Look over Wineglass Bay from Mount Amos
Walking a beach in Freycinet National Park
Walkers on Mount Amos above Wineglass Bay
Boardwalk to Cape Tourville Lighthouse
Friendly Beaches and coastal heath
Stone steps on a Freycinet walking track
Tasmanian pademelon near Freycinet
Bennetts wallaby among bracken ferns
Wombat on Maria Island
Cape Barren goose in Tasmania
Clear water off a Maria Island beach
Millers Cottage ruins on Maria Island
Dunes and bush at Humbug Point
Walkers on a Bay of Fires beach
Binalong Bay from the air
Lobster pots on the St Helens marina
Sloop Reef lookout on the Bay of Fires
Rocky shore on the walk to Dora Point
MONA on the River Derwent in Hobart
Devil's Corner winery below the Hazards
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Bay of Fires Walk: Freycinet & Maria Island

5 days / 4 nights

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Australia

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From a convict island to Wineglass Bay and the orange rocks of the Bay of Fires: five days on Tasmania's east coast by ferry, coach and on foot.

Starting Point

Hobart

Finish Point

Launceston

Fitness Level

3/5

Technical Level

3/5

Season

From November to April

Accommodation Level

Comfort

Tour Type

Inn-to-Inn

Daily Distance

8 – 11 mi

Daily Elevation

1050 – 2264 ft

Highlights

  • Climb the Bishop and Clerk, 620 m above Maria Island's convict settlement
  • Walk the old penitentiary and Commissariat Store at Darlington
  • Take a water taxi to Cooks Beach and walk Hazards Beach end to end
  • Look down on the curve of Wineglass Bay from the Hazards saddle
  • Follow the Bay of Fires south past granite boulders stained orange
  • Reach every walk by ferry, water taxi, coach or local taxi

What’s included in the price?

Self-guided

Are you looking for a good adventure and limitless flexibility? Then you should try out a self-guided tour, perfect for independent explorers who want to set their own pace. Without the need to stick to a group schedule, you’re free to linger at scenic viewpoints while the logistics are taken care of in advance.

INCLUDED

4 nights in a motel, a holiday unit and a hotel, private room with own bathroom
Breakfast, where your stay serves it
Maria Island ferry
Water taxi from Coles Bay to Cooks Beach
Tasmanian national parks pass
Taxis to the start and from the end of the Bay of Fires walk
Digital guidebook with itinerary, route instructions, ferry, bus and tide times
GPS navigation with an easy-to-use app
Tour design and organization
Service and support during your walk

NOT INCLUDED

Lunches and dinners
Bus fares: Hobart to Triabunna, on to Coles Bay and St Helens, and St Helens to Launceston
Luggage transfer
Travel to Hobart and from Launceston, and airport transfers

OPTIONAL EXTRAS

Airport transfer
on request
Extra nights
on request
Hotel upgrades
on request
Single supplement
+750 €/person
Accommodation levelComfort

A carefully selected motel, holiday unit and hotel, all with private en-suite rooms and breakfast where the property serves it. Expect comfortable, well-appointed rooms with attentive hospitality, typically in convenient and scenic locations — some properties also offer on-site dining.

These are examples of the type and standard you can expect. Actual properties may vary depending on availability.

What to bring to the tour

  • Hiking shoes/boots
  • 25 to 45-liter backpack
  • Base layer
  • Sports T-shirts
  • Hiking shorts
  • Hiking water-repellent pants
  • Waterproof jacket
  • Midlayer
  • Sports socks and underwear
  • Leisurewear for evenings
  • Down jacket
  • Gloves
  • Shade hat/cap
  • Warm headwear
  • Sunscreen
  • Sunglasses
  • Headlamp
  • Hiking poles
  • ID card or passport
  • Snacks
  • Cash
  • Water bottles or hydration pack
  • Sleeping liner
  • Toiletries
  • Toilet paper
  • Small first aid kit

Tasmania's east coast puts three very different walks within a short drive of each other: a convict island, a granite peninsula and a coast of white sand and orange rock. This tour walks the best of each and joins them by ferry, water taxi and public coach, so you never need to drive.

Maria Island comes first. The ferry lands you at Darlington, and you have the whole day to climb the Bishop and Clerk and look round the convict village before the last boat back.

In Freycinet National Park a water taxi takes you to Cooks Beach, and the walk brings you home over the Hazards, past Wineglass Bay and its lookout. It is the finest stretch of the peninsula, walked in one day with a bed in Coles Bay at the end.

The last walking day belongs to the Bay of Fires. From Cosy Corner it runs beach after beach to Binalong Bay, then follows the shore round Skeleton Bay to Dora Point.

You sleep in three towns: one night by the Maria Island ferry, two in Coles Bay and one in St Helens. The coaches follow a fixed timetable, which is why the tour starts on a Monday, Tuesday, Friday or Sunday.

Distances here are approximate, measured on our own route lines and rounded. The walking days are 12 to 18 km; the climb to the Bishop and Clerk is the one long, steep ascent.

Frequently Asked Questions

Not if you are happy walking 12–18 km on rough paths. Day 2 is the hardest: about 12.5 km with a steep climb to the Bishop and Clerk and boulders at the top, which you can skip. Day 3 is the longest, about 17.5 km. The Bay of Fires day is mostly beach. If you would rather keep one base for the whole tour, look at our Three Capes Walk from Port Arthur, Tasmania.

Only between your room and the coach. There is no luggage transfer on this tour: bags ride in the coach hold, and Tassielink allows two pieces of up to 20 kg each. On walking days you carry a day pack. The Maria Island ferry takes only a small bag of up to 7 kg, so your main bag stays in Triabunna for the day.

Monday, Tuesday, Friday or Sunday, from November to April. On those days every coach the tour needs is running. Another start day is possible with one private transfer at extra cost.

The last boat leaves Darlington at 4:15 pm and the coach north leaves Triabunna at 5:37 pm, so there is about 50 minutes to spare. If the boat is late or cancelled, call the support number in your guidebook and we arrange the next way to Coles Bay. Encounter Maria Island runs the ferry.

Yes, as an upgrade, when the lodge has two nights free. It stands inside the national park, within walking distance of the Wineglass Bay track, and costs a good deal more than the standard rooms in Coles Bay.

On the Bay of Fires some headlands are easier at low tide; at high tide take the tracks behind the beach. Your guidebook gives the times from the Bureau of Meteorology tide tables.

Breakfast is included where your stay serves it. Not every stay on this walk does: we tell you which ones before you book, and they are marked in your guidebook. Where breakfast is not served, we try to arrange a packed lunch for you instead, if the stay or a café nearby can make one.

For lunch and dinner, you choose. Triabunna, Coles Bay and St Helens all have cafés and restaurants, and the holiday park in Coles Bay has a tavern and a café on site. Nothing is sold on Maria Island: take lunch and two litres of water on the ferry.

No. The circuit is a 27 km walk over two or three days with nights in campsites. This tour walks its best stretch in one day, from Cooks Beach back past Wineglass Bay, and you sleep in a room in Coles Bay. Parks Tasmania has the details of the full circuit.

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from 1.695 € /person