Freycinet National Park and Wineglass Bay

A Curve Of White Sand And Turquoise Water Below The Granite Peaks Of The Hazards, Reached By A Lookout Walk Or A Longer Circuit From Coles Bay, Inside Tasmania'S Oldest National Park · Coles Bay, Tasmania

Freycinet is Tasmania's oldest national park, gazetted in 1916, and its single image is Wineglass Bay: a perfect curve of white sand and turquoise water tucked below the pink granite peaks called the Hazards, on a peninsula reached through the small town of Coles Bay on the island's east coast. Most visitors see the bay only from the lookout, a steady climb of around forty minutes that rewards with the whole curve of sand framed by granite; fewer continue down the far steeper side to actually stand on the sand, then loop back along Hazards Beach for a half-day circuit. Beyond the famous view, the peninsula holds quieter spots - Honeymoon Bay's sheltered swim, the boardwalk out to Cape Tourville's lighthouse, and the demanding granite scramble up Mount Amos for those confident on exposed rock in dry weather. Wallabies and wombats graze openly around the campground at Richardsons Beach, and staying inside the park, at the lodge or under canvas, lets you have the famous view without the midday crowd that fills the small car park by nine in summer.

The Freycinet Peninsula on Tasmania's east coast, reached through Coles Bay, with Wineglass Bay below the pink granite peaks of the Hazards, Coles Bay, Tasmania, Australia

Freycinet is open every day, all year, with no gate hours since it is unfenced bushland - what has a time limit is the car park and the weather. Walkers Car Park at the park entrance fills by mid-morning in the January and February school holidays, and rangers sometimes turn cars away to roadside parking well back along the access road. The visitor centre and the Freycinet Lodge reception keep standard daytime hours and both close overnight. Mount Amos is sometimes closed outright by Parks and Wildlife Tasmania after rain, when the granite becomes genuinely dangerous, so check current track status before driving out. There is no public transport to Coles Bay; a car is the only practical way in, and the drive from Hobart takes roughly two and a half to three hours.

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