If you’ve been looking for an excuse to visit Perth, then you’ve come to the right place. I’m going to give you a run-down of the best things to do in Perth.
Perth is a beautiful city with a little something for everyone. From beaches and wildlife reserves to its thriving arts and food scene, there are plenty of things to do in Perth that will suit any traveler’s needs.
My family moved to Perth when I was 5. And that’s almost 50 years ago. Apart from a few years spent living in the Eastern states when I was in the Army, the rest of my life has been spent right here in Perth.
So, let’s get into it. Let me show you my backyard.
The Best Things to do in Perth
1. Go to an Australian Rules Football game
2. Experience the wildlife
3. Try some delicious food
4. Visit Rottnest Island, an island just off the coast of Perth
5. Spend a day at Hillarys Boat Harbour
6. Explore Kings Park and Botanic Garden, Perth’s most popular tourist attraction
7. Explore Fremantle with its rich history and culture
8. Walk through Perth’s pedestrian friendly streets
9. Explore Mandurah
10. Cruise the Swan River
Getting Around
If you’re going to explore this fascinating city, you’ll need a way to get around. Thankfully for travelers, Perth offers several ways to get around the city.
Perth has a reasonable train system, which has improved a lot over the last few years. However, don’t be expecting a train system like London or Sydney. We’re not there yet. But the train service covers some fairly broad areas of Perth and is an affordable way to get around.
The bus system is a great way to traverse fill the gaps left between the train stops. Most of the train stations have feeder buses than run from them.
Taxi’s. Don’t get me started on Taxi’s. The last time I used a Taxi in Perth was 1997, and I’m happy to leave it there. The prices are high, and Uber has been welcomed into town. Mind you they have changed their fee structure as well recently.
Realistically, Perth is a city that was made for cars. Our city has a ludicrously large footprint, and the public transport system hasn’t quite caught up yet. From North to South the metropolitan area is around 120km. You will have much greater flexibility with a car.
Australian Rules Football
A game that originated here in Australia and has been unable to successfully translate to anywhere else. We’re quite proud of that.
Every year an Australian team plays an Irish team in International Rules, which has many similarities. The Irish use a round ball which seems a bit more sensible. We opt for a sort of blunt rugby ball.
Anyway, we have two teams in Perth. The West Coast Eagles, and the Fremantle Dockers. Both of which have huge fan bases. They normally play at Optus Stadium between around March and September.
If you can get a ticket it will be quite an experience for you.
Experience The Wildlife
One of the many things unique to Australia is the wildlife. Many species which can only be found on our continent
Yanchep National Park will let you get up close to Koala’s and Kangaroos, as will Cohuna Park and Caversham wildlife park.
The best spot of course, is the Perth Zoo. The zoo has gone through many upgrades over the last few years. With the aim to provide better welfare for the animals. I’m told that breeding rates are up, so at least a few of them are happier.
Try Some Delicious Food
We’ve come a long way over the last 40 years. The staple food used to be a pie and choc milk. Got to admit I still love those.
But now you can get all sorts of different food. Places like Perth and Fremantle are a foodie’s dream, with exciting new restaurants opening up all the time. With the warm climate over here, alfresco dining is all the rage as well.
Visit Rottnest Island
The most photogenic animals on the planet live on Rottnest Island. The Quokka’s. It seems like every Quokka there has to get themselves into a selfie.
And they have an adorable smile, so there’s never a shortage to people to star with them. Even Chris Hemsworth got into the action as well. Good old Thor smiling next to his new buddy.
Anyway, Rottnest Island is about an hour’s boat ride off the coast of Perth, and the boats go out every day. There are no cars on the island, except for essential services. So, the place is full of pedestrians and cyclists.
The crystal-clear waters around the island provide some spectacular snorkelling, there’s plenty of fishing to be had, and in general it’s a great place to unwind on a beach.
Hillarys Boat Harbour
One of Perth’s top tourist spots. Well protected beaches, a huge variety of different restaurants and an amazing collection of shops all in one place.
On top of this they also have AQWA, which is the Aquarium of Western Australia. This is not a huge site, but its very good. As I mentioned earlier, Perth’s wildlife is quite unique, and that goes for our marine life as well. If you’d like to check out AQWA, here’s their website.
You could happily spend a day around Hillarys.
Kings Park
This is undoubtedly one of the most iconic of Perth’s attractions. Calendars, coasters and postcards, all come complete with pictures taken both of the park, and from the park.
Kings Park is built on Mount Eliza, which sits right next to the city itself. With the Swan River winding around the base, it is an awesome sight. The views over city and river would have been photographed billions of times.
There is a café, a restaurant and several playgrounds. As well as just lovely spaces to walk and enjoy the scenery. This has been a favourite picnic spot in Perth for the last hundred years.
Visit Fremantle
Fremantle never used to be the most desirable place to go to. It was a port town, frequented by seamen, and was a little the worse for wear. Then in 1983 something happened that changed everything.
We won a boat race. Specifically, a boat from Perth won the America’s Cup. Suddenly, Perth was on the map, and we all went a little mad.
A little mad, because we now realized that we were going to have to host the next set of races in 4 years. Almost overnight, huge projects sprung up to try and cater for the expected influx of international tourists.
And someone suggested that Fremantle would never do. So, they set about cleaning it up and bringing it back to its former glory. Fremantle now is a long way from where it was in the early 1980’s.
It has become a vibrant city in its own right. Café culture is all the rage here, and the markets do a roaring trade every weekend. This place is now much more welcoming to tourists and locals alike.
Fortunately, we lost the next set of races, and the cup went somewhere else. Although we appreciated the changes that happened. It was clear that we would go too far and completely change the character of Perth had it continued.
Take A Wander Through Perth
Like Fremantle, I have seen Perth change a lot in my life so far. I guess that’s to be expected. But it does upset me to see them tear down beautiful old buildings and replace them with glass and steel monstrosities.
Unlike places such as France, where they build new structures to blend in with the old. Perth’s architectural style is more clash than compliment.
Anyway, with that rant out the way, Perth is still a lovely place to wander around in. It has several pedestrians only malls, which makes it much more relaxed than it was 30 years ago.
The setting on the river is absolutely ideal. If your feeling fit you can walk the foreshore of the river around the bridges. This is just under 10 km, and the views are outstanding.
Explore Mandurah
Mandurah is where we have chosen to live. It’s about 60km south of the city centre, and the train runs straight to it. It’s a coastal city set on the Peel estuary.
It just has a relaxed beach feel to it. And to be honest, it feels more like the Perth of 40 years ago. Something like a big country town. Maybe that’s why we came here.
The foreshore walk is lovely, with plenty of places to stop for coffee, ice cream or fish and chips. Nothing too complicated down here. Just an enjoyable day out.
Cruise The Swan River
The river is the lifeblood of our city. Last century it was how the goods were brought to town. Today it is our leisure time that lives there. Although we have had a couple of pollution scares, the river is still one of the cleanest rivers that exists next to a major city.
There are regular river cruises that depart from Perth. Some head down to Fremantle, which makes for a great day trip. Others head up towards West Swan. These are the wine cruises. The Swan Valley has built up a formidable wine industry, the cruises take full advantage of that.
Final Thoughts
I’ve often said that Perth is the greatest place in the world for me to live. I’ve traveled enough of the world to know that we get somethings very right. And other things not so much.
The same could be said for a great many places on the planet I suppose. But one thing is true. Perth is a lovely place to visit. Not the fast paced, hectic lifestyle that you find in other major cities.
But more of a laid back, she’ll be right mate, kind of place. Just right for me.
Here’s a couple of posts that you might also find interesting.
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Cheers and happy travels