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We spent five days in Hobart with kids across two stays as part of a 17-day Tasmania trip in January 2026 — and we did it with our three-year-old daughter, Kailani. This guide covers everything we actually did, where we stayed, where we ate, and the honest stuff no one tells you about bringing little ones to Hobart.
Short version: Hobart is brilliant. Go. Just have a plan for the public toilets — they’re not great.
Is Hobart Good for Kids?
Yes, genuinely. But it’s worth going in with the right expectations.
Hobart is a walking city with a beautiful waterfront, incredible markets, world-class food, and a relaxed pace that suits families who don’t need to be entertained every second. Kailani loved exploring on foot — we did a lot of Munzee hunting, which kept her moving and engaged — and the city is compact enough that nothing feels like a mission to get to.
Where it lets families down is in the basics. Public playgrounds in the CBD are almost non-existent — we didn’t find a single decent one during our time in the city centre. And the public toilets are genuinely bad. Not “a bit dated” bad — some are straight-up unusable. Plan around using cafe and restaurant toilets, and keep an eye on when your toddler last went.
With those two things managed, Hobart delivers.
Where to Stay in Hobart with Kids
We stayed at two very different properties and would genuinely recommend both, depending on what you’re after.
Edinburgh Gallery Bed & Breakfast
The Edinburgh Gallery B&B is a unique spot — it’s housed in a converted old maternity hospital, which gives it genuine character that no hotel chain can replicate. Our host John runs a warm, welcoming place with a communal kitchen stocked with baked goods, fruit, and breakfast staples. It’s about a 10-minute walk from the city, which is very manageable, and the price point is well below what you’d pay for a hotel of similar quality.
It’s three-and-a-half-star accommodation in the truest sense — clean, comfortable, and everything you need — and we’d go back without hesitation. Great for families who want a homely base rather than a hotel experience.
It books out — we’d recommend securing the Edinburgh Gallery B&B on Klook in advance.
Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart
The Grand Chancellor sits right on the waterfront, and it’s genuinely beautiful. We had a marina-view room — Jomana specifically selected it when booking, and it was the right call. Waking up to views of Hobart’s working harbour is something else, and we watched the Aramark Pursuit cruise ship dock from our window.
The room was spacious enough to accommodate a king bed and a couch on which Kailani slept comfortably. The staff were excellent. A couple of practical notes for families:
- Parking costs extra per night. It’s worth being polite at check-in and asking if there’s any flexibility — we’ve found this sometimes works.
- There’s no lift from the underground car park to reception. This is the main quirk. If you’ve got a pram and bags, either unload at the arrivals bay on street level, or ask the staff — they’ll come down and help carry luggage up the stairs without any fuss.
Otherwise, the location is unbeatable. Everything — Salamanca, the marina, the ferry terminal, restaurants — is within walking distance.
The Hotel Grand Chancellor is bookable on Klook — we’d recommend the marina-view room in particular.
What to Do in Hobart with Kids
Salamanca Market
If you’re in Hobart on a Saturday morning, this is non-negotiable. The Salamanca Market runs every Saturday along the famous sandstone warehouse precinct, and it’s one of the best markets we’ve been to anywhere in Australia. Local producers, imported goods, food stalls, artisan crafts — the range is genuinely impressive.
We went twice across our trip and came home with hats, sunglasses, a beautiful Huon Pine salad fork, and a copy of The Great Apple Chase — a lovely Tasmanian children’s book by local author and illustrator C.A. McIntyre, who sells at her Leatherwood Grove stall at the market.
We also stopped at Full Circle Cacao, a Hobart-based cacao business and trading partner of Federation Chocolate. We picked up some chocolate gifts for family back home which went down a treat — and Kailani had an iced chocolate that she absolutely loved. Worth seeking out their stall. Follow them on Instagram or Facebook for updates.
Don’t miss Déjà Vu Books — it’s tucked down an alleyway near the market. It’s a small, completely overstuffed second-hand bookshop, and it smells exactly like every good second-hand bookshop should. Worth 20 minutes of your time, even if you buy nothing.
