All aboard for Tasmania’s greatest heritage adventures

Do your historic daydreams lean toward going up, up and away, messing about with boats, horsing around or riding the rails? They become reality in the island state, where stepping back in time isn’t limited to amazing museums and beautiful old buildings.

Hot-air balloon flights

Floating above Tassie’s north with Liberty Balloon Flights or Hot Air Balloon Tasmania is an unforgettable experience. The pre-dawn start’s richly rewarded when you’re hundreds of metres in the air, in total stillness and silence (except for an occasional gas-burner blast!). Watch the sunrise as mists clear to reveal the landscape below; April and May’s autumn colour is particularly stunning. Depending on wind direction, you might see the Tamar or Meander valleys, Launceston, the Northern Midlands or even the coast.

Horse-drawn carriage rides

Exploring Hobart’s historic heart is taken to a whole new – or should that be old? – level with Heritage Horse Drawn Carriages. Two handsome horsies and an informative top-hatted driver will guide you around, from 30-minute jaunts in Salamanca or on the waterfront, to the 90-minute Trot Through Time that’s heaven for history buffs. Extra-special experiences include romance packages with sparkling wine and chocolate, mini on-board high-teas, and magical unicorn tours that little kids love.

World War II fighter flights

Feel the need for speed? Then sign up with Tasmanian Warbird Adventures for a joyride in a 1943 Harvard fighter trainer aircraft. A former Royal Air Force pilot will fly you over Hobart, the River Derwent, Mount Wellington, the coast – even as far as Bruny Island with premium packages. Aerobatics and World War II tactics are optional on this bucket-list experience, as is flying with the 360-degree-view glass canopy wide open. Woohoo!

Vintage train rides

The West Coast Wilderness Railway is essential for anyone who goes loco for locomotives, but it will also toot the horn of folks interested in history, wild scenery or relaxation. The 35-kilometre route was built in the 1890s to ferry Queenstown’s minerals to Strahan, but it’s now about people chugging along in heritage carriages, perhaps enjoying Tassie bites and bubbles. Enthusiasts should also check out the Queenstown terminal’s railway museum, and the hands-on Footplate Experience.

Tassie’s other heritage train rides include the Don River Railway, which takes old-fashioned thrillseekers on a 30-minute return journey between Devonport and Coles Beach. Time it right and you could also ride the rails with the Wee Georgie Wood Steam Railway, Sheffield Steam and Heritage Centre, Tasmanian Transport Museum in Hobart, and Launceston Tramway Museum, which often runs a 1940s tram.

Heritage boating

The island’s not only blessed with breathtaking rivers and coastline, but beautiful boats for exploring them too. Options include Hobart’s Lady Nelson, a replica of the ship that sailed up the Derwent in 1803 to establish Tasmania’s first European colony. Get on board for 90-minute river joyrides, or occasional multi-day coastal voyages. The Windeward Bound, based on an 1848 Boston schooner, also plies the Derwent for three-hour lunch journeys, while its eight-day Port Davey and south-west wilderness expedition will really put the wind in your sails.

The Yukon is a restored 1930 Danish fishing ketch, which sets sail on 90-minute Huon Valley sightseeing tours, and two-hour gourmet options with lunch by Fat Pig Farm, of TV fame. More adventurous voyages include four-day return sailings to Bruny Island. Built in 1939 as a luxury pleasure boat, the handsomely restored Arcadia II is now the world’s only operational river cruiser made of Huon pine. It glides along the Pieman River on four-hour tours, revealing the west’s remote Tarkine wilderness and the wreck of the SS Croydon.

Information included in this blog is correct at the time of publishing. Please contact individual operators for further information.