Stewarts Bay Lodge Port Arthur - Port Arthur - Cheap Budget Hotel Deals and Reviews

If you're going to go to Tasmania, you just can't miss the old penal colonial site of Port Arthur. It is a great place. Go early. Be there at least half an hour before opening time. Take your camera. You don't need a tour guide, but it is an option. Or you can get some headphones and do your own tour around. The is a cruise if you want to try as well. Take plenty to drink or buy some there, but it can get warm on a hot day. Wear a hat and sunscreen.

Port Arthur was the site of Australias worst shooting spree. Over 30 people were killed by Martin Bryant with a semi-automatic rifle on 28th April 1996. There is a nice memorial there for all the victims.

I was lucky when I visited Port Arthur because I went there during a 10 day festival so I only paid half the regular entry fee which is reasonably expensive for a person travelling on a budget. It took me three hours to circumnavigate the site, but I walk briskly and I was on my own. I did a bit of filming and photography that slowed me down, but I would suggest three to four hours is a reasonable time to allow for the whole site. I didn't go on the cruise, so that may take another hour in your itinery. I would recommend getting there as soon as it opens or even earlier because when I was leaving at about midday, there was a queue two hundred metres long and I doubt that the last people through would have seen very much of the site. Plus it is very hard to get a park if you are late. You'll be a long way from the entrance.

There are lots of beautiful places in Tasmania. Check you my own blog on it. I was there in March.

Have a great time.