Things to Do in Battery Point: A Day in Hobart’s Historic Harbourside Neighbourhood

The best things to do in Battery Point, Hobart, begin with the 1839 Kelly’s Steps and Arthur Circus’s ring of nineteenth-century cottages. There’s Narryna’s merchant-house museum, scallop pies at Jackman & McRoss and the two-kilometre Sculpture Trail beside the Derwent. Newer reasons to visit include retro breakfasts at Gigi’s Diner, inventive gelato at Ozus and Friday-night dining at Lēoht. Small enough to explore on foot, this former maritime quarter rewards a little curiosity.

Above Salamanca’s old warehouses, Battery Point has retained something of its original temperament. The lanes are narrow, the cottages have flowers growing through their fences and grand merchant houses share the neighbourhood with pubs that once fed sailors and shipwrights. These days, the company is more likely to include architects, gallery-goers and people with strong opinions about coffee. The architecture alone could occupy an afternoon. Fortunately, there’s plenty to eat.

Morning in Battery Point: Historic Streets and Hobart’s Best Bakeries

Climb Kelly’s Steps from Salamanca Place

Just beyond Salamanca’s handsome sandstone warehouses, a narrow passage leads into the cliff, and Hobart begins to reveal its older, more intimate geography. Kelly’s Steps were cut into the rock in 1839 by whaling captain James Kelly, who wanted a shortcut between his waterfront business and the house above. Kelly had already circumnavigated Tasmania in an open boat; a staircase through a cliff must have seemed a modest undertaking.

Forty-eight stone steps climb between weathered walls, the commotion of Salamanca gradually falling behind. At the top, Kelly Street belongs to another Hobart: close-set cottages, little gardens and the domestic world of sailors, shipwrights and wharf labourers. Down below, the great warehouses where maritime fortunes were made. Up here, the homes of the people who helped make them.

Where: Kelly’s Steps, between Kelly Street and Salamanca Place, Battery Point
Cost: Free
Best For: History lovers, Walking, Architecture, Free activities
Need To Know: Access from Kelly’s Lane off Salamanca Place. The 48 sandstone steps are steep and can be slippery after rain. There is no wheelchair access; use the surrounding streets for a step-free alternative.

Breakfast at Jackman & McRoss

There’s been a bakery on the corner of Hampden Road and Kelly Street for generations. Before Jackman & McRoss came along, the Cripps family baked here, dispatching bread by delivery cart through Battery Point’s narrow streets. The horses have disappeared, but the neighbourhood still gathers at the counter, where cabinets are crowded with cakes, custard tarts, pastries and an impressive assortment of pies.

The one that brings visitors from interstate is filled with Tasmanian scallops, wakame, potato and cream, all enclosed in golden pastry. It’s a splendid introduction to the island’s culinary peculiarities, although the wallaby and rabbit pies deserve some attention, too. Take a table by the window with a coffee and something sweet for afterwards. Outside, Hampden Road goes about its morning much as it has for a century.

Sitchu Tip: Everyone knows about the scallop and wakame pie, but co-founder Nerida McRoss names the rabbit, ham hock and mushroom pie as another customer favourite. Order one of each if you’re sharing. The bakery also sells cold pies through its online shop, handy for stocking the fridge at your accommodation.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: Bakery, Cafe
Best For: Breakfast, Quick bite, Locals, Weekend plans
Need To Know: 57 Hampden Road. Open Monday to Saturday, 7am–5pm; Sunday, 7am–4pm.

Discover Arthur Circus

It sounds like a travelling fairground, but Arthur Circus is something much more interesting: sixteen Georgian cottages gathered around an oval patch of green. Their small front gardens, coloured doors and handsome brickwork make this one of Hobart’s most photographed addresses.

The cottages date largely from the 1840s and 1850s, built on allotments sold by Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur. Generations of working families lived here, including sailors and people employed around the docks. Today, the buildings are cherished private homes. Admire them from the green, investigate the extraordinary variety of cottage details and remember that people still live behind those immaculate little gates.

Where: Arthur Circus, Battery Point
Cost: Free
Best For: History lovers, Architecture, Families, Photography
Need To Know: Arthur Circus is a residential heritage precinct. Respect private property and garden boundaries.

