Lap of Tasmania: The Master Planning & Touring Hub
A lap of Tasmania is the road trip most Australians put on the list and keep pushing back. The ferry feels like a commitment. The distances look manageable on a mainland map. But Tasmania does something no other state does: it makes a 150 km drive take three hours, a two-night stay feel like you just arrived, and a two-week schedule feel like a mistake before you have even reached the West Coast.
This page is the planning hub for our Lap of Tasmania series. It covers how long one actually takes, which direction to travel depending on when you arrive, what to know before you book the Spirit of Tasmania and which itinerary suits your timeframe. The specific day-by-day routes are in the child itineraries linked throughout.
Why a Lap of Tasmania Takes Longer Than You Think
Tasmania on a map of Australia looks like a long weekend’s driving. It is not. The road network follows the terrain, not straight lines. The highlands push roads up over ridges through tight switchbacks. Single-lane bridges slow convoys. Speed limits through national parks drop to 50 km/h and are enforced. When you are towing, average speed across the island is closer to 55 – 65 km/h rather than the 90 – 100 km/h you might expect on the mainland. A GPS set to car travel underestimates every drive time by 25 – 30%. Apply that correction before you set a schedule.
The map also doesn’t show the dead-end geography. Gordon Dam has one road in. A Tarkine loop requires a dedicated route, not a quick detour. Bruny Island needs a ferry crossing and at least two nights to justify the trip. The Far South, from Cockle Creek to the Recherche Bay area, takes a full day each way. None of this is a time problem. It becomes a real problem when you are trying to squeeze a lap of Tasmania into two weeks.
How Long Does a Lap of Tasmania Take?
The honest answer is: longer than you have probably allowed. Here is a realistic breakdown of the three main timeframes.
| Timeframe | Type of trip | What you sacrifice | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 weeks (42 days) | Full lap, no cutting corners | Nothing significant | Retirees, long-service leave, first-timers who want to do it properly |
| 4 weeks (28 days) | Highlights circuit | Tarkine, Far South, Bruny Island | Standard annual leave, repeat visitors happy to skip the dead-end spurs |
| 2 weeks (14 days) | Regional half-lap only | Everything else. Don’t attempt the full circuit. | Travellers with limited leave who want depth over distance |
6 Weeks: The Full Lap Done Properly
Forty-two days is what a lap of Tasmania looks like when you are not rushing. It gives you three days at Cradle Mountain rather than one frantic morning. It lets you take the Tarkine at the pace the forest deserves. You can spend two nights on Bruny Island, detour south to Cockle Creek and still have slow afternoons in Hobart without feeling you should be somewhere else.
Six weeks also buys weather flexibility. Tasmania’s weather changes fast and hits hard, especially on the West Coast and in the highlands. A 42-day lap can absorb a two-day hold at Strahan or a rest day at Freycinet without the whole schedule falling apart. A 28-day circuit can absorb maybe one. A 14-day attempt has no slack at all.
The 42-day lap of Tasmania covers Devonport, Stanley, the Tarkine wilderness, Strahan, the Gordon River, Queenstown, Mount Field, the Far South, Bruny Island, Hobart, the Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet, the Bay of Fires, Ben Lomond and the Cradle Mountain valleys.
Rob’s Tip: This itinerary can be easily stretched to 8 weeks or more, and if you have the time, we highly recommend taking this option.
4 Weeks: The Highlights Circuit
Twenty-eight days covers every major destination on a lap of Tasmania. The trade-off is that you cut three areas: the Tarkine, the Far South and Bruny Island. Each requires a full-day or multi-day out-and-back that a 28-day schedule cannot carry without compressing everything else into single-night stops.
What you keep is substantial. Cradle Mountain with enough time to actually walk it. Strahan and the Gordon River cruise. The West Coast scenery through Queenstown. Mount Field, Hobart for two to three days, the Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet over two nights, the Bay of Fires, Ben Lomond and the northern midlands. The daily pace is comfortable, with regular two-night stays at the headline stops.
The strategic mistake on the 4-week lap of Tasmania is adding back the areas you cut. The Tarkine alone costs two days. The Far South adds seven more if you include Bruny Island. Put them back in, and you have a 6-week itinerary in a 4-week window, which turns every stay into a night-stop rather than a destination.
