When a tour company with a list of awards almost as long as its range of walks files the ”Top Seven Walks to Do Right Now”, it’s time to get out the diary and rejig the bucket list. Recipient of the Australian Tourism Hall of Fame, (among other gongs) Tasmanian Walking Company has curated seven incredible walks that offer a calming alternative for these rather crazy times. Be warned, each walk has limited departures.
1.BRUNY ISLAND LONG WEEKEND + FAT PIG FARM FEAST, TASMANIA
Why Now? Only five departures available offering a rare chance to dine at the acclaimed Fat Pig Farm.
Priced: 3 nights, $2695 pp
Departure: November 7 and December 12, 2024 / January 23, March 27 and April 10, 2025
Read more: here
When Fat Pig Farm smallholder Matthew Evans and his wife, Sadie Chrestman, announced they would close their acclaimed farm-to-plate restaurant in Tasmania’s Huon Valley in 2023, fans of the former chef and Australian TV personality found themselves in a gourmet pickle. The customary way to access the famed diner had all but disappeared.
Now, thanks to a collaboration with Tasmanian Walking Company, small groups of ten (or fewer) hikers on Tasmanian Walking Company’s Limited Edition Bruny Island Walk can experience the 70-acre farm over a tour that comes paired with a long lunch and local wines.
What follows the Farm Feast is a three-day, 30km guided walk along windswept beaches, rocky headlands and lush forests of picturesque Bruny Island. The getaway is low on both foot miles and food miles. Almost 100% of the ingredients that go into every nourishing meal is foraged from Bruny Island itself; just like the fresh-catch oysters that hikers get to shuck themselves.
Tip: Tennis buffs can book a courtside seat at The Australian Open in Melbourne (Jan 12-26), before hopping across to Hobart for the January 23-26, 2025 departure. Alternatively, combine the March 27 departure with Ten Days on the Island (21-30 March), the state’s premier arts festival held every second year.
2.TORRES DEL PAINE PATAGONIA WALK, CHILE
Why Now? A rare opportunity for Australians to try ice hiking and glacier exploration while walking in an edge-of-the-world destination.
Departure: April 5, 12, 19 and November 8 and 15, 2025
Priced: AUD$9895
Read more: here
Halfway around the world on the southern edge of the American continent lies a mythical destination that is synonymous with nature: Patagonia. It’s a place where thick Andean scrubland sneaks up to jagged ice-capped mountains while tutu-blue glaciers tumble unhurriedly into opal tinctured lakes.
Patagonia is nothing like Australia, and for this reason the Torres Del Paine Patagonia Walk packs some rare adventures into the seven-day experience. For starters, there’s ice hiking along the majestic Grey Glacier, kayaking among glaciers that bob like cotton candy on pristine lakes, and catamaran cruising across a waterway framed by towering saw-toothed mountain ranges.
Base camp is almost as privileged as the 75-kilometre trail. Guided by Nature guests (the company was established in partnership with Tasmanian Walking Company) get to snuggle into a network of swish lodges with warm rooms opening out to big nature views. They also dine on chef-cooked Chilean cuisine washed down by the nation’s famed Pisco Sour.
There are just five departures in 2025, each cherry picked to fit the optimum walking seasons as much as the availability of tightly held accommodation.
3.BREATHE DEEP: BAY OF FIRES COLD WATER & BREATHWORK WALK, TASMANIA
Why now? If the 2020s feels like four years of fury, then this walk is more like moving meditation. It teaches methodologies to build resilience and improve mental and physical health – in a state celebrated for having the cleanest air on the planet.
Departure: May 4 and May 8, 2025
Priced: 4 nights, $3,595 pp
Read More: Here
Fire and ice. And a lot of pure air panting! That’s what you get when you join Tasmania’s Piet Blokker on a five-day Bay of Fires guided walk that layers cold water ocean plunges and breathwork into a 32km trek along one of Australia’s most spectacular coastlines.
Walking proof of the transformative power of cold-water therapy, the once health embattled Piet guides guests on two journeys; one through the well-being techniques he lives by and the other along the along squeaky-clean beaches and winding waterways of Tasmania’s pristine northeast region.
Piet’s aim is to challenge guests to dive daily into ice-box cool waters while mastering breathing processes that can improve sleep, reinforce immune function, boost creativity and increase focus. The fringe benefit of all that conscious gasping is a cosy bed in a lavish beach camp plus two nights deep sleep at the Bay of Fires Lodge – heralded for its soaking bath under the stars.
Oh, and if you think Piet looks familiar, he is the reigning pinup for Tourism Tasmania’s television campaigns.
