Guide to Tamar Valley

Things to do

Tamar Valley Wine Trail

Looping through bucolic scenery to more than 30 wineries, this trail is your guiding line around the Tamar. The river’s east bank is the sparkling side, literally, with the “méthode Tasmanoise” of Jansz Wine Room set beside sparkling winemakers such as the elegant Clover Hill Wines and Pipers Brook Vineyard. Wineries on the west bank include Holm Oak Vineyards, a family-owned estate where Pinot the pig keeps an eye on the vines; Stoney Rise Wine Company, with a new cellar door; Evenfall Wines, where you can taste directly from the barrel; and quirky Swinging Gate Vineyard, which combines relaxed tastings with glamping among the vines in Domescapes Tasmania's luxe eco-domes. Be sure to stop in at Josef Chromy Wines, a traditional method sparkling house and restaurant with several Chef Hat awards.

Vineyards by air

Your designated driver on a Unique Charters flight is a helicopter pilot. Flight options include a scenic spin over the valley and vineyards, and the Vineyard Trifecta, hopping between a choice of three cellar doors.

Sip other drops

Tastings in the Tamar aren’t limited to wine. Turner Stillhouse, maker of Three Cuts Gin, runs daily tours of its Grindelwald distillery, while there are eight beers on tap at the Miners Gold Brewery taproom, inside the former chief engineer’s house at the Beaconsfield gold mine.

Platypus House and Seahorse World

Side by side on a pier at Beauty Point, these twin centres are filled with curious creatures. View thousands of seahorses, alongside the likes of spotted handfish, a Tasmanian giant crab, and a collection of weedy seadragons named Phil, Phillip, Phillipa and Tanya (a playful twist on their scientific name, Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) at Seahorse World. If you are blind or have low vision, Seahorse World offers a sensory seahorse and handfish experience, with 3D printed, life-size models of the creatures available to hold and handle. Next door, watch platypuses swimming and echidnas feeding around your feet at Platypus House.

Low Head Penguin Tours

As night falls, little penguins begin their daily return to shore at Low Head, by the mouth of kanamaluka / River Tamar. Nightly tours bring the penguins close as they surf ashore and march across the beach to burrows beneath Low Head Lighthouse.

Museums

The area harbours a number of historical treasures. Australia’s oldest pilot station, dating from 1806, houses the Low Head Maritime Museum, telling stories of shipping on kanamaluka / Tamar River amid an extensive display of relics from the days of sail and steam. The adjoining Low Head Lighthouse is Australia’s third-oldest light station. Remember the 2006 Beaconsfield mine collapse and rescue at the Beaconsfield Mine and Heritage Centre, with a multi-sensory exhibition devoted to the disaster. The Bass and Flinders Maritime Museum in George Town is home to a full-scale replica of the boat in which Matthew Flinders and George Bass circumnavigated Tasmania in 1798.

Adventure activities

The treetops beckon at Treetops Adventure Hollybank, where a ropes course provides a high journey through the canopy, and a zipline cuts from tree to tree. At ground level, there are Segway tours and three mountain bike trails of varying grades. Keep the adrenaline flowing with over 100km of trails to shred at George Town MTB Trails.

Wet and wild

Turn wine into water with a visit to the Tamar Valley Wetlands Centre at Legana's edge, where a 500m boardwalk winds through estuarine wetlands to a bird hide. About 60 bird species have been recorded in the reserve. Or tee off into a lake for your chance to win a prize at Splash Golf. This family-friendly activity takes place in the Swiss-style village of Grindelwald.