In Tasmania’s capital, winter is not one thing to be escaped—it is one thing to be immersed in. When Darkish Mofo descends on Hobart every June, it brings with it an otherworldly ambiance the place hearth meets frost, and historic rituals flirt with the avant-garde. However there’s a lot extra to Hobart than its crimson cross and provocative performances.
Whether or not you’re flying in for the pageant or just craving a culture-rich escape with a aspect of decadence, Hobart delivers. And for those who do it like this—with two design-forward inns, immersive storytelling excursions, and farm-to-fork feasting—it delivers in model.
The place to remain
Begin at The Henry Jones Artwork Resort, the place Hobart’s industrial previous has been masterfully reworked right into a refined retreat. Housed in a sequence of Nineteenth-century warehouses, this waterfront resort blurs the road between gallery and boutique keep. Contained in the Deluxe Spa Harbour View Room, you’ll discover uncooked sandstone partitions, uncovered timber beams, and a deep Kohler spa bathtub. It’s a room that invitations you to decelerate and soak within the harbour views—and maybe sip a Tasmanian pinot whilst you’re at it.
The resort boasts over 400 authentic artistic endeavors, and its dedication to creativity is greater than aesthetic. Be a part of an Artwork & Historical past Tour led by the resort’s in-house curator to study the story behind the resort’s transformation from jam manufacturing unit to cultural icon. You may discover the artist-in-residence program, view the unique John Glover items up shut, and uncover how this house grew to become a serious patron of the celebrated Glover Prize.
© Darrin JamesOnly a quick stroll throughout the wharf, your subsequent check-in awaits at MACq 01 Resort—a modern, story-driven luxurious resort perched on the water’s edge. Right here, the theme is storytelling via house. Every room is impressed by a Tasmanian character—insurgent, convict, bushranger, or explorer—and each nook is designed to whisper fragments of Tasmania’s layered previous. The Superior Waterfront Room presents a soaking tub, non-public balcony, and people limitless views of the Derwent River that appear to go on eternally.
© Darrin JamesThe place to play
One of the simplest ways to get to know Hobart isn’t via its brochures, however via its storytellers—and there’s none higher than these at MACq 01. Their Hidden Hobart: Viewfinder Tour begins on the resort and winds its method alongside the waterfront, the place contributors use vintage-style retro viewfinders to see via time.
By these little gadgets, Hobart’s historic layers are actually superimposed over the fashionable metropolis—convict wharves, colonial pubs, shipyards, and bustling markets reappear earlier than your eyes. Your information narrates tales from each nook: smugglers, freed convicts, sea captains and indigenous leaders, bringing the cobbled streets to life in a method few strolling excursions handle to do. It’s half historical past lesson, half time journey, and wholly fascinating.
However it’s when night time falls that Hobart reveals its darker edge. Throughout Darkish Mofo, MACq 01 presents a particular occasion: Grave Issues – The Darkish Mofo Tour. It begins, appropriately, with a cocktail—blood pink, in fact—at The Story Bar, the place you toast to the “damned and disturbed” in true Mofo trend. From there, a cloaked storyteller leads you thru the resort’s shadowy corridors, unearthing tales of the 114 Tasmanian souls the resort honours in identify and narrative.
The tour spills out into the frigid streets of Hunter Road, the place ghost tales linger within the mist, and historical past clings to the convict-laid cobblestones. You’ll hint the steps of infamous criminals, whispering spirits, and the generally violent histories of previous Hobart City. It culminates the place all of it started—The Henry Jones, as soon as a bustling jam manufacturing unit now haunted with echoes of its previous. It’s eerie, theatrical, and to not be missed.
And simply if you assume the expertise couldn’t get extra layered, there’s Bruny Island.
A brief journey from Hobart, the Bruny Island Traveller tour with Pennicott Journeys is a full-day deep dive into Tasmania’s wild magnificence and artisanal soul. You may begin with a brisk ferry journey and be whisked right into a panorama of forested hills and windswept coastlines. Alongside the best way, you will meet passionate native producers—from the famed Bruny Island Cheese Firm, the place you’ll sip beer along with your curd, to a honey farm the place golden, bush-flavoured ice cream is served beneath the scent of eucalyptus timber.
© Darrin JamesYou’ll pause at The Neck Lookout for certainly one of Tasmania’s most iconic picture ops, stroll the traditional Mavista Rainforest, and seek for elusive white wallabies on the island’s non-public reserves. Lunch is taken beachfront, with a view that feels borrowed from a postcard, and contains seafood so contemporary it might nicely have leapt onto the plate.
By day’s finish, you are filled with flavours, tales, and sea air—every part that makes Tasmania unforgettable.
© Justin HydeThe place to eat
No Hobart keep is full with out indulging within the metropolis’s meals scene—and it begins, fittingly, with hearth.
Panorama Restaurant & Grill, nestled contained in the IXL constructing, is powered by an Asado grill fired with native Tasmanian hardwood and spent bourbon barrels. It delivers a eating expertise that’s half primal, half refined. The oysters are salty perfection. The lamb rump is seared and succulent. And the dark-wood interiors, illuminated by glowing John Glover landscapes, make you’re feeling such as you’re feasting inside a portray.
At Jam Packed Café, begin your morning with domestically roasted espresso and flaky pastries beneath the heritage beams of The Henry Jones atrium. And don’t underestimate the Story Bar at MACq 01—greater than a cocktail bar, it’s a library of Tasmanian spirit. Actually. The Gin Tales expertise guides you thru 5 gins impressed by native characters, every paired with tales of the rogue, courageous, and visionary souls who formed Tasmania’s previous. Hosted by the resort’s Grasp Storyteller, it is a tasting that delivers each perception and wonderful botanicals.
On your ultimate night time, dine at Outdated Wharf Restaurant—a surprising house that pays homage to Hobart’s maritime roots. Chef Alvin Sim’s menu is a considerate love letter to native produce: scallop pies, smoked eel, and native pepperberry sauces sit comfortably alongside conventional comforts with a twist. It’s high-end eating with deep native roots.
Last ideas
Hobart often is the gateway to Darkish Mofo, nevertheless it presents excess of midnight ceremonies and neon-drenched rituals. It’s a metropolis that whispers to those that pay attention—via its partitions, its climate, its storytellers and cooks.
When you go, go wide-eyed and go prepared. Keep someplace with historical past underfoot and artwork on the partitions. Take the tour, ask the questions, sip the gin, stroll the haunted streets. And whether or not or not you plunge into the Derwent at dawn (sure, Darkish Mofo’s Nude Solstice Swim is a factor), you’ll return residence somewhat modified.
And isn’t that what good journey is all about?
