Welcome to Hobart! Enjoy a leisurely start to your tour by having a wander around the picturesque Constitution Dock at your doorstep or take a stroll along the Derwent River before meeting your Travel Director and fellow travellers this afternoon for a Welcome Reception followed by delicious meal at Tasman Restaurant. (D) Stay: Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart (2 nights)

Wake up today to the sights, sounds, flavours, colour and action of Salamanca Market. Explore the market stalls, wander through the historic sandstone warehouses discovering innovative Tasmanian arts and crafts, and delight in the taste and aroma of freshly baked goods and local produce, meeting the friendly people who make or grow what they sell. Take a moment to sit back and relax at one of Salamanca's cafes and watch the world pass you by with cooling ale or locally produced cider. This afternoon it's all aboard for a city sights tour of Tassie's capital. Stroll through the Botanical Gardens visit historic Battery Point, and Cascade Brewery before driving up to Mt. Nelson for panoramic views over the city. (B)

Journey west to magnificent Mt. Field National Park to see picturesque Russell Falls. Breath in the fresh moist air when you join your Travel Director for a stroll to the tiered falls through luscious green rainforest. Later take the winding journey to picturesque Lake St. Clair, Australia’s deepest lake. Continuing along the rainforest bordered road of World Heritage protected Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, you’ll pass through the moonscape of the mining town of Queenstown before your final stop today at the seaside township of Strahan. Enjoy views of magnificent Macquarie Harbour, seven times the size of Sydney Harbour, from your hotel perched on the hillside. (B/D) Stay: Strahan Village

A highlight today is your cruise on the Gordon River. Be awestruck by the dark waters, stained amber by Button-grass tannins, which reflect the untouched wilderness. Stop at Sarah Island for an insight into a relic of Tasmania's convict history, and see Hells Gates, the notoriously treacherous entrance to the harbour. This afternoon pass through the mining towns of Rosebery and Tullah as you travel to your hotel on the boundary of sensational Cradle Mountain National Park. (B/L/D) Stay: Cradle Mountain Hotel (2 nights)

This morning you'll marvel at the inspiring beauty of Cradle Mountain National Park. Join your Travel Director for a visit to the Waldheim Chalet for insight into the early history of the Cradle Mountain area. Later, take a guided walk by Dove Lake. You may spot Bennett's wallabies, echidnas and pademelons grazing along the way. (B/D)

After breakfast, take a walk with a local expert through the Hellyers Road Whisky Distillery in Burnie. You’ll then make your way east to Mount Gnomon Farm hidden high in the hills overlooking the picturesque township of Penguin. Here you will enjoy a Be My Guest lunch by host and passionate farmer, Guy Robertson who will show you around his garden and property. Continue to quirky Sheffield, the ‘Town of Murals’, before travelling through the Meander Valley to Launceston. (B/L) Stay: Hotel Grand Chancellor Launceston (2 nights)

Emerge yourself in Launceston's magnificent Cataract Gorge before taking a scenic drive through rolling hills for a delicious lunch and wine-tasting at Josef Chromy Wines. After lunch you may like to take an optional cruise on the beautiful Tamar River. This afternoon your holiday comes to an end, or why not stay an extra night and enjoy some of our other optional experiences in and around Launceston? (B/L)

The Tasmanian capital, Hobart, packs a lot of punch into such a small perimeter, from restaurants that garner global praise to moody wine bars, eye-opening galleries, waterside walks and character-filled historic precincts. Explore at your leisure - or book a Hobart tour - before meeting the adventurous souls who will keep you company over the next week. (D) Stay: Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart (2 Nights)

Three hundred - that's the number of stalls you'll navigate this morning at Hobart's mighty Salamanca Market. Get your heart started sampling gin and whisky or order a coffee and bulging bacon-and-egg burger while perusing made-in-Tasmania arts and crafts. The Salamanca precinct, amid historic sandstone buildings, is almost as pretty as the produce.

