We depart from Salamanca Place (the site of the famous Salamanca Markets), opposite the Ball & Chain Grill. You can Google us for our exact location. There are times when we do depart from a different point, such as Saturday afternoons after 3.00pm (as the Markets are packing up), and then we depart from Brooke St Pier, which is just a few minutes’ walk from Salamanca Place.

We take either, depending upon which suits you best.

If you need to cancel your booking, you can do so with 24 hours' notice and receive a full refund of your tour, less booking fee. Bookings cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are unable to be refunded. We can, however, reschedule your tour to another day or time. If we need to cancel for any reason, you will receive a full refund, including booking fee if you cannot reschedule your tour. We reserve the right to change the route of any tour for any reason. Special conditions including deposits apply to special requests and/or weddings.

As we live more than an hour away from Hobart, we need to make a decision on whether we operate based on the weather forecast for Hobart for the day. If only showers are expected (less than 5mm), we can usually operate without any problems. The roof of the carriage can be closed to keep you dry and you can still enjoy your tour. If heavier rain or adverse conditions are expected, we will make a decision by 9am that day at the latest if we are cancelling. For this reason, we will require your contact details so we can let you know if your booking is affected.

Our carriage is a vis-a-vis landau which means a four-wheeled carriage with seats facing each other. A guide to capacity is 4-5 adults. Sometimes we can take 6 adults depending on size. Variations on capacity can mean 3 adults and 2 children or 1 adult and 4 children. It is a matter of comfort. If you are unsure about whether your whole group will fit on the carriage, please contact us. We do reserve the right to limit the capacity of the tours to 4 adults on our Trot through Time tour. Please note that a 2 adult minimum pricing applies to all tours, even if there is 1 adult and accompanying children.

There is a minimum charge of 2 adults for every tour. If you're a solo traveller, you're more than welcome to travel but you will need to choose 2 adults when you purchase your tour. If you are 1 adult travelling with children, you should choose 2 adults option (which will give you the minimum pricing). If you are 2 adults with 2 or more children, please choose the family option. We offer discounts for 4 or more adults on a tour. Please choose the group option.

Generally, no we do not share your carriage tour with another group. If you are a solo traveller or couple who do wish to share, then we are happy if you can find another traveller or couple to share the carriage and the cost.

YES! Just go to our Tours page or the Book Now button on the main menu, and you can book directly online. You will receive an email booking confirmation when you book and a email reminders prior to your tour.

YES and NO! If you are wanting a pick up/drop off, and that location is in the Hobart Waterfront area, please specify on your booking. Pick ups and drop offs are charged at $20 per pick up or drop off. Please note that Battery Point generally is not included for pick ups/drop offs, unless you are doing a Battery Point tour. Due to the nature of Hobart's CBD, with many one way streets and steep hills, we will not include these in our pick up/drop off area. If you are unsure, please contact us directly.

Yes, of course! We always get requests to do something a little special! We can do days outside of our normal operations if requested (pricing to be quoted), we can pick you up or drop off at your hotel or restaurant (within specified area), take you to the Theatre, organise flowers or champagne and chocolates. Just name it and we’ll organise it for you. Please note that we are generally unable to operate after 6pm unless specifically arranged. Please contact us direct in this instance.

Yes, we specialise in weddings and formals and proposals. We travel anywhere in Tasmania with the first 60km within Hobart free of travel charge. Please email us at [email protected] with your event and we can assist in planning and quoting for your event. We offer several different wedding packages.

For children under 10 years of age, we always recommend either our 15 minute Salamanca Jaunt or our 30 minute Waterfront Jaunt. These tours are popular with every age and we can guarantee enjoyment. Please keep in mind our 1 hour Battery Point Jaunt and 1.5 hour Trot Through Time tour are very historically focussed and may be too long and involved for young children. For everyone else though, they’re the best way to see what Hobart has to offer in its fascinating colonial history.

