GUIDE TO PORT ARTHUR

This more than 100-acre site includes some hills and steps. Assistance is available and staff are happy to help during your visit, so call or email ahead. The visitor centre, café, restaurant and gallery are all wheelchair accessible, as is the introductory tour and harbour cruise. However, please note that due to rough and uneven terrain, some locations, such as the Isle of the Dead, are not wheelchair accessible, so assistance for people with limited mobility is recommended. A buggy service touring the site is available for visitors with limited mobility between 10.30am and 3.30pm.

The Port Arthur Audio Experience is available in podcast form for all visitors. It provides vivid descriptions of the significant buildings and ruins, while also detailing stories of the soldiers, free settlers and convicts.

Guide dogs and assistance dogs are permitted in all areas, and Companion Cards for carers are accepted.

Getting here via car involves a roughly 100km drive from Hobart, heading southeast to Port Arthur and taking about 90 minutes. There’s free parking on site, including accessible parking spaces located adjacent to the Visitor Centre entrance. The Visitor Centre has accessible bathroom facilities.

Public transport from Hobart is taken via the 734 Tassielink bus route, which leaves from the City Interchange Stop D4, from Elizabeth Street outside the Town Hall and opposite Franklin Square. This transport option should get you to Port Arthur in just under two hours. A host of companies also offer tours to Port Arthur from Hobart, inclusive of tranport. 

There is accommodation available in Port Arthur, or nearby Taranna, Teralina / Eaglehawk Neck and Nubeena. Food is available on site at Port Arthur Café upstairs at the Visitor Centre, and at 1830 Restaurant and Bar for lunch on Sundays from 12 til 3pm, and dinner on Wednesday through to Saturday from 5pm. Hot drinks and grab-and-go food are also available at the Museum Coffee Shop.

Pack for all weather conditions – bring rain jackets, sun protection gear, layered clothing and comfortable walking shoes.