Theatre Royal

Hobart


Hobart’s prestigious (and very precious) Theatre Royal has been host to bombastic thespians since 1837, and despite a major fire in 1984, it remains Australia’s oldest continuously operating theatre. At the time of writing, the theatre was closed for renovations, and set to reopen as part of the Hedberg performing arts centre in mid-2019, so call ahead to check on the status of its backstage tours.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Hobart attractions

1. Tasmanian Museum & Art Gallery

0.16 MILES

Incorporating Tasmania's oldest surviving public building, the Commissariat Store (1808), TMAG features Aboriginal and colonial relics and an excellent…

2. Gasworks Cellar Door

0.16 MILES

If you want Tasmania's far-flung wine regions distilled into one experience, duck into the Gasworks Cellar Door, which is effectively a museum of wine and…

3. Town Hall

0.2 MILES

Duck your head into the fabulously lavish lobby of Hobart's stately Town Hall. It was built in 1864–66 in a style based on Rome’s famous Palazzo Farnese…

4. Maritime Museum of Tasmania

0.2 MILES

Highlighting shipwrecks, boat building, whaling and Hobart’s unbreakable bond with the sea, the Maritime Museum of Tasmania (out the back of the town hall…

5. Mawson’s Huts Replica Museum

0.24 MILES

This excellent waterfront installation is a model of one of the huts in which Sir Douglas Mawson's Australasian Antarctic Expedition team, which set sail…

6. Waterfront

0.25 MILES

Hobartians flock to the city’s waterfront like seagulls to chips. Centred on Victoria Dock (a working fishing harbour) and Constitution Dock (full of…

7. Franklin Square

0.26 MILES

Encircling a statue of Sir John Franklin, Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land (aka Tasmania) from 1837–43, Franklin Sq is one of central Hobart's…

8. Hobart Convict Penitentiary

0.27 MILES

The courtrooms, cells and gallows at 'the Tench' had a hellish reputation in the 1800s, and every convict in Tasmania passed through here. The barracks…