Located on the Tasman Peninsula overlooking Carnarvon Bay, Port Arthur was established as a penal settlement in the 19th century and now functions as an open-air museum and historic site. Its hauntingly beautiful sandstone buildings were constructed using convict hard labor and include an immense penitentiary and the remains of the Convict Church.

Port Arthur is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is today one of Tasmania’s most popular tourist attractions. Join one of their Introductory Guided Walking Tours to gain an insight into the more than 30 buildings, ruins and restored period homes that dot the site and be sure to spend time visiting the museum.

You can also opt to cruise to the Isle of the Dead where more than 1,000 convicts are laid to rest or visit the Point Puer Boys Prison, which was the first reformatory to be built in the British Empire solely for juvenile male convicts. Want to see Port Arthur in a different light? Join a guided lantern ghost tour by night to come face-to-face with those convicts who have never left the site.

Port Arthur is around 90 minutes’ drive from Hobart on the Tasman Peninsula and can easily be combined with a visit to the Tessellated Pavement, the Devil’s Kitchen and the Blowhole near Eaglehawk Neck. There are plenty of accommo-dation and dining options in the adjacent town of Port Arthur and it serves as the base for wilderness cruises to explore this stunning part of Tasmania from the water.