Tasmania Loop in Seven Days

Pick up the rental in Hobart and spend the day in the city. Walk Salamanca Place (Saturday is market day), the Battery Point heritage cottages, and Mount Wellington (kunanyi), where a sealed road climbs to the summit lookout. End the day at MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art, reachable by ferry from the city centre.

Drive south-east to the Tasman Peninsula. Stop at the Tessellated Pavement at Eaglehawk Neck, then continue to Port Arthur Historic Site for a half-day visit. The Tasman Arch and Devils Kitchen blowholes are on the same loop. Return to Hobart for the night.

Drive north-west via Mount Field National Park (Russell Falls is a must-stop) and the central highlands to Cradle Mountain. Around 5 hours of driving. Arrive at Cradle Mountain in the afternoon and walk the Enchanted Walk near the visitors centre as a warm-up for tomorrow.

Take the shuttle bus into Dove Lake at the foot of Cradle Mountain and walk the 6 kilometre lake circuit (allow 2 to 3 hours). For more ambitious walkers, the Marions Lookout climb adds another two hours and gets you onto the high plateau. Return to the lodge for a long evening.

Drive east through Launceston (worth a stop for Cataract Gorge) and out to St Helens on the east coast, the gateway to the Bay of Fires. Walk the orange-lichen boulders at Binalong Bay before sunset.

Drive south to Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park. Walk to the Wineglass Bay Lookout (steep, 1.5 hours return). For the more energetic, the longer Wineglass Bay to Hazards Beach loop is 4 to 5 hours.

Drive south through Swansea, Triabunna (with the option to detour to Maria Island for the day) and back to Hobart. Drop the rental and fly home the next morning.