Settle Into a Booth at Gigi’s Diner

Red booths, pancake stacks and a cheeseburger with absolutely no interest in being fashionable. Gigi’s Diner has landed on Castray Esplanade, bringing a little old-school Americana to Battery Point’s breakfast scene.

The menu reads like a greatest-hits collection from a very good roadside diner: fried chicken and waffles with maple syrup, fluffy pancakes with cultured butter and a double smash burger with brisket patties, American cheese and fries. There are breakfast muffins for anyone with somewhere to be, although the booths make leaving an unattractive proposition.

In a neighbourhood where the buildings tend towards Georgian restraint, Gigi’s cheerful exuberance is a welcome change of pace.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: American diner
Best For: Breakfast, Families, Quick bite, Weekend plans
Need To Know: 17A Castray Esplanade. Open for breakfast and lunch daily; check current evening trading before visiting.

Explore Battery Point’s History, Art and Architecture

Step Inside Narryna – The Merchant’s House

Narryna has seen a remarkable amount of Hobart history from its handsome Georgian windows. Built in the 1830s for seafarer and merchant Captain Andrew Haig, the Hampden Road residence later became a boarding house and hospital before opening as a folk museum in 1955.

Today, its furnished rooms and collections illuminate the domestic world of nineteenth-century Hobart. There’s fine furniture, decorative art, clothing and evidence of the labour required to keep a merchant household functioning. The contrast between the formal family rooms and the servants’ working spaces is especially revealing.

Sitchu Tip: Allow time for the gardens, too. Behind the classical façade is a gentler, more intimate side of Hobart’s colonial past.

Where: 103 Hampden Road, Battery Point
Cost: $10 adults, $8 concession, $5 children 12 and under
Best For: History lovers, Cultural experiences, Art lovers, Architecture
Need To Know: Open Tuesday to Saturday, 10am–4pm; closed Sunday and Monday. The ground floor is wheelchair accessible, with limited access upstairs.

Follow the Battery Point Sculpture Trail

Nine enormous numbers are scattered between Salamanca Place and the Derwent waterfront. They might appear a little peculiar at first, but each one has a historical reason for being there. The Battery Point Sculpture Trail, designed by Futago with Judith Abell and Chris Viney, uses measurements, dates and quantities to recount the suburb’s maritime and industrial past. One sculpture floats in the river, another is cut from a hedge, and another comes alive after dark.

It’s a clever way of experiencing local history without spending the entire afternoon reading plaques. The two-kilometre route also takes you beyond the most photographed streets, towards the places where shipbuilding and waterfront industry once shaped everyday life.

Sitchu Tip: Download the self-guided map from the Greater Hobart Trails website before setting out. The route begins at Salamanca Place and finishes at Marieville Esplanade, so allow around an hour or longer if you’re stopping for photographs.

Where: Salamanca Place to Marieville Esplanade, Battery Point
Cost: Free
Best For: Walking, History lovers, Art lovers, Free activities
Need To Know: Approximately 2km. The trail includes uneven surfaces and changes in level.

Admire Lenna of Hobart and Discover Its Distillery

Shipping merchant Alexander McGregor liked to know when his vessels were coming home. So much so that his magnificent 1874 mansion, now Lenna of Hobart, includes an elevated lookout from which he could watch ships approaching along the Derwent.

The Italianate sandstone residence remains an architectural beauty, with elaborate interiors, chandeliers and a position above the waterfront that would have made McGregor the envy of his neighbours. Today, it’s a heritage hotel, but there’s a reason for non-guests to investigate.

Battery Point Distillery operates from the property, making small-batch gin and single malt whisky. Book a guided tour to learn about the distilling process and the building’s history, or investigate the weekday tastings. The Chandelier Lounge Bar is another reason to venture inside.

Where: 20 Runnymede Street, Battery Point
Cost: Free to admire the exterior; distillery tastings $15 per person; guided tours separately ticketed
Best For: Architecture, History lovers, Whisky lovers, Couples
Need To Know: Distillery tours require bookings. Walk-in tastings are available Monday to Friday, 10am–4pm, subject to availability.

Shop for Beautiful Things at Habeō

Habeō is a shop where you go in for a birthday card and emerge with a shopping bag containing several things you had no intention of buying. At 113 Hampden Road, Rhea Carr-Davies has assembled a very appealing collection of homewares, books, jewellery, children’s gifts, stationery and objects for the house.

