I wanted to visit Hobart (again) before making my way to Launceston for my first interstate house and cat sit. So I booked a room at the same place I’d stayed about five years ago. The Alabama Hotel.

The Alabama Hotel describes itself as a ’boutique style art infused hotel’, ‘with emphasis on creating an enjoyable, affordable and artistic space’. I already knew the hotel’s amenities were pretty basic, but it redeems itself with the vintage interiors, furnishings and bric-a-brac scattered over two floors. It has a small bar and nice outdoor space, and they do coffee from 8am each day. The hotel’s location’s pretty decent, too. It’s on Liverpool Street. Less than a minute away from Elizabeth Street Mall, and about a 10- to 15-minute walk to Salamanca Place and Franklin Wharf. And there’s a Woolworths a few doors down.

It cost me just under $500 for five nights in a deluxe queen room. This time my room was directly above the bar and looked out on to Liverpool Street. Room 17 has a queen size bed, bar fridge, dressing table, heater and fan, and a small wardrobe to hang your clothes up in. Each floor has separate male and female bathrooms, and I’ve never had to wait to use the shower. Not back in 2014 and not in 2019 either. Shared bathrooms gross me out, but the ones here are really clean (shared bathrooms still gross me out). Enough about the hotel, here’s some fun things to see and do in Hobart.

Places to go

Battery Point

I have a feeling this is one of the most expensive suburbs in Hobart. Traditional homes, with beautiful gardens and views of the water. My favourite thing to do is walk up and down the streets admiring the architecture, and people’s well kept gardens.

North Hobart

Continue walking up Elizabeth Street for about 20 minutes. There’s Indian, Vietnamese, Thai and Mexican restaurants, European-style cafes and the typical Australian pubs/hotels, and the State Cinema. The State Cinema has been operating for 100+ years. The cinema’s bookstore is also worth checking out.

Hobart Cat Cafe

On my way to find lunch in North Hobart, I saw what I thought was a shopfront selling cat trees/towers. I thought a shop like this, especially in Hobart, was odd. I crossed the road to have a better look and could see it was actually a cat cafe. My favourite! This cat cafe is huge and they have a proper food menu. It looks like all the food is made to order in their kitchen. And like all cat cafes, they’ve got a drinks menu (alcohol included (unlike most cat cafes)).

The seven or eight cats they’ve got are rescues and I’m sure they love their new home. Some of their play things go from floor to ceiling, and they’re spoilt for choice when it comes to finding a comfy spot to nap in. Another great thing about Hobart Cat Cafe is you don’t need to book. You can just rock up. Like I did.

Hobart CBD

The city centre has some good stores and the food options are a lot better than I remember them being last time. I picked up a cute fox print from merchant and Thai Veggie Hutt, directly under the Alabama, has delicious-looking vegetarian dishes. The only downside is they close at 4.30pm. And they’re not open on Sunday. Augustus Chocolates is another good one for homewares. Hobart also seems to be big on street art now. You’ll find it everywhere you look in the CBD.

Daci & Daci was my favourite place for pastries and sweets, and they do breakfast ‘til 11am. And I like the Brunswick Hotel. It seems like a more grown up pub/hotel, with a great duo playing the night I went. Harry and Jane. This place gets extra points because they do espresso martinis.

Salamanca Place

The Saturday market is overrated. I told myself I wasn’t going to bother with it again . And I shouldn’t have. I went down at about 11am. As expected, it was ridiculously hard to get around. Some of the stalls have some good stuff, but I’m sure you can find it at other locations around Hobart and Tasmania.

I do, however, like the shops down here (i.e. not the market stalls). Norman and Dann was my favourite this time. Lots of Japanese-y stuff, cat stuff and cute homewares.

Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens

The gardens are about two kilometres out from the CBD. Easily walkable in the cool weather. Beautiful rose gardens. And it’s surprising to see they’ve got a substantial succulent and cactus collection.

Museum of Old and New Art (Mona)

I didn’t visit Mona this time. I considered it, but the main exhibit I wanted to see—’Eat the Problem’—finished in September. I don’t think this gallery will appeal to everyone. Some of the exhibitions are a bit crass. There’s a poop-making machine, a wall of vulva moulds, and it’s owned by a professional gambler. And it’s a bit of a pain/expensive to get to if you don’t have a car in Hobart. The Mona ferry is about $20, and I’m not sure if that’s each way or return. Uber might be an affordable alternative.

Other things worth checking out

• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery—admission is free or at least it was when I went.
• Hobart Convict Penitentiary—I did a tour of this place last time. Very interesting.
• Mt Wellington—I’ll be driving up here tomorrow before making my way to Launceston.

Next stop

Launceston is my next, and final, stop on this trip. I’ve got a 10-day house and cat sit in West Launceston. This sit was found through Aussie House Sitters—a website I haven’t used before. It has more Australian house sits than TrustedHousesitters, housecarers.com and MindMyHouse combined.