Perth's safest swimming beach, Cottesloe has cafes, pubs, pine trees and fantastic sunsets. From Cottesloe train station (on the Fremantle line) it's 1km to the beach; there's a free shuttle that runs between the stop and the sand during the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition in March. Bus 102 ($4.80) from Elizabeth Quay Busport goes straight to the beach.
Getty Images/Lonely Planet Images
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
5.45 MILES
The 400-hectare, bush-filled expanse of Kings Park, smack in the city centre and enjoying epic views, is Perth's pride and joy. The Botanic Garden…
4.1 MILES
With its forbidding 5m-high walls, the old convict-era prison dominates Fremantle. Various daytime tours explore the jail's maximum-security past, give…
4.27 MILES
Located within an 1852 commissariat store, the Shipwrecks Museum is considered the finest display of maritime archaeology in the southern hemisphere. The…
Western Australian Museum – Maritime
4.16 MILES
Significant West Australian boats are suspended from the rafters of this sail-shaped museum building. There's the yacht that won the America's Cup race in…
Art Gallery of Western Australia
7.16 MILES
Founded in 1895, this excellent gallery houses the state's preeminent art collection as well as regular international exhibitions that, increasingly, have…
22.68 MILES
This hidden valley in Pickering Brook has sustained apple orchards since 1939. Take a one-hour tour through the trees on a tractor-pulled carriage, a 45…
12.66 MILES
The Basin is Rotto's top family swim spot – a sheltered, natural sandy-floored pool, fringed by reefs to keep the waves at bay. It's a short cycle from…
11.73 MILES
Dividing WA's vast coastline into five distinct zones (Far North, Coral Coast, Shipwreck Coast, Perth and Great Southern), AQWA features a 98m underwater…
Nearby Perth attractions
1.11 MILES
Safe swimming, and an unofficial nude and gay beach. From Grant St train station it's a 1.5km walk to the beach (2km from Swanbourne Station). Or catch…
2.14 MILES
Flat, white-sand beach with tiny waves and no current, just north of Fremantle. Loved by families.
3.44 MILES
Situated within the imposing Artillery Barracks, this little museum pulls out the big guns, literally. Howitzers and tanks line up outside, while inside…
3.6 MILES
An impressive neo-Gothic building surrounded by lovely elm-shaded gardens, the Fremantle Arts Centre was constructed by convict labourers as a lunatic…