Australia: Tasmania – MONA

March 28, 2026
Tasmania
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🎨 Going Underground — MONA, Hobart, Tasmania

There are places you visit on a trip that turn out to be politely fine. Pleasant enough. Nothing wrong with them, exactly, but you probably wouldn’t mention them to anyone at a dinner party. You might say “oh yes, we popped in,” and then smoothly change the subject. And then there are places that genuinely rearrange something inside your skull — places that send you out the other side slightly different from the person who walked in. The Museum of Old and New Art, known to everyone in Tasmania and quite a fair number of people on the rest of the planet simply as MONA, is very much the second kind of place.

I had been looking forward to it for months. Which is, as any seasoned traveller will tell you, always slightly dangerous. High expectations are the sworn enemy of a good time. You build something up in your head over the course of several months, and by the time you actually arrive, no real-world experience could possibly compete with the version you’ve been running in your imagination. Every museum becomes the Louvre. Every walk becomes the Camino de Santiago. Every restaurant becomes somewhere you’ll be telling your grandchildren about.

MONA didn’t care about any of that. It simply got on with being extraordinary.

🕐 The Agreeable Tyranny of a Loose Itinerary

We had, as had become something of a running theme on this particular trip, set off rather later than planned. This was not — I should say this clearly, for the record — through any particular incompetence on our part. It was more that we had reached that agreeable stage of travelling where the tyranny of the itinerary has loosened its grip somewhat and you find yourself sitting over a second cup of coffee without the nagging anxiety that you are catastrophically behind schedule. Anyone who has ever been on a proper holiday will recognise this feeling. It usually arrives somewhere around day four or five, when you stop treating every morning like a military operation and start behaving like an actual human being on their days off.

The result was that we rolled up to MONA in the late morning, which, as it turned out, was absolutely fine.

📍 A Sandstone Cliff and a Two-Hundred-Million-Dollar Dream

MONA sits on the Berriedale peninsula, a tongue of land that juts out into the Derwent River about twelve kilometres north of Hobart. Hobart itself is the capital of Tasmania and one of Australia’s oldest cities, founded in 1804 as a British penal colony — which is worth knowing because it gives the whole area a pleasingly layered sort of history. By the time European settlement arrived, the Mouwinina people of the Muwinina country had been living along the Derwent for something in the region of thirty-five thousand years, so the British showing up with their convicts and their architectural opinions was, in the grand sweep of things, fairly recent news.

The man responsible for MONA is one David Walsh, who is either a visionary genius, a gloriously eccentric oddball, or quite possibly both simultaneously. Walsh grew up in Hobart in modest circumstances and spent a considerable portion of his early adult life developing a mathematically complex betting system that — and this is the part that shouldn’t have worked but emphatically did — allowed him to become a professional gambler and, eventually, a self-made multimillionaire. He reportedly funded the entire MONA enterprise through this system, which gives the whole place a slightly improbable quality right from the start. A museum built on gambling winnings, in a sandstone cliff, on a peninsula jutting into a Tasmanian river. You couldn’t make it up. Well, you could, but nobody would believe you.

Walsh opened MONA in January 2011, and it caused an immediate and rather satisfying international stir. Here was a genuinely world-class institution of contemporary art appearing, almost without warning, in a city of roughly two hundred and forty thousand people in the southern reaches of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Not Sydney. Not Melbourne. Not some culturally obvious global metropolis. Hobart. The art world, which tends to take itself rather seriously, didn’t quite know what to do with this information.

Walsh has described MONA variously as a “subversive adult Disneyland” and a “temple to sex and death,” which is either the most honest piece of museum marketing in the entire history of museum marketing, or a very elaborate way of saying that you should probably leave the children at home. He reportedly spent somewhere in the region of two hundred million Australian dollars on the building and the collection inside it. Unlike most people who spend that kind of money — on yachts, or private islands, or art purely as investment — he appears to have actually enjoyed himself in the process. And, perhaps more unusually still, he appears to have wanted other people to enjoy themselves too.

🏗️ Underground Architecture and the Ghost of a Lorry

The building itself is a feat of architecture that deserves considerably more attention than it typically receives, possibly because people are so busy looking at what’s inside it that they forget to look at what it is. Most of MONA is underground. Not basement-level underground, but properly, genuinely underground — carved directly into a sandstone cliff face by the river and extending across three subterranean levels. The architect Nonda Katsalidis, who is Greek-Australian and based in Melbourne, designed the whole thing so that natural light percolates down through strategic openings in the structure above. The effect is an atmosphere that sits somewhere between ancient cave and spacecraft interior, which sounds like an absurd combination but is, in practice, entirely convincing.

You descend into it via a glass lift or a dramatic spiral staircase — the spiral staircase being, I think, the better choice, if you have the knees for it — and as you go down, the noise of the world above fades away. The wind off the river. The birds. The ordinary ambient clatter of being outdoors in a place where outdoors exists. All of it goes quiet. It is a genuinely remarkable sensation, and it begins to adjust your expectations before you’ve seen a single piece of art.

Before we made it underground, however, we paused in the grounds outside the entrance, because there were things to look at and one of them stopped me dead.

