Things to do in Launceston
And where to stay, the best time to visit, what a day costs, and the traps to skip.
Best time to visit Launceston
• a note or something on ✦ an occasion worth the trip
Summer peak: Gorge swimming, long evenings, lavender, maximum penguins and late golf daylight, with peak prices.
Autumn is best overall for food and wine, with harvest and vintage, market produce, colour and thinning crowds.
Winter is quiet, cheap and cosy, but the Gorge pool is closed, lavender is dormant and June to July are the worst first visit months.
Spring is underrated, with wildflowers, rebuilding penguin numbers and shoulder golf rates, but the most changeable weather.
What's on
- Festivale first weekend of February
Premium food and wine festival in City Park with about 30,000 patrons, 80 plus stalls and masterclasses.
- Evandale Village Fair & National Penny Farthing Championships February
Village fair in Georgian Evandale built around the national penny farthing racing championships.
- Launceston Cup February
Race day of Launceston's summer racing carnival, with a local public holiday in the city.
- Bridestowe Lavender peak bloom mid-December to mid-January
The lavender rows turn purple, with lavender ice cream and scones at the estate cafe.
- Agfest early May
Three day agricultural field days at Quercus Park, Carrick, with local traffic and accommodation spikes.
- The Turning of the Fagus late April to early May
Australia's only native deciduous tree turns gold and red in the high country, best seen on a Cradle trip.
- Unwind Festival August
About ten days of waterfront saunas, Gorge cold plunges and candlelit yoga in winter.
- Junction Arts Festival mid-September
Four days of contemporary art, performance and music across Princes Square and city venues, with 35 plus events.
Best things to do in Launceston
Cataract Gorge Reserve
Wild dolerite gorge 15 minutes from the CBD, with First Basin, a free pool, gardens, peacocks and the Alexandra Suspension Bridge.
Gorge Scenic Chairlift
Chairlift over First Basin claiming the world's longest single span, best ridden one way with a track walk back.
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery
Australia's largest regional museum, split between Inveresk natural science and history and the Royal Park art gallery.
City Park
Victorian park with elms, the John Hart Conservatory, a duck pond and the famous Japanese macaque enclosure.
Harvest Launceston Community Farmers' Market
Saturday farmers' market where northern Tasmanian producers sell meat, dairy, bread, berries, wine and hot breakfast stalls.
James Boag Brewery Experience
Guided brewery tour since 1881 ending in a tasting paddle, best on a weekday when production is actually running.
Tamar Island Wetlands
Flat boardwalk circuit over the Tamar wetlands to Tamar Island, with bird hides, black swans, pelicans and egrets.
National Automobile Museum of Tasmania
Rotating collection of classic, vintage and performance cars and motorcycles that wins over even sceptical visitors.
Where to stay in Launceston
CBD / City Centre
first trip, food focused and car free stays
Walkable to the market, museums, City Park, heritage core and nearly every top restaurant, with the Gorge 15 minutes on foot.
Seaport & Riverside / Kings Park waterfront
river views and a food and wine weekend
Redeveloped wharf with boardwalks and marina views, Mudbar and Hallam's on the doorstep and the CBD a short stroll away.
Invermay
the Peppers Silo hotel itself, footy weekends and easier parking
Across the North Esk around the Silo precinct, QVMAG Inveresk and UTAS Stadium, a short drive or walk to the CBD.
East / South Launceston
families, groups and longer car based stays
Leafy Victorian house suburbs full of apartments, B&Bs and holiday houses with parking, a short drive to dinner.
Tamar Valley / Relbia / Rosevears
second visits, wine focused weekends and honeymoons
Wake among vines and lunch at cellar doors, then drive 20 to 35 minutes back to the city for dinner, or stay and eat at the winery.
Think twice about
- Invermay Road / Mowbray highway motel strip
Busy arterial with industrial neighbours and nothing walkable for dinner. The motels are not dangerous, just depressing and car locked.
- Kings Meadows / Hobart Road commercial strip
Big box retail and fast food frontage in far South Launceston, soulless at night and a drive to everything.
- Ravenswood, Rocherlea, Mayfield and Waverley
Outer residential suburbs 10 to 20 minutes out with limited visitor amenities, limited late transport and nothing to walk to.
- George Street pub strip
Late night drinking crowds and laneway noise on Friday and Saturday nights. Light sleepers should take a room set back from George Street.
Best restaurants in Launceston
Stillwater
The special occasion number one, seasonal tasting menus of Tasmanian produce in the 1830s Ritchies Flour Mill.
Black Cow Bistro
Steak pilgrimage in a former butcher's shop, devoted to Cape Grim and Robbins Island Wagyu Tasmanian beef.
Mudbar
Waterfront Asian fusion at the Seaport, known for oysters, duck tacos, soft shell crab and a long lunch.
Pachinko
Twenty seat locals' favourite doing modern Asian share plates, with a Feed Me menu regulars surrender to.
Josef Chromy Restaurant
Hatted winery restaurant in the 1880s homestead overlooking the lake and vineyard, the celebration lunch splurge.
Grain of the Silos
Peppers Silo restaurant serving Tasmanian paddock to plate menus from breakfast through dinner over the river.
Diverge
Hotel Verge restaurant with Lease 65 oysters, Huon salmon and Cape Grim beef, a bookable central fallback.
