Tasmania Travel Guide - Getting There

All direct flights come from the Australian mainland. Direct flights to Hobart arrive from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, with quick connections available from Cairns, Canberra, Darwin and Perth. Launceston, Devonport and Burnie also receive flights from the mainland. Airlines serving Tasmania include Jetstar (website: www.jetstar.com.au), Qantas (website: www.qantas.com.au), Rex Regional Express (website: www.regionalexpress.com.au), Tiger Airways (website: www.tigerairways.com.au) and Virgin Blue (website: www.virginblue.com.au). Airlines of Tasmania (website: www.airtasmania.com.au) flies to Flinders Island. King Island Airlines (website: www.kingislandair.com.au) and TasAir (website: www.tasair.com.au) fly to King Island. Both islands are directly accessible from the Australian mainland, as well as from Tasmania.

Hobart (HBA) (website: www.hiapl.com.au) lies 16km (10 miles) east of Hobart. To/from the airport: The Airporter shuttle bus runs regularly between the airport and transit centre in the central business district. A taxi into the city takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Facilities: Banks/ATMs, bars and car hire.

None.

Main port: Devonport (website: www.tasports.com.au) on the northwest coast of the island.

There are no passenger services. However, the West Coast Wilderness Railway (tel: 1800 420 155, in Australia only; website: www.federalgroup.com.au) runs a tourist service between Queenstown and Strahan; it is a reconstruction of the original Abt railway that carried ore from the mines to the coast. The railway's steam locomotives use a rack-rail system to climb the steep gradients of the rainforest wilderness it passes through. It runs for 35km (22 miles), crossing around 40 rivers and passing through restored stations. In the northwest, the Don River Railway (tel: (03) 6424 6335; website: www.donriverrailway.com.au) also runs regular excursions using both steam and diesel locomotives. For further information, contact Tourism Tasmania (see Contact Addresses).

All settlements on the island are linked by a road system running for 22,000km (13,670 miles), over which there are bus services connecting the main cities and towns. The main routes are: the Lyell Highway from Hobart to Queenstown; the Huon Highway from Hobart to Southport; the Heritage Highway from Hobart to Launceston; the Tasman Highway from Hobart along the east coast; and the Bass Highway, linking the ports of the north and northwest coast. There are 11 pre-planned touring routes to help discover the unique Tasmanian scenery and natural attractions.

Coach: Tasmania has its own coach services: Tasmanian Redline Coaches (tel: 1300 360 000; website: www.tasredline.com.au), which offers a Tassie Pass for 7, 10, 14 or 21 days of unlimited travel on its main routes and tourist destinations around Tasmania; and Tassielink Coaches (tel: 1300 300 520; website: www.tigerline.com.au) which has a comprehensive network around the state.

Bus: Local bus networks are operated in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie.