Cape Bruny Lighthouse

Cape Bruny Lighthouse stands on a headland at the south-west tip of Bruny Island, in South Bruny National Park, and only Bruny Island Safaris takes visitors inside it. The day from Hobart that includes the guided tour is Ultimate Full-Day Bruny Island Tour with Exclusive Lighthouse Access, from US$197 a person (checked November 2026), with the ferry, the parks pass, morning tea and lunch; if you drive yourself, the 30-minute tour at the lighthouse is from US$18.

The calendar above is Bruny Island Safaris’ lighthouse day from Hobart, with 1,007 reviews (checked November 2026).

The short answer

You can see the lighthouse from outside on any visit to South Bruny National Park, with a parks pass. To go inside, climb the stairs and stand on the balcony, you need Bruny Island Safaris’ guided tour: on its day from Hobart, or booked on its own at the lighthouse if you drive. Some other day tours from Hobart stop at the lighthouse when time and weather allow, and none of them goes inside. Children under 5 cannot climb the stairs on any of the tours.

The lighthouse

The Parks and Wildlife Service dates the lighthouse to 1836 and its first lighting to 1838. The tower is 13 m tall, but standing on the cliffs it is 114 m above the sea. It was lit for the last time in 1996, when a solar-powered light nearby replaced it, and became part of South Bruny National Park in December 2000; it is the only lighthouse in southern Tasmania open for tours. The grounds are open at any time: cars can drive in from 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, and outside those hours access is on foot. From the car park a steep path climbs to the base of the tower, about 10 minutes on foot by Bruny Island Safaris’ reckoning, and the lightstation museum is by the car park.

The tour inside

The guide meets the group at the lighthouse entrance. The climb is up the original cast-iron spiral staircase to the first level, where the keepers recorded the weather and the shipping, then up steeper stairs to the prism room, where the guide explains how the light worked, and out onto the balcony high above the sea, with the coastline running away towards the southern tip of Tasmania. On the day tours from Hobart the climb is 72 steps with a handrail. The tour takes 20 to 30 minutes in groups of up to 10, and binoculars are handed out for the seals and seabirds below. Bruny Island Safaris’ founder grew up at the lighthouse, where his father was a keeper. Children under 5 are not allowed up the stairs; they can visit the museum and the base with an adult.

The tours that include it

Prices per person from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). The lighthouse-only tour is also sold on Viator, with 4.9 from 319 reviews there: see the lighthouse tour on Viator. On its own site Bruny Island Safaris charges A$25 a person for the tour at the lighthouse, A$80 for a sunset tour (bookings essential) and A$280 for its food, sightseeing and lighthouse day from Hobart (November 2026). Tours at the lighthouse run daily all year, every half hour from 10 am to 11:30 am and from 1:30 pm to 3 pm, with extra tours at 9:30 am, 3:30 pm and 4 pm from 1 October to 31 March; it is closed on Christmas Day, and walk-ins pay at the lighthouse if there is room.

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

The parks pass, and driving there

South Bruny National Park, which takes in the lighthouse, needs a Tasmanian parks pass, and Bruny Island Safaris requires one for every tour at the lighthouse. A daily pass is A$49.15 per vehicle for up to 8 people, or A$24.55 a person on foot, by bike or by bus; a Holiday Pass covering every Tasmanian national park for up to 2 months is A$98.35 per vehicle, and children under 5 are free (Parks and Wildlife Service, November 2026). The day tours from Hobart in the table above include it.

The Parks and Wildlife Service puts the lighthouse 1 hour 15 minutes from the ferry at Roberts Point: south across The Neck, then right onto Lighthouse Road (C629) for 20 km to the car park, much of it unsealed. The car park is 61 km by road from Roberts Point and 18 km from Lunawanna, the last village on the way. In late October 2025 a bushfire on the Labillardiere Peninsula closed Lighthouse Road for two days; on 3 November 2026 the Service’s alerts listed no closure in the park.