Hobart is Australia's second-oldest capital, founded as a British penal settlement in 1804 and still stitched together with sandstone warehouses, whaling-era wharves, and cottages that climb the hills above the Derwent River. It sits beneath kunanyi/Mount Wellington, a 1,271-metre massif that often wears snow in winter, and it has reinvented itself around one of the most talked-about art museums on earth, MONA.

For a city of roughly 250,000, Hobart punches far above its weight on food and drink: cool-climate pinot and sparkling from the Coal River and Derwent valleys, oysters and abalone from surrounding channels, world-class whisky, and a Saturday market at Salamanca that has run since 1972. It is also the natural launchpad for Tasmania's south and east, with Port Arthur, Bruny Island, Freycinet, Mount Field, and even Cradle Mountain all reachable as day trips.

Getting around is easy: the compact centre is walkable, a ferry runs to MONA, and a hire car unlocks the rest of the island (drive on the left, watch for wildlife at dusk). July is deep winter here, so pack for cold, short days, and possible snow on the mountain, but expect crisp light, roaring fires, roaring seas on the cruises, and far smaller crowds than summer.