart (tel 03/6234 9307). Popular, casual place serving Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian food. Very affordable; BYO. Booking advisable. Tues–Sun from 6pm.
• Zanskar Café, 39 Barrack St. Laid-back place for serious vegetarians and vegans, serving delicious food. There’s a warm community atmosphere and plenty of useful notice boards to peruse, while the feel is spacious with a gallery level, and a clean wood decor. Mon–Fri 9am–9pm.

Entertainment and nightlife

If you want to know what’s on, Thursday’s Mercury has a “gig guide”, and you could also check its Friday and Saturday entertainment section or W-Hole Magazine, a do-it-yourself monthly with a gig guide and reviews. As for live music, Tasmania is too small to attract many bands, so the ones that play the pubs are mainly local. The few big events that do occur attract an extraordinarily varied audience, as everybody goes to everything. For anything more interesting, keep an eye on what’s happening at the University of Tasmania campus at Sandy Bay (tel 03/6220 2861). 

Concerts are staged by the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra at the ABC Odeon and the Tasmanian Conservatoriam of Music (the Conservatoriam at 5–7 Sandy Bay Rd; tel 03/6226 7306) who also perform at churches around town (free or $3–5). You’ll find traditional and touring theatre at the Theatre Royal, and more contemporary local shows at the Peacock Theatre in Salamanca Place; in February and March there’s a season of outdoor Shakespeare in the Royal Botanical Gardens. Most tickets can be booked via Centretainment, at 132 Liverpool St (tel 03/6234 5998); guides and calendars can be picked up at Kaos and other cafés.

Bars, clubs and live music

• All Bar One, 24 Salamanca Square (tel 03/6224 7557). Renovated sandstone warehouse turned into a slick and spacious bar and brasserie. Wine available by the glass. Daily 9am–midnight.
• Bavarian Tavern, 281 Liverpool St (tel 03/6234 7977). Known to locals as the “Bav Tav”: fun down-to-earth venue – jamming sessions, dancing, cheap meals.
• Brooke Street Bar and Café, 19 Morrison St, cnr of Brooke St. Waterfront pub, with large windows letting in lots of light onto the wacky beachbar-style interior. Outside tables too. Open until 2am Sat & Sun.
• Juice Niteclub, 7 Watchorn St (tel 03/6234 5165). Barn-like bar, lively and packed on Friday and Saturday night.
• Knopwood’s Retreat, 39 Salamanca Place. Pub that’s a favourite with students, yachties, and just about everyone else, with a relaxed coffee parlour/bar feel; plenty of magazines and newspapers, plus outside tables. Open until midnight on Fri, when the pavement outside is packed. Closed Sun.
• The New Sydney Hotel, 87 Bathurst St (tel 03/6234 4516). Hobart’s Irish pub, featuring live music nightly except Monday – from traditional Irish to blues and folk.
• Republic Bar & Café, 299 Elizabeth St (tel 03/6234 6954). Laid-back lounge atmosphere, funky decor and free music, usually blues and jazz, five nights a week. Good meals too – with lots of seafood on the menu.
• Rockerfeller’s Café & Bar, 11 Morrison St (tel 03/6234 3490). Cocktails, live jazz Sunday nights and an American-style menu. Daily until midnight, Fri & Sat until 2am.
• St Ives Hotel, 86 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay (tel 03/6323 3655). “Boutique” hotel that has its own brewery. Popular club nights on Friday and Saturday. The excellent bottle shop at the back has a good range of Tasmanian wines.
• Syrup, above Knopwood’s, 39 Salamanca Place (tel 03/6224 8249). Hobart’s trendiest club. The second floor doubles as a restaurant until 11.30pm; at midnight the nightclub takes over, lasting until around 6am on Fri & Sat. Third floor for techno, house, drum and bass on Thurs & Sat, second floor for 1980s retro (and pool table). Live disco and funk Friday. Theme nights include a 1960s night on Wed with go-go girls and visuals. Wed–Sat $5–$7.
• T-42°, Elizabeth Street Pier (tel 03/6224 7742). Stylish lounge bar, upmarket but not snobby: anyone with a bit of taste loves it. Good choice of wine, available by the glass. Half the place is an eating area serving well-priced modern meals at lunch and dinner, or you can come in for a coffee or cake in the afternoon. Glass doors open onto the pier. Daily 11.30am–1.30am.
• Theatre Royal Hotel, 31 Campbell St (tel 03/6234 6925). Despite the trendily upmarket renovations, the public bar is as down-to-earth as ever. People spill in here after the theatre. Recommended bistro too. Open until midnight; closed Sun.

Film, theatre, concerts and cabaret

• ABC Odeon, 167 Liverpool St (tel 03/6235 3633). Home to the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra, with concerts on a regular basis.
• AFI State Cinema, 375 Elizabeth St, North Hobart (tel 03/6234 6318). Art-house and foreign films; reduced ticket prices Wed night. Licensed bar.
• Playhouse Theatre, 106 Bathurst St (tel 03/6234 1536). Home to an amateur theatrical society that regularly puts on plays. Premises are rented out to travelling shows.
• Salamanca Arts Centre, 77 Salamanca Place (tel 03/6234 8414). Home base of several performance companies: the Terrapin Puppet Theatre puts on touring shows, including a puppet picnic at the end of December in St Davids Park. Puppeteers are welcome to come in and look around. The theatre venue here is the Peacock Theatre which specializes in contemporary works, performed by various local theatre companies.
• Theatre Royal, 29 Campbell St (tel 03/6233 2299). This lovely old place is not too expensive or stuffy, offering a broad spectrum, from comedy nights to serious drama. The ancillary Backspace is smaller and more experimental – often hosting very entertaining Theatresports on Friday nights.
• Village Cinema Centre, 181 Collins St (tel 03/6234 7288). Seven screens showing mainstream new releases; discount day is Tuesday.

Accommodation

• Argyle Motor Lodge, cnr of Lewis and Argyle sts, North Hobart. Situated in a quiet area twenty minutes’ walk from the city centre. Some self-catering units also available.
• Country Comfort Hadley’s Hotel, 34 Murray St. National Trust-listed hotel close to the waterfront which has recently been restored to its glory days. Old fashioned feel, modern facilities; restaurant, café, bistro and bar are all in-house. Room service, 24hr reception, and free parking.
• Hotel Grand Chancellor, 1 Davey St. Hobart’s most upmarket hotel, the five-star Grand Chancellor’s facilities include two restaurants, two bars and a health club.
• Hobart Vista Hotel
• Pacific Vista Hotel
• Wrest Point Casino Hotel, 410 Sandy Bay Rd, Sandy Bay. Upmarket four-star hotel with riverside rooms. Heated indoor pool, sauna and 24hr room service. As well as the luxury tower, there’s a cheaper motel section.

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