It was a full-sized articulated lorry — the kind you see grinding up motorway slip roads with a face full of spray and a driver who has clearly had quite enough of all of us — with what appeared to be a cement mixer mounted on its trailer. Except it wasn’t made of steel and rubber and the accumulated grime of a working life. It was constructed entirely from a framework of rusting steel rods, open to the air, so that the outline of the entire machine had been rendered in iron lattice. You could see straight through it to the sky beyond. The whole thing had been left entirely to the Tasmanian weather, which had obliged by covering it in a deep, warm rust the colour of old brick. It sat there being simultaneously a lorry and not a lorry, solid and transparent at once.

It was, in its way, brilliant. The ghost of industry. The skeleton of labour, rendered permanent and yet porous, left to slowly return to the earth or at least to strongly consider the idea. Andy Warhol once remarked that art is what you can get away with, and whoever constructed that lorry was getting away with a very great deal.

📱 No Signage. Seriously. None.

Inside, Karen downloaded the MONA O app onto her phone, which was not a luxury but a genuine operational necessity. MONA has taken the bold — some might say baffling, others might say quietly revolutionary — decision to provide absolutely no conventional signage whatsoever. There are no plaques on the walls. No little printed cards beside the exhibits. No helpful arrows telling you to turn left for the Warhols. Nothing. The walls are clean. The spaces breathe. And if you want to know what you’re looking at, you look at your phone.

The app — which Walsh’s team developed in-house and which they call simply “the O” — serves as your guide, your map, your catalogue and, if you choose, your critic. It uses your phone’s location to identify which artwork you’re standing in front of, and then offers you a choice. You can read a straightforward account of the piece — who made it, when, what it broadly is — or you can press a button labelled “artwank” if you want the full academic interpretation, complete with theoretical framework and the sort of language that makes ordinary people feel mildly stupid for not already knowing what post-structuralist semiotics has to say about a cement-digesting machine.

The fact that Walsh’s team called it “artwank” rather than, say, “extended critical analysis” or “interpretive commentary” tells you everything you need to know about his attitude towards the more self-important corners of the contemporary art world. He knows what the art world is like. He has, presumably, had to deal with a great deal of it. And he has decided to gently mock it while simultaneously being a serious and committed participant in it, which is a difficult trick to pull off and which he manages rather well.

🐍 What’s Actually Inside

The collection itself is, to put it plainly, staggering. Walsh has assembled works that operate across an almost lunatic range of time and intent. At one end of the spectrum, there are ancient Egyptian artefacts — actual mummies, actual tomb goods, sitting in climate-controlled cases as though they have simply wandered in from the Valley of the Kings and decided to stay for a bit. These are not reproductions. They are the real thing, thousands of years old, sitting in a sandstone room twelve kilometres north of Hobart.

At the other end, there is contemporary work so confrontational that you have to stop and have a little word with yourself before you can process it properly.

Sidney Nolan’s Snake occupies one of the most memorable spaces in the building. Nolan is one of Australia’s most significant painters — born in Melbourne in 1917, he is best known for his Ned Kelly series of the 1940s, though his output across his long career was immense and varied. Snake is a sequence of one hundred and sixty-two paintings depicting an enormous serpent winding across the Australian landscape. The works were produced between 1970 and 1972 and are displayed here across an entire curved wall. You don’t so much look at Snake as stand inside it, surrounded by ochre and green and the dry vastness of the Australian continent rendered in oil on board. It is one of those experiences that is simply difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t had it.

Then there is Wim Delvoye. Delvoye is a Belgian artist born in 1965 who has spent a remarkable career demonstrating a quite heroic commitment to provocation. He has, among other things, tattooed living pigs. His contribution to MONA is a piece called Cloaca Professional, which is, in essence, a large machine that digests food and produces the inevitable result at the other end, on a daily schedule. The machine replicates, in mechanical form, the processes of the human digestive system. It smells exactly as you would expect it to smell. It is also, inexplicably, fascinating. You stand there knowing full well that you should probably just move on, and you stay rather longer than you intended.

There are pieces by Chris Ofili, who works with elephant dung and whose work caused a spectacular row at the Brooklyn Museum in 1999 when the then-mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, attempted to withdraw the museum’s city funding over an Ofili painting depicting the Virgin Mary. There are works that explore sexuality with a directness that would make a hospital consultant blush. There are pieces that make you laugh out loud, pieces that make you feel mildly uncomfortable in a way you cannot entirely explain, and pieces that stop you in your tracks with a sudden, unexpected beauty that you weren’t remotely braced for.

The juxtaposition is relentless and deliberate. Walsh hangs Old Masters near shock-art. He places ancient artefacts alongside brand-new installations. He forces everything into conversation with everything else, across centuries and disciplines and levels of tastefulness. It shouldn’t work. It absolutely, emphatically does.

🏠 A Digression About Wisconsin

The sensory experience of the place kept nagging at me — a feeling of recognition I couldn’t place. It was only on the way out that I identified it: the House on the Rock in Wisconsin.

If you have never been to the House on the Rock, I recommend it as strongly as I know how to recommend anything. It is — and I mean this as the highest possible compliment — completely and comprehensively deranged. A man called Alex Jordan began building it in the early 1940s on a sixty-foot chimney of rock called Deer Shelter Rock in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin, apparently in part to irritate the architect Frank Lloyd Wright, who lived nearby. Jordan kept building and accumulating for decades. By the time the place was opened to the public in 1960, and for many years after that, he had filled it with carousels and pipe organs and suits of armour and model ships and automated orchestras and vast dioramas and roughly fourteen thousand other things, until it became one of the strangest and most overwhelming built environments on earth.

