Wineglass Bay in Tasmania is famous for being one of the most beautiful beaches in the world, and has long been high on my travel wishlist. Located in Freycinet National Park on the beautiful East Coast of Tasmania, we visited in September on a 3-day trip from Melbourne. We built our 3 day itinerary around visiting Wineglass Bay & Freycinet, with some time spent in Launceston & the Tamar Valley. Wineglass Bay was even more beautiful than I’d imagined, and I loved being able to spend a few days within gorgeous Freycinet National Park. As always, Tasmania over-delivered on pristine natural beauty, fresh air and divine seafood.
We flew into Launceston, drove to Freycinet National Park and stayed at Freycinet Lodge, and then drove through the Tamar Valley wine region on our way back to Launceston for our return flight.
Freycinet National Park is famous for being home to Wineglass Bay and The Hazards, five mountains that create a striking backdrop to the park. Freycinet National Park is on Tasmania’s east coast, and is a 2 hour drive from Launceston. We visited over the AFL Grand Final long weekend (yes, Victorians get a long weekend for the footy final!). Late September can be a great time for an outdoorsy trip, providing it doesn’t rain. There is more rainfall on the east coast of Tasmania in September, but we were lucky and had lots of sunshine.
Tasmania is one of my favourite travel destinations in Australia, and we haven’t been since we moved home from New York City. Our last trip was probably in 2017 or 2018, and both trips so far have been to Hobart, Tasmania’s very charming capital in the south of the island. We’d planned to spend our 10 year anniversary at Cradle Mountain Lodge in Tasmania last year, but we got snowed out at the last minute. We were both SO excited to return to Tassie! All weekend, we kept saying to each other how much we loved being in Tasmania and that we have to return more often.
Launceston
Launceston, or “Launnie” as it’s affectionately known, is Tasmania’s second largest city with a population of just 80,000 people. It’s the second oldest city in Australia, after Sydney, and so the streets are lined with beautiful historic buildings.
Rather than driving straight to Freycinet National Park from the airport, we flew into Launceston on Thursday night and stayed overnight at the Grand Chancellor Launceston. The rooms are large, well maintained and very comfortable, and it was very affordable compared to what you’d get for the same price in other parts of Australia. I’m really glad we had a little bit of time in Launceston, as it’s a very charming city!
On Friday morning, we had breakfast at Bread & Butter, a popular bakery-cafe in an old warehouse in the centre of town. There’s a full a la carte breakfast menu, alongside a mouthwatering cabinet of pastries, baguettes and cookies. Heaven! Afterwards, we had a quick stroll around the pretty Princess Gardens across the street, before driving to Cataract Gorge on the edge of town.
Cataract Gorge
Cataract Gorge is a must-visit in Launceston. Just a 4 minute drive from the city, the reserve is a scenic and tranquil spot. We were there for just half an hour, and it was a worthy detour, but there are longer hikes you can do if you want to stay longer.
We did a very short walk across the gorge, and looped back around on the King’s Bridge, to admire the gorge from all sides. There is a pool on the lawn facing into the gorge, which is a popular spot to swim in summer, and a scenic chairlift that traverses the gorge. I’m really glad we made the stop here, it was a beautiful start to the day!
Freycinet National Park
It’s a pleasant 2-hour drive from Launceston to Freycinet National Park. Most of the drive is through bucolic rolling hills and farmland, dotted with sheep and, to my absolute delight, lots of adorable spring lambs!
We’d hired a car with Hertz, and got a free upgrade to a Ford Ranger. A small car would have been fine, but we were glad we had the bigger car for better visibility and a more comfortable drive on the odd unsealed road we came across.
On the drive to Freycinet, we stopped briefly at Devil’s Corner Winery to enjoy the view from their purpose-built lookout, which looks towards the Hazards. Once we reached Coles Bay Road, the landscape changes to a more classically Australian scene, with towering eucalypt forest on either side of the gently winding road.
The closest town to Freycinet National Park is Coles Bay, where we stopped briefly for a quick bite. We stopped at Granite, a bakery-cafe by day and restaurant by night, and had a classic Aussie road trip meal of a meat pie & a vanilla slice. Truly the best vanilla slice in Australia!
Staying at Freycinet Lodge
Freycinet Lodge is located inside Freycinet National Park, which makes it the best place to stay if you’re visiting. However, the small town of Coles Bay is just a few minutes drive from the park, so you can find other accommodation options there too.
