2025 McGrath Launceston Running Festival

The McGrath Launceston Running Festival has built a reputation amongst the Tasmanian and Australian running community as one of the fastest road races in the Southern Hemisphere. Since 2007 thousands of runners from around Australia have come to #RunLaunnie and produced a personal best.

Come to Launceston for the Running Festival and stay on to discover why this region has been placed as #4 in the world on Lonely Planet's 2025 Best Region List. Launceston's internationally recognised, vibrant food culture has made it a UNESCO City of Gastronomy, one of only 49 in the world. A visit to Launceston will place you in the heart of a rich agricultural region and give you the opportunity to feast on fresh local produce at many of our eateries, meet producers at a farmers market, pick your own berries or take a farm tour at local farms. And nearby the Tamar Valley Wine region, famous for producing award winning cool climate wines has many cellar doors open for wine tasting and lunch.

If you love adventure and immersing yourself in nature, Northern Tasmania has you covered with world class mountain bike trails, zipline tours, scuba diving, short walks and multi-day hiking, and most are within a 1-hour drive from Launceston. The spectacular Cataract Gorge nestled on the doorstop of the city is a scenic 1.5km walk or you can hop on the free Tiger bus and save your energy for exploring the many trails found in the reserve. And if a game of golf is on your 'to-do' list, head north-east to Barnbougle Dunes ranked amongst the worlds leading links courses, Barnbougle set amongst a wild and dramatic landscape.

So how do you get here? If you are arriving from Japan your first entry point to Australia is likely to be Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne, all of these cities have airlines offering flights to Launceston Airport. Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia operate regular flights from mainland Australia to Launceston. The airport is a short 15-minute drive from Launceston and is serviced by taxi's and Uber, or you can hire a car and self-drive. We recommend that you plan ahead if you are choosing to self-drive and book a hire car before you arrive especially if you are travelling during a peak demand period.

Ready to start planning and need some hot tips? Check out the links below for places to eat, where to stay and things to do in Launceston and Northern Tasmania.