Me Wah
Long running fine Cantonese institution with banquet cooking and live seafood tradition, a locals' occasion pick.
Best bars in Launceston
Cinco Passiones
Wine and cocktail bar with cheese plates's bar line up in a wine bar city, not a club city.
Saint John Craft Beer
Craft beer bar, one of Launceston's best, fitting the dinner and wine bar pace of the evenings.
Best coffee in Launceston
Amelia's Espresso
George Street espresso stop open from 7am, in our short list of reliable CBD coffee.
Felix Espresso & Wine
Coffee by morning and pasta and wine by lunch on Cimitiere Street, part of our benchmark coffee line up.
Outdoor things to do in Launceston
Barnbougle Dunes
Australia's top ranked public access links, a walking course in huge coastal dunes about an hour from Launceston.
Barnbougle Lost Farm
Twenty hole Coore and Crenshaw links beside the Dunes, wider off the tee with bigger dunes and a Top 50 world ranking.
Bougle Run
Fourteen hole short course at Barnbougle, mostly par 3s, loved by time poor golfers and non obsessives.
Country Club Tasmania
Resort golf ten minutes south of the city, an 18 hole championship course in large garden and bush grounds.
Launceston Golf Club
One of Australia's oldest golf clubs, founded 1899, offering honest social rounds at local club prices.
Riverside Golf Club
Local club golf at the cheap tier, a relaxed social round without the Barnbougle theatre or price.
Josef Chromy Wines
Closest and best single Tamar cellar door stop, a traditional method sparkling house with a hatted restaurant.
Pipers Brook Vineyard
One of Tasmania's oldest and largest vineyards in the Pipers River sparkling wine district north east of the city.
Best hotels in Launceston
The Florance
Twelve room restored Victorian boutique hotel overlooking City Park, the couples and occasion pick in the CBD.
Stillwater Seven
Seven room boutique stay in the Stillwater mill precinct on the river, the highest scored hotel in the city.
Hotel Verge
Modern design hotel opposite City Park and Albert Hall, the mid range benchmark and first all round recommendation.
Hotel Grand Chancellor Launceston
Large full service CBD hotel and a day tour pick up point, with more facilities and less character than Verge.
Pod Inn
Capsule pod hotel in the CBD with clean private pods and shared facilities, the budget pick reviewers endorse.
Arthouse Hostel
Classic backpacker hostel near the Gorge and CBD edge, with dorms and cheap private rooms, social and basic.
Launceston Backpackers
Budget backpacker stay near the CBD with dorms and cheap privates, fine if expectations stay at hostel level.
Peppers Seaport Launceston
Ship shaped waterfront hotel in the Seaport building, with spacious suites, kitchens, balconies and river views.
Is Launceston expensive? What a day costs
| Budget | A$140 a person |
|---|---|
| Classic | A$275 a person |
| Splurge | A$550 a person |
A day of food, drink, sights and getting around, before the room
What to book ahead
- James Boag Brewery Experience: a few days ahead
- Barnbougle Dunes: months ahead
- Barnbougle Lost Farm: months ahead
- Bougle Run: weeks ahead
- Josef Chromy Wines: weeks ahead
- Valleybrook Wine on Wheels: weeks ahead
- Treetops Adventure Hollybank: weeks ahead
- Dove Lake Circuit: weeks ahead
- Barnbougle tee times go weeks to months ahead in October to April, especially weekends.
- Stillwater and Black Cow dinners need one to three weeks for Friday and Saturday nights.
- Book Cradle Mountain day tours, the Hollybank zipline, penguin tours, Seahorse World and Platypus House ahead.
- Festivale weekend and Agfest accommodation genuinely fills the city, so book those stays early.
Is Launceston safe?
- Very safe by international standards, including for solo travellers, with normal city awareness.
- Wildlife on rural roads at dawn, dusk and night is the top driving hazard, especially on the Tamar highways and Cradle road.
- Winter mornings bring black ice and valley fog, and Tasmanian UV is fierce even at 20 degrees.
- Lock cars at trailheads and download offline maps, as coverage is patchy at Cradle and in the north east.
Launceston travel tips: tourist traps to skip
- Bridestowe Lavender out of season, February to November, when full entry buys a look at green rows.
- James Boag on a weekend expecting a working brewery, when the plant is silent and groups are larger.
- Tasmania Zoo as a wildlife pick, and the Sunday Esk Market sold as a farmers' market when it is a flea and craft market.
- Freycinet or Bay of Fires as a rushed day trip, where five hours of driving crowds out the place itself.
Getting around Launceston: public transport and more
- Fly into Launceston Airport, 15 minutes south, with direct flights from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane.
- Walk the compact CBD and rent a car at the airport for the Tamar Valley, Barnbougle, Cradle, penguins and lavender.
- Public transport is thin Metro Tasmania buses, and no headline excursion is a realistic bus trip.
- Pre book a transfer for airport arrivals after about 9pm, as late night rideshare depth is limited.
Who Launceston suits
| Solo travellers | Good |
|---|---|
| Groups of friends | Good |
| Couples | Great |
| Bachelor parties | Good |
| Families | Good |
| Bachelorette parties | Good |
Make Launceston your trip
Swearby drafts the days from places people swear by. Swap any stop, then invite the crew by text, even friends without the app. Vote on dates, track costs as you go, and everyone gets one number at the end.
Get Swearby on the App Store