Experiencing Salamanca Market in Hobart, Tasmania

My favourite area of Hobart is Salamanca Place with its historic Georgian sandstone warehouses, pubs, and cafes, and it also plays host to the famous Salamanca Market every Saturday.

We spent several days in Hobart and having been told by many of you guys reading our blog and commenting on our facebook page that we can’t miss these markets, we made sure we time our stay over a weekend.

The setting between the sandstone facades of the old warehouses and the tree lined park painted a nice picture on arrival, and the markets were buzzing. With over 300 hundred stallholders, Salamanca Market is hugely popular with the locals, thousands attend each Saturday, and it’s a major attraction for visitors.

On offer was fresh and gourmet produce, arts, crafts and handiwork crafts from all over Tasmania, interstate and overseas.

We zigzagged our way through the crowds with Savannah in her pram, an adventure in itself, and, of course, it was drizzling with rain – don’t come to Tassie without a rain jacket.

We didn’t come to Salamanca Market to buy stuff, mainly because we’re on our indefinite road trip around Oz and our car is already chock-a-block with our possessions, plus we’ve been spoilt for choice over the years in Asia where things are so much CHEAPER.

But we always love a market for its street food, and Salamanca Market is a good place to get your teeth into some freshly harvested Tasmanian produce.

My pick was the salmon sausage served in a freshly baked focaccia bread with zesty lettuce and whole egg mayo from the cool boutique seafood sausage caravan.

Whilst the kids went for a more basic sausage on a roll sizzling nearby on the barbie.

Caz grabbed herself a healthy juice, and after the kids (and dad) demolished their sausages the fresh strawberries, cupcakes and ice cream were enticing.

When comparing to other markets I’ve personally experienced around Oz, overall the variety or quantity of food on offer wasn’t as good as I had at the Mindil Beach Markets in Darwin, or the Wednesday night food market at Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne, but your tastes will differ to mine.

And it wouldn’t be a market without the buskers strumming their guitars, or the soaps, flowers and nick knacks.

Whilst I enjoyed these markets, and the setting is awesome with the harbour front nearby and historic Battery Point, I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly to Hobart just to visit these markets. But definitely come to Hobart, it’s great, and if you can time your visit over a weekend, add this to your list of things to do.

Salamanca Market is held on Saturdays between 8.30am and 3.00pm.

Read more of our posts on things to do in Hobart and surrounds:

• What to do in Hobart
• Port Arthur Historic Site
• MONA museum
• All alone on famous Wineglass Bay
• Introducing the Bay of Fires
• 3 hours of unspoilt wilderness on a Bruny Island Cruise
• Walking Cradle Mountain

Have you been to Hobart and Salamanca Market? Share any tips in the comments!