The Best of Tasmania’s West and North West This Off Season

Tasmania’s West and North West are known for clean air, rugged landscapes and wild coastlines. With local delicacies – think fresh seafood, Belgian-style chocolate, and an award-winning whisky – plus activities to inspire your travel and creative streak, winter in this fertile region is a rewarding proposition. Organise your trip around two standout festivals and you have yourself a holiday that practically books itself. 

STAY

Lazy Prospector

On the outskirts of Zeehan, this 130-year-old wooden barn has been restored with relaxation front of mind. Warm interiors invite you to curl up in front of the wood fire, the kitchen is well stocked, and the deep bath quickly becomes the main event. This Off Season, the stay comes with a story. A track-cutter and prospector, Frank Long discovered the Zeehan-Dundas silver-lead field here in 1882. Search for clues to this history hidden around the accommodation, use a lantern when venturing outside, and keep warm with spicy tea, hot chocolate or port.

Back inside, add your essential oils or bath bombs of choice to the tub before settling into the queen-size bed. With block-out curtains and no neighbours in sight, enjoy the mid-winter rest you deserve.

Bond Store 

Stanley’s newest waterfront stay comes with 170 years of history. Two private apartments have been restored to balance heritage, sea views and comfort with expansive outlooks, deep baths and living spaces centred around a crackling wood fire.

Step outside to the cedar sauna, brave an ocean dip, or reset under the outdoor shower. As an Off Season add-on, guests receive a mulled wine kit, an adult hot chocolate with Hellyers Road whisky, and breakfast on the first morning.

EAT AND DRINK

Hellyers Road Distillery

A short drive from Burnie or Devonport sits Australia’s most awarded distillery, recognised at the World Whiskies Awards in 2024 and 2025.

Each winter, Hellyers Road Distillery collaborates with Communion Brewing in Burnie to create beers aged in whisky casks, and single malts aged in beer casks. The result is the Dark Harmony whisky, and this Off Season, you can taste both Dark Harmony and its “B-sides” – the lesser-known companion pours, including the beers aged in those same casks, offering a deeper look at the collaboration from both sides.

With sweeping views over Emu Valley and a cellar door that has earned international acclaim, it’s winter drinking at its most interesting.

Tarkine Fresh Oysters

Oysters straight from the source are the baseline here – grown just off the coast of Smithton in some of the cleanest air and water in the world. 

Pull up a seat at the cafe on the banks of the Duck River and settle in for a winter special: a half dozen freshly baked oysters paired with a Bloody Mary oyster shooter. There’s also local wine, cider, craft beer and soft drinks on hand if you’d rather keep things classic.

Anvers Chocolate Factory

Set across two and a half hectares of mature tree gardens, Anvers is a chocolate lover’s paradise. Belgian chocolatier Igor Van Gerwen crafts handmade truffles, pralines and fudges using local produce, while visitors can watch staff temper, mould and enrobe chocolates right in front of them are three special desserts on offer: Dutch apple pudding with butterscotch sauce, bread and butter pudding with caramelised fig ice-cream, and a chocolate-raspberry self-saucing pudding for the truly committed.

Home Hill

By day, Home Hill in Devonport is best known as the former home of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, his wife Dame Enid Lyons and their 12 children. By night this winter, this 1916 property becomes the setting for stargazing. Gather on the lawns with telescopes and local guides to explore everything from the moon’s surface to deep space, before warming up by the firepits with toasted marshmallows.

DO

West Coast Wilderness Railway

For a day trip that captures the wildness of the west in comfort, the West Coast Wilderness Railway delivers. Heritage steam train journeys wind through rainforest, past Queenstown and along the famous Abt rack railway you'll find welcome indulgence: a chocolate-coated leatherwood honey ice-cream finished with Tasman Sea salt, available to all standard passengers.

Creative Paper Tasmania

Roll up your sleeves and get hands-on in this papermaking workshop. Using natural and recycled materials – from cotton and hemp to native leaves and even wombat poo – you’ll learn how to create paper from scratch.

It’s tactile, creative and suitable for all ages, with plenty of handmade keepsakes to take home. 

Wings Wildlife Park

For close encounters with Tasmanian devils, wombats and koalas, Wings Wildlife Park offers a private 90-minute keeper-guided tour through one of Australia’s largest collections of Tasmanian wildlife. 

Finish with Tasmanian cheeses, seasonal fruit, crackers and a glass of local chardonnay or pinot.

WHAT’S ON

Light Up the West

Winter celebrations return to Strahan, Zeehan and Rosbery with Light Up the West, running from June 19 to 28. The annual festival embraces the season with night cruises, treasure hunts, winter markets, live music, glow worm walks, solstice plunges and plenty of reasons to rug up and head outdoors.

Permission to Trespass 

Across Wynyard, Table Cape and surrounds, Permission to Trespass runs from July 1 to 15, unlocking rarely accessed private spaces for a packed winter program. Expect storytelling and projections at Table Cape Lighthouse, intimate long lunches at Table House Farm, lively night markets and First Nations cultural tours led by Palawa waypa Jye Crosswell, alongside shed choirs, paddock Pilates, art experiences and whisky tastings.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Tourism Tasmania.