With working full-time, it’s hard to find the time to travel.
We found last year that doing long-weekend getaways was a lot more of an attainable way to travel multiple times throughout the year.
I have a whole post about Traveling with a Full-Time Job and how to travel more while balancing working. In that post, I go over my tips when it comes to still be able to travel and enjoy life, but balance having to work full-time as well.
We booked two long-weekend getaways at the start of the year, one to Whitsundays and one to Launceston, Tasmania. We did a couple more trips throughout the year like Port Douglas, a weekend getaway at a farm stay in rural NSW, a girls’ trip to Queenstown, New Zealand and a trip back to the U.S. at the end of the year.
A few of those trips were more spontaneous than others, however, having two trips booked at the start of the year gave us something to look forward to and also gave some structure for the year as well.
If you want to check our Whitsundays Weekend Getaway when I lucky enough to partner with Whitsundays Tourism, click here.
We booked our Tasmania trip to Launceston, Tasmania for late September. Jetstar was having a deal, as they normally have every week for incredibly cheap flights from Sydney to Launceston ie. under $50 pp each way!
Tasmania was somewhere that I had been once before on a cruise with my parents when I was studying abroad in Australia years ago, and was definitely a place, especially for that price, that I wanted to explore further.
Tasmania has two major airports, Hobart and Launceston. Since we had visited Hobart on our cruise previously, we decided to fly into Launceston, Tasmania for our Tasmania 4 Night Long-Weekend Road Trip Getaway.
I have a whole Travel Guide dedicated to 24 hours in Launceston which you can check out here.
Since Launceston is a major tourist attraction in Tasmania, you could easily spend the entire weekend away in Launceston. However, we decided to rent a car and travel around the Eastern Coast to see as much as we could in our 4 nights away.
Below, I’ve broken down what we did and where we went each day of our 4 day Tasmania Road Trip itinerary in detail. You can also scroll down to the bottom of this post to get an exact map of where we stopped as well!
Day 1: Sydney ——- Launceston
When we first arrived in Launceston early in the morning, we picked up our rental car at the front desk located right next to the baggage claim. It was incredibly easy and I highly recommend renting a car directly at the airport when visiting Tasmania as the airport is about 15 minutes away from Launceston Town Center.
Launceston is very built up compared to the majority of Tasmania and if you’re looking to get a bite to eat, to go grocery shopping or clothes shopping, Launceston the place for that.
To check out everything we did our first night in Launceston, click here to check out my Launceston Travel Guide.
Where We Stayed
The City Park Grant Hotel
The City Park Grand Hotel was a last-minute reservation, but we were overall really happy with our stay. The accommodations were definitely affordable, spacious, and in a pretty good location in downtown Launceston. There was also free parking on site which was definitely nice and the staff was incredibly friendly and allowed us to check-in early. All things making our stay at City Park Grand Hotel really enjoyable.
With its location, we were easily able to walk to dinner, to the Launceston Harvest Markets Saturday morning and explore Launceston throughout the day.
Especially for the price, we were happy with our stay at City Park Grand Hotel.
I always like to give real recommendations of where to stay and what to do in an area. I mentioned in my Launceston Travel Guide, a hotel that I would actually not recommend staying in Launceston which you can click here to check out that post.
Day 2: Launceston ——- Coles Bay
Everything in Tasmania is fairly close. The state isn’t huge so driving from Launceston to Coles Bay only took up a little over 2 hours. The drive was also lovely. There was hardly anyone on the road and the conditions were really ideal so driving wasn’t stressful at all.
However, we did make sure to get the highest level of insurance on our rental car as wildlife jumping out on the road is very prevalent there and something to definitely be cautious about and consider during your Tasmania Road Trip as well.
Things to Do
Launceston Harvest Market
On Saturday, Launceston has its well-know Harvest Farmers Market that is incredibly popular with the locals. We heard a lot about this Harvest Market before we arrived in Launceston and it was just right outside our hotel we were staying at, so after checking out, we grabbed a bite to eat and a croissant or two at the markets, and we started our journey to Coles Bay, located close to Freycinet National Park, our next destination.
Nine Mile Beach
On our way to Swansea and Coles Bay, we stopped at the Nine Mile Beach. Although it was overcast outside, it was still breathtaking and the perfect place for us to eat some lunch. With such a breathtaking spot, it was incredibly surprised that we were the only ones on the beach which seemed quite common throughout our Tasmania Road Trip. I’m not sure if it was the specific time of year, but other than in Launceston, there wasn’t many people out and about during our trip.
