My Motorhome Hire Holiday in Tasmania Australia

A self-drive holiday in a motorhome is the ideal way to explore this incredible island, allowing you to travel along in a self-contained home away from home with all the necessities. You are spoilt for choice with vehicles for hire, from a 4WD Camper to a budget-priced campervan to a bigger luxury motorhome.

We chose a 4 berth motorhome to give us a bit more space. The depot for picking up and returning our motorhome was conveniently located at the airport, making it easy for us to just hop off the plane, fill out a few minutes of paperwork, familiarise ourselves with the vehicle, and set off on our adventure.

My suggestion is to pack for a range of seasons as the weather in Tasmania can change from pleasantly warm to chilly and back again within the course of a few hours. When travelling in a motorhome I would recommend using soft luggage as it is much easier to stow away, allowing you more room to relax in your motorhome.

Our starting point was Hobart, a good base for exploring many of the of the state's well-known attractions such as Port Arthur, the Cascade Brewery, the Huon Valley and my favourite: the Salamanca Markets.

Salamanca Place comes alive every Saturday morning and becomes a showcase for Tasmania's talented artists and craftsman. The markets are the perfect place to admire and purchase an array of local arts and crafts and sample and take home some of the fresh produce and gourmet delights on offer.

We found that Hobart had plenty of larger parking spaces for our motorhome, particularly around the Elizabeth Street wharf area which is central to shopping and the markets.

From Hobart we made our way along the East Coast to the Freycinet Peninsula.

The Freycinet National Park, Tasmania's oldest National Park and home to the famous Wineglass Bay was accessible in the motorhome with plenty of parking catering for larger vehicles.

A climb over Mount Amos (11/2 to 2 hours return) rewarded us with breathtaking views of Wineglass and Coles Bays.

The Big 4 Park at Coles Bay offered affordable powered sites and a range of facilities including a well-equipped camp kitchen and BBQs, laundry and internet access. A tavern, bakery and coffee shop were also nearby.

Further north we took in more beautiful coastline as we drove through the Bicheno and north to St Helens, which is the gateway to the Bay of Fires.

We were surprised to find that the access roads to the chain of beaches that make up the Bay of Fires were all accessible by 2WD vehicle and we even found some un-powered camping sites just metres from the beach (National Parks Permit is required).

The Bay of Fires was the perfect place to while away the day and drift from beach to beach beachcombing.

From the East Coast we crossed the north-east of Tasmania, through Launceston and onto the North Coast. We stayed a few nights in Ulverstone where we found holiday park accommodation conveniently located within walking distance of the beach and shops.

We used Ulverstone as a base to explore Burnie and the coastal route out to Stanley where the town's unique attraction 'The Nut' protrudes from the ocean.

We thought Burnie was just another Port town, but were surprised to find we could spend a whole day there exploring some of the town's hidden attractions.

We spent the morning at Fern Glade which is a beautiful nature reserve where you can sit patiently watching for wild platypus (we were lucky enough to see one) followed by a visit to the cheese factory to sample local delights and then lunch at the Whiskey Distillery's new restaurant.

From the North Coast we wound our way through the hinterland towards Cradle Country, our final destination before heading back to Hobart and returning our beloved motorhome.

The hinterland is a patchwork of orchids and crops growing tulips, apples, citrus, raspberries, strawberries, and much more.

When we reached the Cradle Mountain National Park we were pleased to find that the accommodation we had booked, a powered site at the Big 4 Park, was in close proximity to one of the National Parks Visitor Information Centre.

We could happily leave our motorhome on our site and use the shuttle bus for a small fee. This travelled between the information centres and the Dove Lake car park continuously each day. Although we chose to use the shuttle buses, the road to Dove Lake is accessible by 2WD vehicle and there are larger parking spaces available to larger vehicles however it was better to use the buses and take in the scenery without having to worry about pulling over to let other vehicles pass.

By hiring a motorhome for our adventure around Tasmania we were able to plan our journey as we travelled along at our own pace.

I would recommend seven days minimum to travel around the state and even then you won't see everything Tasmania has to offer. The roads were good and we found that most of the well-known National Parks and attractions were easily accessible in a 2WD vehicle.

The travelling distances were only short and you could fit a lot into one day. We found plenty of well-equipped and affordable holiday parks with excellent facilities.

A National Parks pass is required to visit most of the National Parks and obtaining one of these was easy; either in a Parks office or one of the Visitor Centres dotted throughout Tasmania.

Thanks to Auto Rentals Australia Wide for organising our motorhome hire Tasmania.

For my travel information on Fraser Island Queensland Australia visit my Fraser Island Lens.

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