Tasmania
Tasmania is Australia's wild island state, a compact land of jagged mountains, ancient rainforest, empty white beaches and some of the cleanest air on earth. Set across the Bass Strait south of the mainland, it packs an astonishing range of landscapes into a small space, and nearly half of it is protected in national parks and World Heritage wilderness.
Its great sights come one after another: the jagged peaks of Cradle Mountain reflected in the still water of Dove Lake, the famous Overland Track that threads the highlands, and the perfect white sand and turquoise of Wineglass Bay in Freycinet. In between there is kayaking and bushwalking among wombats, wallabies and the elusive Tasmanian devil, with much of the island feeling gloriously untouched.
Add the world-class food and wine and the bold modern art of MONA in Hobart, and you have wilderness with a refined edge. We pair the wild walks with cool-climate wineries, oyster farms and the island's celebrated lodges, so the days outdoors are matched by long lunches and quiet nights under some of the clearest skies anywhere.
