I've road-tripped Tasmania twice now, and both times I came home thinking eleven days is genuinely the sweet spot — long enough to breathe between the big sights, short enough that you're not inventing rest days just to fill the calendar. This itinerary is built for Lis, but the logic holds for anyone arriving with a hire car, a decent appetite, and no desire to rush.
Before You Leave: Practical Groundwork
Fly into Hobart (most mainland connections land here) or Launceston if you're doing the loop in reverse. I'd strongly recommend booking your hire car well in advance, particularly if you're travelling in December or January — stock runs thin fast. Fuel up whenever you see a servo outside the major towns; distances between stations on the west coast are longer than most visitors expect, and the last thing you want is to be coasting into Queenstown on fumes.
Pack for four seasons in one day. Even in summer, Cradle Mountain can drop to near-freezing by mid-afternoon. A light merino base layer takes up almost no space and earns its keep every single trip.
Days 1–3: Hobart and the Huon Valley
Give yourself at least three full days in Hobart. The city rewards slow walking — Salamanca Place on a Saturday morning, the Battery Point laneways, a long lunch somewhere along the waterfront. MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) deserves a half-day minimum; catch the ferry across from the Brooke Street Pier rather than driving, it's a nicer arrival and you don't have to think about parking.
Day 1: Arrival and Salamanca
Check in, walk Salamanca, eat something local. That's the whole agenda and it's plenty. Try to land early enough to catch the afternoon light on the docks — the Derwent goes a particular shade of grey-green that photographs terribly but looks remarkable in person.
Day 2: MONA and a Long Dinner
The ferry departs from Brooke Street Pier at various times depending on the season; check the MONA website for current schedules. Budget around four hours inside the museum, more if you like arguing with your travel companion about what counts as art.
Day 3: Huon Valley Day Trip
Drive south into the Huon Valley — about 50 kilometres from the city centre. This is apple country, and in autumn the roadside stalls are stacked with varieties you simply don't see in supermarkets. Stop at Tahune AirWalk if the budget stretches, or just pull over and walk one of the shorter riverside trails. It's quiet, green, and genuinely lovely.
Days 4–5: Freycinet Peninsula
Head northeast from Hobart — roughly 200 kilometres to Coles Bay, where you'll base yourself for two nights. The drive along the Tasman Highway passes through some beautiful dry sclerophyll country and the small town of Swansea, which is worth a short stop for coffee and a look at the bark mill museum.
Wineglass Bay: The Walk Worth the Hype
Yes, Wineglass Bay gets crowded. Walk anyway. The return to the lookout is about 90 minutes at a comfortable pace; the full circuit down to the beach and back adds another two hours but delivers the kind of day you tell people about for years. Start before 9am to beat the day-trippers arriving from Hobart on tour buses. Parks Tasmania's Freycinet page has up-to-date track conditions and entry fee information.
On day five, do less. Paddle a sea kayak from Coles Bay, hire a bike and ride the flat stretch toward Richardson's Beach, or simply sit on the sand at Honeymoon Bay and watch the wallabies come out at dusk. Freycinet is a place that punishes over-scheduling.
Days 6–7: The Midlands and Launceston
Drive north through the Midlands Highway — Tasmania's old convict road, lined with Georgian stone buildings that look like they've been dropped in from rural England. The towns of Ross and Oatlands are genuine stops, not just fuel breaks. Ross has a sandstone bridge built by convict labour in 1836; Oatlands has the largest collection of Georgian architecture in Australia and a very good woodturning shop if that's your sort of thing.
Arrive in Launceston by early afternoon. The Cataract Gorge is ten minutes' walk from the city centre and contains a free chairlift, wild peacocks, and a swimming pool perched improbably above a river gorge — it's bizarre and wonderful. Spend the evening eating and drinking in the Paterson Street precinct or down on the waterfront at Seaport.
Launceston Food and Wine
The Tamar Valley wine region begins practically at Launceston's doorstep. If you have a spare afternoon on day seven, drive the Tamar Valley Wine Route — Sinapius, Holm Oak, and Velo are all worth visiting for tastings. The wines here tend toward cool-climate pinot noir and chardonnay, and quality is high enough that you'll want to ship a case home.
Days 8–9: Cradle Mountain
The drive from Launceston to Cradle Mountain takes about two hours via the Bass Highway and Sheffield (known for its outdoor murals, worth a 20-minute wander). Book accommodation inside or very near the national park boundary — the difference between staying inside and driving in each morning is enormous, especially if you want to catch early-morning mist on Dove Lake.
Dove Lake Circuit
The Dove Lake Circuit is 6 kilometres of boardwalk and gravel path around one of Australia's most photographed lakes. Allow two to three hours at a relaxed pace. The light changes fast up here; I went one afternoon in overcast conditions expecting nothing much and ended up watching the cloud lift off the Cradle Mountain ridge in about twenty minutes — one of those genuinely memorable moments that Tasmania hands you when you're not looking for it.
Wombat Warning and Wet Weather Plans
Wombats are abundant and largely fearless. Do not let them eat your hiking poles — I learned this the hard way. If the weather closes in (and it will close in at least once), the Waldheim Cabins area has sheltered interpretive walks through ancient pencil pine forest that are genuinely beautiful in rain. Don't write off a wet day at Cradle Mountain; the moss gets extraordinary and the crowds thin right out.
Days 10–11: The North-West and Return
If your loop ends in Hobart, drive south via the A10 through Queenstown — the moonscape of the mining tailings around this town is unlike anything else in Australia, and the drive through the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers country is spectacular. Allow five to six hours from Cradle Mountain to Hobart including stops; the road is winding in sections so don't try to rush it.
If you're flying out of Launceston, spend your last morning revisiting anything you missed — the Design Centre of Tasmania, the Harvest Market on Saturday mornings, or another lap of the Gorge. Launceston's airport is small and easy; allow 45 minutes from the city centre.
Eleven days in Tasmania always feels both too long and not nearly long enough, which is probably the truest thing I can say about this island. Book the things that require booking (MONA, popular accommodation, the Overland Track ballot if that's on your radar) well ahead, keep one or two days deliberately loose, and trust that Tasmania will fill them. It always does.