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Things to Do in Hobart This Weekend: MONA & Markets
Discover Hobart's best weekend experiences: MONA's cutting-edge art, the iconic Salamanca Market, and world-class wilderness walks starting 30 minutes away.
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Hobart's weekend identity is among the most distinctive of any Australian city, built on three things no other city can replicate: MONA's fearless contemporary art, the Salamanca Market's Saturday ritual on the historic sandstone waterfront, and the proximity of world-class wilderness walking that begins within 30 minutes of the city. A Hobart weekend offers more genuinely original experiences than cities four times its size.
Salamanca Market, every Saturday morning, the Salamanca Place sandstone warehouse precinct hosts the Salamanca Market, with 300+ stallholders selling everything from Tasmanian honey and farmhouse cheeses to handcrafted furniture, vintage clothing, and local art. The market's setting, the 1830s sandstone warehouses of Hobart's first commercial district, is exceptional. Arrive by 8am for the best produce and parking.
MONA, the Museum of Old and New Art at Berriedale (ferry from Hobart's Elizabeth Street Pier, 25 minutes) is one of the world's great art destinations. David Walsh's private collection, displayed in the underground sandstone museum, includes work of confronting originality. The Faro restaurant, the Moo Brew brewery, and the Pharos experience add to a full-day MONA visit. The MONA FOMA festival (January) and Dark Mofo (June) are the peak events.
Battery Point, Hobart's earliest residential neighbourhood, Battery Point's Georgian and Victorian cottages, the Salamanca Arts Centre galleries, and the Arthur's Circus village green provide a colonial heritage walking experience of genuine quality. The Saturday Nutgrove Beach markets and the Cygnet Folk Festival weekend trips add to the peninsula's character.
kunanyi/Mount Wellington, the 90-minute summit walk from Fern Tree (or 20-minute drive to the summit car park) provides the extraordinary views of Hobart, the Derwent estuary, and the surrounding wilderness that frames the city's exceptional setting.
Farm Gate Market, Sunday mornings on Bathurst Street in the CBD, the Farm Gate Market's Tasmanian producers (smoked salmon, truffles, farmhouse bread, native plants) provide the weekend produce shopping alternative to Salamanca's larger-scale offering.
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