The Bruny Island Food Trail, Stop by Stop
The short answer. The Bruny Island food trail is a handful of producers along the main road: oysters, cheese, honey, chocolate and fudge, bread, whisky and wine. Every day tour stops at some of them. What differs is who pays. On the food days, every tasting and the lunch are in the fare. On the walking and sightseeing days, you buy as you go.
Quick facts
- Entry: the producers are free to visit, and none is inside the national park.
- Order: many days start with oysters soon after the ferry and finish with honey, chocolate or cheese.
- Paid in the fare: the Bruny Island Safaris days, the Pennicott food days, the Signature day's tastings, the private Discovery day's lunch.
- At your own cost: the Tassie Tours days, the hike, the private charter.
- Bring: a card, some cash and a cool bag. There is no ATM on the island.
How the trail runs
There is no set trail with a map and a pass. The producers sit along the main road that runs from the ferry at Roberts Point, over The Neck, to Adventure Bay and Alonnah in the south. The tours string them together in roughly that order, north to south in the morning and back again in the afternoon. Searching for tours from Hobart to Bruny Island turns up days that stop at the same doors, so it pays to know what each stop is.
What sets the days apart is the fare. A food day costs about $200 and hands you every tasting and a lunch. A sightseeing day costs about $130, stops at the same producers and leaves the buying to you. The food days are compared on Bruny Island food tours.
Stop by stop
Oysters at Get Shucked
The first stop on many days, soon after the ferry, is the oyster bar at Get Shucked on North Bruny. One Tassie Tours reviewer described a quick pick-up at the drive-through. On the Bruny Island Safaris days you do not stop here to buy: the guide brings the oysters, opened that morning, to morning tea on the beach. Colin C. wished they had bought more than a dozen.
Cheese and bread
The Bruny Island Cheese Company is the cheese stop, with bread too. The food and lighthouse day gives you cheese twice: three kinds at morning tea, then a tasting in the shop on the way back. The Wild Escapes day stops here, and Matthew W. counted the beer and cheese tasting among the highlights of the Pennicott food day. Lesley D. found the shop crowded when every group arrived at once, so be patient at the counter.
Honey
Bruny Island Honey offers tastings and a shop, and most day tours stop here, often late in the day. On the Safaris days the tasting is in the fare. On the Tassie Tours day you get about 15 minutes to taste and buy.
Chocolate and fudge
The Bruny Island Chocolate Company sells chocolate and fudge. The Safaris days book a private tasting here for their group alone. The Tassie Tours day gives you about 15 minutes to stock up, and the Pennicott food day includes a tasting.
Bread, whisky and wine
The small-group Signature day adds a bread fridge, a whisky house and an hour at a vineyard, with wine tasting when the cellar door is open. The private Discovery day has lunch at the vineyard.
Morning tea on the beach
The food and lighthouse days turn the first tasting into a picnic. At Two Tree Point the guide sets out oysters opened that morning, three island cheeses, fresh bread, and tea or coffee on the sand. Gluten-free biscuits are there if you need them. Troy M. remembered a picnic of local cheese and oysters, and Lesley D. counted it among the highlights.
It is the easiest way to taste the island's two best-known foods side by side, without queueing at a counter. The Pennicott food day does it differently, with an hour's lunch by the beach at Adventure Bay. The whole of the picnic day is on the food day with the lighthouse climb.
Who pays for what
| The day | Tastings | Lunch | Fare from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food day with the lighthouse climb | In the fare | In the fare | $203 |
| Pennicott food day | In the fare | In the fare | $210 |
| Private Discovery day | An oyster stop on the route | Vineyard lunch in the fare | $720 each |
| Small-group Signature day | In the fare | Your own | $261 |
| Guided walking day | Your own | Your own, at the pub | $130 |
| The hike and tastings | Your own | Your own | $120 |
Read it as a trade. If you will buy at every stop anyway, the difference between a walking day and a food day shrinks, and the food and lighthouse day adds the climb. If you would rather buy a dozen oysters and skip the rest, the walking day is the saving. The whole of that day is on the guided walking and sightseeing day, and the all-inclusive one on the food day with the lighthouse climb.
Lunch on the island
Lunch depends on the day. The Safaris days eat one course at Hotel Bruny in Alonnah, looking over Sunset Beach, and the Tassie Tours day stops at the same pub for about 45 minutes, where you buy your own. The Pennicott food day gives you an hour by the beach at Adventure Bay. The cruise day from Hobart serves fish and chips, or soup and a ham salad roll, at the cruise base restaurant.
If you are driving yourself, the Adventure Bay and Alonnah stores sell supplies. The hike's operator tells you to bring your own lunch, because options are limited. Hours change with the season, so check before you rely on a stop. Every producer and store is placed on the things to do page.
Buying to take home
Almost everything you taste is also for sale at the counter, and the tours leave time to buy. Honey, fudge and chocolate travel well in a day bag. Cheese and oysters need to stay cold, so on a warm day keep them for the last stop, or pack a cool bag. If you are on the food and lighthouse day, remember the bus takes day bags only.
Dietary needs
The food days handle them well if you ask in advance. The Safaris days offer gluten-free, vegan and vegetarian meals, with gluten-free biscuits at morning tea, and want any allergy at booking. Kylie G. found the Pennicott food day catered well for a coeliac diet. On the cruise day, Devarshi's parents had their vegetarian meals looked after.
On a pay-as-you-go day, you choose what you eat, which suits a strict diet. Ask at each counter.
Drinks, and who drives
Drinks with lunch are extra on the Safaris days; water on the bus is free. The Tassie Tours days sell alcohol along the way. The Signature day's wine tasting depends on the cellar door being open. On any tour the guide drives, which is the best argument for one if you want to taste the whisky and the wine.
If you drive yourself, the roads are narrow, partly gravel and busy with wallabies at dusk, so leave the tasting to your passengers. The rules are on the roads and wildlife page, and the parks pass you need only for the south is explained in our parks pass post. The ferry and the drive are on the getting to Bruny Island page.
Days built around the tastings
Bruny Island Traveller - Gourmet Tasting and Sightseeing Day Trip from Hobart
A tasting day from the Hobart waterfront: the lookout over the isthmus, an hour's lunch by the beach, and honey and chocolate stops, with the food and drink listed in the fare. Pickup from select hotels can be arranged.
From $210 per person
Check Availability
Signature Bruny Island Tour - Hobart & SE Tasmania
A small group of up to six, with pickup from a cruise ship or a central hotel. Stops at a bread fridge, a whisky house and a vineyard, with wine tasting when the cellar door is open; lunch is not in the fare.
From $261 per person
Check Availability
Hobart: Bruny Island Adventure: Hike, Highlights & Tastes
A 3-hour, 8 km return hike to a sea arch, then a trail of chocolate, honey, cheese and oyster producers. The ferry is in the fare; food is yours to buy or bring. Minimum age 8, and cancel at least two days out.
From $120 per person
Check AvailabilityNext: Climb the stairs above the isthmus in our post on the lookout. Every fare sits side by side on Bruny Island Tours.