American Express , 74A Liverpool St (tel 03/6234 3711).

Banks Branches of all major banks on Elizabeth St.

Bike rental and tours Cycling Adventures Tasmania (tel 0412 913 148) has mountain bikes to rent outside the Machine cafA© on Salamanca Square. They also offer cycling tours of the city centre. Brake Out Cycling Tours (tel 03/6239 1080) offer a Mount Wellington descent tour, plus fully equipped mountain bikes for touring, with cheaper long-term rates.

Bookshops Ellison and Hawker Bookshop, 90 Liverpool St, is the best in Hobart, with an excellent travel section upstairs. Fullers Bookshop, 140 Collins St, and Hobart Bookshop, 22 Salamanca Square, are also good. For a fine range of secondhand books, try Rapid Eye Books, 36-38 Sandy Bay Rd, Battery Point.

Bus companies Tasmanian Redline Coaches (tel 1300/360 000) and Tassie Link (tel 03/6272 7300), both based at the Hobart Transit Centre, 199 Collins St. Hobart Coaches, 4 Liverpool St (tel 03/6233 9466).

Campervan rental Tasmanian Campervan Hire (Hobart airport; tel 03/6248 9623 or free call 1800 807 119), from $95 per day, minimum five-day hire.

Car rental Auto Rent Hertz, 122 Harrington St (tel 03/6237 1111, fax 6234 1955), has rates from $67 per day, also campervans; Avis, at the airport (tel 03/6248 5424), has similar rates; Lo-Cost Auto Rent, 225 Liverpool St (tel 03/6231 0550 or free call 1800 647 060), has rentals from $55 per day; Advance Car Rentals (tel 03/6224 0822) also have 4WDs, from $105 per day; Marquee Car Rentals, 248 Argyle St (tel 03/6231 3820), offers very cheap weekly rates; Rent-A-Bug, 105 Murray St (tel 03/6231 0678 or 6231 0300), has VW Beetles from $45 per day.

Disabled travellers The Aged and Disability Care Information Centre, 181 Elizabeth St (tel 03/6234 7448, adcis@tassie.net.au ), is an excellent source of information, providing free mobility maps of Hobart. Maxi Taxis (tel 03/6234 8061) has specially adapted vehicles.

Diving Southern Tas Divers, 212 Elizabeth St (tel 03/6234 7243), organizes dive charters and rents out equipment; The Dive Shop, 42 Bathurst St (tel 03/6234 3428), runs PADI certification courses; Sport and Dive, 109 Elizabeth St (tel 03/6234 3798), arranges fishing charters and rents out dive gear.

Environment If you want to find out about, and volunteer for, any environmental conservation programmes, the Wilderness Society's campaign office is at 130 Davey St (tel 03/6224 1550) and its shop is at 33 Salamanca Place (tel 03/6234 9370). The Australian Trust for Conservation Volunteers has an office at the Salamanca Arts Centre, Salamanca Place (tel 03/6224 4911).

Hospitals Royal Hobart Hospital, 48 Liverpool St (tel 03/6222 8308).

Internet access There's free access at the Service Tasmania Shop at 134 Macquarie St (Mon-Fri 9am-4.45pm; max 30min; bookings on 03/6233 3382), and at the State Library. Drifters Cafe is at Salamanca Place (Mon-Fri 10am-6pm, Sat 10am-5.30pm, Sun 11am-5.30pm; $5 per 30min).

Laundrette A  Machine , 12 Salamanca Square, is a combined cafA©/laundry.

Newspapers Ellison and Hawker Newsagency, 92 Elizabeth St, is the island's only outlet for foreign newspapers.

Outdoors and sport Jolly Swagman, 107 Elizabeth St, is a good outlet for renting camping gear; Paddy Pallin, 76 Elizabeth St, has quality outdoor equipment to buy and rent, and provides bushwalking information; Gowshawk Gear, 55 Liverpool St sells secondhand, samples and discounted outdoor gear and will buy your used stuff.

Pharmacy Macquarie Pharmacy, 180 Macquarie St (daily 8am-10pm); North Hobart Pharmacy, 360-362 Elizabeth St (daily 8am-10pm).

Post office GPO, cnr Elizabeth and Macquarie streets (Mon-Fri 8am-6pm). Poste restante: Hobart GPO, TAS 7000.

Taxis City Cabs Co-op (tel 03/6234 3633); Combined Services (tel 13 2227). Maxi taxis (tel 03/6234 8061) for disabled-friendly taxis.

Tours Tiger Line (tel 03/6272 6611) runs large-group bus tours: their Mount Wellington and Hobart Great Sights Tour covers the city, the dock area, Battery Point, Mount Wellington and the Royal Botanical Gardens (Tues, Thurs & Sat 2pm; 3hr 30min; $29). Tiger Line also offers day-trips to Port Arthur, Richmond, the Huon Valley, Bruny Island, and the Derwent Valley. The other big tour operator, Experience Tasmania (tel 03/6234 3336), has a wide range of city tours; their Hobart Explorer , a bus dolled up as a tram, does a three-hour sightseeing tour (daily: Jan-April 10am & 2pm; May-Dec 10am), plus trips to Mount Field National Park. More satisfying are Tassie Link's small-group day-tours (tel 03/6272 7300) to Port Arthur (Tues, Thurs, Fri & Sun; $57-65) and Mount Field National Park (daily; $84). The best tour to Bruny Island is with Bruny Island Ventures (book through Tiger Line), which does a small-group day-tour led by a knowledgeable guide (departing Hobart Mon, Wed, Fri & Sun 8.30am, returning 5.30pm; $105 including meals). City Sites Under Lights do evening tours of Hobart (daily April-Sept 7pm, Oct-March 8pm; $40; tel 03/6235 4353). The Bottom Bits Bus (free call 1800 777 103, www.bottombitsbus.com ) offer a range of really excellent small-group tours from Hobart (all $69), including Port Arthur and the Tasman Peninsula, Bruny Island and Mount Field National Park.

Women There are women's information services at the Office of the Status of Women, 3rd Floor, Franklin Square Building, Macquarie St (tel 03/6234 2166), and the Hobart Women's Health Centre, 326 Elizabeth St, North Hobart (tel 03/6231 3212).

YHA Tasmania , Head Office, 28 Criterion St (Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; tel 03/6234 9617, www.yha.com.au ).