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The one day you barely drive. Six hours on the water to Sarah Island and up the Gordon, then a free afternoon and Strahan's two best evenings on the same day.
The Coffee Shack, or whatever The Crays can do early
Find itIncluded - Tasmanian produce, smoked salmon, cold meats, cheeses, salads, licensed bar
Find itBushman's Bar & Cafe, or Hamer's Bistro
Find itFriday. The cruise runs daily and in all weather, so rain is not a reason to cancel - but it is a reason to dress properly.
Weather needs signal. Everything else works offline.
People's Park, walkable from town. Rainforest along Botanical Creek, and platypus occasionally at dusk.
Trailhead in MapsGuided walk around the convict settlement ruins, included in the cruise. The guiding is genuinely good.
Trailhead in MapsIncluded. Rainforest boardwalk to a 2,000-year-old Huon pine.
Trailhead in MapsHard work in soft sand, and worth it. 15 min north of Strahan.
Trailhead in MapsOnly if you skip the cruise. 104 m falls at the end of an old mining tramway.
Trailhead in MapsBOOK THIS FIRST. Departs 9:00 daily, back 15:00. Hells Gates, Sarah Island, Heritage Landing and lunch included. Check in 8:30 at 18 Esplanade. Operates in all weather.
Open in MapsNow possible on the afternoon shape if you skip the cruise - restored rack-and-pinion steam to Dubbil Barril. The two do not fit in one day.
Open in MapsFloat plane from the harbour over Frenchmans Cap and the Gordon. Weather-dependent, book on the day, and a good use of a cancelled-cruise morning.
Open in MapsNightly. Australia's longest-running play. Audience participation, so sit at the back if that horrifies you.
Open in MapsFree, at dusk, from October. Thousands of birds returning to burrows. Red torch only.
Open in MapsWorking sawmill on the waterfront milling salvaged Huon pine. Free to look around.
Open in MapsDense, chaotic photographic record of the mining town. Fits the free afternoon.
Open in MapsOld School of Mines, mineral collection, shed of steam locomotives. 40 min north if the weather is foul.
Open in MapsSix times the size of Sydney Harbour, and the cruise crosses the length of it.
Open in MapsThe narrow, brutal entrance from the Southern Ocean. Named by convicts being shipped through it.
Open in MapsPenal settlement older and harsher than Port Arthur, abandoned to the rainforest. The guided walk is the best part of the cruise.
Open in Maps30 m dunes, 15 min north. Walk in barefoot.
Open in Maps40 km of surf and nothing beyond it. Best at sunset.
Open in MapsCantilevered platform over the flooded open-cut that started the town.
Open in MapsShort steep climb for the best view over the bare hills.
Open in MapsTasmanian produce, freshly prepared on board - smoked salmon, cold meats, cheeses, salads. Licensed bar. You do not need to plan lunch today.
Open in MapsWaterfront, consistently the town's top-rated. Book, and this is the night for it.
Open in MapsOpen early enough for an 8:30 check-in.
Open in MapsThai using local salmon and Spring Bay scallops. Different from last night.
Open in MapsBeside the historic railway station, vintage fit-out. If you do the Queenstown run.
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.
Opens early enough for an 08:30 cruise check-in, which not everything does.
Open in MapsThe Franklin blockade and the Pedder campaign told properly. Good context before you see the dam.
Open in MapsA row of brightly painted fishing shacks on the harbour edge, 5 min from town.
Open in MapsIf you missed it yesterday. Fits the free afternoon perfectly.
Open in MapsFloat plane from the harbour over Frenchmans Cap. Weather-dependent, book on the day, and the obvious use of a cancelled-cruise morning.
Open in MapsRestored rack-and-pinion steam to Dubbil Barril. WATCH - it will not fit alongside the cruise. This is the alternative if you skip the boat, not an addition.
Open in Maps30 m dunes 15 min north. Hard work barefoot in soft sand, and worth it.
Open in MapsDense, chaotic photographic record of the mining town. Idiosyncratic and genuinely good.
Open in MapsRestored 1933 art-deco cinema, still showing films. Unexpected in a town like this.
Open in MapsSculpted monument to the mining era, and the National Trust blackwood staircase in the 1901 hotel across the road.
Open in MapsShort steep climb from the main street for the best view over the bare hills.
Open in MapsA 100 m hand-cut rail tunnel you drive or walk through. WATCH - the access is gravel.
Open in MapsAll sealed, and only if you choose to drive at all.
60 km · 1 hrs driving · Strahan - The Crays