PORT ARTHUR HISTORIC SITE EVENTS
Port Arthur Ghost Tour
Tour Times: Ghost Tours run approximately 90 minutes Wednesday - Saturday evenings departing at at 6pm and 8pm.
Darkness falls, and Port Arthur’s hidden side emerges. This is a different place after sunset, full of mystery and intrigue. As the sun sets, come out to the dark grounds of the Port Arthur Historic Site for your 90-minute, lantern-lit Ghost Tour. Follow your expert guide through some of Port Arthur’s more infamous buildings, ruins and hear vivid stories of unexplained events that have baffled and alarmed convicts, free settlers, soldiers and visitors.
Escape from Port Arthur Tour
Tour Times: Tours run for approximately one hour return and depart daily from the Visitor Centre at 11am.
Could you have escaped from Port Arthur? Port Arthur was the perfect place for a prison – it was remote and isolated by both the foreboding natural landscape and deep tempestuous seas. Despite the perilous odds, escape attempts were frequent and took many forms.
Convicts went to extreme measures, men whose desire for freedom far outweighed any fear of consequences. They were not intimidated by authority and were more than willing to risk severe punishment and ultimately survival.
Tour Information: The Escape tour covers a range of steep terrain over 1.5 kilometres and is not suitable for anyone with restricted mobility. This tour is conducted outdoors, so we recommend you come prepared for all kinds of Tasmanian weather.
Wheel of Fate Tour
TOUR INFORMATION: Private guided tour which includes site entry, canapes and a two-course lunch with drinks.
PRICE: $350 per person
Ever wonder what happens behind the ropes and barriers at Port Arthur Historic Site? Call it what you will – the ‘luck of the draw’, the ‘lottery of life’, ‘wheel of fate’ – it led to the forced migration of tens of thousands of men, women and children to Van Diemen’s Land. Their fate often hinged on social class, trade, wiles and charm.
With exclusive access to Port Arthur’s unique buildings, you will be led behind the bars to explore the ‘Wheel of Fate’ of some of Port Arthur’s most notable individuals and sample the region’s amazing produce, prepared by our in-house chef.
This tour is a private guided tour for a minimum of 2 and a maximum of 10 guests.
Tour includes site entry, canapes and a two course lunch with drinks.
The tour runs for approximately 4 hours, covering a range of terrain over approximately 2 kilometres and is not suitable for anyone with restricted mobility. Parts of the tour are conducted outdoors, so we recommend that you come prepared for the variety of weather conditions Tasmania often provides.
Wheel of Fate is a tailored experience.
To book your experience, please contact our reservations team on 1800 659 101 ( +613 6251 2310) or email reservations@portarthur.org.au
The Isle of the Dead Cemetery Tour
Tour Times: Tours run for approximately one hour return and depart with the harbour cruise at 12:20pm; 1:00pm; 2:20pm & 3:00pm daily.
The Isle of the Dead holds the stories of many of the people of Port Arthur – in life and death.
Port Arthur’s tiny cemetery island is the final resting place for more than 1000 convicts, military and civil officers, women and children, who were buried here between 1833 and 1877. The Isle of the Dead has two separate burial sections – convicts were laid to rest in mostly unmarked graves at the island’s southern end, while the higher northern end was reserved for free and military burials, marked by headstones. The anonymity of the convicts was somewhat redressed after 1850, when some convict graves were given headstones.
On this tour, you’ll journey to the island aboard the MV Marana, and take a guided walking tour of the island. You’ll hear the personal stories of convicts who were transported here from across the world, the soldiers who gave their lives to guard the prison, the officers, and their families who followed them to the ends of the earth.
