Port Arthur Tasmania Australia
Australia
35
Cruises availables
At departure or passage at this port
Princess Cruises (24 Cruises)
Grand Princess
12 Cruises
Frequently Asked Questions
Ships anchor in Carnarvon Bay, in direct view of the ruins, and tenders land passengers at a jetty built at the edge of the historic site itself. Few calls put the main attraction at the foot of the gangway.
Australia's best-preserved convict settlement, UNESCO World Heritage listed among the convict transportation sites. Between 1830 and 1877, about 12,500 British convicts were sent to this fold of the Tasman Peninsula, chosen for its isolation.
Half a day gives you the measure of it, which matches the usual call format, with ships often leaving in the early afternoon. More than 30 buildings, ruins and restored houses spread across lawns and old gardens sloping down to the water.
The shell of a former flour mill converted to house hundreds of prisoners, dominating the shore with four sandstone levels of empty windows. Around it stand the roofless church, the guard tower, the hospital and the comfortable houses of the administrators.
A building based on theories of silent isolation, where punishment meant total deprivation of human contact. It chills more than the thick walls of the penitentiary, and it's often the visit passengers remember most.
Usually yes. It normally includes the free guided talks held through the day and a 20-minute harbour cruise past the Isle of the Dead. Check with your cruise line all the same, as arrangements vary.
The settlement's burial island, passed by the harbour cruise: more than a thousand people lie there, most of them convicts, in graves that stayed unmarked for a long time.
At the interpretation gallery, which traces the transportation system through interactive displays and assigns each visitor the fate of a real convict to follow from room to room. Then take the harbour cruise early: departures fill quickly on call days.
Warm clothes and a windproof layer: Tasmanian weather turns quickly, even in the southern summer, and the site is walked entirely outdoors, across lawns and open ruins.
Yes. The site pays quiet tribute to the victims of the 1996 tragedy in a memorial garden that visitors cross in silence.