Recent finds have included brilliantly coloured umbrellas, sardine socks and Australian-designed clothing for small people. It’s an eclectic collection, with an evident affection for colour and objects that earn their place on the kitchen shelf or bedside table.

Hampden Road isn’t a shopping district on the scale of Salamanca, but smaller neighbourhood shops like this give it personality.

Where: 113 Hampden Road, Battery Point
Cost: Free to browse
Best For: Shopping, Design lovers, Gift ideas, Locals
Need To Know: Open from 10am, Monday to Saturday. Check seasonal trading hours before visiting.

Picnic at Princes Park, Where Hobart Once Kept Its Cannons

The history of Princes Park is certainly more combative than its lawns suggest. Long before it became a place for picnics and children’s games, the headland housed the Mulgrave Battery, built in 1818 to defend Hobart’s harbour.

It was once nicknamed Blow My Skull Point, after a fearsome drink reportedly favoured by military officers. The defences were later expanded, although their military usefulness was questioned even at the time.

These days, the cannons have yielded to trees, grass and views across the Derwent. Bring something from the bakery, find a place overlooking the water and investigate the surviving semaphore cottage, a reminder of the days when news of approaching ships arrived by signal rather than telephone.

Where: Castray Esplanade and Salamanca Place, Battery Point
Cost: Free
Best For: Families, Picnics, History lovers, Outdoor activities
Need To Know: The park has toilets, seating and a children’s playground. Dog restrictions vary by time of day; check City of Hobart signage.

Walk the Historic Battery Point Trail

Battery Point is best understood on foot, where the distance between a shipwright’s cottage and a prosperous merchant’s mansion can be measured in a few footsteps. The Historic Battery Point Walk follows a seven-kilometre circuit from Salamanca Square, climbing Kelly’s Steps and threading through streets whose sandstone walls, narrow passages and old garden gates recall the days when Hobart was a bustling colonial port.

Among the architectural treasures is St George’s Anglican Church, whose extraordinary sandstone tower was completed in 1847 to act as a landmark for ships entering the harbour. Its architect, James Blackburn, was himself a convict. Further along are the cottages of Arthur Circus, the grand merchant houses of Hampden Road and Princes Park, where cannons once guarded the Derwent. A whole social history of Hobart, written in stone.

Sitchu Tip: Short on time? The free In Bobby’s Footsteps self-guided heritage walk takes approximately 90 minutes and includes 16 historic locations, QR codes, archival stories and audio interviews with longtime residents. Download the booklet before setting out.

Where: Starts and finishes at Salamanca Square, Hobart
Cost: Free
Best For: Cultural, Outdoor, Active, Free, Visitors
Need To Know: The full circuit is approximately 7km and takes around two hours. Allow extra time for sightseeing; some sections involve hills and steps.

Where to Eat and Drink in Battery Point in 2026

Investigate the Extraordinary Flavours at Ozus Gelato

Black garlic and honeycomb might sound like the beginning of an argument, but at Ozus Gelato on Francis Street, they’re sharing the same scoop.

The new gelateria from Hobart hospitality operators Carl Nguyen, Kaye Sanwong and Tommy Sanwong makes its gelato with Tasmanian Ashgrove dairy, turning familiar ingredients in unexpected directions. There’s miso brownie, apple cider with apple crumble and raspberry sharpened with lemon myrtle, each accompanied by a carefully matched topping. Sundays bring honey-glazed doughnuts.

Most customers take their cones away, although there are a few seats for anyone unwilling to wait until the pavement to begin eating.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $
Cuisine: Gelato, Dessert
Best For: Sweet treats, Quick bite, Locals, Families
Need To Know: 22 Francis Street. Limited seating; check Instagram for current opening hours.

Lēoht: From Morning Coffee to Candlelit Dinner

The pale-pink Georgian cottage on Hampden Road has been standing since 1853, although its latest inhabitants have found a new reason to keep the lights on. After 18 months of breakfast, coffee and neighbourhood devotion, Lēoht now opens for dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings. Inside, there’s an old timber fireplace, Tasmanian furnishings and the sort of room that makes a second glass of wine seem entirely reasonable.

Head chef Sarah Morfey shops with the seasons, drawing on local growers for dishes such as wallaby tartare with pickled mushrooms, venison kielbasa and a saffron-tomato brodetto swimming with mussels, calamari and kingfish. Tasmanian organic and low-intervention wines dominate the list, with a few interesting visitors from further afield. You can settle in for dinner or simply stop by for a glass and something from the kitchen. A lovely development for a street that deserves more evenings like this.

