Must-see attractions in Perth

  • Top Choice
    Kings Park & Botanic Garden

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Fremantle Prison

    With its forbidding 5m-high walls, the old convict-era prison dominates Fremantle. Various daytime tours explore the jail's maximum-security past, give…

  • Top Choice
    WA Shipwrecks Museum

    Located within an 1852 commissariat store, the Shipwrecks Museum is considered the finest display of maritime archaeology in the southern hemisphere. The…

  • Top Choice
    Western Australian Museum – Maritime

    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…

  • Top Choice
    Art Gallery of Western Australia

    Founded in 1895, this excellent gallery houses the state's preeminent art collection as well as regular international exhibitions that, increasingly, have…

  • Aquarium of Western Australia

    Dividing WA's vast coastline into five distinct zones (Far North, Coral Coast, Shipwreck Coast, Perth and Great Southern), AQWA features a 98m underwater…

  • Cottesloe Beach

    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…

  • Round House

    Completed in 1831, this 12-sided stone prison is WA's oldest surviving building. It was the site of the colony's first hangings, and was later used for…

  • Bell Tower

    This pointy glass spire fronted by copper sails contains the royal bells of London's St Martin-in-the-Fields, the oldest of which dates from 1550. The 12…

  • Perth Zoo

    Part of the fun is getting to this zoo – take a ferry across the Swan River from Elizabeth Quay Jetty to Mends St Jetty (every half hour) and walk up the…

  • Elizabeth Quay

    A vital part of the city's urban redevelopment is Elizabeth Quay, at the bottom of Barrack St. Luxury hotels and apartments – including the Ritz – are…

  • Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts

    PICA (pee-kah) may look traditional – it's housed in an elegant 1896 red-brick former school – but inside it's one of Australia's principal platforms for…

  • Bon Scott Statue

    The most popular of Fremantle's public sculptures is Greg James's statue of Bon Scott (1946–80), strutting on a Marshall amplifier in Fishing Boat Harbour…

  • Walyalup Aboriginal Cultural Centre

    Various classes and workshops, including language, art and crafts, are held at this interesting Aboriginal cultural centre. Booking ahead for most is…

  • Fremantle Arts Centre

    An impressive neo-Gothic building surrounded by lovely elm-shaded gardens, the Fremantle Arts Centre was constructed by convict labourers as a lunatic…

  • Mettams Pool

    On calm days, it's like a turquoise paddling pool with some of Perth's best snorkelling – think mottled reef with swaying seaweeds and similarly coloured…

  • Hyde Park

    One of Perth's most beautiful parks, suburban Hyde Park is a top spot for a picnic or lazy book-reading session on the lawn, as fountains flow. A path…

  • Nostalgia Box

    Ease into poignant, low-pixel childhood memories of Atari, Nintendo and Super Mario at this surprisingly interesting collection of retro 1970s and '80s…

  • Lake Monger

    In spring black swans and their cygnets waddle about the grounds – a meeting place for local birdlife – nonplussed by joggers circling the lake on the…

  • Perth Mint

    Dating from 1899, the compelling Mint displays a collection of coins, nuggets and gold bars. You can caress bullion worth over $700,000, mint your own…