MONA operates on a similar principle: the deliberate accumulation of the extraordinary until the extraordinary becomes the baseline, and every new room resets your sense of what is possible. Both places were built by obsessive, unconventional men with money and idiosyncratic visions and absolutely no inclination to do what anyone expected of them. The result, in both cases, is somewhere you cannot adequately explain to people who have not been there.

We spent the better part of two hours underground at MONA. We could easily have spent four.

☀️ Sunshine, Vineyards and a Very Good Vegan Burger

When we eventually surfaced — blinking slightly, as one does after extended time underground in the company of Egyptian mummies and digesting machines — back into the Tasmanian daylight, the weather had done us the courtesy of improving considerably. The iffy grey of the morning had given way to actual sunshine, which was extremely welcome, and we made our way to the outdoor food carts with some enthusiasm.

MONA’s catering operation is as thoughtfully assembled as everything else about the place. The selection at the food carts leaned heavily towards vegan and vegetarian options — proper ones, not the sort of afterthought you sometimes encounter where “vegetarian” means “we’ve taken the meat out and haven’t replaced it with anything, and we’d like you to be grateful.” We ordered Beyond Meat burgers, which were both genuinely good and reasonably priced, which is not always a combination you find at a cultural attraction of this calibre. Usually you pay handsomely for something underwhelming, then stand around in a draughty café feeling vaguely cheated. Not here.

The outdoor grounds of MONA are rather lovely. Vineyards stretch away across the slopes — Walsh also runs Moorilla Estate winery on the same land, because apparently running one of the most significant private art museums in the Southern Hemisphere was not quite enough to keep him occupied of an afternoon. The estate has been growing grapes on the Berriedale peninsula since the 1950s, when the Italian-born entrepreneur Claudio Alcorso established it and made it one of Tasmania’s earliest serious wine producers. Walsh acquired the property in the 1990s and the winery continues to operate alongside the museum, which gives the whole site a pleasant civilised quality — the kind you find at good European wineries, where the point is not merely to rush through and tick things off but to actually be somewhere for a while.

There are tables if you want them. There are also beanbags scattered across the lawn, and the kind of unspoken permission to simply sit down and be somewhere that is, frankly, rarer in the world than it ought to be. We found a shady spot, ate our burgers, and listened to a two-piece rock band who were playing on a small stage nearby with the easy, unhurried competence of people who are genuinely enjoying themselves rather than working through a set list at gunpoint. It was, taken all together, a very good afternoon.

💭 Reflections

I’ve been to a lot of museums. A frankly unreasonable number, when I stop to count them. Some are great. Many are fine. Some you visit mainly so you can say you’ve been.

MONA is something different. It’s the only museum I’ve been in where I lost track of time completely and didn’t notice until we were back outside. It’s also the only one where I genuinely didn’t know, from one room to the next, what I was going to encounter — not just in terms of which works were there, but in terms of what kind of thing I might feel.

The no-signage approach sounds gimmicky on paper. In practice it works better than you’d expect. Without little cards telling you what to think, you’re left to just look first, which turns out to be the right order of operations.

I don’t know if Walsh set out to build somewhere that makes you feel slightly differently about the world by the time you leave. But that’s what he’s done. The lorry, the snake, the digesting machine, the mummies, the vineyards, the beanbags — it all adds up to something that is more than the sum of its parts, which is, when you think about it, the only definition of art that has ever mattered.

We’d go back tomorrow if we could.

Planning your visit to MONA

🏛️ About MONA

The Museum of Old and New Art — universally known as MONA — is one of the most extraordinary and provocative cultural destinations in the world. Located on the Berriedale peninsula just north of Hobart, Tasmania, it holds the distinction of being the largest privately funded museum in the Southern Hemisphere. Founded by Tasmanian millionaire and professional gambler David Walsh, who has described it as a “subversive adult Disneyland”, MONA opened its doors in January 2011 and has since transformed Tasmania into an international arts destination.

Housing more than 1,900 works from Walsh’s private collection — valued at over $110 million — the museum spans ancient, modern and contemporary art, with a notably unapologetic focus on themes of sex and death. Whether you find it thrilling, baffling, or unsettling, a visit to MONA is guaranteed to leave a lasting impression.

📍 Location

MONA is situated at 655 Main Road, Berriedale, Hobart, Tasmania 7011, Australia — approximately 11 to 13 kilometres north of Hobart’s city centre.

🌐 Website

mona.net.au

📞 Contact

Phone (Bookings & Enquiries): +61 (03) 6277 9978

Email (Tickets & Bookings): tickets@mona.net.au

🎟️ Entry Fees

Admission pricing is as follows:

Adults (non-Tasmanian): AUD $39
Concession (healthcare, pension, senior, student, and concession travel cards — ID required): AUD $33
Children aged 12–17: AUD $17
Children under 12: Free
Tasmanian residents: Free (valid Tasmanian ID required; a refundable AUD $5 deposit applies)

Note that some individual artworks or special exhibitions within the museum require a separate ticket in addition to general admission. A AUD $3.50 transaction fee applies to most advance bookings. The entire MONA complex is cashless, so a card or digital payment method is required for all purchases on site.

🕙 Opening Hours

MONA is open Thursday to Monday, 10:00am–5:00pm.

The museum is closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Advance booking is strongly recommended, as entry times are assigned and spaces are limited. Walk-in “wildcard” entry is available on the day, subject to availability.