2 Weeks: Don’t Lap the Island
Fourteen days is not enough time for a lap of Tasmania with a caravan or camper trailer. The maths don’t work. Packing down every morning, averaging 200 – 300 km of winding roads each day and setting up camp each evening leaves almost no time to actually be in the places you drove to. You arrive at Cradle Mountain at 3 pm with two hours before dark. You get one morning at Freycinet. Strahan becomes a transit stop.
The better approach is to split the island. Spend your 14 days on one half of Tasmania and cover it properly, with multi-night stays, unhitched day drives and actual walks. The island divides cleanly into a western wilderness half and an eastern coastal half, each of which fills a fortnight without leaving you feeling like you missed everything.
Clockwise or Counter-Clockwise?
The optimal direction to travel on a lap of Tasmania is somewhat determined by when you arrive. Get this wrong and you spend your best weather on the wrong coast.
December to March: Go Anti-Clockwise (West First)
Summer is the West Coast’s best window. The Tarkine, Strahan and the Queenstown corridor are at their most stable from mid-December to late February. Highland passes are clear of ice, the rainforest tracks are passable and the Gordon River cruises run to schedule.
Going west first also means your East Coast arrival falls in late summer, when ocean temperatures at the Bay of Fires and Freycinet have had all season to build. A February swim at Bicheno is a different proposition to a December one.
Anti-clockwise: Devonport to Stanley to Tarkine to Strahan to Hobart to Freycinet to Bay of Fires to Devonport.
October to November: Go Clockwise (East First)
Spring on the West Coast is rough. Westerly fronts push through from Antarctica with little obstruction. The highlands see snow flurries into November. Tarkine tracks hold water for weeks after heavy rain. October and November are not the months to be camped at Strahan waiting for a weather window to open.
Hitting the East Coast first keeps you in the eastern rain shadow while the west dries out. By the time you cross to Hobart and turn west, it is December and the weather has shifted. You gain 4 – 6 extra weeks of better conditions on the West Coast by running the lap of Tasmania in the right order.
Clockwise: Devonport to Launceston to Bay of Fires to Freycinet to Hobart to Strahan to Tarkine to Stanley to Devonport.
The Itineraries
The Tasmania lap series covers four itineraries: the 42-day full lap, the 28-day highlights circuit and two 14-day regional halves. Each is a standalone route that starts and ends in Devonport.
Itinerary 1: The 42-Day Full Lap of Tasmania
Devonport to Stanley to the Tarkine to Strahan to the Gordon River to Queenstown to Mount Field to the Far South to Bruny Island to Hobart to the Tasman Peninsula to Freycinet to the Bay of Fires to Ben Lomond to the Cradle Mountain valleys and back to Devonport. Every major destination, every significant detour, with enough time at each stop to settle in rather than tick a box and move on.
The 42-day lap is built around extended base camps. Three nights at Lake Gairdner for Cradle Mountain. Two nights at Strahan for the Gordon River. Followed by nights at Fortescue Bay for the Tasman Peninsula. Coles Bay for Freycinet also deserves 2 days. Average daily drive times run 2 – 3 hours, not the 5 – 6 that a tighter schedule demands.
Best for: Retirees, long-service leave, first-time visitors to Tasmania who want to cover the island without sacrificing depth.
Itinerary 2: The 28-Day Highlights Circuit
The same core loop as the 42-day lap of Tasmania, minus the three areas. Tarkine, Far South and Bruny Island are cut. Everything else stays: Cradle Mountain, Strahan and the Gordon River, Queenstown’s copper-stained landscape, Mount Field, Hobart, the Tasman Peninsula, Freycinet and the Bay of Fires.
The 28-day itinerary runs in four chapters. Days 1 – 8 cover the Western Wilderness and Highland Lakes from the Cradle Country through the Murchison to the West Coast. Over days 9 – 14 cover Mount Field, Hobart and the Tasman Peninsula are visited. Days 15 – 23 run up the East Coast from Port Arthur through Freycinet to the Bay of Fires. Finally, days 24 – 28 cover the Northern Midlands, Ben Lomond and the return to Devonport.
