Seven days around Dark Mofo: Hobart, the east coast, and the festival with a bed of your own
11–22 June. Fire, art, the longest night of the year — and a motorhome instead of a sold-out hotel.
From 11 to 22 June, Hobart becomes the strangest, best version of itself. Dark Mofo — MONA’s winter festival — fills the city with fire installations, all-night art, the Winter Feast, and the Nude Solstice Swim for anyone brave enough. It is one of the genuine cultural events on the Australian calendar, and the accommodation sells out for it months ahead.
A motorhome solves the accommodation problem and turns the trip into something better. Seven days from the LGM Hobart branch lets you do the festival properly and use the van as a base to escape into Tasmania’s east coast on either side — Freycinet, Wineglass Bay, the slow Tasmanian winter. The longest drive is 2 hours 15 minutes, broken with a lunch stop. Three days are entirely local in Hobart.
This is the one blog in the series with a hard date. Dark Mofo runs 11–22 June 2026 and not a day longer. If the festival is the reason for the trip, the booking window is now.
The accommodation sells out months ahead. A motorhome solves that — and turns the trip into something better.
The trip at a glance
Here’s what the week looks like before we go day by day.
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Day 1 — Hobart arrival. Festival opening night.
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Day 2 — MONA day. Local only.
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Day 3 — Hobart festival day. Salamanca, Winter Feast.
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Day 4 — Hobart to Coles Bay. Split via Triabunna.
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Day 5 — Freycinet day. Local only.
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Day 6 — Coles Bay back to Hobart. Split via Swansea.
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Day 7 — Hobart and Mt Wellington. Local only.
Total drive distance over the week: around 410 km. The longest single leg is 2 hours 15 minutes, Hobart to Coles Bay, broken with a Triabunna lunch stop. Three days are entirely local in Hobart around the festival. Dates are fixed: 11–22 June 2026.
Day 1 — Hobart arrival
DRIVE · Local — pickup and short drive to the caravan park
Collect the motorhome from the LGM Hobart branch. Settle in at the Hobart Showground Tourist Park or BIG4 Treasure Island Hobart — both an easy run into the city, both the kind of base a hotel can’t be during a sold-out festival.
Walk into the city for the Dark Mofo opening. The festival takes over the waterfront and the laneways — the giant red crucifixes go up along the river, the installations light, and the city changes character for eleven days. Dinner at Salamanca. The trip starts with the festival, which is the point.
Day 2 — MONA day
DRIVE · Local — under 30 km return
MONA — the Museum of Old and New Art — is the institution Dark Mofo grew out of, and it deserves a full day. Take the dedicated ferry from Brooke Street Pier rather than driving; the boat is part of the experience.
MONA is unlike any other gallery in the world: subterranean, deliberately disorienting, by turns confronting and very funny. Allow the whole day. A Dark Mofo evening event back in the city to finish.
Day 3 — Hobart festival day
DRIVE · Local
If you can time the trip so this day is a Saturday, the Salamanca Market is one of the best in the country — it runs every Saturday morning regardless of the festival. Battery Point, the old maritime village just up the hill, is a good slow walk afterwards.
In the evening, the Dark Mofo Winter Feast — a vast, fire-lit indoor and outdoor food hall that’s one of the festival’s signature events. This is the heart of the trip; the east coast can wait a day.
Day 4 — Hobart to Coles Bay
DRIVE · Hobart → Coles Bay, split via Triabunna · 175 km total · Two legs with a Triabunna lunch stop
The longest drive of the week, deliberately broken. Hobart to Triabunna first, around 90 km and 1 hour 15 minutes — stop for lunch and oysters, because Triabunna is where the Bruny Island and east coast oysters come through and they’re as fresh as they get.
Then Triabunna to Coles Bay, around 85 km and an hour. Stay at the Iluka Holiday Centre or the Freycinet park. You’ve left the festival for a couple of days to see the part of Tasmania that has nothing to do with it.
Day 5 — Freycinet day
DRIVE · Local — under 20 km
The Wineglass Bay lookout walk is the iconic Tasmanian image — a steep but short climb to a viewpoint over a perfect curve of white sand and blue water. In winter you may have it almost to yourself. If you’ve got the legs, continue down to the beach itself.
Afternoon at Friendly Beaches or Honeymoon Bay, or the short drive to Cape Tourville lighthouse for the boardwalk and the coastal views. Freycinet in winter is cold, clear, and almost empty — the opposite of the festival, which is exactly why it belongs in this trip.
Freycinet in winter is cold, clear, and almost empty — the opposite of the festival, which is exactly why it belongs in this trip.
Day 6 — Coles Bay back to Hobart
DRIVE · Coles Bay → Hobart, split via Swansea · 175 km total · Two legs with a Swansea coffee stop
The return down the east coast, broken at Swansea for coffee and the view across Great Oyster Bay to the Freycinet peaks you were standing on yesterday. An optional detour to the Maria Island ferry at Triabunna if you want one more stop.
Arrive Hobart by late afternoon. If the festival dates align, one more Dark Mofo night — the program runs the full eleven days and there’s always something on.
Day 7 — Hobart and Mt Wellington
DRIVE · Local — Mt Wellington 45 km return
Drive up kunanyi / Mt Wellington in the morning — the summit road is sealed and the view over Hobart, the Derwent, and half of southern Tasmania is the best in the city. In June there may be snow at the top; dress for it.
The rest of the day is Hobart’s slow rituals — a final Salamanca wander, Battery Point, or one more MONA visit. Return the motorhome to the LGM Hobart branch. You did Dark Mofo with a bed of your own and saw the rest of southern Tasmania while you were at it.
Practical notes for the trip
Fuel and route
Fuel coverage is excellent on the entire route. Hobart, Sorell, Triabunna, Swansea and Bicheno all have service stations. The east coast highway is a sealed, well-serviced road the whole way.
Our fuel info page links the federal government’s fuel availability site. For this route, fuel is not a concern at any point.
Vehicle suitability
All LGM vehicle sizes are suitable. Tasmanian roads are sealed but narrower than the mainland in places — a sub-7m vehicle is easier on the east coast. The Mt Wellington summit road is sealed but steep and winding, and may have snow or ice in June; check conditions before driving up and take it slowly.
Best season
This trip is built around the Dark Mofo dates: 11–22 June 2026, and not a day either side. It is a deep-winter trip — expect 0–10°C nights and pack accordingly. The cold is part of the festival’s identity, not a drawback.
What to book in advance
This is the most time-critical booking in the series. Dark Mofo accommodation and motorhome demand both spike, and the festival dates fill six or more weeks ahead. The Hobart caravan parks should be booked as early as possible. Try to plan the itinerary so the festival days and the Saturday market align.
The Aussie Winter Wander Sale — 25% off May to July
Dark Mofo runs 11–22 June 2026 and the accommodation for it is already tightening. A motorhome is the way to be there without paying festival-week hotel rates — and right now every May, June and July booking from the LGM Hobart branch is 25% off as part of the Aussie Winter Wander Sale.
The sale runs 15 May to 25 May. The festival is in mid-June. The booking has to happen now to do both — this is the one trip in the range where waiting genuinely costs you the trip.