Sitchu Tip: Arrive between 5pm and 6pm for happy hour, when Peroni is $5 and Clover Hill sparkling rosé is $10. It’s a very good way to investigate the new dinner service without committing to a full meal.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Best For: Date night, Wine lovers, Locals, Weekend plans
Need To Know: 46A Hampden Road. Dinner Friday and Saturday from 5pm; bookings available, with walk-ins welcome.

The Rice Corner

A little of Da Nang and a little of eastern Thailand have found their way to Francis Street. Opened in March 2026, The Rice Corner is the work of hospitality friends Carl Nguyen, Tommy and Kaye Sanwong, whose menu draws on the food they grew up eating. Much of the furniture and decoration came from Vietnam and Thailand, too, lending the dining room the intimate familiarity of a family home.

The dishes are worth investigating beyond the usual restaurant staples. Crisp Vietnamese bánh khọt arrive crowned with tiger prawns, northern Thai naem brings fermented pork to the table, and claypot cơm niêu comes with the irresistible business of scraping rice from the bottom of the pot. There are charcoal-grilled skewers, fragrant curries and jasmine, sticky and ginger rice to accompany it all. Battery Point’s old cottages have welcomed a rather splendid new set of kitchen traditions.

Sitchu Tip: The Rice Corner participates in First Table, where selected early sittings come with 50% off the food bill. There’s a booking fee, and drinks aren’t discounted, but it’s worth checking before making dinner plans.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Thai, Vietnamese
Best For: Group dining, Families, Locals, Weekend plans
Need To Know: 22 Francis Street. Bookings available online; check current lunch and dinner sessions before visiting.

Have a Pint at the Shipwright’s Arms Hotel

There’s a mermaid in the stained-glass window and a fireplace fashioned from an old ship’s boiler. At The Shipwright’s Arms Hotel, maritime history has never been a decorative afterthought. Shippies has occupied its Trumpeter Street corner since 1846, when the surrounding cottages were home to sailors, shipwrights and men who spent their days building vessels along the Derwent.

The original bar still has its nautical memorabilia and nine beer taps, but venture further and the pub reveals a rather different personality. Hold is an intimate drinking room with leather lounges and that extraordinary boiler fireplace; Shoal is a glass-walled garden pavilion with an indoor rainforest and a rare Huon pine. Tasmanian seafood takes precedence in the kitchen, with freshly shucked oysters and the house seafood chowder among the familiar favourites. Almost two centuries on, it’s still a very good place to find a pint after a day beside the water.

Sitchu Tip: Book Shoal if you’re after a proper lunch or dinner, or request the smaller Slip dining room overlooking Trumpeter Street. For a drink without the dining-room commitment, head straight to Hold, where you can order from the bar menu beside the old ship’s-boiler fireplace.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Pub fare
Best For: Locals, Group dining, Weekend plans, Families
Need To Know: 29 Trumpeter Street. Open daily from 11.30am until late. Bookings are recommended for Shoal and Slip; standard dining sittings are two hours.

Find the Bus in the Beer Garden at Preachers

A full-sized bus parked in a beer garden is not something most drinking establishments would attempt to explain. At Preachers, it’s simply part of the furniture. The Knopwood Street favourite occupies a heritage cottage with a generous courtyard, picnic tables, local craft beer and burgers that have acquired a devoted following. The old bus provides extra seating, a blessing on Hobart evenings when the temperature remembers it’s Tasmania.

Inside, the bar is small and convivial; outside, there’s room for friends, dogs and another round. The beer selection is serious without turning the experience into a lesson, which might be the most welcome quality of all.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Pub fare
Best For: Group dining, Beer lovers, Outdoor dining, Locals
Need To Know: 5 Knopwood Street. The beer garden includes seating inside a converted bus.

Stay Out for Pizza and Vinyl at Don Frico

Seven-hour queues on opening weekend suggested Hobart was more than ready for Don Frico. Behind Salamanca, Grinners founders Ben Wells and Jordan Dunn have joined forces with three chef friends to turn the former Society bar into a New York pizza joint with an appetite for Italo disco. Beyond the maroon velvet curtain, curved booths, Tasmanian blackwood, a disco ball and Pitt & Giblin speakers set the scene for a very different kind of Battery Point evening.

