Things to do
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Battery Point
Narrow streets of cottages and colonial houses sit on the hill above Salamanca, laid out when the port worked whaling and shipbuilding. Arthur Circus, a ring of tiny cottages around a green, is the set piece, with bakeries and pubs scattered among them. An hour covers the wandering, and the hill climbs more steeply than it looks from the water.
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Bruny Island
A car ferry from Kettering crosses in twenty minutes to an island of two halves joined by a sand isthmus, with a stepped lookout above the neck. Oysters, cheese, whisky and berries are made along the road south, and Adventure Bay runs boat trips under the sea cliffs. Roads turn to gravel in places. A day works, though the south end deserves longer.
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MONA
David Walsh's underground museum sits in sandstone at Berriedale, north of the centre and reached by a fast catamaran up the Derwent. Galleries cut three levels into the rock, and the collection runs from Egyptian antiquities to deliberately provocative contemporary work. Wall labels are absent; a handheld device explains whatever is nearby. It closes on Tuesdays, and a proper visit takes half a day.
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Mount Wellington
kunanyi rises straight above the city, and a sealed road climbs to a boardwalk platform at the summit where dolerite columns stand over the Derwent estuary. Snow falls on top in any month and the temperature drops sharply from sea level, so warm layers travel up with visitors. Cloud closes the view often. A shuttle runs for those without a car.
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Port Arthur
Convicts were sent to this peninsula settlement southeast of the city from 1830, and the ruined penitentiary, church and separate prison remain among lawns and gardens. Entry covers a walking tour and a harbour cruise, valid over two days. A memorial garden marks the 1996 shootings, which staff handle with care. Allow ninety minutes each way by road.
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Salamanca Market
Every Saturday a row of Georgian sandstone warehouses on the waterfront fills with stalls selling Tasmanian produce, timber work, wool and whisky. Trading runs from early morning to mid afternoon, and the warehouses themselves hold galleries, bars and a courtyard through the week. Arriving before mid morning helps with parking and room to move. Kelly's Steps climb from here to Battery Point.