Best for: Standard annual leave, experienced Tasmania visitors who have already done the full lap, travellers comfortable leaving the dead-end spurs for another trip.
Itinerary 3: 14-day regional loops (the 2-week dilemma)
Can you physically drive around Tasmania in 14 days? Yes. Should you? No.
Mainland drivers look at the map and assume Tasmania is a quick spin. The distances look short, but mountain passes, narrow bridges, and winding highways keep your average speed down. With a caravan on the back, expect 50 – 60 km/h through much of the west. Try to fit a full lap into a fortnight and the trip becomes a delivery route. You pack down camp every morning, set up again every afternoon, and drive straight past the walks you crossed Bass Strait to do.
The fix is simple: do not lap the island, split it in half. Fourteen days gives you time to explore one side properly, with 2 – 3 night bases that let you unhitch, walk, and actually sit still for a day. Our dedicated 2-week guide lays out both of these regional options side by side so you can choose the right half.
Both 14-day loops share the same route to Hobart: arrive on the ferry in Devonport, climb onto the Central Plateau via Deloraine on the Lakes Highway (A5) to camp at Little Pine Lagoon before descending through the Derwent Valley into Hobart. This gets the steep mountain climb out of the way early while pulling uphill, and puts you at a natural weather fork. If a Southern Ocean front brings gale-force rain to the West Coast, you simply swing east into the dry rain shadow instead.
Option A: the western wilderness and highland loop
The West Coast loop is built around cold-temperate rainforests, hydro lakes, mining and glacial alpine tracks. After arriving in Hobart from the plateau, this itinerary spends two nights exploring kunanyi / Mount Wellington and the waterfront docks, moves to Mount Field National Park for three nights of giant swamp gums and waterfall circuits, then tackles the Lyell Highway through Queenstown, Strahan, and Cradle Country before wrapping up in the arts town of Sheffield.
Towing through this corridor demands attention. The Lyell Highway winds continuously, and the descent down the 99 Bends into Queenstown requires low gears and cool brakes. In return, you get quiet lakeside free camps, ancient stands of Huon pine, and proper wilderness.
Route flow: Devonport to Little Pine Lagoon (Day 1) > Hobart (Days 2 – 4) > Mount Field National Park (Days 5 – 7) > Queenstown (Day 8) > Strahan (Days 9 – 10) > Lake Gairdner for Cradle Mountain (Days 11 – 12) > Sheffield (Day 13) > Devonport (Day 14).
Key stops: Russell Falls and alpine Lake Dobson at Mount Field, Greg Duncan’s hand-carved panels at The Wall in the Wilderness (Derwent Bridge), the Gordon River wilderness cruise from Strahan, the Zeehan Spray Tunnel, the Dove Lake circuit at Cradle Mountain, and Sheffield’s outdoor murals beneath Mount Roland.
Best for: Hikers, lovers of dark rainforests and mountain tarns, and tourers with off-grid setups looking for cooler weather and fewer crowds.
Option B: the east coast and heritage loop
The East Coast loop trades rainforest for open ocean: soaring dolerite sea cliffs, convict ruins, pink granite headlands, and white sand beaches. Following the shared descent into Hobart, this circuit heads south-east onto the Tasman Peninsula, traces the Great Eastern Drive north through Triabunna, Maria Island, and Freycinet, pushes up to the orange lichen-covered boulders at the Bay of Fires, then cuts inland across the Northern Midlands via Evandale and Ben Lomond.
The driving on this side is far gentler than in the west. The roads are wider, towns are closer together, and the coastal climate is noticeably drier and milder. It is the natural choice for travellers in larger vans, families, or October and November arrivals who want to stay protected in the eastern rain shadow while spring fronts clear out of the high country.
Route flow: Devonport to Little Pine Lagoon (Day 1) > Hobart (Days 2 – 3) > Nubeena on the Tasman Peninsula (Days 4 – 5) > Triabunna for Maria Island (Days 6 – 7) > Coles Bay at Freycinet (Days 8 – 9) > Binalong Bay at Bay of Fires (Days 10 – 11) > Evandale (Days 12 – 13) > Devonport (Day 14).