🏗️ The Building & Collection

MONA’s architecture is as striking as the art it contains. From street level the structure appears modest, but descending inside reveals three labyrinthine subterranean floors carved directly into the sandstone cliffs of the Berriedale headland. There are no windows and the atmosphere is deliberately ominous — visitors have compared the experience of entering to descending into the ancient rock-cut city of Petra.

The collection is displayed without conventional museum labels or chronological order. Instead, visitors are encouraged to download The O — MONA’s free mobile app — which uses sensors throughout the building to geo-locate visitors in the darkness and provide information on nearby artworks. The app offers multiple perspectives on each piece, ranging from concise summaries to the curator’s notes, to Walsh’s own personal commentary.

Notable permanent works include Sidney Nolan’s monumental Snake mural, comprising 1,620 individual paintings and widely regarded as Australia’s largest modernist artwork, as well as Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca Professional, a machine that replicates the human digestive system.

🚢 Getting There

By Ferry (Recommended) The most scenic and popular way to reach MONA is aboard the MONA ROMA high-speed catamaran service, which departs regularly from Brooke Street Pier on Hobart’s waterfront. The journey takes approximately 30 minutes and travels up the Derwent River, offering views of Hobart from the water. Standard seating is available, or visitors can upgrade to the “Posh Pit” — a private bar, lounge and deck with complimentary drinks. Note that if driving to the ferry terminal, parking is available in multi-storey car parks on Argyle Street, Centrepoint, Market Place, or the Dunn Place off-street car park.

By Road MONA is approximately a 15–20 minute drive from central Hobart. Parking fills quickly, so an early arrival is advisable. Public bus services from Hobart CBD also serve the museum and take around 30 minutes.

🍽️ Food, Drink & On-Site Experiences

The MONA complex extends well beyond the museum galleries. The site is home to the Moorilla Winery, with a cellar door and tasting experiences, and Moo Brew, an associated craft brewery. For dining, The Source Restaurant serves refined seasonal Tasmanian produce with impressive river views (reservations essential), while Faro Bar + Restaurant offers an evolving dining experience in a luminous space suspended above the water (also requires a reservation). Several bars including the Void Bar are dotted throughout the grounds, and live music is performed most days the museum is open — on the lawns when weather permits, or in the ticketed indoor venue when it does not.

👨‍👩‍👧 Visiting with Children

Children under 12 enter free of charge. Families should be aware that some artworks in the collection are of a confronting or explicit nature. A bronze children’s playground artwork called Girls Rule — featuring stairs and slides — is available on the grounds, and strollers are permitted throughout most of the museum or may be checked in free of charge.

♿ Accessibility

Most areas of MONA are accessible to wheelchair users and those with mobility aids, prams, and assistance dogs. The museum has a ground-level entrance and three subterranean floors served by multiple lifts. An accessible entrance via a tunnel is available for ferry arrivals at the jetty. A small number of artworks and areas — including the Pausiris chamber and parts of the heritage-listed Round House building — cannot be reached with mobility aids. A limited number of wheelchairs are available to borrow on site, though these cannot be reserved in advance. The O app supports VoiceOver and screen readers.

🎪 Festivals

MONA hosts two major annual festivals. Dark Mofo, held each June, is a wintertime celebration of the dark, drawing on centuries-old winter solstice traditions and featuring large-scale public art, live music, film, food and performance. It has attracted internationally acclaimed acts and artists from around the world.

gettingaround

Getting around Hobart

🚌 Metro Buses

The main form of public transport within Greater Hobart is the Metro Tasmania bus network. Routes cover the city centre, suburbs, and some regional destinations including the Eastern Shore and Glenorchy. Services are fairly reliable during weekday peak hours, though frequency drops significantly in the evenings and at weekends — something worth planning around if you’re relying solely on public transport.

The Greencard is Tasmania’s reloadable smart card for bus travel, offering discounted fares compared to paying cash on board. Cards can be purchased and topped up at newsagencies, pharmacies, Metro offices, and online. A standard adult single cash fare is around $3.80, while Greencard fares are notably cheaper. Cards are not currently valid for ferry or other transport services.

🌐 www.metrotas.com.au | Greencard info: www.metrotas.com.au/greencard

⛴️ Hobart Ferry

The Mona Roma ferry offers a scenic and enjoyable way to travel between the Brooke Street Pier in the city and MONA (Museum of Old and New Art), about 12 kilometres north in Berriedale. The journey takes around 25 minutes along the Derwent River and is a delightful experience in its own right. Services generally run on days when MONA is open, and timetables vary by season, so checking ahead is strongly advised.

This is one of Hobart’s most pleasurable transport experiences and a highly recommended way to arrive at MONA rather than driving.

🌐 www.mona.net.au/visit/getting-here

🚕 Taxis & Rideshare

Taxis are available throughout Hobart and can be hailed on the street, booked by phone, or found at designated taxi ranks near the waterfront, Elizabeth Street Mall, and the airport. 13cabs and Hobart Maxi Taxis are among the main operators.

Uber also operates in Hobart, though driver availability can be patchy, particularly late at night or during peak event periods. It’s worth having both a taxi number and the Uber app handy as backup options.