The pizza deserves its own billing. Thin, foldable New York slices arrive with spicy sausage, pepperoni, whipped ricotta and hot honey; the Detroit-style squares have thick, airy bases, crisp cheese edges and a generous slick of vodka sauce. There’s cacio e pepe pizza, oysters and fried potato crocche, too. Behind the bar, dirty Martinis and jalapeño-spiked passionfruit Margaritas make excellent company. On Friday and Saturday nights, vinyl DJs take over and the doors stay open until 2am. Hobart, it seems, has remembered the pleasures of going out late.

Sitchu Tip: Order a Detroit-style square to understand the name. Frico refers to the crisp, caramelised cheese that forms around the pizza’s edges. For a less crowded introduction, the kitchen opens at 3pm, making an afternoon slice and Martini a very appealing proposition.

Suburb: Battery Point
Price Guide: $$
Cuisine: Pizza
Best For: Late night, Cocktail lovers, Group dining, Date night
Need To Know: 22 Montpelier Retreat. Open Tuesday to Saturday from 3pm, with Friday and Saturday trading until 2am. Vinyl DJs on weekends.

Things to Do in Battery Point: FAQs

What are the best things to do in Battery Point?

The best things to do in Battery Point include climbing the sandstone Kelly’s Steps from Salamanca Place, wandering the heritage cottages of Arthur Circus and touring Narryna – The Merchant’s House. The two-kilometre Sculpture Trail links nine sculptures to the suburb’s past, while Princes Park combines waterfront views with its own military history. Jackman & McRoss is a favourite for Tasmanian scallop pies, and recent openings including Gigi’s Diner, Ozus Gelato, The Rice Corner and Don Frico make Battery Point as rewarding for dining as for architecture.

How long do you need to explore Battery Point?

Allow two to three hours to see Battery Point’s principal sights, including Kelly’s Steps, Arthur Circus, Hampden Road and Princes Park. A full day gives you time to tour Narryna – The Merchant’s House, complete the two-kilometre Sculpture Trail, browse the shops and stop for breakfast at Jackman & McRoss or dinner at Lēoht. Narryna is closed on Sundays and Mondays. The neighbourhood is compact and easily explored on foot from Salamanca Place, but its hills and narrow streets make comfortable walking shoes useful. On weekends, allow longer for cafe queues.

What are the best walks in Battery Point?

The Battery Point Sculpture Trail is a two-kilometre self-guided walk featuring nine numbered sculptures, each connected to the suburb’s history. It runs from Salamanca Place towards Marieville Esplanade and takes around an hour, depending on how often you stop. For an easier heritage circuit, climb Kelly’s Steps, visit the cottages and central green at Arthur Circus, then follow Hampden Road towards Princes Park and its waterfront views. Both routes are free and introduce Battery Point’s distinctive Georgian architecture and maritime past at an unhurried pace.

Where should you eat in Battery Point?

For breakfast in Battery Point, Jackman & McRoss on Hampden Road is a long-established favourite for pastries, sourdough and Tasmanian scallop pies, while Gigi’s Diner on Castray Esplanade serves pancakes, waffles and American diner classics. Lēoht at 46A Hampden Road offers specialty coffee by day and seasonal Tasmanian dinners on Friday and Saturday evenings. The Rice Corner on Francis Street serves Thai and Vietnamese food, Don Frico has pizza and cocktails on Montpelier Retreat, and the Shipwright’s Arms Hotel and Preachers cover pub dining. Finish with Tasmanian-dairy gelato at Ozus Gelato on Francis Street.

What free things can you do in Battery Point?

Battery Point has several free attractions, including Kelly’s Steps, the heritage cottages and central green at Arthur Circus, Princes Park and the two-kilometre outdoor Sculpture Trail. The streets themselves are worth exploring for their sandstone architecture, Georgian cottages and views towards the harbour, and window-shopping along Hampden Road is a pleasant way to spend an hour. Entry to Narryna – The Merchant’s House is ticketed, as are the Battery Point Distillery’s tours and tastings at Lenna, so plan separately for those visits.

For more ideas beyond Battery Point, explore our guide to the best things to do in Hobart, discover the city’s best bakeries or make a weekend of it with the best markets in Hobart.