Port Arthur Historic Site Tours,
Several cheap tours operate at the Port Arthur Site, Tasmania
Port Arthur, a restored convict penal settlement on the Tasman Peninsula, near Hobart, Tasmania, Australia has on offer several excellent and cheap tours of the site.
Port Arthur Historic Site on the Tasman Peninsula is one of the best preserved examples of Australia’s convict past. The restored penal colony is an easy drive from Hobart, Tasmania and offers the visitor a wide range of activities including several excellent cheap tours as well as free tours included with the entry fee.
Port Arthur was the penal settlement used to incarcerate and punish the worst criminal convicts who re-offended in the colonies of New South Wales and Tasmania. The conditions at Port Arthur were harsh and cruel with severe punishments for poor behaviour. The convict inmates built the settlement out of the wilderness and what a visitor can see today includes over 30 restored buildings and ruins, beautiful gardens, sweeping lawns, and spectacular harbour.
The tours that operate at Port Arthur can only be booked through the Visitors Centre otherwise it is simply on a first-come first-serve basis. These cheap tours provide an excellent insight and another dimension to a visit to Port Arthur Historic Site.
Audio Tours
An audio tour of the Port Arthur Historical Site adds another dimension to the experience of this unique place. The audio tour provides 25 stops where sounds, music, real journals excerpts, and engrossing stories are blended with further historical facts about the penal settlement to give the visitor a multi-dimensional and more personal experience.
The easy to operate audio equipment can be hired from the visitor’s centre. Each audio unit costs AU$6.00 with an additional AU$3.00 if you would like headphones. Given that at some times of the day can be busy and therefore noisy at the site, headphones are recommended.
Point Puer Tour
In addition to the adult male penitentiary, young boys were also encarcerated at the Port Arthur Penal Settlement at Port Puer. From 1834 to 1849, some 3,000 boys between the ages of 9 to 18 were sent to the Point Puer Prison for rehabilitation and training in trades. It was a harsh life with very strict discipline, high expectations, rigid rules and severe punishments.
The Port Puer tour includes a cruise to Point Puer and a one-hour guided walking tour. Visitors are taken to see the ruins at Point Puer and expert guides will tell fascinating stories about the boys who lived there.
Tours operate every day (except in August).
Cost: AU$10
Isle Of The Dead Tour
The Isle Of The Dead is in the harbour and is only a short ferry trip from the Port Arthur Historic Site. Take the route covered by the boats that carried dead convicts and ex-convict paupers from the settlement to this eerie island where they would be buried with little ceremony, but a few words from a priest. Most were buried in unmarked graves on the lower side of the island with the higher side reserved for “free” people. In a more conventional fashion these graves were marked with sometimes headstones, some of which are quite elaborate.
In 1833 Reverend John Manton selected Opossum Island as the burial place for convicts from Port Arthur. It soon lost its original name and was always referred to as the Isle Of The Dead.
The fascinating tour includes a short cruise to the island and a half-hour walking tour with an expert guide.
Tours operate daily with frequent departures, but these tours are subject to weather and under some circumstances may be restricted to the summer months.
Cost AU$7.00
Ghost Tours
Each night as the sun sets visitors gather for a hauntingly fascinating tour of the Port Arthur Historic Site.
This lantern-lit walking tour takes visitors on a stroll through the ruins of the settlement as the guide tells poignant, eerie and entertaining tales from the settlement’s past.
This tour should not be missed if any visitors have the leisure to stay on into the evening or if they are staying close to the site. Some children may find the stories, the darkness and the shadows frightening. Children should be closely monitored by their accompanying adult.
Tours take place every night.
Duration: 1.5hrs
Cost: AU$12
Bookings: +61 3 6250 2539
MV Marana boat tours offer two excellent cruises:
Tasman Island Wilderness Cruise
Hobart To Port Arthur Cruise
Contact
Port Arthur Visitor's Centre
Phone: +61 (0)3 6251 2300
Address: Arthur Highway
Port Arthur TAS 7182
Australia
