Tasmania is our favourite place in Australia. You could easily spend a month or two exploring this place.
Spectacular landscapes, beaches, natural beauty, pretty little townships – this is the east coast of Tasmania. It is one of the most scenic coastal drives with something different at each twist and turn.
We started from Hobart driving towards Coles bay and our first stop was the Devil’s Corner – The Cellar door and lookout. We enjoyed the panoramic views across the Moulting Lagoon to the Hazards mountains at Coles Bay from the top of the tower. It is the perfect place to enjoy a glass of wine looking at the stunning view except the cold wind was getting a bit uncomfortable!
We continued our drive towards the Freycinet National Park – a beautiful peninsula of pink granite mountains (the Hazards) surrounded by turquoise bays, white beaches, and eucalyptus forest.
There are several walks and drives to various bays. We found the staff at the visitor centre very helpful with user-friendly maps and classification of walks as easy or medium or hard.
The most challenging walk was to view the beautiful Wineglass bay. It took a bit of effort with a 3 km return walk. The others were shorter:
Sleepy Bay – with some great lookouts and photo opportunities.
Honeymoon Bay – a cosy beach popular for swimming, or relaxation or even a picnic.
Another view not to be missed is Cape Tourville Lighthouse and lookout which has sweeping views over the Tasman Sea. It is a 15-minute steep drive and then a short walk around the lookout and up to the lighthouse.
We drove further north towards Bicheno, which happens to be a popular holiday destination in Tasmania. It is a lovely little seaside town but we did not stay here. We wanted to check out the famous Bicheno Blowhole but that did not work out. We decided to keep it for our next visit.
As it was getting dark, we rushed to check into a B & B at St. Marys. The next morning we set out to explore a cheese factory and a waterfall, located a bit inland.
Pyengana Dairy located in the beautiful Pyengana Valley was an interesting visit. They produce handcrafted cheese and dairy products. The Farmgate Café provides visitors an opportunity to see the cheese-making, enjoy cheese tasting and relish their gourmet platters and tea.
There was another attraction!
It was fun to watch the cows lining up to get milked.
They got rewarded with massages with an automatic back-scratcher!!
Next was a short drive to St. Columba Falls. These are said to be one of Tasmania’s tallest permanent falls at 90m. The falls themselves were amazing. From the car park and the trailhead we were able to get distant views of the falls from across the gorge.
It is a lovely walk of about 45 minutes to the main falls through a rainforest. The walk was easy while going down but much harder going up! Probably a sign informing people about the difficulty of the walk would have been useful to older citizens or people with bad knees.
We then drove back on the coastal drive northwards – first to the azure Binalong Bay and then to the stunning Bay of Fires! The views were jaw-dropping – rocks covered with bright orange lichen which look spectacular in the daylight, especially with their contrast against the turquoise of the ocean water.
That was the end of our lovely two-day drive in the east coast of Tasmania!
![Tasmania Tasmania](https://leisurelydrives.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Explore-the-East-Coast-of-Tasmania4R.jpg?x89288)
![Bay of Fires in Tasmania, Australia Bay of Fires in Tasmania, Australia](https://leisurelydrives.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Explore-the-East-Coast-of-TasmaniaR.jpg?x89288)
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This brought back some wonderful memories of travelling in Tassie. Freycinet National Park is stunning as is Wineglass bay. The entire East coastline of Tassie is such a pristine natural environment.
I did a similar trip to this, it is just a gorgeous coastline isn’t it. I loved Freycinet National Park however the hike to the lookout point over Wineglass Bay was certainly a trek! Well worth it in the end.
The Tasmania coastline looks like it just keeps getting better and better the more you see of it. My favorites is Wineglass bay, which looks stunning, and by the look of your photo – well worth the effort it took to get there.
This brought back happy memories. I spent a month in a campervan exploring Tasmania. Wasn’t that impressed with Hobart, but the countryside and the coastline were fab. And the wildlife too – first time I saw wombats and Tasmanian devils in the wild!
The journey along East Coast of Tasmania seems like just the thing to do when visiting this island. Your photos are stunning and has inspired me to have it on my list. Would love to attempt Wineglass Bay, who knows…but I would easily settle for a visit to St Columba Falls.
The bay that’s all round and nice in its shape, is that natural or man-made?
Either way, it looks absolutly beautiful, I would love to see it with my own eyes 🙂
I love the white sand beaches here. The color of the sea is glorious. The east coast of Tasmania is calling me now.
Wow, you’ve highlighted this part of the Tasmanian coast so beautifully through your post and the stunning photographs. The way you described the Freycinet National Park view of the pink granite mountains made me wonder how mesmerizing that view must be. This must have been such an amazing adventure and you’ve inspired me to plan a road trip like this one when we travel to Tasmania.
Wow, Tasmania is so stinkin’ beautiful! And I can only imagine the opportunities to interact with unique animals (plus everyday cows with backscratchers)!
Wow, the East Coast of Tasmania looks so beautiful. I love the photos of the waterfalls and bays. What a great place to hike and enjoy nature. I would love to get to Tasmania someday.
We spent a week travelling up the East Coast of Tasmania and loved it too. Wineglass Bay is spectacular but I would like to go back in summer and take the water taxi to all the little coves in the area. There is just so much to do in Freycinet National Park that our whole holiday could just be spent here!
Excellent information. I pinned for future use. I sure hope this damn virus goes away soon, returning to Australia is high on my lit. I’d love to spend a couple of
Months including a lot of time in Tasmania.
These views are absolutely gorgeous in photos, I can only imagine how beautiful they were in person. Thank you for taking us on your trip.
That looks like a fun and amazing adventure!
Thanks for the virtual tour of Tasmania today. A road trip along the east coast sounds like a great way to get dramatic panoramic views. I might not ever want to leave that stunning circular beach with white sand! I am sure it would take us much more than 2 days with so many great stops.
I have visited Australia many times as my sister has lived there since the early 1990’s but still haven’t made it to Tasmania. I was hoping to go on my last trip but ended up in New Zealand instead! It looks beautiful & I love the idea of this road trip. The landscapes are definitely dramatic. I really hope one day I will actually make it…fingers crossed!
Tasmania is such a beautiful place. I really enjoy reading through your guides, it’s super helpful for planning our own future itinerary. Thanks for sharing.