Key stops: kunanyi / Mount Wellington views, the Port Arthur Historic Site, the Cape Raoul clifftop track, bare-nosed wombats and Painted Cliffs on Maria Island, Wineglass Bay, free beachfront camping at Swimcart Beach, historic Georgian Evandale, and the 6 hairpin switchbacks of Jacob’s Ladder at Ben Lomond.
Best for: Beach walking, convict history, spring arrivals, larger rigs, and travellers who prefer milder weather and reliable town infrastructure.
Spirit of Tasmania: Ferry Logistics
The Spirit of Tasmania crosses Bass Strait overnight between Melbourne (Port Melbourne) and Devonport. With the new ferries becoming operational, the night sailings deliver you in Devonport in the early morning, ready for the first-day drive.
Book Early
Vehicle deck space for rigs over 2.1 m in height or over 10 m in total length is limited and fills fast for January and February sailings. Booking 8 – 12 months ahead for summer crossings is not an overreaction. Know your total rig length before you book: the Spirit of Tasmania measures from the front of the tow vehicle to the rear of the caravan or trailer, and pricing tiers are not small increments.
Gas, Biosecurity and Arrival Flow
Gas bottles must be turned off before loading. The vehicle deck is unattended during the crossing, so take everything you need for the cabin in your cabin bag before the ship leaves the dock.
Tasmania has strict biosecurity controls on fresh fruit, vegetables, honey and plant material. Checks happen at Devonport on arrival and the rules are enforced. Check the current restricted items list before you pack the fridge. A bag of apples from home can mean a fine and a delay at the terminal.
Check-in for vehicles opens three hours before departure. Caravans and motorhomes use a separate lane. Allow extra time to reverse a full rig into a tight steel corridor under the crew’s direction. On arrival, vehicles are offloaded in reverse loading order, so if you were loaded early, expect a 30 – 45 minute wait. Plan the first night’s camp within 90 minutes of Devonport.
Rules of the Road
Add 30% to Every Drive Time
Mapping apps calculate drive times for a car at open-road speeds. A caravan doing 80 km/h on a sealed road, 60 km/h on gravel and 40 km/h through highland switchbacks will take considerably longer than the app suggests. Add 25 – 30% to every time estimate as a baseline, more if the route crosses the West Coast or any highland section above 600 m.
Wildlife and After-Dark Driving
Tasmania has the highest wildlife strike rate of any Australian state. Wallabies, pademelons, wombats, Tasmanian devils and possums feed at dusk and through the night, and they feed at the road’s edge. The practical rule for lap of Tasmania travellers is simple: be unhitched and parked up before dark. A wombat strike at highway speed is a $6,000 – $10,000 repair bill on a remote road with no mobile coverage. It ends the trip.
Aim for camp by 4 pm in winter (dark by 5:30 pm) and 6 pm in summer. If you are running late, pull over and wait rather than pushing through dusk.
Rob’s Tip: When using free or low-cost camping (which our itineraries lean on heavily) we plan to arrive as early as possible. In Tasmania, we aimed to arrive prior to lunch.
National Parks Pass
Tasmania’s national parks require a vehicle pass. The Holiday Pass covers a single vehicle for up to 8 weeks and covers all parks on the island, including Freycinet, Mount Field, Cradle Mountain and the Tasman Peninsula. Buy it before you arrive or at the first park entry station. Some remote entry points are unstaffed and require self-registration. Current prices are on the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service website: the figures in travel guides date quickly.
Related Tasmania Guides
- Spirit of Tasmania Guide: Booking strategy, rig logistics, cabin options and biosecurity
- West Coast Tasmania Road Trip: Strahan, Queenstown, the Tarkine and the Murchison Highway
- Central Highlands Tasmania: The Great Lakes, the Nineteen Lagoons and the highland plateau
- Cradle Mountain National Park: Access, walks, camping and the shuttle system
- Southern Tasmania and Bruny Island: Huon Valley, the Far South and the island ferry
- Tarkine Drive Itinerary: The Arthur-Pieman Conservation Area loop in detail
- Best Free Camps Tasmania: Council reserves, forestry camps and national park campgrounds by region
- Best Walks in Tasmania: Half-day and full-day options suitable for caravanners
- Top Attractions Tasmania: The headline stops ranked and explained
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