Best Family Activities in Tasmania: MONA, Wildlife, Puffing Billy and Cataract Gorge

Tasmania is a superb family destination, with world-class art, accessible wildlife encounters, historic sites and outdoor adventures all within a compact island geography that makes multi-destination travel easy. MONA (Museum of Old and New Art) at Moorilla in Berriedale, 12 km north of Hobart, is one of the world's most extraordinary private museums and is accessible by the MR-1 ferry from Sullivans Cove, making the approach by water part of the experience. The museum has dedicated provisions for child visitors and the broader estate has a winery, outdoor sculptures and grounds. Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary near Brighton, 25 minutes north of Hobart, is one of Tasmania's best native wildlife rescue centres and wildlife encounters, with Tasmanian devils, wombats and quolls in a genuine conservation setting. The Puffing Billy experience at Ida Bay Railway in the Huon Valley is a narrow-gauge heritage steam railway through Tasmanian temperate rainforest. Cataract Gorge in Launceston, accessible by 15-minute walk from the city centre, is a dramatic dolerite gorge with a chairlift, swimming pool and suspension bridge that is remarkable for its proximity to a major city. The Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery (TMAG) in Hobart is free and has natural history, colonial and First Nations collections.