While you’re in the area, Bidenscopes Lane is worth a wander — it’s about a 15-minute walk from Salamanca, home to some genuinely good street art and the excellent Staple Coffee. A good excuse to combine both in one stop.
MONA (Museum of Old and New Art)
MONA is one of those experiences that’s genuinely hard to describe — you just need to go. The ferry trip over from Brooke Street Pier is a highlight in itself: the MONA Roma ferry is a beautifully designed vessel, and the views on the way are fantastic.
While you’re at Brooke Street Pier, it’s also worth popping into Dick + Dora — a great little gift and bookshop where we tracked down the Keep Tassie Wild Nature Quest scavenger hunt booklet for kids. It’s a free activity booklet that gives kids a mission to spot Tasmanian wildlife throughout the trip — Kailani loved it. Grab one before you board.
With a toddler, my honest assessment is: yes, worth it, but adjust your expectations. Kailani enjoyed certain exhibits and was completely indifferent to others. You’re not going to slowly wander every gallery with a three-year-old in tow. What works well is tag-teaming — one adult explores while the other keeps the little one engaged, then swap. There’s also a note worth making: MONA has some sections with genuinely confronting content that isn’t appropriate for young children. Worth knowing in advance so you can navigate around those areas.
There’s a playground on site at the end, which Kailani made a beeline for. The slides looked amazing — I was more excited about them than she was, as it turned out — but she was very happy on the swings.
Book the MONA Boat Cruise and morning tour through Klook: MONA Boat Cruise Hobart →
Kunanyi / Mount Wellington
We drove up to the Mount Wellington lookout on our last day in Hobart, and it was a great stop. Reception is patchy up there, so download what you need before you go. It’s quite cold even on a relatively fine day — pack an extra layer. The views from the top are incredible, and the public toilet at the lookout has arguably the best view of any toilet in Tasmania.
If you’d rather not drive up yourself, there’s a convenient explorer bus that runs from the city: Kunanyi Mt Wellington Explorer Bus →
Walking the Waterfront and Marina
This one’s free and underrated. Just walking along the Hobart waterfront — watching the boats, watching the cruise ships come and go, exploring Brooke Street Pier and the surrounds — is genuinely lovely. It’s the kind of thing that works brilliantly with kids because there’s always something to look at.
The Twilight Markets at Brooke Street Pier are worth a visit if you’re there on a Friday evening. We had dinner there, Thai food, a good range of options, though non-alcoholic drinks were harder to find, and the portions were small for the price. Worth it for the atmosphere.
Battery Point Walk
If you want to get off the main tourist track, the Battery Point area is a lovely afternoon walk. We did it as a Geocaching Adventure Lab trail, which gave us a structured route through the historic precinct — it meant we discovered spots we’d never have found otherwise. The app is free to download on App Store and Google Play, and the Battery Point trail is a great introduction if you’ve never tried it. The architecture is beautiful, and it has a real neighbourhood feel.
Day Trip: Russell Falls and Westerway Raspberry Farm
This is our pick for the best family day trip from Hobart, and the one we’d tell every family with kids to take.
Westerway Berry Farm is about an hour’s drive from Hobart, and the experience is exactly what it sounds like — you pick your own berries from the farm. It’s $10 per adult and free for under 3s. The berry ice cream at the end is genuinely one of the best things we ate in Tasmania. We had boysenberry and raspberry; Kailani had strawberry and raspberry. It’s very hot in summer, so bring hats and sunscreen.
Russell Falls is about 10 minutes further into Mount Field National Park. The walk to the falls and back takes about half an hour, and Kailani absolutely loved the waterfall. If you have the Geocaching Adventure Lab app downloaded, there’s also a short Adventure Lab explore at Russell Falls that takes in the falls themselves — a great way to add a bit of structure and discovery to the walk for kids. The visitor centre at the start of the walk is good — cafe, toilets, gift shop, water refill. There’s also a playground near the camping area that’s great for kids.
