Exactly How To Get From Hobart To Bruny Island

Decided to visit Bruny Island? Great choice! This island is beautiful and well worth your time. We absolutely love visiting Bruny and you no doubt will too.

Now that you’ve decided to go, the next question is how to get to Bruny Island from Hobart?

Thankfully, despite being an island, it’s not hard getting to Bruny Island from Hobart. It’s just a short drive then a short ferry. It’s also possible to get a bus to Kettering, where the ferry departs, or there are some fabulous Bruny Island day tours from Hobart and Bruny Island cruises from Hobart

Below, I break down exactly how to travel from Hobart to Bruny Island so you know the exact answer to the distance from Hobart to Bruny Island as well as how long it takes. I also show you how to go to Bruny Island from Hobart on a map and give you all the options from driving to hiring a car to a Hobart to Bruny Island ferry as well as discussing day tours and buses.

Map: Hobart To Bruny Island

How Far Is Bruny Island From Hobart?

The Hobart to Bruny Island distance is actually just over 20 kilometres as the crow flies from the centre of Hobart to the northern part of Bruny Island. It’s not far for somewhere that feels like a completely different place.

When it comes to driving from Hobart to Bruny Island by car, it’s about 33 kilometres from the city centre to the ferry terminal at Kettering.

From here, the ferry travels a couple of kilometres between the mainland of Tasmania at the Kettering ferry terminal to Bruny Island on the western side of North Bruny Island at Roberts Point.

So the distance Hobart to Bruny Island is about 35 kilometres travelling overland.

Note that Bruny itself is surprisingly big and there is not much at the terminal where you arrive so you’ll be travelling onwards from here as well. There are no public buses on Bruny Island.

Driving Time To Bruny Island Hobart

The Hobart to Bruny Island drive is straightforward. Getting to the terminal in Kettering takes about 30-40 minutes. Exactly how long will depend on traffic and any road works.

The car ferry takes about 15-20 minutes and runs regularly – at the time of publishing this, it runs every 20-30 minutes.

You will need to factor in some time waiting for the next ferry. It is very straightforward to catch this though – more below!

An approximate travel time is 1- 1.5 hours depending on how well you time the ferry.

BEST OPTION: How To Get From Hobart To Bruny Island

Step 1: Drive from Hobart to Kettering

There are basically two steps for making the journey Hobart Bruny Island in your own/hire car – getting to the ferry terminal in Kettering and then getting the ferry. There is no road connection to Bruny Island so no matter how you travel there, you’ll be on a boat at some point.

The first part is straight forward. From Hobart, take the A6 towards Kingston. You’ll then take the B68 towards Margate. Keep driving along this until you find yourself in Kettering.

It’s clearly signposted where to turn for the ferry so you can’t miss it. Just keep following the signs until you hit a line of cars or the terminal itself.

You can hire a car here.

You can also get a public Hobart to Bruny Island bus which will drop you off by the terminal. Bus 415 makes this journey from the city interchange and it takes about an hour.

Buses do not run regularly though and I don’t recommend this because there are no buses on Bruny Island. Once you arrive on the island, you will want your own car.

It did work well for us though when my husband needed to cut our last trip short before the rest of us wanted to return to Hobart. I simply dropped him off at the ferry terminal on Bruny Island and he was able to take the ferry back to Kettering as a foot passenger and then the bus back to Hobart.

Step 2: Bruny Island Ferry

First of all, note there is no ferry from Hobart to Bruny Island. You need to either drive to Kettering first, like instructions above or you can take a Hobart Bruny Island cruise with a tour company which can depart from Hobart.

If you are taking your own car on the ferry, these instructions are for you.

On arrival at the ferry terminal, you’ll get to a small ticket booth where you simply wind down the window and buy a ticket for your car or show your ticket if you purchased it beforehand.

Ticket prices are per car and not per passenger. You can buy tickets beforehand but there is no reason to since it won’t give you a spot on a specific ferry time. You’ll still be on the next one that’s available.

Tickets are cheaper if you cross early or late and foot passengers are free.

Once you have passed this point, you’ll be instructed where to park your car in many lines of cars. When the ferry arrives and is ready to let you on, you’ll be instructed when to start again and where to drive and park on the ferry. Getting off is similar.

The ferry runs from about 6am to 7pm daily, although they start a little later on the weekend. They have everything down to a fine art so it is quick and easy to take the Bruny Island ferry.

Onboard the ferry is not very exciting – you can stay sitting in your car or get out in the fresh air and take in the views. Some ferries do have good sitting areas. It really depends.

Coming back is much the same but there is even less at the Bruny Island ferry terminal end.

It’s possible to plan your own Bruny Island day trip from Hobart. Although I recommend staying overnight as there is more on the island than you might think.

You can find full ferry timetable information here. The latest updates are often only available on their Facebook page (like more services for a long weekend) and you can find that here.

Alternative: Bruny Island Tours From Hobart

The instructions above are for how to get to Bruny Island by yourself. The other alternative is to take one of the tours to Bruny Island from Hobart.

There are some fabulous tour options from cruising from Hobart to Bruny via spectacular scenery to bussing down and around the island to gourmet food tours.

If you just want to do a day trip to Bruny Island from Hobart, a day tour is what I recommend to get the most from your time.

Some popular options for a Bruny Island sightseeing and gourmet tour from Hobart are:

There are quite a few options for Bruny Island tours so if this option interests you, I recommend you read my full guide to the Hobart Bruny Island tours available here.

Final Words

I hope you found this guide to how to travel from Hobart to Bruny Island useful. I recommend you either take your own car to Bruny Island and explore for at least a couple of days (you can hire one here) or take a Bruny Island day tour to fit the most into your time.

You can find our guide to things to do on Bruny Island once you get there here, the best Bruny Island accommodation here or our guide to camping on Bruny here. All our guides to the great places in southern Tasmania are here.