4.FAMILY TIES IN TASMANIA
Why now? Cyber world gone too far? Reconnect with what really counts on a three-day family friendly walk in Tasmania, a real-world destination ranked by The New York Times as one of the Best Places to visit in 2024.
Departures: Sep 29, 2024, January 9, 11, and 15, 2025
Priced: 3 nights, $2,295 per adult and $1950 per child aged between 8 and 12 years.
Get the kids out of the virtual world and into the real one for a long weekend family getaway to peaceful Tasmania on a Bruny Island or Three Capes Walk. With two expert guides on each tour, and a run sheet that reads like an Attenborough adventure, the whole gang will be motoring down pristine waterways, exploring pockets of wilderness, learning about native flora and fauna, discovering the Milky Way, and dining out on chef-designed meals bursting with local ingredients.
Carrying only light-weight day packs and sleeping in private eco camps, these tours put the whole family in comfort at the front row of nature.
There are two fixed departures for the Family Friendly Bruny Island Long Weekend Walk and three fixed departures for the Three Capes Long Weekend Walk. The latter is also available on request for a minimum of seven guests.
5.GET HIGH AND BE GUIDED BY NATURE IN NORWAY, SCOTLAND, ATLAS MOUNTAINS AND MORE
Why now? With the sirens of overtourism clanging loud, eco-setters can head for the hills on quiet, small group tours that guide walkers to the top of nature’s bucket list destinations.
Departures: various limited
Read More: here
There’s one way to get away from the madding crowds, and that’s on foot and along nature trails. Guided by Nature (in partnership with Tasmanian Walking Company) has launched a series of small group, fully guided walking tours that take travellers far from the bursting buses and the big cruise ship terminals headlining the 2024 European travel season.
Multi-day walks along legendary tracks offer experiences rich in history, culture and landscapes, all without sacrificing travel quality. Guests stay in premium boutique retreats and dine on local cuisine. The good news? None of the locations have made Sabre’s Top Destinations for 2025, meaning there’s less chance of jostling the crowds next year.
For alpine deficit Aussies, many of the 2025 walks also tick the ‘roof of the world’ destinations the likes of the Norway alpines, Scottish Highlands, and the Sahara Desert and Atlas Mountains.
6.TAKE A SACRED JOURNEY WITH SARAH BACHELARD – A PILGRIMAGE WITHOUT AND WITHIN, TASMANIA Why now? Christianity is on the periphery. Or is it? Take a profound walk with meaning.
Departure: January 23 and February 25, 2025
Priced: 6 nights, $5,095 pp
Read More: here
Experience one of Australia’s most beautiful tracks in a spirit of pilgrimage with theologian and
spiritual director Sarah Bachelard who will lead walkers across Tasmania’s ancient landscape. This journey is an opportunity to reconnect body, soul and spirit deepened by the lived experience of sacred geography and listening to the land.
Author, retreat leader and founder of the Benedictus Contemplative Church, Sarah will lead small groups on the seven-day, 67km Cradle Mountain Huts Walk along the iconic Overland Track by day, retreating each evening to the comfort of the only private accommodation along the trail. Based in Canberra Sarah Bachelard said, “I love this landscape and being wholly immersed in it. This is a walk that takes you right away from the routines of daily life, opens you to beauty and renews perspective.”
7.GO BIRDING WITH THE KANGAROO
Why now? If you read Charlotte McConaghy’s debut novel, Migrations, about one woman’s desperate search for the last Arctic Tern, then you’ll understand the desire to spot its slightly leggier cousin, the Antarctic Tern. Departures are almost as rare as the tern you may or may not see.
Departure: April 14, 2025
Priced: 3 nights, $3,695 pp
Read More: here
Combine hiking with wildlife spotting as you join Steve Davidson and the expert team from Inala Nature Tours on a four-day, small-group tour to Kangaroo Island.
Skip the usual wildlife drawcards – koalas, kangaroos, sealions and other megafauna that typically lure tourists to this biodiverse island – and zero in on the birdlife. On your tick list is the Spotted Scrub Wren, the coastal-dependent Rock Parrot and even the skulking, White-bellied Whipbird. But it’s the anticipation of the ultra-rare Antarctic Tern that will dominate dining room chatter at the newly restored Cape du Couedic Lighthouse Keeper Cottages. Overlooking the rugged coastline of the Flinders Chase National Park, these historic cottages form your base for 34km of hiking on a relatively untouristed island located 20 km off the South Australian coastline.
So there you have it. A bucket list of seriously different hikes with limited departures to legendary locations. Each walk has been curated for the ideal walking season and crafted to deliver comfort and small group camaraderie.
Your walking adventure and bookings starts here: www.taswalkingco.com.au