Note: You’ll need a Tasmania National Parks pass to access Russell Falls. We recommend getting a holiday pass when you arrive — it covers all national parks for the duration of your stay and pays for itself quickly.
Book a guided day tour that covers Russell Falls and Mount Field through Klook: Russell Falls & Mount Field Half-Day Bus Tour →
Where to Eat and Drink in Hobart with Kids
Coffee: Staple Coffee
The best coffee we had in Hobart by a clear margin. Staple Coffee is well-reviewed for good reason — its quality is consistently excellent. Highly recommend. It’s also near Bidenscopes Lane if you want to combine the two.
Dinner: Sawak Cafe
A small Malaysian restaurant that genuinely impressed us. Jomana had the laksa and said it had an authentic flavour — high praise from her. I had the nasi goreng. The only moment of drama was Kailani eating my fried egg before I got to it. Good value, relaxed vibe, and happy to accommodate a toddler.
Lunch: Fish Frenzy
We ended up here after a long day out, and it hit the spot — good fish and chips, nice location near the waterfront. Kailani had ice cream to deal with a busted lip she’d acquired on the ferry (long story). Also notable as the restaurant that helped us out when Kailani needed an emergency toilet during our first evening in Hobart. We repaid the favour by coming back for an actual meal.
Breakfast: Hobart Coffee Roasters
Fantastic coffee and solid hot breakfast options. The serving size of the granola was on the smaller side, but the hot breakfasts were very well proportioned. Gets busy, so go slightly early if you can. The staff were great, and the toilets were clean!
Dinner: Monsoon Shabu Shabu
If you fancy something different, Monsoon Shabu Shabu on Elizabeth Street does Asian hotpot, and does it well. The food was great. One note: the toilets weren’t so great, and the drinks menu didn’t have many non-fizzy options for kids.
Practical Tips for Families in Hobart
The toilet situation is real. Public toilets in Hobart CBD range from average to genuinely unusable. Don’t rely on them. Your best strategy is to plan meals and coffee stops strategically, use the facilities at restaurants and cafes when you’re there, and keep an eye on your toddler’s timing. Once you have this dialled in, Hobart is fine — just don’t assume there’s a clean public toilet around every corner.
One exception worth noting: the toilets at Brooke Street Pier are clean and well maintained — a useful landmark to have in mind given it’s also where you depart for MONA.
Playgrounds are scarce in the CBD. We didn’t find a good one in the city centre. There are better options if you venture further — the area around Battery Point has some, and once you’re out of the city centre, things improve.
Everything is walkable. Hobart’s CBD is compact. If you’re staying at the Grand Chancellor or near the waterfront, you can walk to most things we’ve mentioned in this guide. We walked thousands of steps a day without it ever feeling like a slog.
The markets are on Saturday and Sunday. Salamanca Market is on Saturday morning. The Farm Gate Market (also excellent — great fresh produce and a real local feel) runs on Sunday morning. If you can engineer your timing to hit both, do it.
Park once and walk. If you’re driving into the city for a day, find a park once and walk everywhere rather than moving the car between stops.
Our Verdict
Hobart is one of the best cities in Australia for a family trip — and we say that having been to a lot of them. It’s beautiful, walkable, genuinely interesting, and has a world-class food and coffee culture. Yes, the toilets need work, and playgrounds are thin on the ground in the CBD, but neither of those things should stop you from going.
Take your time, walk the waterfront, go to the markets, get out to Russell Falls for a day, and don’t leave without a coffee from Staple. Planning a wider Tasmania trip? Check out our guides to Bruny Island and Maria Island— both make brilliant day trips or overnight stops from Hobart.
Murray is the co-founder of Really Traveling and a self-confessed gear obsessive who never buys anything without testing it first. He travels with his wife Jomana and daughter Kailani, and has dragged the family across everything from Tasmanian wilderness trails to long-haul flights with a toddler. If he recommends it, it’s because it survived real family travel — not just a weekend test run.
