One of my favourite things to do when I can escape for a weekend, is to get away and explore another city! While I have been to Hobart a few times, its always nice to go back and spend a weekend visiting old places and finding the best new places that have popped up around town.  Hobart is a great place to get away for the weekend, being that it is only a few hours flight time.

I finally got to visit Hobart in December, and have included a few places we went that might just inspire you to take a trip!

Perched on Tasmania’s southeastern coast, the lively city of Hobart is a unique mash-up of the 19th and 21st centuries. The waterfront cafes, restaurants and studios of the largest city in Tasmania are housed in centuries-old converted warehouses that overlook a harbour bustling with yachts and fishing boats. An active arts scene, vibrant nightlife and leisurely daytime pace add to the city’s charm!

Accomodation

We stayed at the Macq 01 – 18 Hunter Street Hobart.

A new addition to the accommodation in Hobart and an impressive one. Right on the water, the rooms offer a beautiful view and the hotel itself is central to everything. The design of the hotel reflects the personality and traits of the Tasmanian people and the rooms reflect those of some of the most well known Tasmanian characters. Macq 01  – the ‘story telling’ hotel.

Places to go

On Saturday morning we walked around the harbour to the Salamanca markets, which is now the largest open air food markets in the southern hemisphere.

Over 300 stallholders sell fresh and gourmet produce, arts, crafts and handiwork from all over Tasmania, interstate and overseas. Ranging as one of the top attractions in Tasmania, the Salamanca Market is another good reason to make your stay in Hobart last for more than just a few days.

In addition we visited MONA (The Museum of Old and New Art). What a building! MONA is located within the Moorilla winery on the Berriedale peninsula in Hobart. It is the largest privately funded museum in Australia. Their current exhibition ‘The Museum of Everything’ was well worth the drive and is open until April 2018.  Visit their website for more info!

Restaurants

Templo

A small 20 seater restaurant in West Hobart, which does shared food with a slight Italian skew. This year it received its first chefs hat from the Good Food Awards. We had a lovely meal consisting of buratta with charred spring greens, crispy fried quail and gnocchetti with garlic and chilli sauce with pangrattato which was the star of the show.

Fico
This restaurant is all the talk at the moment and there was a couple of dishes that made this completely easy to understand. We completely loved the tortelli with caramelised onion and the dessert of orange blossom gelato, pistachio, chocolate, cherry. I very much enjoyed this restaurant but Templo still had it for me.

Agrarian Kitchen Eatery
This place is blowing minds and not just mine. It opened June 2017 and has already been awarded 2 chefs hats plus the best regional restaurant in Australia. It is an extension of the Agrarian kitchen cooking school and is situated in the Bronte building in nearby New Norfolk’s Willow Court – the town’s old mental asylum. This meal and experience was faultless. The food, the staff, the setting, right down to the drinks list. Sourdough potato cakes with plum sauce and kefir cream, house made burrata with roasted cima di rapa, wood roasted flounder with sorrel leaves and anchovies, and the strawberry clafoutis with kefir ice-cream which arrives at your table bubbling from the wood oven!

Image: Agrarian Kitchen Eatery

If you haven’t already made it to Hobart, I suggest putting it on your 2018 list even if just for a few days!

Happy travels!!