There is a quiet argument to be made that Tasmania in winter is more compelling than Tasmania in summer.
The crowds thin, the landscapes sharpen and the food gets better. Much better.
From May to August, Tourism Tasmania’s Off Season program transforms the island into one of Australia’s most extraordinary culinary destinations, with more than 500 bookable experiences available only during the cooler months.
And at the heart of it all is an obsession with the season itself, the produce it yields, the rituals it inspires and the warmth that comes from gathering around a fire with something remarkable in your glass.
Truffles, Fungi And The Art Of Foraging
Winter in Tasmania means truffle season and few places in Australia take it more seriously.
At The Truffle Farm in Deloraine, guests follow trained dogs through frost-covered orchards before gathering beside a crackling firepit to eat freshly shaved black truffle folded through handmade s’mores with Tasmanian wine.
At Fico in Hobart, a five-course truffle degustation threads the prized ingredient through every dish from pasta to gelato.
For something more unexpected, Tunnel Hill Mushrooms near Hobart has reimagined an 1891 railway tunnel as a gourmet fungi farm, where guests harvest mushrooms by hand before cooking them on a one-of-a-kind train BBQ deep inside the tunnel.
In the damp winter forests outside Hobart, Sirocco South leads small groups on wild mushroom foraging walks before sitting down to a six-course feast matched with award-winning Tasmanian wines.
Fires, Feasts And Long Tables
The centrepiece of Tasmania’s winter food calendar is Dark Mofo’s Winter Feast, Australia’s largest winter food festival, which takes over Hobart’s waterfront across two weekends each June.
More than 75 stallholders serve flame-licked seafood, slow-roasted meats, mulled drinks and small-batch spirits beneath a soundtrack of live music and performance.
This year, Italian guest chef Floriano Pellegrino of Michelin-starred Bros’ in Puglia joins the line up.
Beyond Hobart, Rathmore in the Central Highlands hosts monthly woolshed lunches throughout the Off Season, where slow-cooked lamb raised on the property is carved over open coals inside a heritage-listed shearing shed, paired with Invercarron wines and live music.
At Callington Mill Distillery in Oatlands, a one-night winter feast culminates in the rare ritual of charring a whisky cask by firelight.
Seafood By Dark Sky
Tasmania’s winter waters yield some of the country’s finest seafood and Off Season experiences are making the most of it.
Tasmanian Wild Seafood Adventures runs a Dark Sky Seafood Cruise through the D’Entrecasteaux Channel, where guests sip hot gin cider beneath the stars while feasting on abalone, oysters and scallop pie.
At Mures Upper Deck in Hobart, a three-hour Southern Bluefin Tuna Carving Ceremony sees third-generation fisher Jock Mure present a whole fish caught from his own vessel before carving it in front of guests and transforming it into a four-course degustation paired with Stefano Lubiana wines.
On the East Coast, Freycinet Marine Farm serves a cult winter-only scallop pie from its farm gate above Great Oyster Bay, best eaten with windswept views of the Freycinet Peninsula.
Whisky, Wine And Dark Skies
Tasmania’s whisky scene has grown into one of Australia’s most respected, and winter is when it comes alive.
On remote Flinders Island, Furneaux Distillery offers guests rare access to barrel tastings in the bond store of one of Australia’s most isolated distilleries.
At LARK Distillery’s historic Pontville village, the Dark Sky Stargazing experience pairs telescope sessions and Palawa stories of sky country with hot whisky cocktails beside crackling fires.
In the Tamar Valley, Tamar Ridge and Turner Stillhouse host a single winter solstice gathering called Noir Noir, where guests settle beside firepits with new-release wines and small-batch whiskies as an astronomer guides them through the southern sky.
For wine lovers, Caledon Estate in the Coal River Valley offers private vineyard tours led by resident wine dogs Sasha and Biscuit, concluding fireside with cool-climate Cabernet Sauvignon and seasonal Tasmanian canapés.
Tasmania’s Off Season runs until August 31.