This afternoon you'll see what makes Hobart tick, from the leafy Botanical Gardens to historic Battery Point and Cascade Brewery. It all fits neatly together when you get some perspective from the lofty Mt. Nelson Lookout, gazing over the River Derwent, all the way to Bruny Island in the south. What a start to your tours of Tasmania. (B)

The West Coast of Tassie is wild - in the best possible way. The air seems cleaner, the lakes cooler, the colours brighter, the waterfalls larger… as you'll discover when the mist envelops you at tiered Russell Falls. This is part of Mt. Field National Park, the state's most diverse nature reserve. Speaking of breaking records, Lake St. Clair is the deepest of its kind in Australia, carved by ice during glaciations over the last two million years.

Pausing here puts life into perspective, in the best possible way. Skirt the World Heritage listed Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park, characterised by soaring Huon pines, before arriving in Strahan. Small in population but big in personality, the town overlooks the immense Macquarie Harbour. Did you know it's seven times the size of Sydney Harbour? Locals-only insights like this are among the reasons why Tasmania touring is a must. (B/D) Stay: Strahan Village

Today's watery welcome is the deep, dark Gordon River, its expanse coloured by tannins from button grass. Soak up the silence of this untouched wilderness area on a Gordon River cruise out to Sarah Island, a former penal settlement - Tassie's oldest - where convicts laboured under harsh conditions felling pines for boat-building. The haunting ruins that remain have been reclaimed by the rainforest, telling a chilling story of life on the land. As do mining towns Rosebery and Tullah, enveloped by dense forest and volcanic mountains.

This is your backdrop en route to immense Cradle Mountain-Lake St. Clair National Park, a mecca for some of Australia's most elusive wildlife: keep watch for Tasmanian devils and platypuses, and sign up for optional tours that guarantee you spot them. You won't be disappointed. (B/L/D) Stay: Cradle Mountain Hotel (2 Nights)

Cradle Mountain tours have not always been pristine - the region owes much of its protected status to early settlers Gustav and Kate Weindorfer, who were pivotal in championing the conservation of the area. Their efforts are remembered at Waldheim Chalet, their former home, set among myrtles and King Billy pines that gradually give way to moss-covered ancient rainforests and deep river gorges, snow-tipped peaks and wild alpine moorlands.

This is the heart of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, carved by glacial waterways like Dove Lake. You can see why Bennetts wallabies, echidnas, wombats and pademelons live here - you, too, will find it hard to tear yourself away. If you're a night person, consider enlisting to spot Tassie's nocturnal animals, whether at a devil sanctuary or in the wild. Optional Cradle Mountain tours see you spotting (and even feeding) elusive creatures. Where else in the world can you say you've fed a devil? (B/D)

Bring your appetite as today - the final day on your life-changing tour from Launceston to Hobart - you'll try some of the state's most applauded produce. First stop is Hellyers Road Whisky Distillery. Tasmanian tipples - whether whisky or gin - take home global awards for good reason, as you'll fast discover. Steel yourself for the ciders fermented at Mount Gnomon Farm, in the hills overlooking the petite town of Penguin. If there's an Australian destination with a cuter name, we're yet to find it on any map.

Here, passionate farmer Guy Robertson will pour brews made from apples grown in his heritage orchard, before you sit down to a farm-to-table Be My Guest lunch. Then you're on your way to quirky Sheffield, the ‘Town of Murals', before travelling through the Meander Valley to Launceston. (B/L) Stay: Hotel Grand Chancellor Launceston

Your final day of Tasmania touring ends on a high in Cataract Gorge, a rare natural phenomenon on the outskirts of Launceston. There's bushland on one side, and a Victorian garden replete with ferns and exotic plants on the other. Get a different perspective of the green cavern on the scenic chairlift, zipping you over the water to a lofty lookout.

You can't leave Tassie without sipping a few of its cool-climate wines, perhaps a pinot noir or flute of sparkling enjoyed overlooking the manicured grounds of the Josef Chromy Estate. Be sure to wander the grounds before you sample the range, then settle in with your favourite drop enjoyed over lunch. This afternoon is yours: if you're not heading home yet, we recommend extending your adventure with an optional cruise along the Tamar River. A fitting end to a week of wonderment. (B/L)