Although it's small in Australian terms, make sure you give yourself enough time to see Tasmania; if you want to see only its cities you need no more than a few days, but to get a flavour of the countryside - the great outdoors is the real reason to come here - a couple of weeks or longer is necessary. Tasmanian Travel Centres ( www.tastravel.com.au ) in the major cities can provide information and also book all transport, tours and accommodation; their free information paper, Travelways (also available online at www.travelways.com.au ), is extremely useful, filled with detailed, reliable and comprehensive information on accommodation, attractions, bus timetables, car rental, adventure tours and national parks. The free magazine Tasmanian Adventures , available from information centres in Tasmania (also online at www.tasmanianadventures.com.au ), is an excellent source of information on tours ranging from "mild" to "wild". For extremely helpful directories of businesses and services across Tasmania, try Tasmania Online ( www.tas.gov.au ), and for general tourist information check out the goverment-run site www.tourism.tas.gov.au .