Tasmania
Australia
An island of temperate rainforest, empty beaches and the cleanest air measured on earth
Photos by Sean Robertson, Josh Fotheringham, Josh Fotheringham and Michael Jerrard on Unsplash
Best time to visit all of Australia
December to March for the walking, and the shoulder months for an empty island — the winter is genuinely cold
Climate month by month
The next sixteen days in HobartOpen-Meteo
Average high and low · °C
Rainfall · mm per month
Best months to visit This month · wettest 62mm in Oct
Where it is
42.88°S, 147.33°E Open in Google Maps
Things to do
Weeks of it- Take the boat up the Derwent to MONA
- Walk to Wineglass Bay and then down to the sand
- Do a day of the Overland Track if you cannot do all of it
- Stand at Port Arthur in the late afternoon
- Drive the east coast slowly, stopping at every beach
Tasmania travel tipsthe general rules
Currency budget Australia
Good valueEffectively a cashless country. Cards and phones work everywhere including the smallest coffee cart, and a surcharge of one to two per cent on card is normal and is signed at the till.
ATMs & cards
The big four — Commonwealth, Westpac, ANZ and NAB — charge foreign cards a few dollars. The machines in pubs and corner shops charge more and say so on screen.
Avoid these
- the machines in pubs in small towns, which charge and run empty in summer
Use these instead
- Commonwealth
- Westpac
- ANZ
- NAB
The east coast and the west have long stretches with no bank at all. Draw in Hobart or Launceston before a driving day.
Wherever you are: if the machine offers to charge you in your home currency, decline. That is dynamic currency conversion and the rate is set by the ATM's operator, not your bank.
Safety all of Australia
Very safeVery safe. The mountains make their own weather and it changes in an hour — people die on the Overland Track in summer clothes. Log your walk, carry layers, and watch for wildlife on the roads after dark, which is when most of it moves.
Where to walk, and where to pay attention (8 areas)
Comfortable, including after dark
Worth more attention
- the Overland Track in summer clothes — the mountains make their own weather and people have died in it
- driving at dusk and after dark — this is when the wildlife moves and the roads are unlit
- the west coast surf — cold, powerful and unpatrolled
- walking without logging your intentions — the registers at the trailheads are what a search starts from
Our own assessment, not a sourced index.
Entry & visa Australia visa rules
Travel authorisation requiredup to 90 daysA$20
Electronic Travel Authority, applied for through the official Australian ETA app.
Other passports
Travel authorisation requiredup to 90 daysfree
eVisitor (subclass 651) — free, and applied for online. Valid twelve months, 90 days per visit.
Visa required in advancefrom A$200
A Visitor visa (subclass 600), applied for online.
How to get it: EU and UK passports use the free eVisitor at immi.homeaffairs.gov.au; the ETA is only available through the official mobile app. Nothing is ever stamped in the passport — it is all electronic.
Entry rules change often and depend on your passport, not where you live — the official page above is the authority, and the airline checks before you board.
Before you fly: travel authorisation
Electronic Travel Authority (ETA)RequiredAUD20
Before you fly. Usually granted quickly, occasionally not.
Have these in front of you before you start:
- passport
- a phone that can read the passport chip
- the Australian ETA app
App only. There is no way to do this from a laptop, which catches people out — install it before you need it. The AUD20 is a service charge for the app; the ETA itself is free.
Use the official link above. Sites that charge a "service fee" to submit one of these for you are not the government, and they want the same passport details the real form does.
Health & emergencies all of Australia
Good and affordableRequired to enter
No vaccinations are required for entry from Europe or North America.
Jabs worth having, and what happens if you need a doctor
Worth having
- Routine vaccinations up to date
Getting treated
Excellent. The UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Italy, Malta and Slovenia have reciprocal agreements giving their citizens access to Medicare for immediately necessary treatment; everyone else pays and should be insured.
Sun is the underrated one — the UV index is extreme by European standards. Swim between the flags; rip currents, not sharks, are what actually drown people.
Orientation, not medical advice — entry rules change and what you need depends on your own history. Check with a travel clinic four to six weeks before you go.
Food tip
Very goodCool-climate wine, oysters straight off the lease, and cheese from the north. Hobart’s Salamanca market on a Saturday is the whole island in one square.
Getting around
LimitedUber covers Hobart and Launceston and nothing between them. Everywhere else on the island is a hire car or a booked local taxi, and in the national parks there is no signal to book one with.
Time zone and your working day
Australia/Hobart — 14 hours ahead of you
0 hours of overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are — — your time, — theirs.
No overlap with a 09:00–17:00 day where you are. Working from here means one of you keeps odd hours — their day starts at 19:00 on your clock.
office hours both at once night
Their 09:00–17:00 is 19:00–03:00 on yours.
The difference from the UK, Europe, the US and ten more
Worked out against America/New York, which is where this request looks like it came from.
Internet speedall of Australia
Why these are Australia's numbers and not Tasmania's
Home broadband — Fast. Several people on calls at once, large uploads, 4K. Broadband here runs at 1.3× the global median of 130 Mbps.
Mobile data — Good. Maps, calls and streaming, and enough to tether a laptop for an afternoon. Mobile runs at about the global median of 109 Mbps.
Ookla publishes no separate figure for Tasmania, so these are medians for all of Australia. Cities usually beat the national number and remote islands and national parks fall well below it — treat this as the country's shape, not as a measurement of the street you will be staying on.
A median is the middle of every connection tested there, old copper and new fibre together — so in a country part-way through laying fibre it sits well below what a fibre line actually delivers, and a rental on one can run several times this number. Half of the connections are slower; a fibre flat is rarely one of them. It says what a place can do, not what your rental does, so every listing on Holistay carries its own measured speed and the date it was tested.
Getting online: Airalo or Holafly — a data eSIM for Australia, installed before you fly and working the moment you land.
Source: Ookla Speedtest Global Index · measured June 2026
Must-see
Nearby day trips
Say a few words
Australian English — local usage
- HelloHow ya going?
- Thanks / no problemNo worries
- AfternoonArvo
- Flip-flopsThongs
4 more phrases
- SwimwearBathers / Togs
- Petrol stationServo
- BarbecueBarbie
- Genuinely goodBloody good
Religion
No majority faith
Roughly 40% report no religion, the largest single group. Aboriginal spiritual sites such as Uluru carry restrictions that are legal as well as cultural.
Do's and don'ts
Do
- Sit in the front seat of a taxi if you are alone; sitting behind reads as standoffish
- Buy your round in turn — shouting is a genuine social obligation
- Swim between the red and yellow flags, always
- Wear sunscreen even on cloudy days; the UV is genuinely extreme
Don't
- Do not tip routinely; it is not expected and staff are paid properly
- Do not boast — tall poppy syndrome means standing out invites deflation
- Do not take Aboriginal cultural sites lightly; some are closed to climbing or photography
- Do not underestimate the sun, the surf or the distances
Where to stay in Tasmania
No Holistay rentals in Tasmania yet — the platform is just opening up. Every listing here will have a video tour and the option to negotiate the nightly price directly with the host.
In the meantime, here is Tasmania on the sites that do have the inventory — each search is already filled in:
- Booking.com hotels, guesthouses and apartments — the widest coverage almost everywhere
- Airbnb whole homes and apartments, and the better option for a week or more
How to get there
Fly into Hobart HBA
20 minfrom the airport· 16 km as the crow flies
20 min into Hobart; a hire car from the terminal.
Also worth pricing: Launceston LST — the northern half of the island, 2h30 from Hobart.
Google Flights · Rome2Rio for the trains, buses and ferries as well as the flights
