Cafeography
Hobart · Salamanca & Waterfront

Cafés in Salamanca & Waterfront

Georgian sandstone warehouses, the Saturday market, Salamanca Square and coffee by the Mona ferry pier.

Photo: Khanh Dang, Pexels License

Salamanca Place is a row of sandstone warehouses built by convict labor in the early 1830s as New Wharf, at the foot of Battery Point, from stone quarried right behind the site; they stored goods such as whale oil and wool.1 The strip, once called the Cottage Green, was renamed after the British victory at the Battle of Salamanca in 1812.1

The Tasmanian Government later acquired warehouses for arts and community use, and the Salamanca Arts Centre opened in 1976.1 Behind the row, Salamanca Square was built in the mid-1990s on the old quarry.1 North of the square, the waterfront takes in Franklin Wharf, Brooke Street Pier and Hunter Street.

Local tip: On market Saturdays, Machine Laundry Cafe in Salamanca Square opens at 07:30, an hour before the stalls officially start at 08:30.2

At a glance

23Cafés listed
2With opening hours
07:00Earliest opening
21:00Latest closing
  • Opens earliest: Salamanca Wharf Cafe, from 07:00 (Daily 07:00–21:00).
  • Most listed streets: Salamanca Square (4), Morrison St (3), Morrison Street (2).
  • Most common features: wheelchair access (13%), outdoor seating (9%), indoor seating (4%).

Nothing matches those filters here. See all cafés in Hobart.

Salamanca Market on Saturdays

The market runs every Saturday from 08:30 to 15:00 and stretches the length of Salamanca Place, in front of the Georgian warehouses. It began in the summer of 1972 with 15 stalls and now has more than 300, with freshly prepared food and food trucks among them.2

The cafés on the strip sit directly behind the stalls: Solstice at 25 Salamanca Place, Zum Café at 29 and Retro Cafe at 39.

Salamanca Square and Kellys Steps

Machine Laundry Cafe, at 12 Salamanca Square, has been washing and re-caffeinating people here since 1997 and uses its own blended beans.3 It also buys from local suppliers, and opens daily 07:30–17:00. Parklane Espresso and Rendezvous Cafe share number 3, both with outdoor tables, and Honey Badger Dessert Cafe is at 8.

Kellys Steps, cut in sandstone blocks into the cliff around 1839 by the whaler and explorer James Kelly, link Salamanca Place with Battery Point.4 Tricycle Cafe & Bar and A Moment of Tea both carry the 77 Salamanca Place address, at Kellys Steps and Woobys Lane.

Morrison Street, Hunter Street and the wharves

Morrison Street, a block back from the water, has a line of small cafés, from Morrison Street Cafe at 3–5 and The Mill Cafe at 13 to Harbour Lights at 29, with Cafe on Morrison at 5B and Gold Bar at 11 in between. Hobart Coffee Roasters is on Franklin Wharf, at number 1, and Salamanca Wharf Cafe keeps the longest hours on the waterfront, 07:00–21:00 every day.

On Hunter Street, Henry Jones's IXL jam factory, in buildings dating from 1826 onwards, is now an art hotel at number 25.5 Zero Davey Cafe and Catering is at 15 Hunter Street and Jam Packed Cafe at 27. Loaded Dog Cafe sits farther north, at Macquarie Point.

Coffee before the Mona ferry

Mona, the Museum of Old and New Art, is the largest private museum in the Southern Hemisphere.6 Its ferry leaves from Brooke Street Pier, takes about 30 minutes each way and has its first departure at 09:15, moving to 09:30 from 3 December.7

Stock Market Cafe is at 8 Brooke Street, and Brooke Street Coffee is on the same street, so a takeaway before boarding needs no detour.

Sources

  1. Salamanca Place, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  2. Salamanca Market, Discover Tasmania (Tourism Tasmania), accessed October 2026
  3. Hobart's best coffee shops, Tourism Australia (Carolyn Beasley), accessed October 2026
  4. Kelly's Steps, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  5. Henry Jones Art Hotel, Open House Hobart, accessed October 2026
  6. Hobart, Wikipedia, accessed October 2026
  7. Mona Ferry, Mona, Museum of Old and New Art, accessed October 2026
Keep exploring

More of Hobart

Hobart CBD

75 cafés

North Hobart

13 cafés

Sandy Bay

16 cafés

New Town & Moonah

14 cafés

In Salamanca & Waterfront, also browse: Specialty coffee Outdoor seating

FAQ

Salamanca & Waterfront cafés: questions

When is Salamanca Market in Hobart?

Salamanca Market runs every Saturday from 08:30 to 15:00 along Salamanca Place in Hobart. It started in the summer of 1972 with 15 stalls and now has more than 300, including food trucks. Machine Laundry Cafe in Salamanca Square opens at 07:30, before the stalls.

What are the Salamanca Place warehouses in Hobart?

They are sandstone warehouses built by convict labor in the early 1830s as New Wharf, at the foot of Battery Point, from stone quarried behind the site. They stored goods such as whale oil and wool. The Salamanca Arts Centre opened in some of them in 1976, and Salamanca Square was built behind them in the mid-1990s.

Where does the Mona ferry leave from in Hobart?

The ferry to Mona leaves from Brooke Street Pier on the Hobart waterfront. The crossing takes about 30 minutes each way, and the first departure is at 09:15, moving to 09:30 from 3 December. Stock Market Cafe at 8 Brooke Street and Brooke Street Coffee are on the same street.

For café owners

Own a café in Salamanca & Waterfront?

Free listings are free for good. A featured page gives you photos, a menu and your own URL, in your café's own design, for less than a coffee a day.

Get listed, free See a page in its own design