Hostels in Tasmania

Tasmania. Home to some of the most incredibly pristine scenery in Australia and yet a place that most backpackers tend to 'forget' about as it is the island at the bottom. You can get cheap flights to Tasmanian into Launceston or Hobart from Melbourne if booking in advance. Your other option to take a car on the Spirit of Tasmania. If on a budget and going for a week or less, it's better to fly and rent a car as the boat can be expensive. To travel Tasmania properly you will need a car. The public transport infrastructure is terrible here and won't get you to all the places that you will want to go. There are hostels in most of the major cities in Tasmania.

The two biggest attractions in Tasmania are Cradle Mountain National Park and Wineglass Bay, Freycinet National Park. If starting up north in Launceston, you'll find a few hostels to choose from but as you travel west towards Cradle Mountain, hostels become more sparse. You'll find some hostels around the areas of Devonport, the largest city in the northwest, and around Cradle Mountain. Cradle Mountain National park is full of incredible wildlife and dramatic scenery. If you're coming to hike one of the top rated hikes in the world, The Overland Track, it's best to book in advance. Be well prepared as weather in the area can turn fast when hiking. Same goes for day hikes if you don't have time to do the whole track.

From Devonport along the highway towards Launceston, you'll find a locals right of passage through the Christmas Hills Raspberry farm, home of the most amazing raspberry-flavoured foods, the Ashgrove Cheese Farm and the Anvers Chocolate Factory. Along this highway, there is a detour also to the Mole Creek and King Solomon caves where you can explore the caving systems with the stalactite columns and the glow worms in the largest cavern.

Down the coast from Launceston is the Bay of Fires. An impressive sight with the red rocks, majority of the beaches here will be fairly free of people so you can have a part of the beach to yourself. South from the Bay of Fires is the Freycinet National Park. Most people come here just for Wineglass Bay, the most prominent image found representing Tasmania. There are other amazing hikes you should consider here too and make sure you go down on to the beach and not just to the lookout.

The south's major city is Hobart. You'll find hostels to stay in in Hobart as you explore the different sights and the crazy MONA museum, responsible for the MONA FOMA festival each year and the Salamanca Market. Further south of Hobart down the Tasman Peninsula you will find Port Arthur, an impressive stone built prison complex that housed majority of the early settlers here and that later became the home to the largest massacre in Australia still to date in 1996. Along the way you will find some impressive limestone rock formations around Eaglehawk Neck to stop and check out.

If you have more time from here, check out the south coast, drive up through Lake St Clair and visit The Wall, a 100 meter wall of wood carvings of the history of the local area by a local man and his son. And of course there is the rugged west coast that nobody gets to, but you should if you have time as it is amazing! So much to do! Take at least a week, or two if you have the time.

Handwritten by local expert for Tasmania hostels Globetrotter