🌐 www.13cabs.com.au

🚗 Hiring a Car

A hire car is arguably the most practical option for exploring Hobart and its surrounds, particularly if you plan to venture out to the Huon Valley, Bruny Island, Mount Wellington (kunanyi), or the Tasman Peninsula. All major rental companies — including Hertz, Avis, Budget, Europcar, and Thrifty — operate from Hobart Airport, and several also have city-centre locations.

Driving in Hobart itself is generally straightforward, though parking in the CBD can be tight. Road conditions across the wider state vary considerably, and some routes to more remote areas may require a 4WD vehicle — worth confirming when booking.

Fuel stations are plentiful in the city but can become sparse in more rural areas, so fill up before heading off the beaten track.

🚲 Cycling

Hobart is gradually becoming more cycle-friendly, with a growing network of shared paths along the waterfront and through parks. The Intercity Cycleway connects the city to Glenorchy and is popular with commuters and leisure cyclists alike.

Bike hire is available from several operators in the city, and e-bikes are an increasingly popular option for tackling Hobart’s notoriously hilly terrain. The waterfront area, Salamanca, and Battery Point are all enjoyable and manageable by bicycle.

🌐 www.hobartcity.com.au/Getting-Around/Cycling

🚶 Walking

For visitors staying centrally, a great deal of Hobart is perfectly walkable. The waterfront, Salamanca Market precinct, Battery Point, and the CBD are all closely connected and best explored on foot. The famous kunanyi/Mount Wellington is not walkable from the city, but the summit road is easily reached by hire car, taxi, or one of several organised tour operators that run shuttles up the mountain.

Comfortable footwear is strongly recommended — Hobart’s terrain is hilly, and the waterfront cobblestones around Salamanca can be uneven underfoot.

🗓️ Practical Tips

Book hire cars and airport transfers in advance, particularly during the busy summer period (December to February) and around the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in late December, when accommodation and transport can be extremely stretched.
Hobart does not yet have a tram or light rail network, so transport options are more limited than in larger Australian cities.
The Hobart Visitor Information Centre on Elizabeth Street is an excellent first stop for up-to-date transport maps, timetables, and local advice.

🌐 www.hobartcity.com.au | www.discovertasmania.com.au

vegandining

Eating out for vegans in Hobart

🌿 Vegan & Plant-Based Dining in Hobart, Tasmania

Hobart punches well above its weight as a small capital city when it comes to plant-based eating. From Thai-inspired mock-meat dishes to beautifully crafted patisserie, gluten-free bagel cafés to fully vegan cocktail bars, the city has a thriving and growing scene for vegans and vegetarians. The following are some of the most well-known and beloved establishments.

🌿 Thai Veggie Hutt

Established in 2002, Thai Veggie Hutt is Tasmania’s longest-serving vegan and vegetarian eatery, and proudly multi-award-winning. Tucked inside the Bank Arcade in central Hobart, this compact but bustling spot is a firm local favourite. The menu is built around Thai-inspired mock-meat dishes — think barbecue soy “pork”, panang curry, pad thai, spring rolls and freshly cooked soups and stir-fries. Everything is MSG-free, many dishes are gluten-free, and the bain-marie is replenished multiple times throughout service to ensure freshness. Expect queues at lunch — they move quickly.

Location: Shop 7, Bank Arcade, 68–70 Liverpool Street, Hobart TAS 7000
Website: thaiveggiehutt.com.au
Phone: (03) 6289 6317
Opening hours:
- Monday–Friday: 10:30am–3:30pm
- Saturday: 11:00am–3:30pm
- Sunday: Closed

☕ Straight Up Coffee + Food

A 100% gluten-free and 100% vegetarian café in the heart of Hobart’s CBD, Straight Up is a haven for those with dietary requirements. The owners — both vegetarians themselves — created a kitchen where there is no cross-contamination risk, making it genuinely safe for coeliacs. The menu is largely vegan-friendly and features creative dishes such as tempeh potato hash, chickpea omelette, tofu scramble, and house-made cornbread. They roast their own coffee and make their own almond milk and vegan ice cream in-house. Sweet treats — including doughnuts, pretzels, and slices — sell out early, so an early visit is recommended.

Location: 202 Liverpool Street, Hobart TAS 7000
Website: straightupcoffeeandfood.com.au
Phone: 0432 482 764
Opening hours:
- Monday–Friday: 7:30am–3:00pm
- Saturday–Sunday: 8:00am–3:00pm

🍞 Bury Me Standing

What began in 2012 as a tiny hole-in-the-wall coffee cart has grown into one of Hobart’s most cherished cafés. Based on Bathurst Street in the CBD, Bury Me Standing is a family-owned operation run with a funky, irreverent spirit. The focus is on hand-crafted bagels — using a secret recipe — filled with creative spreads such as cashew garlic butter, tofu cream cheese, lemon curd, and peanut butter, alongside sweet options. Polish-style filled doughnuts (Peckels Bakkas), cinnamon rolls, and seasonal baked goods round out the offering. Many items are vegan-friendly. The café uses Tasmanian ingredients wherever possible and is committed to compostable packaging.

