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Stanley properly in the morning, the best of the northwest coast on the way east, then south down the Murchison Highway into the mining country.
Stanley bakery and the Church St cafes; Nut Rock Cafe only opens with the 09:30 chairlift
Find itBeach cafes right on the sand
Find itRisby Cove is the town's best; Hamer's or View 42 on the waterfront; Bushman's for Thai
Find itThursday. Highfield is open daily 9:30-4:30 and the chairlift runs from 9:30, so an early start gets you both before you leave.
Weather needs signal. Everything else works offline.
Coastal heath, Sisters Beach, and Aboriginal rock shelters at North and South Cave occupied for over 8,000 years.
Trailhead in MapsTasmania's highest waterfall at 104 m, reached along an old mining tramway ending on a suspension bridge. Only if Stanley did not eat your morning.
Trailhead in MapsOn a 180 m cliff on an old volcanic crater rim. Ten minutes, big payoff.
Trailhead in MapsOpen daily 9:30-4:30, about $15. Costumed guide tours for groups, and you can try the costumes on.
Open in MapsRock lobster, giant crab and scallops straight off the boat. Eat in, or take it to the wharf.
Open in Maps130 km round trip, main loop fully sealed. Trowutta Arch, Lake Chisholm, Sumac Lookout, Julius River, Edge of the World. Needs a second Stanley night - see Options.
Open in MapsWilderness river cruise with lunch. Book ahead. Only fits the 10-day version.
Open in MapsThe cleanest air baseline station on earth, plus the turbines. Bookings essential, and it eats a morning.
Open in MapsOld School of Mines, a serious mineral collection and a shed of steam locomotives. Better than it sounds.
Open in MapsAustralia's longest-running play - a convict escape farce, performed nightly. Cheerfully terrible and locally beloved.
Open in Maps40 km of surf facing nothing until Argentina, and shearwaters returning to burrows at dusk from October.
Open in MapsMacquarie Harbour, Hells Gates, Sarah Island and the rainforest. Excellent, but it costs you a morning you do not have on this shape.
Open in MapsFloat plane from the harbour over Frenchmans Cap and the Gordon. Weather-dependent, book on the day.
Open in Maps1830s Van Diemen's Land Company headquarters - Regency house, convict barracks, stables and chapel, above Godfreys Beach.
Open in MapsBirthplace of the only Tasmanian-born Prime Minister. Small, free, and oddly affecting.
Open in MapsUp Green Hills Rd, with a frame built for photographing the Nut and the town.
Open in MapsOn a 180 m cliff on an old volcanic crater rim. The tulip farm below is finished by November.
Open in MapsSteep sealed descent to turquoise water and white sand. One of the best beaches in the state.
Open in MapsCoastal heath, quartzite headlands, and Aboriginal rock shelters occupied for more than 8,000 years.
Open in MapsWide curtain of water behind Burnie, sealed access, ten minutes off the highway.
Open in MapsRainforest picnic stop in the middle of the best stretch of the Murchison Highway.
Open in Maps30 m sand dunes 15 min north of town. Walk in barefoot.
Open in MapsEasy rainforest stroll from the edge of town.
Open in MapsAt the top of the chairlift. House-made scallop pie and Tasmanian ice cream, all day.
Open in MapsCompact strip, all walkable from anywhere in town.
Open in MapsRight on the sand at one of the state's best beaches.
Open in MapsHandy if you skip Boat Harbour.
Open in MapsOne of very few options between Somerset and Zeehan. Check hours.
Open in MapsWaterfront, consistently the town's top-rated. Book ahead.
Open in MapsFront-row seats over Macquarie Harbour.
Open in MapsOn The Esplanade. Petuna salmon and ocean trout.
Open in MapsThai using local salmon and Spring Bay scallops. A west coast oddity that works.
Open in MapsNothing here is scheduled. This is what else is on today's road, roughly in the order you pass it - for when a walk gets cut short or the weather turns.
Small-batch whisky and gin, 100 m off the Bass Highway at Table Cape. WATCH - open weekends and by appointment on weekdays, and you pass on a Thursday. Ring ahead or skip.
Open in MapsOn the sand. Turquoise water, and the steep sealed descent is fun in itself.
Open in MapsLast coffee before the Murchison. Take it - there is very little for 150 km.
Open in Maps1850s bluestone store on the waterfront, plus the working fishing fleet.
Open in MapsAbove the town, with the framed Nut view most people miss.
Open in MapsSeparate from the lighthouse, and the better angle back over the farmland on the crater rim.
Open in MapsShort trails through coastal heath in Rocky Cape NP. Honeyeaters and wrens.
Open in MapsAboriginal rock shelters occupied for more than 8,000 years. Signed from the park road, and among the most significant sites in the state.
Open in MapsIf you did not stop yesterday. The veteran Ford collection is the best motoring stop on the trip.
Open in MapsRainforest picnic area and short riverside loop, halfway down the best stretch of the A10.
Open in MapsA waterfall in the middle of a former mining town, with a lake and an odd end-of-the-road feel. About 15 min off the Murchison on sealed road.
Open in MapsTasmania's highest at 104 m, along an old mining tramway to a suspension bridge. 7 km of gravel in from Williamsford. The big optional walk of the day.
Open in MapsOld School of Mines, a serious mineral collection and a shed of steam locomotives. Better than the town suggests.
Open in MapsWorking mill on the waterfront, cutting salvaged Huon pine. Free to walk around, and the smell is the point.
Open in MapsThe restored terminus of the wilderness railway, and a flat foreshore walk back into town.
Open in MapsOut past Ocean Beach to the harbour entrance. Watch the swell run through Hells Gates from the land side before you do it by boat tomorrow.
Open in MapsAll sealed. Skip Montezuma Falls today - you have a spare afternoon tomorrow.
310 km · 4.7 hrs driving · Strahan - The Crays (2 nights)