Traveling to Tasmania is like going to the edge of the globe—if the edge of the globe had really excellent whisky. Half a million people live in this remote Australian state, but you wouldn’t know it tooling around the deserted countryside. To get the full Tassie experience, see our 3-day itinerary below.
Day 1
Start in Tasmania’s capital city, Hobart, a two-hour flight from Sydney, and check into the luxurious H Jones Suite at the Henry Jones Art Hotel (from $650; 03 6210-7700). Then it’s time for a visit to the Museum of Old and New Art (03 6277-9900), a weird and delightful place founded by eccentric millionaire gambler David Walsh. Accessible by a 30-minute ride down the Derwent River in a high-powered catamaran, the space is bathed in the light of a James Turrell installation that hovers over the site like a UFO; don’t miss Erwin Wurm’s Fat Car, a full-size fiberglass rendition of a Porsche. For dinner, get reservations at Franklin (03 6234-3375), where the menu includes grilled beef heart mortadella as well as a stellar wood-roasted abalone with dried oysters.
Day 2
Book a private trip with Tasmanian Whisky Tours ($300; 04 1209-9933). A chauffeured Audi will drive you to distilleries such as Sullivans Cove, where the rare French Oak Cask, named the world’s best single malt last year, gets made. A half-hour from Hobart is Mt. Wellington, with views of the Tasman Sea and the World Heritage-protected Southwest National Park. Then finish the day at Port Arthur, home of a 19th century prison colony and Pennicott Wilderness Journeys ($92; 03 6234-4270), a tour outfit operating speedboats to Tasman Island, the rounding point for Rolex’s annual Sydney-to-Hobart yacht race. Vessels dart around Cape Pillar, the highest vertical sea cliff in the Southern Hemisphere. Spot fur seals, albatrosses, and peregrine falcons.
Day 3
Drive to the eastern coast to watch Australasian gannets diving for food in Freycinet National Park. Kayak Coles Bay with Freycinet Adventures ($70; 03 6257-0500), then hike around Wineglass Bay to enjoy postcard-perfect views of Tasmania’s most famous white-sand beach. Or go in the other direction and spend the night at Pumphouse Point (from $205; 04 2809-0436), a collection of 18 suites spread between two buildings, including a house perched 900 feet in the middle of serene Lake St. Clair. Take a rowboat and go trout fishing, or stay on land and look for the porcupine-like echidna or a duck-billed platypus, two strange mammals that, like their native country, are unlike anything you’ve ever seen.
