Walking

Tasmania is Australia's walking state and in fact is probably one of the greatest walking destinations in the world with a climate, landscape and diversity that lends itself perfectly to exploration by foot. 

With nearly fifty per cent of the island protected by World Heritage or National Park status, vast swathes of land both impenetrable and uninhabited by people, the power of nature that dominates a land lying forty degrees south in the Great Southern Ocean is not to be understated, and of course unguided walkers need to keep their wits about them - which is why there has been such a proliferation of guided short and long walks developed in the last few years.With hundreds of miles of tracks and trails from ten minutes to ten days, anyone from those with limited mobility to the super-fit should slow their pace of travel down and enjoy the joy of the great outdoors.

If you love to walk, you will love Tasmania.

With our vast experience of all walks, short and long, Tasmanian Odyssey can create a walking holiday to suit everyone with a little time to spare, from a few days to several weeks.   

A self-drive holiday can easily incorporate two or three spectacular short walks in one day, all beautifully maintained and interpreted by the Parks & Wildlife Service. The power of a natural wilderness that dominates a land lying forty degrees south in the Great Southern Ocean is not to be understated, however, and walkers of all abilities need to undertake careful planning before setting off on foot.

A stay in a private homestead or B&B can give you the services of your very own expert walking guide, for little more than the price of the gourmet dinner that awaits your return.

The multi-day walks ‘Tassie-style’ are in a league of their own. The appeal of walking here, particularly among the ‘flashpacking’ generation has generated a style of holiday that puts comfort, even luxury, and experience at equal first in the list of criteria.  You can read all about the Maria Island Walk in my blog here

If you want to see the world from a different perspective and leave the tourists behind - or even ‘step off’ the world as you know it for a few days, these world-class multi-day walks in Tasmania that take rambling to the height of sophistication, with luxury eco-lodges, five-star forest camps and cutting edge huts with proper beds, hot showers and gourmet meals. By night you walkers dine by candle and starlight under parrot-filled forest canopies. With groups of up to ten walkers and two knowledgeable guides, the pace is dictated by the slowest walker, with plenty of opportunities for the faster-paced walkers to stretch themselves. Sometimes the walking can be less taxing than choosing which wine to have with your sautéed scallops. 

On Tasmania’s walks your soul will be as grateful as your taste buds. The simple process of putting one foot in front of the other will lead you on a path through magnificent scenery to extraordinary natural highs, both literally and figuratively. To say Tasmania’s walks can bring with them life-changing experiences is truly not an understatement.

Small Group Escorted Walking Tours

The small group walking tours in Tasmania are some of the best experiences of their kind in the world. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that walking in Tassie is only for the young and super fit. Far from it. In recent decades the appeal of walking, particularly among the older generation has given birth to a new style of walking holiday that puts comfort, even luxury, and experience at equal first in the list of criteria.

Think award-winning architect-styled eco lodges cantilevered from granite, orange lichen-stained cliffs or secreted in the sun-dappled bush tucked behind endless wild beaches pounded by turquoise seas, the playground for mega pods of dolphin, and the passage for whales on their trip north; imagine dining by candle and starlight in decadent standing camps protected by parrot-filled forest canopies, finished off with a night in a historic homestead with a roaring log fire, a warm bath the reward for a day’s hike; always, no matter how remote you seem to be, a convivial dinner of gourmet food washed down with some of the crispest, smoothest wines in the New World, made from grapes that have been allowed to ripen at their leisure in the long, balmy Tasmanian autumn.

With always a minimum of two knowledgeable guides for every group of just eight of ten in a group, the pace is dictated by the slowest walker, with plenty of opportunity for the faster paced walkers to stretch themselves. Sometimes the walking can be less taxing than choosing which wine to have with your sautéed scallops. On Tasmania’s walks your soul will be as grateful as your taste buds. The simple process of putting one foot in front of the other will lead you on a path through magnificent scenery to extraordinary natural highs, both literally and figuratively. To say Tasmania’s walks can bring with them life-changing experiences is probably not an understatement.

One of Tasmania’s top walks, the Maria Island Walk, describes itself with justification as four days that last a lifetime. Another promises a life changing experience or your money back. What is guaranteed is that you will see and learn things that will change your view on the world forever, and it is highly likely that you will leave Tasmania having made friends for life.

Walking is perhaps the world’s first social network. Best of all, in Tasmania, for the most part you are far more likely to come face to face with Tasmania’s weird and wonderful wildlife than another human being, apart from your fellow walkers.

So, for a true immersion into Tasmania’s magical wilderness, eschew the hire car, at least for a day or two, longer if you can, and make sure you pack a pair of comfortable walking boots.  Follow in the footsteps of the dinosaurs, delving deep into 60 million year old rainforests, along stunning sea cliffs and down to white sand deserted beaches, inaccessible other than by foot. You won’t regret a single step of the journey. Walk once in Tassie and you will almost certainly return to walk here again.

Please call us to discuss your perfect tailormade walking experience.