Port Arthur from Hobart: Historic Site, Harbour Cruise and the Tasman Peninsula
5 min read
Port Arthur is a long day, not an afternoon: the site lies south-east of Hobart on the Tasman Peninsula, and its official website puts the drive at about 90 minutes. For a first visit, take a tour that includes site entry, which comes with a short harbour cruise, and add a wilderness cruise only if the coast matters as much as the history.
| Tour | Length | From | Rating | What is added |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port Arthur, Tasman sights and harbour cruise | 8 hours | €96.70 | 4.8/5 from 494 reviews | Choice of 3 or 4 hours at the site |
| Port Arthur and Tasman Park full-day trip with cruise | 8.5 to 9 hours | €99.82 | 4.7/5 from 474 reviews | Richmond bridge and a chocolate stop |
| Port Arthur, Tassie devils, Richmond and Tasman National Park | 10 hours | €127.90 | 4.8/5 from 457 reviews | Devil Unzoo, clifftop walk, groups up to 17 (another line on the page says 18) |
| Tasman Peninsula tour, cruise and Port Arthur | 10.5 hours | €215.25 | 4.9/5 from 386 reviews | 3-hour wilderness cruise, morning tea and lunch |
At the Historic Site
According to Port Arthur’s own site the Historic Site opens every day from 9am to 5pm and closes only on Christmas Day. The Gray Line tour counts over 30 restored buildings and ruins, among them the penitentiary, the separate prison, the commandant’s house and the church. How long you get depends on the tour: three or four hours on the 8-hour tour, about four hours on the Gray Line day, three hours on the Pennicott day and about 2.25 hours on the Tours Tasmania day, according to their itineraries. Port Arthur’s site entry page says general admission includes free 10 to 15-minute guide talks throughout the day and a complimentary 20-minute harbour cruise, so every tour here that includes site entry comes with both. Three of the booking pages list that cruise, which the Tours Tasmania page describes as a trip around the Isle of the Dead; the Pennicott day includes site entry too, so ask whether its three hours leave time for the cruise.
What the four tours differ on
The 8-hour tour with harbour cruise is the most flexible: it leaves Hobart at 9:30am, calls at Pirates Bay Lookout, a chocolate factory and a lavender farm, and lets you choose three or four hours at the site. The three-hour option adds Remarkable Cave, for which a Parks Pass fee is paid on the bus. It runs on a strict timetable and, according to the page, there is no refund if you are late. The booking page lists wheelchair users as not suitable.
The Gray Line full-day trip crosses the Coal River Valley, stops at the convict-built bridge in Richmond and stops at a chocolate shop on the way back, with Port Arthur admission and a harbour cruise included. On Saturdays the page says the tour visits Salamanca Market for about two hours first and drops the cave, Richmond and the chocolate stop.
The small-group Tours Tasmania day adds the Waterfall Bay clifftop walk, a devil feeding at the Unzoo, and Richmond on the way back. It needs reasonable fitness and good mobility, the minimum age is 8, and meals are not included. Free cancellation ends two days before the tour, not 24 hours as on the other three. For more on seeing the animals, read our devil guide.
The Pennicott day gives three hours on a custom-built boat along the coast between Port Arthur and Eaglehawk Neck, morning tea, lunch and three hours at the site; you are dropped back at around 6pm. If you only want the boat, a Cape Raoul cruise lasts about 90 minutes and meets at Jetty Road in Port Arthur, so you need your own way there.
Recommendation
For most first visits the 8-hour tour at €96.70 is the balanced choice, because you decide how long to stay. Take the Pennicott day with the cruise at €215.25 if the sea cliffs matter, and the Tassie devils day at €127.90 if you want the animals as well. The full list is on the Port Arthur tours page.
