Launceston & Tamar Valley

A historic city in northern Tasmania, with Cataract Gorge in town, Tamar Valley wineries and Bridestowe Lavender Estate, and a gateway to Cradle Mountain.

Launceston is Tasmania's second-largest city and the center of the north. Founded in 1806, it is Australia's third-oldest city, and the city preserves many Victorian and Georgian buildings. It sits where the South Esk and North Esk rivers meet to form the Tamar River, which winds about 60 km north to Bass Strait; the Tamar Valley on both banks is Tasmania's largest wine region. Things to do fall into four groups: the city (Cataract Gorge, City Park, QVMAG, Boag's Brewery); along the Tamar River (the wine trail, Tamar Island Wetlands, Grindelwald, the Batman Bridge, Beaconsfield gold mine, Seahorse World and platypus at Beauty Point, and the Low Head lighthouse and penguins at the river mouth); south of the city, the World Heritage convict sites of Brickendon and Woolmers, plus Evandale and Clarendon Estate; and farther out, Bridestowe Lavender Estate to the northeast, the Ben Lomond plateau to the southeast and Liffey Falls to the southwest. Summer (December–February) at about 24°C is the best time, with lavender in bloom in December–January; autumn (March–May) brings red leaves and the harvest; winter is gray and cold, and you can ski at Ben Lomond. Launceston Airport has flights to Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane; from Melbourne you can also take the Spirit of Tasmania ferry to Devonport and drive about 1 hour. The city center is walkable, but the sights around it need a car. Plan to stay 2–3 days, or use it as a stopover on the way to Cradle Mountain, the Bay of Fires and the Freycinet Peninsula.

Top sights

Bridestowe Lavender Estate – The largest lavender farm in the Southern Hemisphere. Its 260 acres of purple fields curve across the hills of northern Tasmania. The flowe…
Cataract Gorge Reserve – A gorge on the South Esk River just a 15-minute walk from the city centre, with a suspension bridge, a record-setting single-span chairlift…
Tamar Valley Wine Route – More than 30 cellar doors line both banks of the Tamar River, where the cool climate produces Tasmania's signature Pinot Noir, Chardonnay a…
City Park – A Victorian-era city park with towering old trees and a glasshouse, plus a Japanese macaque enclosure gifted by Launceston's Japanese siste…
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) – Australia's largest regional museum, housed in a former railway workshop with Tasmanian natural history, a planetarium and a Chinese temple…
Brickendon Estate – One of the UNESCO World Heritage Australian Convict Sites, a farm run by the Archer family for seven generations, with its old barns and sm…
Woolmers Estate – The Archer family's other World Heritage estate, with a mansion preserved with its original furnishings and a two-hectare National Rose Gar…
Beaconsfield Mine & Heritage Centre – A century-old gold mining town on the west bank of the Tamar, where the heritage centre tells the story of the gold rush and the 2006 rescu…
Low Head Lighthouse & Penguins – A century-old lighthouse and pilot station at the Tamar River mouth, where at dusk visitors on a guided tour can watch little penguins come…
Seahorse World & Platypus House – Two neighbouring guided animal attractions on the Beauty Point wharf: one devoted to seahorse breeding, the other offering close encounters…
Batman Bridge – Completed in 1968 as Australia's first cable-stayed bridge, with a single A-shaped steel pylon leaning over the Tamar River and a picnic ar…
Swiss Village Grindelwald – A holiday village on the Tamar's banks built in the style of a Swiss mountain village, with timber-gabled chalets, a lake and a chocolate s…
Tamar Island Wetlands – Estuary wetlands on the edge of Launceston, where a timber boardwalk crosses reed beds to Tamar Island, home to black swans, waterbirds and…
Evandale – A well-preserved Georgian colonial town with a lively Sunday market and the Penny-Farthing bicycle championships, a distinctive feature hel…
Clarendon House – An 1838 neoclassical mansion with a towering colonnade facing the South Esk River, regarded as one of Australia's most magnificent Georgian…
James Boag Brewery – A long-established Tasmanian brewery that has brewed in Launceston since 1883. Its red-brick buildings are a city landmark, and guided tour…
National Automobile Museum of Tasmania – A car and motorcycle museum across from the Inveresk site, with more than a hundred classic cars, sports cars and vintage motorcycles on ro…
Ben Lomond National Park – Tasmania's largest ski area sits on this high plateau. The zigzag Jacob's Ladder road is thrilling and spectacular, and in summer you can c…
Liffey Falls – A multi-tiered waterfall in the rainforest of the Great Western Tiers, reached by a trail lined with ferns and moss that descends past casc…
Hollybank Treetops Adventure – A high-ropes zip-line course in forest near Launceston, gliding between eucalypt canopies 50 metres up. The surrounding area is also a moun…

Where to eat

Stillwater – Opened in 2000 in an 1830s flour mill on the Tamar River, and regarded as a benchmark for Launceston dining. Its wine l…
Black Cow Bistro – A steakhouse in a former old butcher's shop that specialises in Tasmanian grass-fed, dry-aged beef. It consistently ran…
Du Cane Brewery Dining Hall – Launceston's first brewery restaurant, known for Italian wood-fired pizza and house-brewed craft beer. It is well suite…
Josef Chromy Wines – A winery restaurant in the Tamar Valley wine region. It has been awarded one chef's hat every year since 2017 and offer…

Itineraries

Tasmania Clockwise Loop Self-Drive – From Hobart, head up the West Coast, passing through Cradle Mountain, the Bay of Fires, and Wineglass Bay, before retur…
Tasmania East Coast: Maria Island to Bay of Fires – Head north from Hobart to Launceston, linking Maria Island, Wineglass Bay, penguins, and the Bay of Fires.
Tasmania In-Depth Loop via Melbourne Ferry – Bring your car across from Melbourne on an overnight ferry, completing a full island loop plus Bruny Island and Stanley