Port Arthur Tour from Hobart

Port Arthur is 95 km by road from Hobart’s waterfront, about 90 minutes each way on the Arthur Highway through Sorell, Dunalley and Eaglehawk Neck. Without a car, a day tour is the simple way: the tours carded here all include the Historic Site entry and its harbour cruise, and most stop at Eaglehawk Neck on the way. Tassie Tours Tasmania’s Port Arthur, Tasman Sights and Harbour Cruise leaves central Hobart at 9:30 am and is back about 5:30 pm, from US$109 a person (checked November 2026).

The calendar above is Tassie Tours Tasmania’s Port Arthur day, with 493 reviews (checked November 2026).

The short answer

No car: take a day tour; the entry is included and the bus does the 180-odd kilometres of the round trip. With a car: drive, buy the entry from the Historic Site, and stop where you like on the way; the ticket lasts two days if you stay on the peninsula. Arriving on a cruise ship: book a shore excursion that collects you at the terminal and is timed to your ship.

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

The road, and the stops on the way

From Hobart’s waterfront the road crosses the Tasman Bridge and runs east to Sorell, then down the Arthur Highway through Dunalley to the Forestier Peninsula and on across Eaglehawk Neck to the Tasman Peninsula: 95 km by road to the Historic Site’s visitor centre, about 1 hour 25 minutes of driving without stops. Some tours go out through Richmond instead, for its convict-built bridge: 27 km from Hobart to Richmond, then 83 km on to Port Arthur, 110 km in all. Eaglehawk Neck is 20 km by road before the Historic Site.

The stops the day tours make, in road order:

• Pirates Bay Lookout, above the long beach north of Eaglehawk Neck.
• Eaglehawk Neck and the Dog Line: the narrow isthmus joining the Tasman Peninsula to the Forestier Peninsula, where, in the Parks and Wildlife Service’s words, a line of fierce dogs was tethered across the neck to stop escaping convicts. The Officer’s Quarters museum stands beside it, 20 km by road before the Historic Site.
• The Tessellated Pavement: a flat rock shelf cracked into tile-like blocks at the water’s edge, in a State Reserve at Eaglehawk Neck. The Parks and Wildlife Service says you can walk on it at low tide in fine weather, and that it is slippery when wet.
• Tasmans Arch and Devils Kitchen, in Tasman National Park: two rock formations in the sea cliffs a short drive from Eaglehawk Neck, all four lookouts in the area within a 1 km drive of each other, with a sealed car park and a flat, sealed circuit suitable for wheelchairs. They reopened in October 2026 after works that upgraded the walking tracks and added a new tiered viewing platform.
• Port Arthur Lavender, a lavender farm on the way into Port Arthur, a stop on the Tassie Tours Tasmania day.
• Remarkable Cave, south of the Historic Site: a cave in the sandstone cliffs below Maingon Bay Lookout, 7 km by road beyond the Historic Site. It is 115 steps down to a viewing platform, about 15 minutes return, while the lookout itself is a short accessible walk from the car park. On the Tassie Tours Tasmania day it is the option for those who take three hours at the site.

Tasmans Arch, Devils Kitchen and Remarkable Cave are in Tasman National Park, where the Parks and Wildlife Service requires a parks pass: a daily pass is A$49.15 a vehicle with up to 8 people, or A$24.55 a person on a bus or bike (November 2026). Day tours include it or collect it on the day.

Driving yourself

The Historic Site’s own directions: the Tasman Highway over the Tasman Bridge to Sorell, 27 km; the Arthur Highway to Dunalley, 30 km; then over the canal bridge and on for 44 km to the turn-off for the site. It says the drive takes 90 minutes. Parking at the site is free, though the car park fills at peak times, so arrive early in summer.

Driving lets you stop where the tours stop, add the Coal Mines Historic Site at Saltwater River (free to enter, 31 km by road from the Visitor Centre), and stay for the evening ghost tour. The entry ticket is valid for two consecutive days. From 18 to 22 November 2026 Targa Tasmania closes public roads around the state for its stages; the notice does not say which, so check before driving that week.

By bus

There are two ways without a tour. Pennicott Wilderness Journeys runs a daily bus from its Hobart office on the waterfront at 7:45 am (check in by 7:30 am), drops you at the Historic Site between 9:30 and 10 am and leaves again at 4:45 pm, back in Hobart between 6:30 and 7 pm: more than six hours at the site. On its own site it costs A$70 return, or A$120 an adult with the site entry (November 2026); the same bus with the entry is on Viator as the bus and admission ticket, from US$86 (checked November 2026).

The public bus, Tassielink’s route 734, does not work for a day trip: its only bus from Hobart leaves in the afternoon (3:45 pm on weekdays, 3 pm at weekends) and reaches Port Arthur at 5:28 pm on weekdays or 4:38 pm at weekends, at or after closing time, and its only bus back leaves early the next morning.

From a cruise ship

One shore excursion carded here is built around a ship’s day in Hobart. Bespoke Tours Hobart’s Port Arthur shore excursion collects you at the Macquarie Wharf No. 2 cruise terminal at 9 am, spends a few hours at the Historic Site with the entry, adds the chocolate foundry and the lavender farm, and has you back at the ship by 3:30 pm, in a group of up to 6; lunch at the site’s cafe is at your own cost. It is on Viator too: the cruise-ship day on Viator, from US$171 (checked November 2026). Gray Line Tasmania takes cruise passengers on its full day when the tour times fit the ship’s; tell it when you book. Check your ship’s all-aboard time before you book anything.

Check dates for the Port Arthur day from Hobart