Tassie’s pocket rocket of a northern city has been busy establishing itself as a gourmet destination to rival Hobart – a credential confirmed when UNESCO recognised Launnie as a Creative City of Gastronomy in 2021. From cult bakery (and cultured butter maker) Bread + Butter, to Japanese-inspired eatery Pachinko, wine bar meets indie bottle store Havilah and craft beer bar Saint John, Launceston’s small stature belies the big talent that calls it home.

At landmark restaurant Stillwater, on the banks of the Tamar River, head chef and co-owner Craig Will helped lead the local transformation. After one of his feasts, brimming with premium local produce, stay upstairs at Seven Rooms for a true gourmet sleepover. Based on a pre-arrival questionnaire, your visit is customised the moment you walk through the door of your luxe suite – from the genre of music playing over the speakers, to the magazines arrayed bedside and the local spirits in what must rank as Tassie’s best mini bar.

The first top on the North West’s Tasting Trail is a culinary treasure hunt west of Launceston. Tim Terry was first to cultivate black truffles in Australia, and his children Anna and Henry now lead the charge at The Truffle Farm, an easy 45-minute drive out of the city. Visit for a truffle hunt with very good dogs Doug, Poppy and Peggy – who sniff out summer truffles and the precious black truffle – and pick up truffle-infused honey and olive oils.

Heading north towards the coast, pull into the Ashgrove Cheese Dairy Door for aged, clothbound cheddar crafted in the traditional style by a multi-generational local dairy farming family (and stock up on fresh milk, on tap in the cafe).The decadent cheese toasties are perfect road-trip fuel.

Back within view of the water, finish up with a tasting and late long lunch with Justin Arnold and Alicia Peardon at Ghost Rock Wines. The couple took over vineyards first established by Arnold’s parents and created one of the foremost cellar doors in the emerging Cradle Coast wine region, with cool-climate rieslings, pinot noir and chardonnay, as well as the cult Supernatural range – have a box posted home ahead of you.

You’ll want to designate a driver for the next leg of the journey. Cider lovers should start south of Devonport, where a fourth-generation apple-growing family have found new purpose for the Apple Isle’s namesake fruit at Spreyton Cider Co – buy farmhouse-style ciders by the can or growler. Those more inclined towards the noble hops should head further up the coast to Penguin Beer Co. Taphouse for a cold brew on the waterfront deck.

If the golden nectar is your preferred tipple, the region is home to one of Tasmania’s best-known whisky producers, and one of its most under-the-radar. Just outside Burnie, Hellyers Road Distillery produces its acclaimed single malts; peer behind the curtain on the Whisky Walks tours.

Further on, near Table Cape’s famed tulip farm, husband and wife team Sarah and Matt Packwood-Hollings are the driving force behind Alchymia Distillery. The sustainable micro-distillery produces beautifully balanced small-batch gin and whisky – so small-batch, in fact, that visiting the couple’s welcoming distillery door beside their home is the only way to secure yourself a bottle.

As you near Tassie’s north-west tip, the road hugs a string of pebbly bays and secluded sandy beaches. It leads eventually to Smithton, last stop on the Bass Highway and home to oysters so perfect they’re coveted as far away as Tokyo. Tarkine Fresh Oysters grows creamy, sweet molluscs in the frigid waters of Duck Bay, producing hundreds of thousands a year. A recently introduced behind-the-scenes tour lets you appreciate the intensive process of oyster farming, and shuck oysters fresh by the bay to slurp from the shell.

For the second course of your roving seafood feast, backtrack to the scenic village of Stanley. Nestled under the volcanic geographical oddity of The Nut, the pretty community with its rows of heritage colonial cottages was once an important fishing port – a history best celebrated with a bang-up seafood feast at Hursey Seafood. (Just look for the giant red lobster on the roof). Inside in the newly renovated dining room, decorated with antique fishing paraphernalia, the Hursey family plate up the haul of southern rock lobster, reef fish, abalone, scallops and more that they bring in daily on their bright red fishing boats.

Afterwards, it’s only a 2-minute walk to one of Tasmania’s best boutique hotels, the Ship Inn. In a heritage former inn at the foot of The Nut painted a cheery butter yellow, the impeccably styled seven-room hotel is the creation of interior designer Kerry Houston and her husband Alastair, a landscaper and stonemason. Best of all, the two-bedroom Roaring Tom’s Apartment offers a fully stocked kitchen, perfect for cooking up the spoils of your road trip. For the ultimate weekend on the Tasting Trail, visit during the annual TrailGraze festival, returning on 22 and 23 April.