Tasmanian Tiger Self-Guided Motorcycle Tour

Tasmania is roughly the size of Ireland and has some of the best motorcycle roads anywhere. This self-guided loop out of Hobart covers 1,600 kilometres in seven days, which is enough to get round the whole island without hurrying.

It heads west first, into the wet half. Mount Field and its rainforest come early, then Strahan on the remote west coast, reached through old mining country and temperate forest that gets several metres of rain a year. Cradle Mountain follows, which is the image most people have of Tasmania, then Devonport on the north coast.

The east is a different island. The Bay of Fires has white sand and boulders covered in orange lichen, with almost nobody on it, then Freycinet and the long curve of Wineglass Bay. Port Arthur comes last before Hobart, a convict settlement on a peninsula that is both beautiful and genuinely sobering, and worth more time than a quick look.

BikeRoundOz provides the bike of your choice, six nights in three and a half to four star hotels, a detailed itinerary document, digital maps and pre-tour riding advice. A pillion stays free on the accommodation, so two people travel for little more than one. Fuel, meals, park entry and insurance are arranged separately. Because it is self-guided there is no group and no schedule, which suits an island where the weather changes quickly and the best plan is often to wait an hour. For riders who want quality of road over quantity of kilometres, this is the pick of their range.