Housed in the old hay-store building built by Aboriginal prisoners in 1857, this engaging little museum tells of the island's natural and human history, not shirking from grim tales of shipwrecks and Aboriginal incarceration.
Rottnest Museum
Rottnest Island
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
17.44 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…
13.17 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…
12.62 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
12.36 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
19.11 MILES
Founded in 1895, this excellent gallery houses the state's preeminent art collection as well as regular international exhibitions that, increasingly, have…
0.53 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…
16.62 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…
12.39 MILES
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…
Nearby Rottnest Island attractions
0.03 MILES
Push open the door and enter this hushed, simple chapel near the old prison, built in 1858 and with creaky floorboards, a driftwood crucifix and a single…
2. Salt Store Gallery & Exhibition Centre
0.04 MILES
The photographic exhibition inside this 1868 building looks at a different chapter of local history: when the island's salt lakes provided all of WA's…
0.05 MILES
Built in 1864, this hefty octagonal building with a central courtyard was once the Aboriginal prison block. During its time as a prison several men would…
0.09 MILES
Rottnest's Catholic church is a Spanish Mission–style beauty, with mass at 9am daily.
5. Wadjemup Aboriginal Burial Ground
0.13 MILES
Adjacent to the Quod is a hushed, shady woodland area where hundreds of Aboriginal prisoners were buried in unmarked graves. Until relatively recently,…
0.22 MILES
Not far away from Thomson Bay (wander up past the old European cemetery), this unsigned vantage point offers panoramic views of the island, including its…
0.48 MILES
Historic landmark out on the point near Pinky Beach. It was built in 1900 after the wreck of the City of York nearby in 1899, just shy of Fremantle after…
0.53 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…