Bicheno Penguin Tour from Hobart or Launceston

Bicheno is 177 km by road from Hobart, about two and a half hours, and 160 km from Launceston, about two hours, and the penguin tour starts at dusk from the Bicheno Penguin Tours shop on Burgess Street. No day tour from Hobart includes it, so you drive or take the bus to Bicheno and stay the night, or join a circuit that sleeps there. The tour is Tasmania: Bicheno Penguin Tour, from US$53 a person (checked November 2026).

The calendar above is the Bicheno penguin tour, with 47 reviews (checked November 2026).

The short answer

Drive up in the afternoon, check in at the shop at least 10 minutes before your tour time, and sleep in Bicheno: in summer the tour starts between about 7:30 pm and 9:30 pm and lasts about an hour, which leaves a two-and-a-half-hour drive back to Hobart in the dark. Without a car, the buses from Hobart and Launceston reach Bicheno, and Wild Tasmania Tours’ 4-day circuit from Hobart spends a night there with the penguin tour as an option you add yourself. The operator does not collect guests from their accommodation: everyone meets at the shop.

Driving from Hobart

From Hobart the drive to the shop on Burgess Street is 177 km by road. Tourism Tasmania puts it at about 2 hours 30 minutes on the Tasman Highway, which runs up the east coast through Swansea. Leave Hobart by mid-afternoon in summer to arrive before the tour with time to check in and eat; from February to August, when tours leave between about 5 pm and 7:30 pm, leave earlier. The shop has free parking outside.

Driving from Launceston

From Launceston it is 160 km by road, about 2 hours: Tourism Tasmania routes it over the Lake Leake Highway. From Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park, Bicheno is 38 km by road to the north, about half an hour, so a day at Wineglass Bay and the penguins at dusk fit together.

Book the penguin tour for your arrival night

By bus

The Tasmanian Government’s Transport Services pages list routes 736, 737, 744 and 745 between Coles Bay, Bicheno and Hobart, booked with Tassielink (1300 300 520 or its website), and services between the east coast and Launceston booked with Calow’s Coaches, where booking is essential (0400 570 036 or its website). In Launceston the Regional Transit Centre is at 25 St John Street. Check the timetables on Transport Services’ east coast page before you plan: the tour starts at dusk and ends after dark, so coming by bus means a night in Bicheno.

On a Tasmania circuit

No day tour from Hobart on GetYourGuide or Viator includes the Bicheno penguin tour. Three multi-day circuits from Hobart pass through Bicheno, and none includes it:

• Wild Tasmania Tours’ 4-day circuit, in a group of up to 13, arrives in Bicheno early on its third day for the blowhole, the coastal walk and Whalers Lookout, and stays the night. At dusk the penguin tour is optional, booked ahead and paid for yourself; the listing excludes it. The same 4 days are on Viator: see the 4-day circuit on Viator, from US$746 (checked November 2026).
• Under Down Under Tours’ 5-day circuit stops in Bicheno in the daytime for coffee, the Blowhole and the Gulch on its way from St Helens to Freycinet, and does not stay the night.
• Under Down Under Tours’ 7-day circuit goes from the Bay of Fires to Freycinet and names no stay in Bicheno on its listing.

If you book the 4-day circuit, book the penguin tour for the same evening as soon as you know the date: tours often sell out several weeks ahead.

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.