We were staying in a cabin, which was large and comfortable. The cabin had high ceilings, a nook looking into the forest, a large and beautiful bathroom, and a small deck with partial bay views. The railing on the deck was a bit ugly, and a bit rusty, but it was a bit too cool to spend too much time out there anyway.
We were planning to do two hikes while we were there – Wineglass Bay and Mt Amos. There was only a little info about Mt Amos online, so I asked at the front desk. We were advised that it was simple once you knew how to scramble up, but warned that we might struggle if we got vertigo or had a problem with heights. I am very scared of heights, so we decided to see how we felt on Sunday and make a call then.
Once we got to our cabin, we suddenly felt very lazy! We thought we might do the Wineglass Bay hike that afternoon, but I’m glad we didn’t. It was overcast, and we had much better weather the next day. There was a complimentary bottle of Tasmanian sparkling in the fridge, so we got into that instead!
Wineglass Bay Hike
Wineglass Bay is one of the most beautiful beaches in Australia. The beach itself is only accessible via a steep, moderately challenging bush walk, which takes a couple of hours return. If hiking isn’t for you, you can see the bay on a Wineglass Bay Cruise or take a scenic flight. I would have loved to have time for the cruise as well, since you can spot seals, dolphins and whales along the way, but we didn’t have time for both!
The hike has a very clearly marked path, and didn’t involve any scrambling or climbing. You don’t need to be an experienced hiker from a technical perspective, but you do need a good level of fitness as it is nearly entirely uphill. The walk back up the mountainside from Wineglass Beach has 1000 stairs, and I felt every one of them!
If you’re up for a moderately challenging hike, but are unsure about whether you’re up for the steep return hike to the beach, you can stop at the Wineglass Bay Lookout. You’ll still need to do a few kilometres of uphill hiking, but you can skip the steepest part (the return hike to the beach) and enjoy the spectacular view over Wineglass Bay from the lookout instead. There’s a lot of fuss online about whether to do the beach path first or go to the lookout first – it doesn’t matter.
The lookout is just a few steps from where the path splits to Lookout or Beach. We went to the lookout first, which was a nice place to pause and catch our breath before heading on the longer trek down to the beach.
The team at the lodge warned us not to try and make a loop of the hike, to avoid a return journey. Lots of hikers try to make a loop, rather than turning around at Wineglass Bay Beach, and it is actually much much longer.
We spent about 45-60 minutes hanging out on the beach at Wineglass Bay, before the return journey. It was nice to have a rest, but I also loved that it was a hike with a true destination at the end where it was easy to spend a bit of time. Often hikes result in a view, but with not much room at the top of a lookout for relaxing and enjoying the view.
Honeymoon Bay
After the Wineglass Bay hike, we stopped at Honeymoon Bay on the way back to the Lodge. It’is a very pretty spot, and much more accessible than Wineglass Bay. The carpark is just steps from the beach. It’s not a swimming beach, and while it’s not quite as magnificent as Wineglass Bay, it’s still very beautiful and worth visiting.
Restaurants & Bars at Freycinet Lodge
Freycinet Lodge has three on-site bars & restaurants. The Hazards Lounge is a large common area, with high ceilings, stone fireplaces and couches, and the bar. It has an all-day menu and offers a variety of wine, whiskey and spirits flights. A long wraparound deck offers stunning views over a small bay and Richardson’s Beach, and we ate breakfast (included) here every morning. The included breakfast is a la carte, and everything we had was fresh and delicious. It was the most glorious start to the day!
The Bay restaurant is the lodge’s premium restaurant offering. On our first night, we dined at The Bay Restaurant and splurged on the seafood tower. Everything tastes better in Tasmania, but especially Tasmanian seafood! It was a true feast, and had us both reminiscing about the seafood dinner we had on the beach during our honeymoon in Fiji (which I’m yet to write about!).
We returned to the Hazards Bar on Saturday afternoon, after our hike, and I did the Tasmanian wine flight, which was great value. The Hazards Bar has a cozy lodge atmosphere, and was a great space to drop in and relax.
On our final night we had dinner at Richardson’s Bistro, which is a very casual dining space. I had the fish burger, which was a little bit underwhelming, but Dave enjoyed his beef burger. The sunset from the deck though, was stunning!
The team at Freycinet Lodge were all very warm and friendly, particularly David & Kornelia on the front desk and Sam in the restaurant.