Location: 83–85 Bathurst Street, Hobart TAS 7000
Website: burymestanding.com.au
Phone: 0424 365 027
Opening hours:
- Monday–Friday: 6:00am–2:30pm
- Saturday: Closed
- Sunday: 8:30am–1:00pm

🌸 The Little Poet

A beautifully styled vegan and vegetarian café and patisserie located in Hobart’s CBD on Victoria Street. The Little Poet has a calming, intimate atmosphere — part café, part community space — with an aesthetic reminiscent of a cosy Japanese tea room. The menu blends Western brunch with Taiwanese influences, featuring vegan fried “chicken” waffles, Taiwanese egg pancake rolls, eggs benedict with house-made hollandaise, dumplings, cauliflower wings, and an array of exquisite pastries including macarons, mille crêpe cakes, and customised vegan cakes. Organic Tasmanian-roasted coffee and organic Taiwanese tea are also on offer. All dishes use 100% plant-based ingredients.

Location: 6 Victoria Street, Hobart TAS 7000
Website: thelittlepoet.com
Phone: 0484 397 822
Opening hours:
- Monday–Friday: 7:30am–3:00pm
- Saturday: 8:00am–3:00pm
- Sunday: Closed

🍔 Veg Bar

Veg Bar made a significant name for itself as one of Hobart’s most exciting fully vegan venues, serving plant-based comfort food with flair — burgers, cauliflower buffalo wings, kimchi fried rice, loaded nachos, and creative cocktails, all in a neon-lit, plant-filled space. Originally based at 346 Elizabeth Street in North Hobart, the venue has been operating without a permanent physical location whilst seeking a new home, and in the interim has been available via UberEats. At its peak it drew strong reviews from vegans and non-vegans alike, and it remains a much-loved part of Hobart’s plant-based scene. Check their social media for the latest updates on their new location.

Location: Previously 346 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart TAS 7000 (currently seeking new premises)
Website: vegbar.com.au
Phone: (03) 6231 1593
Opening hours: Not currently available — check website or social media for updates

besttime

The best time to visit Tasmania

🌸 Spring in Tasmania (September–November)

Spring is one of the most rewarding times to visit Tasmania. The island shakes off its winter chill and bursts into colour, with wildflowers carpeting the highlands and orchards in the Huon Valley blooming beautifully. Temperatures creep up from around 10°C in September to a pleasant 18°C by November, though you should expect the odd shower — Tasmania’s weather is famously changeable.

This is an excellent season for walking. The iconic Overland Track begins opening up to hikers in late October, and Cradle Mountain is often dusted with the last of the season’s snow early in the period, making for dramatic scenery without full winter conditions. Wildlife is particularly active in spring — look out for Tasmanian devils, echidnas, and nesting sea birds.

Crowds are still modest, accommodation prices are reasonable, and the landscape is at its most vivid. Spring is ideal for those who want the full natural experience without the summer rush.

What to pack for spring: Light to mid-weight layers, a waterproof jacket, walking boots, sunscreen, and a warm hat for highland walks. A light fleece is essential as evenings remain cool.

☀️ Summer in Tasmania (December–February)

Summer is peak season and for good reason. Long daylight hours — up to 16 hours in December — mean you can pack a tremendous amount into each day. Temperatures in Hobart typically sit between 17°C and 24°C, though the northwest can push into the high 20s. The northwest and northeast coasts are particularly sunny and sheltered.

This is the season for beach walks along Wineglass Bay, boat trips in the Freycinet Peninsula, and exploring the Tasman Peninsula. The Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race brings a festive atmosphere to Hobart in late December, and the Taste of Tasmania food festival draws foodies from around the world.

The downside? It is the busiest and most expensive time to visit. Accommodation books out months in advance, particularly in popular spots like Freycinet and Hobart’s waterfront. Book early if you plan to travel in January.

What to pack for summer: Light clothing, swimwear, a sun hat, high-SPF sunscreen, sunglasses, and a light windproof layer for coastal walks. An insulating layer is still wise for evenings in the highlands.

🍂 Autumn in Tasmania (March–May)

Many seasoned travellers consider autumn to be Tasmania’s finest season. The summer crowds have departed, the light turns golden and warm, and the deciduous trees — particularly those in the Huon Valley, the Derwent Valley, and around Cradle Mountain — transform into extraordinary shades of amber, rust, and burgundy.

Temperatures are still comfortable in March and April, hovering around 16–20°C, before dropping noticeably in May. The sea remains warm enough for swimming into April. MONA FOMA and other cultural festivals often run in this period, and the annual Autumn Festival in the Huon Valley is a wonderful celebration of the harvest.

Walking conditions are superb: the trails are quieter, the air is crisp, and the colours along routes such as the Walls of Jerusalem are simply stunning. Accommodation is easier to secure and often cheaper than summer.

What to pack for autumn: Mid-weight layers, a waterproof jacket, a warm fleece, walking boots, and a scarf for cooler evenings. Don’t leave behind the sunscreen — the autumn sun can still catch you out.

❄️ Winter in Tasmania (June–August)

Winter is Tasmania’s quietest season, and it rewards those willing to brave the cold with a rawer, more dramatic version of the island. Snow falls across the Central Highlands and alpine areas, and Cradle Mountain in particular looks spectacular under a white blanket. Temperatures in Hobart can drop to around 3–5°C at night, though daytime highs of 11–13°C are common in the south.

This is the best time to experience the aurora australis — the Southern Lights. On clear nights, particularly away from city light pollution near the south coast or at Cockle Creek, the sky can put on a remarkable display. The Dark Mofo festival in June, one of Australia’s most distinctive cultural events, takes place in Hobart and draws visitors specifically in winter.

Ski touring and snowshoeing are possible on the Central Plateau. Many tourist operators run year-round, though some smaller accommodation options and parks infrastructure scale back. Prices are at their lowest and crowds are minimal.

