40 best romantic getaways

Hobart, Tasmania

Photo: Hugo Stewart

Wine Country
Tasmania’s burgeoning wine and artisanal food industries have made the heart-shaped island a chic eating destination. For a wine-focused exploration of the southern wine regions, make Hobart your home base. The Islington Hotel, an 11-room Regency-era building filled with art and antiques, has as its centerpiece a glass-enclosed conservatory, where guests can dine while contemplating mist-shrouded Mount Wellington. Don’t dally too long, though, there’s a lot to see: fifteen minutes away in the town of Cambridge, make a stop at Meadowbank Estate, an airy temple dedicated to the progress the island’s wine industry has made over the past 30 years. Also in Cambridge, you’ll find Frogmore Creek, Tasmania’s most prominent organic vineyard and more delicious evidence that wine, artisanal food, and ecotourism are more than trendy sensualism here, but a way of life. Don’t miss a visit to the Moorilla, twenty minutes upriver from Hobart. Established in 1958 and known for its Pinot Noirs, Rieslings, and Chardonnays, the winery does not idly rest on its laurels. The estate, which recently built four ultra-modern “pavilions” for overnight guests, is fast becoming the most exciting culture center on the island—it houses a world-class art collection and regularly hosts musical performances by the likes of Elvis Costello, the Violent Femmes, and Nick Cave. Tasmanian devils, indeed.