There are tons of beaches along the coast of Tasmania, as you would expect. However, Nine Mile Beach is definitely a great destination to stop, stretch your legs, and grab a bite to eat on your way to Freycinet National Park. That being said, there wasn’t much in the area, so you’ll need to pack your own lunch, which is what we did from before we left Launceston.
Swansea
We arrived at Swansea mid-day and walked around before checking into our accommodations. There really isn’t much in Swansea other than a couple of restaurants and the waterfront. Since our main purpose of stopping in in Swansea was being close to Coles Bay and go to Freycinet National Park, after checking in, we headed that way for an afternoon hike and site seeing.
We did actually get a bite to eat at Bark Mill Tavern & Bakery in Swansea. Although the food wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great and a bit expensive for what it was. Especially because there’s not much in the area there’s not much to choose from. However, we didn’t find the food really worth the price and the quality. If you’re looking for something simple like baked goods and sandwiches Bark Mill is probably a good spot, but for items like pizza, I would pass.
Devil’s Corner Lookout
On our way to Freycinet National Park, our host told us about the Devil’s Corner Lookout which is just a quick lookout right on the side of the road towards Freycinet National Park.
Although there is a café and a wine cellar at Devil’s Corner Lookout, we just stopped briefly to take in the gorgeous view overlooking all the mountains and wind farm. Especially if you’re coming from Swansea way, stopping at Devil’s Corner is a great place to stop along your journey.
Freycinet National Park
Freycinet National Park had a similar feel to Acadia National Park in Maine, USA where you can drive around to different lookouts and you don’t technically have to hike anywhere to enjoy the park, which makes the National Park great for all ages. Although we did do some driving around, we also made sure to fit in the Wineglass Bay hike before sunset.
It was also a cold and rainy day when we explored Freycinet National Park so it wasn’t the most enjoyable day to being outside, but with the views of the National Park, we were definitely motivated to check out as much as we possibly could before the sun went down.
There was tons of wildlife throughout Freycinet National Park. As soon as we parked, two wallabies just hopped right up to us which was absolutely adorable, but was very obvious that they were used to people feeding them regardless of the “don’t feed the wildlife signs.”
Although we didn’t feed them, we did of course make sure to capture some photos of them while they were so close to us.
When you enter the National Park, you do have to pay for parking. There are parking meters around each lookout and destination, but we decided to go in the office to pay for parking which was really beneficial because we were able to talk to the worker there. He was able to give us tons of useful information, a map of the area, and recommendations of places to see and hikes we could do before sunset.
Wineglass Bay Lookout
One of the hikes we wanted to do was Wineglass Bay Lookout. Although we were scheduled on the Wineglass Bay Cruise the following day, we wanted to do a hike and see the famous Wineglass Bay from above.
The hike was fairly moderate, but if you’re looking for more intense hikes there are day or multiple day hikes in Freycinet National Park as well. You can check out more information about the national park by checking out their official website here.
Cape Tourville
Cape Tourville is a well-constructed walkway which was great because it was raining when we got to the lookout. The track loops around with breathtaking views of the Hazards, Wineglass Bay and nearby offshore rocks known as The Nuggets.
The track then loops around to a stunning lighthouse at the top. We quickly took in the view, took some photos and hurried back to the car due to the weather.
We got to see a fair bit in a short amount of time on foot exploring Freycinet National Park, but obviously if you have more time to explore the area that would be ideal. With the combination of poor weather and lack of sunlight, we didn’t get to see as much of the area as I would have liked. Although with our booking on Wineglass Bay the following day, we did get to see plenty of the Freycinet National Park via sea.
Where We Stayed
Belmont Homestead in Swansea
We stayed in the cutest accommodations in at Swansea near Coles Bay. I found that looking at Freycinet National Park, a lot of accommodations were incredibly expensive, which is why I decided to look outside the Freycinet National Park in the Coles Bay area.
We found extremely affordable accommodations at Belmont Homestead, which to be honest before we arrived I didn’t know what to really expect. Let me tell you, if you’re in the Coles Bay area, this is the place to stay. We stayed in the Queen Room cottage but the Belmont Homestead has a number of different property options for single, couples and families.
Especially with the chilly Tasmania weather, nothing was better than after a rainy day cuddling next to our stone fireplace with a cup of hot tea and a heated blanket.
The property that the Belmont Homestead is on is also gorgeous with goats who you can go up and feed, chickens, and a serene garden.