What to pack for winter: Thermal base layers, a heavy-duty waterproof and windproof outer jacket, warm trousers, insulated gloves, a beanie, and waterproof walking boots with good ankle support. Layers are key — interiors are well-heated but outdoors the wind chill can be significant.

🗓️ Overall Best Time to Visit

If you can only visit Tasmania once, aim for late autumn — specifically late March through to mid-May. You’ll enjoy the last of the warm settled weather, the spectacular foliage that rivals anything in New England or Japan, quieter roads and trails, and more affordable accommodation than the peak summer months. Spring runs a very close second, offering lively wildlife, blooming landscapes, and ideal walking conditions as the Overland Track and alpine areas come back to life. Summer is superb if you’re planning beach and coastal activities or are specifically after the festive atmosphere of Hobart in late December, but book well in advance. Winter is for the intrepid — with the right gear and a taste for dramatic, moody landscapes, it can be the most memorable season of all.

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Where to stay in Hobart

🌊 Area 1: Hobart CBD & Waterfront

The Hobart CBD and its celebrated waterfront is the most convenient and popular base for first-time visitors to the Tasmanian capital. Sitting at the heart of the city along the banks of the River Derwent, this area places guests within easy walking distance of virtually every major attraction Hobart has to offer. Constitution Dock — the famous finishing point of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race — is the centrepiece of the waterfront, flanked by bustling restaurants, floating seafood punts, and the iconic Brooke Street Pier, from which the much-loved MONA Roma ferry departs daily for the Museum of Old and New Art. Franklin Square, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and the Theatre Royal — Australia’s oldest working theatre — are all just a short stroll away, as are the excellent cafés and independent boutiques of Elizabeth Street. The area is exceptionally well served by public transport, including the free CBD bus service and the SkyBus airport shuttle, making it an ideal choice for those arriving without a car.

What truly sets the CBD and waterfront apart is its extraordinary culinary and cultural richness. The harbourside precincts of Hunter Street and Salamanca Place — which begins at the western edge of the CBD — are lined with outstanding restaurants, whisky bars, galleries, and artisan producers showcasing the finest Tasmanian ingredients. Weekend visitors are treated to the Farm Gate Market on Sundays, a short stroll from most CBD hotels, where local farmers, bakers, and food producers gather in a lively open-air setting. At night, the waterfront glows warmly with the lights of Constitution Dock and the historic stone warehouses of Salamanca, creating an atmosphere that is both historically rich and thoroughly contemporary. For travellers who want to soak up the full character of Hobart without the need for a car, the CBD and waterfront district is simply unbeatable.

🏨 Where to Stay: Hobart CBD & Waterfront

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Upscale | MACq 01 Hotel — A storytelling luxury hotel perched on Hobart’s historic waterfront, with 114 individually themed rooms each dedicated to a Tasmanian character. Boasts multiple on-site restaurants and bars, complimentary valet parking, a fitness centre, and sweeping views over Sullivans Cove and the Derwent Estuary. Rated 9.4/10 on Booking.com from nearly 2,000 reviews. 📅 Book on Booking.com
⭐⭐⭐ Mid-Range | Crowne Plaza Hobart by IHG — A polished 4-star hotel on Liverpool Street in the heart of the CBD, just a five-minute walk from Salamanca Place and Constitution Dock. Features 235 contemporary rooms with harbour, mountain, or city views, a rooftop bar (The Deck), a fitness centre, and Australia’s only Crowne Plaza Club Lounge. Rated 8.8/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com
🎒 Budget | Hobart Central YHA — Centrally located just one block from the waterfront, this well-regarded YHA hostel sits directly opposite the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, 100 metres from Constitution Dock and Franklin Square. Offers a range of dorm beds and private en-suite rooms, a tour desk, coin laundry, and luggage storage. An excellent-value, sociable option in an unbeatable city-centre location. 📅 Book on Booking.com

🏛️ Area 2: Salamanca Place & Battery Point

Salamanca Place and the adjoining historic suburb of Battery Point together form the most atmospheric and characterful neighbourhood in Hobart. The row of magnificent Georgian sandstone warehouses lining Salamanca Place — built in the 1830s to serve the whaling and merchant trades — now house an irresistible collection of galleries, restaurants, wine bars, and boutique shops that buzz with life from morning to night. On Saturday mornings, the famous Salamanca Market transforms the entire precinct with more than 300 stalls offering fresh produce, artisan crafts, street food, and handmade jewellery, drawing locals and visitors alike in enormous numbers. The MONA ferry terminal at Brooke Street Pier is just moments away, and the elevated position of Battery Point means that many hotels here enjoy extraordinary views across Sullivan’s Cove to the harbour and Mount Wellington.

Battery Point itself — tucked behind Salamanca Place on a quiet residential hill — is one of Australia’s best-preserved historic precincts, a maze of cobblestone lanes, colonial-era cottages, and sandstone mansions that date from Hobart’s earliest days of European settlement. Strolling through Arthur’s Circus, the Narryna Heritage Museum, and the village-like streets of the suburb gives a powerful sense of the city’s convict and maritime past. The area has a distinctly village-like quality: quieter and more intimate than the CBD, yet still within easy walking distance of every central attraction. Excellent restaurants and bars cluster around Hampden Road and Salamanca Square, meaning that guests who stay here rarely need to venture further to enjoy some of Hobart’s finest dining. For visitors seeking heritage charm combined with proximity to the city’s cultural heart, this is the premier choice.