Of course! Steve will tell you all about the architecture and history of Hobart’s Battery Point and Waterfront. Settled in 1804, Hobart is Australia’s second oldest city and has preserved its fine Georgian and Victorian architecture more than any other capital city. We’d love to show you what makes us proud of Hobart. There’s also time to take lots of photos.

If you can climb up the height of a gutter, you can get on the carriage. We often have people in wheelchairs and we can lift them onto the carriage if necessary. If you are concerned, please contact us. We’ll do everything we can to make sure everyone in your group can experience the fun of a carriage ride.

Yes, absolutely! Our horses are our family. We’ve had horses all our lives and they are precious to us. Here are the main points of our policy: * We mainly use re-homed racehorses, particularly Standardbreds (trotters) to provide these unwanted horses with a life after racing. * Our horses must be fit, sound and over the age of 5 years of age. * Horses will be rotated so that no horse works more than 3 days in a row. We strive that no horse will work more than 2 days per week and generally not consecutive days. The working day will be an average of 6 hours. If a longer day is required, a 1.5 hour break will be had approximately half way through the shift in which the horses will be returned to the truck to rest. During a normal day of 6 hours, a 30 minute break will be scheduled at the departure point in which horses will be fed. * Horses are returned to our property in the Huon Valley at night and are not kept in the city. Horses have access to lush paddocks during the day when they are not working and are stabled at night. * We operate according to the Australian Horse Industry Council Welfare Guidelines on Hot Weather. These Guidelines have also been adopted by Equestrian Australia. You can read the Hot Weather policy here . Horses will be kept in the shade where possible on warm days. Horses keep cool by sweating and are very used to working in warm weather. Their main problem is humidity which is almost never an issue in Hobart. If you see a horse sweating, that is a good sign! Horses who lose the ability to sweat (a condition called anhydrosis) are in severe danger of overheating. * Horses wear quarter sheets (half size rugs) during cold or showery conditions. * Horses wear ear bonnets to keep insects and wind from their sensitive ears. * Horses wear either horse boots instead of shoes which stops them slipping on the bitumen and helps to cushion their legs from impact on the road or polyurethane shoes which also have a tread and enable impact absorption.

We understand that some carriage operations in other places may have dubious reputations. Our whole operation is determined by the health and happiness of our horses. We only work in low speed areas of Hobart and we have carefully assessed all our routes for safety. Our horses are very used to traffic and people. They accept that traffic may be loud but it is not harmful and they very quickly learn to ignore it, just as we humans do. Our horses are carefully and incrementally trained to work in the city. We take the time to expose them to various distractions and to develop trust between horse and human. Once this trust is established, the horse will accept that the driver will be the leader and will not put them in danger. Hobart has some of the cleanest air in the world, which you’ll be able to notice the moment you set foot here. Our departure point on Salamanca Place is open to beautiful sea breezes. There are no traffic fumes to breathe here! Remembering that our horses are discards from the racing industry, their future was very limited until they found homes with us. Rest assured they are loved by us and the public and they really enjoy the attention! Come up and pat them anytime and you’ll see what we mean. We use two horses to pull our carriage, not because of the weight they pull but to keep each other company. An average 16 hand horse weighs 500kg. Our horses weigh around 500-600kg and stand up to 17.1 hands high. They are fit, strong and have incredible stamina. A horse can pull 2.5 times its own weight, so that’s 1500kg for one horse. Pulling a carriage is much easier than carrying a rider; much like pushing a heavy weight in a wheelbarrow is much easier than carrying that weight. You may wonder why the horse is covered in so many harness straps. Much like carrying a properly fitted backpack makes carrying weight easier for a person, the harness helps to distribute the weight evenly and prevents stress and soreness on the shoulders, back and chest. The blinkers (or winkers) on the bridle which prevent the horse from seeing behind them are not, contrary to popular opinion, so that the horse doesn't get scared by what it is pulling. The blinkers aid in keeping the horse travelling straight and help to minimise distractions which is essential working in traffic. The horses definitely know they're pulling a carriage and they're certainly not scared or worried by it.