Located just downriver from Launceston, the Tamar Island Wetlands is a protected area of mudflats, lagoons, and islands. Although converted to farmland in the 1800s, the river estuary has been slowly reclaiming the wetlands since the 1950s, allowing for the return of birds, frogs, fish, invertebrates, and threatened species.
With a mission statement to sustain, inspire, and create, Design Tasmania (formerly the Design Centre) was established to support high-quality Tasmanian craft and design. Today, only Tasmanian-created items are exhibited and sold here, including the work of emerging craftspeople and designers.
The craggy mountain of Ben Lomond looms over the national park that shares its name. A haven for skiiers in the wintertime, as well as hikers and rock climbers in other seasons, Ben Lomond National Park’s treeless plateau stretches for around 8.5 miles (14 kilometeres) and soars more than 4,265 feet (1,300 meters). Keep your eyes out for year-round Tasmanian wildlife in the park.
Learn about Tasmania’s convict history at Brickendon Estate, one of 11 penal sites in Australia where those condemned by the British justice system were sent to work in the 18th and 19th centuries. Built in 1824 by a man named William Archer, the 1,150-acre (465-hectare) farm is still owned and operated by his descendants, who provide a tangible link to this part of Australian history.
Home Hill is a timber house with a unique heritage; it was the home to the only Prime Minister of Australia from Tasmania, Joseph Lyons. Visit the gardens outside and then tour inside this Devonport house to learn about the personal and political life of Joseph Lyons, his wife, Dame Enid Lyons, and their 12 children.
Sitting on the outskirts of Launceston, Franklin House is the city’s only house museum, built in 1838 in the Georgian style. Constructed for ex-convict and publican Britton Jones, it later hosted one of the Colony of Tasmania’s most prestigious private schools. The need to preserve Franklin House led to the founding of the National Trust in Tasmania.
Watching over the mouth of the Tamar River, a collection of colonial cottages houses the Low Head Pilot Station Maritime Museum. Family-friendly exhibits at this pilot station tell the history of shipping on the Tamar and the arrival of the telegram in Tasmania. Animal lovers can try to spot Little Penguins up at the point.
The entire town of Evandale is a National Trust site—a collection of late-Georgian and early-Victorian architecture that offers a glimpse into what Tasmania was like in centuries past. It’s one of the best-preserved historic towns in all of Australia, with some of the oldest structures dating back to 1809.
Set inside a white brick heritage building that was once the local jail, George Town Watch House is a small museum focused on the colonial history of George Town. While some rooms feature temporary exhibitions and a preserved jail cell, the main attraction is its model village which shows what the town was like in the early 1800s.
Set on the banks of Tasmania’s South Esk River, Clarendon House is a stately 3-story Georgian house considered one of Australia’s finest heritage estates. It lies on over 17 acres (7 hectares) of parkland and has a walled garden, servants’ quarters, farm buildings, and the Australian Fly Fishing Museum.
The National Automobile Museum of Tasmania has one of the country’s best collections of classic and historic cars and motorbikes, spanning more than a century of automobile design. Vintage cars are the star attraction here, though the super cars also impress. The 1969 Fiat Spider is a highlight for many visitors.
Located outside the town of Longford, Tasmania’s Woolmers Estate is an early 19th-century pioneer farm passed down through six generations of the Archer family. The 32-acre (13-hectare) estate was designated an Australian Convict Site in 2010; today, it offers visitors insight into the convict consignment system through its preserved buildings, which include a blacksmith's shop, stable, and bakehouse.
The Launceston Planetarium is part of the Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery (QVMAG) within Launceston’s Inveresk neighborhood. Various films and projections related to astronomy, space exploration, navigation, and natural history are projected onto the domed screens of the planetarium. Although it’s located within the broader QVMAG, visitors can see the planetarium independently if they prefer.
