Family vacations in Tasmania

Family vacations in Tasmania are about letting your kids find the feral within, helping them connect with wilderness and wildlife. The walking trail network within national parks is superb, so you can confidently go off grid totally for a few days. The food is fab and readily available at local farm stalls and shops. As for adventurous days out, from kayaking to canyoning, ziplining to mountain biking, Tasmania is one big natural playground.

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Family vacations in Tasmania

We hadn't braved any hut to hut hiking with our kids before. But with beach after beach on the Three Capes Track, it turned out to be the perfect family expedition.

Touring Tasmania with kids is as easy as it is fun, with lots of fantastic activities and short driving distances between destinations. There is abundant family accommodation in Tasmania too, which welcomes little ones with open arms whether you’re on a guided small group trip, or a more independent self-drive vacation.

Tasmania family vacations mean walks to suit all lengths of leg, food is so good you’ll always be looking ahead to the next mealtime, and eclectic ecosystems so that bringing your kids up close and personal with nature is a breeze, making for some memorable encounters. Read on for our guide to the best things to do in Tasmania for families.

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Activities for families in Tasmania

Twilight sagas

Nightfall is when Tasmania comes brilliantly to life for kids. Pack a torch for everyone and instead of driving to your local restaurant, take a walk and see all the nocturnal wildlife emerge. It’s everywhere – the ultimate find being the elusive Tasmanian Devil. You don’t have to climb a mountain to find wildlife wonders here. And away from urban areas, the night skies are perfect for showing your kids how to find the constellations.

Fly by night

Tasmania is home to Australia’s longest, continuous cable ride, taking you up high in the forest canopy near Launceston in the North. Hollybank Treetop Adventure is one of the island’s best family days out, soaring over the Cataract Gorge. Other family forest adventures include a river trip through the Tarkine rainforest.

From cradle to canyon

Between the months of Nov-April, children over the age of eight can climb, swim, abseil and jump their way down through a variety of canyons, creeks and waterfalls along the Dove River, and the in the Cradle Mountain UNESCO World Heritage Area. Surrounded by ancient pines, wombats and other creatures looking on curiously. Who said conservation wasn’t fun?

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Tips for families

Susie de Carteret from our partner, Tasmanian Odyssey, shares some advice for kid-friendly vacations in Tasmania based on many experiences with her own family:

Wildlife tips

“What children love more than anything else is the wildlife interaction and as well as getting really up close to kangaroos and wallabies, baby wombats and so on, they get a really good education about the importance of conservation. Bonorong is perfect for this and definitely worth booking. So always get off the beaten track so that you can really immerse yourself in wildlife. The places to stay may be rustic or simple, but that is fine because children don’t really worry about being posh. And a lot of these places have been nurturing the land for wildlife for decades.”

Accommodation tips

“The self-catering accommodation is superb when it comes to Tasmania for families, so I would definitely book somewhere with an element of self catering. A lot of it has two bedrooms, and is aimed to cater for families."

Itinerary tips

"The Arthur River cruise up in the NW is much more child friendly than the Gordon River cruise just because the children get to be so much more active. One of my children got to drive the boat and the other one was having her face painted in the old Aboriginal paints by the guide. It’s not particularly promoted as a child friendly tour; they don’t do that in Tassie, because just about everything here is great for families.”

Food tips

“The food is fantastic. My kids probably ate fish and chips once a day! Fish and chips and pies – every day we had to stop for a Tasmanian pie, because they are just so delicious.”

Family driving vacations in Tasmania

Our self drive vacations are perfect for families. After picking up your pre-arranged hire car, you can follow a tailor made route, staying at family-friendly B&Bs every night. The great advantage of family self drive vacations is that you can set your own pace and take a detour whenever you fancy – stop off to visit a beach for a fish and chip supper or for a short hike if the mood takes you.

These trips can also be combined with the Australian mainland. Melbourne is just a 45-minute flight away from Launceston, but there is also a longer (10 hours), but more lower carbon ferry journey.

When to go

Tasmania is a year-round destination, with every season bringing its own charms. Having said that, from a family perspective probably the ideal time to go is from January to April, when you’ll catch the warm weather as the island slides from summer into autumn. Weather can be fickle here though, so do pack waterproofs just in case.