Our cottage included a nice, comfortable bathroom, a little kitchenette area with a fridge, sink, kettle and microwave, and a bedroom with a TV, fireplace, and sitting area. It was incredibly homey and the perfect way to unwind from the day of hiking.
Day 3: Coles Bay—-Wineglass Bay Cruise ——— St. Helens
Things to Do
Wineglass Bay Cruise
Wineglass Bay is the famous landmark in Freycinet National Park and we were incredibly lucky to work with Wineglass Bay Cruises during our trip. To check out the entire blog post about our cruise through Wineglass Bay and Freycinet National Park, click here.
Overall, if you’re looking to travel to Freycinet National Park in Tasmania, one of the truly best ways to see it, in my opinion, is with Wineglass Bay Cruises. Not only is the crew incredibly nice and knowledgeable about the Freycinet area, but cruising around Freycinet, you truly get a different experience and see so much more of the national park than if you were just to hike or drive around the area.
Especially if you only have time to explore the area for a day or two, I highly recommend booking a Wineglass Bay Cruise.
Scenic Sites
Along the way from Freycinet National Park and St. Helens, there are tons of beautiful coastal beaches along the way. Whenever we saw the photo sign on the side of the road, we stopped to check out the view and we were never disappointed.
That’s the great thing about a flexible road trip. We had our next destination in mind, but we weren’t in any rush to get there so we were able to take our time and stop at those breathtaking landmarks along the way.
Where to Eat
Freycinet Marine Farm
When looking for places to eat in the Freycinet National Park area, Freycinet Marine Farm was one of the top-rated places so we knew we had to check it out. Located on Coles Bay Road, Coles Bay, we stopped at the Freycinet Marine Farm on our way out of Freycinet National Park.
Freycinet Marine Farm is famous for their daily oyster tours and their fresh oysters and scallops farmed daily.
Although they’re famous for their oysters, the prices at Freycinet Marine Farm were a little steep and we’re not the biggest fans of oysters. So instead, we decided to get something we knew we would enjoy, Fish and Chips.
Along with our fish and chips to go, we also got a bag of mussels which we had for dinner that night at our accommodations in St. Helens.
Although we got our order to go, they do have tons of picnic tables and seating in the area so if you’re looking to dine in, which a lot of people did for a seafood feast after exploring Freycinet.
St. Helens
After our day on our Wineglass Bay Cruise, we made our way to St. Helens which is a lovely little town. The drive was once again very peaceful and we passed through countless small towns along the way until we reached St. Helens, a more built-up town.
St. Helens itself features a couple of grocery stores like an IGA so we decided to get some wine and some items for dinner and breakfast and use our lovely kitchen at NRMA St. Helens to cook during our trip.
Since we arrived at St. Helens around dinner time, we just decided to check out the grocery store before it closed and relax and make dinner at our accommodations for the night.
Where We Stayed
St. Helens NRMA Waterfront Park
Our Wandering Mind was lucky enough to work with St. Helens NRMA Waterfront Park during our Tasmania Weekend Getaway. Our destination on the third day was to get to Binalong Bay or also known as the Bay of Fires.
Finding accommodations in Tasmania can be a little tricky, especially in small towns.
Luckily we stumbled across St. Helens NRMA Waterfront Park, located on 15 minutes away from the Bay of Fires.
To be completely honest, when we arrived at NRMA St. Helens Waterfront Park, I was shocked, but in a good way. After driving a few hours through really small towns, I honestly wasn’t expecting too much when arriving at St. Helens but was extremely pleasantly surprised with what we found.
During our stay, we stayed in the Two-Bedroom Bay View Cabin. NRMA St. Helens Waterfront Park offers a range of different accommodations including campsites both powered and unpowdered, studio cabins, and family-style cabins that can sleep from 4-6 people. Our 2-bedroom was incredibly gorgeous and luxurious with clean, modern finishes, heated fan in the bathroom, a flat-screen TV and cooking appliances. The resort also features bike paths, playground with giant trampoline balloon, indoor kids room, communal kitchen and laundry facility and a restaurant on site
If you’re looking to travel around Tasmania I definitely recommend stopping at NRMA St. Helens Waterfront Park for a little bit of luxury during your Tasmanian trip. If you’re looking for a retreat for a week with your kids, NRMA St. Helens is also perfect for that as well with all the family-friendly amenities and the spacious, modern cabin accommodations.
You can check out our entire stay at St. Helens NRMA by clicking here.