Ross
On the drive back from Freycinet to Launceston, we made detours to the small town of Ross, and the Tamar Valley.
Ross is a tiny town in the Tasmanian Heartlands. My grandmother texted me on Friday, to let me know that my great great great grandfather arrived in Tasmania from England in the 1830s, and settled in Ross. He was a stonemason, so he built the beautiful pub in town, now called the Man O Ross, as well as many other buildings in town around it. The pub still stands today, it is a very beautiful sandstone building, with one side that to me looks very English, and opens onto a lovely English garden.
A proper country bakery is a must-visit when you’re travelling around Australia, and the bakery in Ross is one of the best. They offer Tasmania’s signature scallop pies, but we couldn’t go past the pepper steak pie and another vanilla slice. I could go back to this bakery a dozen times and still not run out of things to order – it has all of the Australian classics, and it all looks beautiful. It was easily the best pie we’ve ever had, and we were very sad to drive away!
Tamar Valley
The Tamar Valley is Tasmania’s largest wine region, and is renowned for its cool climate sparkling wine, chardonnay and pinot noir. It’s just a 30 minute drive from Launceston, and is a beautiful area with rolling hills and farmland framing the Tamar River.
We visited three wineries, and also made a quick stop at Grindelwald, a Swiss-themed village.
Josef Chromy
Our first winery stop was Josef Chromy, which is just south of Launceston. I love Josef Chromy wines, and the cellar door is truly stunning. A shaded picnic area & the cellar door overlook a small lake, making it one of the prettiest wineries to visit. Josef Chromy has beautiful wines, we took home a bottle of chardonnay.
Tamar Ridge
Next up was Tamar Ridge, which coincidentally has the same owners as Devil’s Corner, a winery we stopped in at on our way to Freycinet National Park. We’d stopped at Devil’s Corner just for the view from their lookout, so it was nice that we got a chance to try their wines as well, at the Tamar Ridge Tasting. We had a snack here, and enjoyed a varied tasting.
Grindelwald Swiss Village
The village of Grindelwald is a bit of a novelty. I thought this might be a little bit like Solvang, the Danish-themed village in California, or the German village Hahndorf in South Australia. Grindelwald is much smaller, and is mostly contained to a village square of small shops. It’s attached to a resort and golf course, which explains it a bit, and was developed in the 1980s by a Dutch-born property developer and shopkeeper, who lived in the area and was inspired after a family holiday to Switzerland. We stopped for an ice cream (delicious), and kept going. I wouldn’t recommend going out of your way to stop here,, but it was right near Tamar Ridge winery and we wanted to stretch out time between our wine tastings.
Swinging Gate Vineyard
Our final stop was Swinging Gate Vineyard, which offered the most memorable cellar door experience of the three. The farmhouse-style tasting room is small and cosy, and our tasting was led by the winemaker himself. We tried their traditional wines, as well as some pet nat – the ancient, and original form of sparkling wine, which is trending again at the moment. I haven’t liked much pet nat that I’ve tried, but both of the wines here were lovely – we even bought a bottle!
In their vineyards, they have a few glamping domes – what an idyllic place to stay!
Back to Launceston
We had just enough time for dinner in Launceston before heading to the airport. Not many restaurants are open on a Sunday, including the restaurant we chose which advertised as being open! Luckily, a few doors down we found Havilah, a gorgeous little wine bar with a short but delicious dining menu. We sat at the bar, enjoyed a glass of wine and shared some karaage chicken and ravioli, which was lovely.
Our flight was scheduled for 8pm, so I expected some delays. The two flights before us were delayed, for different reasons, so we ended up leaving 1.5 hours after we were scheduled. We were tired, but it’s to be expected when you’re catching the last flight of the day.
As usual, we loved every minute of our time in Tasmania! I loved seeing a new corner of the state. Tasmania always delivers on scenic landscapes, beautiful food and friendly, small-town charm.
Flights, Accommodation & Car Hire for Freycinet National Park
- Flights: Melbourne – Launceston return, with Jetstar
- Car: Hire car through Hertz, got a free upgrade to a Ford Ranger, which the person on the desk encouraged for Tassie roads – I’m so glad we did! We didn’t strictly need a 4WD, but it was very comfortable and there were a few unsealed roads along the way
- Accomm: Freycinet Lodge in Freycinet National Park, and Grand Chancellor in Launceston
- Parks Pass: You need a pass to drive inside the national park, we bought this for $45 from the front desk at Freycinet Lodge
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