Travel to Tasmania

Flying to Tasmania

All direct flights to Hobart arrive from Australian cities including Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. There are also direct flights from the mainland to Launceston and the North West coast centres of Devonport and Burnie, King and Flinders Island.

Airlines serving Tasmania include Qantas (www.qantas.com.au), its low-cost operator Jetstar (www.jetstar.com.au), Virgin Australia (www.virginaustralia.com), rural flights with Rex Regional Express (www.rex.com.au), and Tiger Air (www.tigerair.com.au) linking to Asian destinations.

Sharp Airlines (sharpairlines.com) flies from Melbourne and Adelaide to Flinders Island. King Island Airlines (www.kingislandair.com.au), Regional Express and charter company Vortex Air (www.vortexair.com.au) operate flights from Melbourne to King Island. Par-Avion Airlines (www.paravionairlines.com.au) connects Launceston and Essendon in Victoria with Cape Barren Island in the Bass Strait’s Furneaux Group of Islands.

Airport Guides

Departure tax

None.

Travelling to Tasmania by Rail

There are no passenger services in Tasmania, but a couple of notable tourist railways. The West Coast Wilderness Railway (tel: +61 1800 420 155; www.wcwr.com.au ) runs between Queenstown and Strahan. Along its 35km (22 miles) journey, it crosses a number of small rivers and passes through restored stations including Lower Landing, Dubbil and Baril (journey time: 5 hours).

In the northwest, the Don River Railway (tel: +61 (3) 6424 6335; www.donriverrailway.com.au) also runs regular excursions using both steam and diesel locomotives. The rail trips usually take half an hour, to Coles Beach and back.

Driving to Tasmania

Getting to Tasmania by boat

Devonport (www.tasports.com.au) on the northwest coast of the island.

Ferry operators

A favourite for car trippers, passenger and car ferry Spirit of Tasmania (tel: + 61 1800 634 906; www.spiritoftasmania.com.au) connects Station Pier in Port Melbourne and the Esplanade terminal in East Devonport with a year-round overnight ferry, leaving at 1930 and arriving at 0600. Ships sail in both directions at these times. There is a twice daily schedule on multiple dates between December and April with a day sailing departing at 0900 and arriving at 1800.