Day 4 St. Helens——Bay of Fires—– Little Blue Lake ——- Launceston
On day 4, we did a lot of sight seeing on the way back to Launceston. Tasmania is made of tons of little towns and when I say little, I mean little. The trip from Binalong Bay to Launceston is about 2 and a half hours, but we spent probably a little over 4.5- 5 hours driving around the coast before returning back to Launceston.
Bay of Fires Conservation Area
Bay of Fires is the reason we stopped at St. Helens. As I mentioned, finding accommodations in Tasmania is a little difficult so it was great that we were able to find NRMA St. Helens which is only about a 15-minute drive from the Bay of Fires Conservation Area.
When doing research of places to see on our Tasmania Road Trip, I stumbled upon the Bay of Fires which is famous for its crystal-clear waters, white sandy beaches and orange lichen-covered granite boulders, making it one of Tasmania’s most popular conservation reserves.
When we arrived at Bay of Fires we were greeted by an absolutely stunning, bright blue, white sand beach. I honestly had no idea of stunning Tasmania truly was until this road trip.
The beach is worth the trip alone, but further up the road, you’ll start to see the Bay of Fires, red-stained rocks around the bay.
It seemed like the further up the road we went, the more gorgeous and intense the red stone got.
The name Bay of Fires isn’t actually referring to the bright orange lichen on the rocks which give the “fire” colors, but actually Aboriginal fires that were spotted by Captain Tobias Furneaux when he sailed past the area in 1773. If you want to learn more about the history of the area, there are also guided tours you can take, but if you’re in the area for a short amount of time, you can simply walk around and take in the stunning views yourself and have just as much fun.
Little Blue Lake
On our way back to Launceston, I did some research on places to stop along the way and Little Blue Lake definitely caught my eye.
As you can imagine from the name, Little Blue Lake is a little lake that has the most absolutely stunning bright blue waters and is on the way to Mt. William National Park. The lake itself is a result from alluvial tin mining and although it’s a popular spot for tourists, you are warned against swimming due to the water being highly contaminated with toxic heavy metals.
Regardless of not being able to swim in the lake, stopping and taking in it’s beauty is a must on your way back to Launceston.
We found it quite difficult to find Little Blue Lake. The GPS on our phone simply did not cut it. Although it did bring us to the general area, it didn’t bring us exactly to Little Blue Lake.
We actually ended up driving up sandy drive for 10 minutes and did a little walk to a lake that was a lovely emerald green color. We assumed that that must be the lake (it wasn’t) and spent some time enjoying the view. Other than bike trails from mountain bike trails there was absolutely no one around. When we finally decided to leave, we continued on Gladstone road and about 5 minutes down the road, we saw a sign for Little Blue Lake.
Although the emerald green lake was pretty, I’ll save you the hassle that we went through for searching for Little Blue Lake.
At the bottom of this post, I’ve included a map of the exact route we took on our Tasmania Road Trip to save you the time and hassle of finding these destinations.
Grindelwald
Grindelwald Swiss Village instantly transports you into Switzerland with its Swiss-style village with wide eaves, flower boxes, window shutters and balconies.
Grindelwald was established in the 1980s and offers a unique development that has brought tourists from all over and is located just outside of Launceston.
The village itself is relatively small but definitely worth visiting. There’s some boutique shops, clothing stores, hairdresser, day spa, and activities for the kids like mini-golf, canoeing on the lake, and jumping on the world’s longest bouncing pillow.
How to Get Around
Rental Car
Renting a car is what we found the most practical option and cost-effective option when exploring Tasmania. We rented with Budget Cars which we were pretty happy with. It definitely wasn’t the cheapest option, but I started to realize that rental cars can be pretty tricky to book.
We found that the cheaper options when it came to rental cards held a really large holding deposit on your credit card (ie like $1000) which we were not interested in doing. We also always do pretty much the highest insurance coverage possible, because we’d rather pay $100 more on our rental car than $8,000 later if an accident or damage or any kind was to happen.
I did also do some research on renting a campervan prior to our Tasmania trip to see if that was a more cost-effective option for exploring Tasmania. Unfortunately, it looks like most campervan rentals are strictly from Hobart so we decided that wasn’t the best option for us.
I hope you found this 4 Day Road Trip Itinerary Through Tasmania Blog Post helpful in planning your next Tasmania Getaway! We absolutely loved our road trip throughout Tasmania and I definitely want to go back and explore some more.
Especially with the affordable flight prices, now is the perfect time to go out and explore Tasmania.
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