🏨 Where to Stay: Salamanca Place & Battery Point

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Upscale | The Henry Jones Art Hotel — Australia’s first dedicated art hotel, housed in a row of meticulously restored 1820s sandstone warehouses and a former IXL jam factory on the historic waterfront. Each of the 56 individually designed rooms features original Tasmanian artworks, king-sized beds, and private bathrooms with European stainless-steel fittings; select suites offer freestanding Kohler spa baths with harbour views. The legendary IXL Long Bar and the acclaimed Landscape Restaurant make this one of Hobart’s most coveted hotel experiences. Rated 9.3/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com
⭐⭐⭐ Mid-Range | Moss Hotel — A beautifully conceived boutique hotel set within two restored mid-1800s sandstone warehouses directly on Salamanca Place. Rooms feature heated marble floors, Tasmanian blackwood joinery, moss-green subway-tiled bathrooms, and premium minibars stocked with local produce. The hotel’s earthy, nature-inspired aesthetic pays constant homage to Tasmania’s wild landscapes. Steps from the Salamanca Market, MONA ferry terminal, and Salamanca’s best restaurants. Rated 9.0/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com
🎒 Budget | Montacute Boutique Bunkhouse — A charming boutique hostel set within a converted 19th-century mansion in the heart of Battery Point, just a ten-minute walk from Salamanca Market. Offers both private rooms and well-appointed dorm options with thoughtful heritage-inspired décor, a terraced garden, bicycles for hire, and free onsite parking — a rarity at this price point. Consistently praised for its peaceful atmosphere, helpful staff, and excellent value in one of Hobart’s most sought-after locations. 📅 Book on Booking.com

🌿 Area 3: Sandy Bay & South Hobart

Sandy Bay and the leafy slopes of South Hobart offer a more relaxed, residential alternative to the bustle of the CBD, whilst remaining just a short drive or bus journey from all of the city’s major attractions. Sandy Bay occupies a picturesque stretch of the eastern bank of the River Derwent and is home to some of Hobart’s most elegant Victorian and Federation architecture, alongside the iconic Wrest Point Casino — Tasmania’s most recognisable landmark — which sits in splendid isolation on a promontory above the river. Short Beach, the Royal Hobart Yacht Club, and the leafy grounds of the University of Tasmania all add to the neighbourhood’s appeal, which combines waterfront scenery with an upmarket village atmosphere. Sandy Bay Road and Regent Street are lined with excellent independent cafés, wine bars, and restaurants, giving the area a distinct and very liveable character.

South Hobart, immediately inland, is an area of gracious old homes, garden-filled streets, and excellent independent restaurants, with the great craggy silhouette of kunanyi/Mount Wellington providing an ever-present and dramatic backdrop. The neighbourhood sits at the foot of the mountain trails leading up to the Wellington Park reserve — a favourite of hikers, mountain bikers, and anyone seeking extraordinary panoramic views over the city and the Derwent Estuary. It is also home to the Cascade Brewery, Australia’s oldest operating brewery, which runs well-regarded tours and tastings. The Islington Hotel on Davey Street — one of Tasmania’s most celebrated boutique hotels — is a flagship of this area. With Hobart’s city centre no more than a ten-minute bus ride or fifteen-minute walk from most of Sandy Bay and South Hobart, this district suits visitors who prioritise a quieter, more elegant atmosphere, particularly those travelling with a hire car.

🏨 Where to Stay: Sandy Bay & South Hobart

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Upscale | Islington Hotel — A Michelin Key-recognised Small Luxury Hotel of the World occupying a graciously restored 1847 Regency-style mansion on Davey Street, with just 11 exquisitely appointed rooms. Each room is individually designed with bespoke antique furnishings, original artworks by the likes of Brett Whiteley and David Hockney, heated marble bathrooms, and either garden or Mount Wellington views. The intimate restaurant showcases the finest seasonal Tasmanian produce, and the beautifully manicured gardens provide a serene setting for breakfast. Rated 9.5/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com

⭐⭐⭐ Mid-Range | Wrest Point — The most recognisable building on the Hobart skyline, this iconic 4.5-star hotel towers over Sandy Bay’s waterfront with 269 individually styled rooms boasting spectacular views of the River Derwent, Mount Wellington, and the city. On-site facilities include an indoor heated pool, full-service spa, sauna, health club, four restaurants (including the celebrated Point Revolving Restaurant on the 17th floor), four bars, a casino, and free undercover parking. An exceptionally comprehensive, self-contained resort experience just six minutes’ drive from Salamanca. Rated 8.5/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com

🎒 Budget | The Pickled Frog — Sandy Bay is a residential suburb with no hostel of its own, but this legendary backpackers on Liverpool Street sits on the very edge of the CBD, just a short bus ride or 20-minute walk from Sandy Bay and Wrest Point. Housed in a characterful colonial building dating from 1835, The Pickled Frog has been voted Hobart’s number one backpacker hostel three years running. It offers 4- to 14-bed dorms with privacy curtains and under-bed lockers, as well as private double and twin rooms; the lively bar, open log fire, shared kitchen, games room, free Wi-Fi, and free parking make it superb value. Rated 8.3/10 on Booking.com. 📅 Book on Booking.com