With kids · Hobart · Australia
Hobart with kids
Family-tested sights, a calm base and the practical details that make travelling with children easier.
Updated By the AMZBooking editorial team
Photo: Rob Taylor, CC BY 2.0
Quick answer
Hobart is compact and relaxed for families, with free museums and gardens, markets with food stalls and wildlife sanctuaries close by. Weather changes fast, so pack layers and keep a rainy-day plan. Top picks: Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and Salamanca Market. Families usually base themselves in Waterfront and CBD.
Key facts
- Family picks
- 6
- Best area for families
- Waterfront and CBD
- Rainy-day options
- 2
- Busiest months
- December–January
Best things to do with kids
Museum · Waterfront and CBD
1.Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
TMAG occupies a group of buildings beside Franklin Square, including the city's oldest surviving building, the 1808 Commissariat Store. Galleries cover Tasmanian Aboriginal culture, colonial art, Antarctic exploration and natural history, including the thylacine.
Head first to the thylacine displays and the palawa gallery, then leave time for the colonial art upstairs.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Rainy day
- History
- Kids
- Art
Garden · Queens Domain
2.Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens
Founded in 1818, the gardens on the Queens Domain slope down to the Derwent and include a Japanese garden, convict-built walls, a vegetable patch and the Subantarctic Plant House, which recreates the climate of Macquarie Island with misting and cool air.
Visit the Subantarctic Plant House on a warm day for a cool, misty contrast, then picnic on the lawns above the river.
- Time needed
- 1.5–2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Free
- Outdoors
- Nature
- Kids
Market · Salamanca
3.Salamanca Market
Every Saturday, a few hundred stalls line Salamanca Place in front of the sandstone warehouses, selling Tasmanian produce, Huon pine woodwork, knitwear, cheese, cider and street food. It has run since 1972 and is the city's busiest weekly event.
Arrive before 10am for the produce stalls and space to move, then climb Kelly's Steps to Battery Point for coffee.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Free
- Iconic
- Free
- Food
- Shopping
- Kids
Zoo · Brighton
4.Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary
About 25 km north of the city, Bonorong is a wildlife rescue sanctuary where you can see Tasmanian devils, wombats, quolls and free-roaming kangaroos you can feed. Guided tours explain the rescue and release work.
Join a guided tour to see the devils fed, and combine the drive with historic Richmond on the way back.
- Time needed
- 2 hours
- Cost
- Mid-priced
- Kids
- Nature
- Outdoors
Waterfront · Waterfront and CBD
5.Constitution Dock and the fish punts
Constitution Dock is the finishing point of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and home to floating fish punts selling fish and chips, oysters and scallops straight from the boats. Fishing boats, the old Customs House and the Mawson's Huts Replica Museum line the surrounding docks.
Eat flathead and chips on the dock wall, keeping an eye on the gulls, then walk to Mawson's Huts Replica Museum next door.
- Time needed
- 1 hour
- Cost
- Low cost
- Food
- Kids
- Photo spot
- Iconic
Museum · Waterfront and CBD
6.Mawson's Huts Replica Museum
A full-size replica of the huts Douglas Mawson's 1911–14 Australasian Antarctic Expedition built at Cape Denison, furnished with bunks, stoves and equipment. Hobart is a gateway to Antarctica, and the museum's proceeds help conserve the originals.
Ask the volunteer guides about the expedition's survival story; it adds a lot to the small space.
- Time needed
- 45 minutes
- Cost
- Low cost
- History
- Rainy day
- Kids
Rainy-day ideas
- Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery — Head first to the thylacine displays and the palawa gallery, then leave time for the colonial art upstairs.
- Mawson's Huts Replica Museum — Ask the volunteer guides about the expedition's survival story; it adds a lot to the small space.
Where families should stay
$$$ · Best for first-timers, families and food lovers
Waterfront and CBD
The streets between Elizabeth Street Mall and the docks hold most of Hobart's hotels, from heritage pubs to modern waterfront towers. Constitution and Victoria Docks have fish punts and restaurants, Brooke Street Pier is the departure point for the MONA ferry, and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery sits beside Franklin Square.
- Good
- Walk to almost everything; MONA ferry on the doorstep; Best choice of hotels
- Watch out
- Quiet streets after dinner on weeknights; Waterfront hotel prices rise sharply in summer
- Nearby
- Constitution Dock, Brooke Street Pier, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery
Family travel tips
- Bonorong lets children see Tasmanian devils and hand-feed kangaroos.
- Port Arthur's site entry includes a harbour cruise that children usually enjoy.
- Kingston and Seven Mile beaches have gentle water for paddling in summer.
- Kunanyi's summit is very cold and windy; bring hats and gloves for children even in summer.
Day trips for families
- Port Arthur Historic Site (About 1.5 hours by car) — The best-known of Australia's convict sites, with the ruined penitentiary, the separate prison and dozens of restored buildings on a harbourside lawn.
- Richmond (About 25 minutes by car) — A Georgian village with Australia's oldest bridge still in use (built by convicts in 1823), an old gaol and St John's Church.
- Mount Field National Park (About 1 hour 15 minutes by car) — One of Tasmania's oldest national parks, with the tiered Russell Falls a short, easy walk through tall-tree forest from the visitor centre.
- Huon Valley (About 40 minutes by car) — Orchards, cider houses and riverside towns such as Huonville, Franklin and Cygnet.
- Maria Island (About 1 hour 15 minutes by car plus a 30-minute ferry) — A car-free island national park with wombats grazing around the convict-era settlement of Darlington, plus the striped sandstone of the Painted Cliffs and the Fossil Cliffs.
When to go with children
The best months overall are December–March. December–January are the busiest, so book the big sights early. Weather by month.
Questions travellers ask
+Is Hobart good for kids?
Hobart is compact and relaxed for families, with free museums and gardens, markets with food stalls and wildlife sanctuaries close by. Weather changes fast, so pack layers and keep a rainy-day plan.
+What can kids do in Hobart?
Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, Salamanca Market, Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary and Constitution Dock and the fish punts.
+Where should families stay in Hobart?
Waterfront and CBD: Fishing docks, ferry piers and the compact grid of the city centre.