Western Australia Travel Guide

Elizabeth Quay, opened in 2016 on the Swan River waterfront at the heart of Perth and named for Queen Elizabeth II, is the city's shining new waterside quarter. The arched Elizabeth Bridge sweeps across the inlet like a swan's neck, framing the CBD skyline in Perth's most photogenic composition. Restaurants, bars and cafes ring the quay; lawns fill with picnics; fountains and light shows animate the harbour at night. It is also a ferry terminal — cruise the Swan River to Fremantle or simply admire the skyline from the water. Morning joggers circle the promenade, evening crowds fill the terraces: this is Perth's urban ease distilled.

Caversham Wildlife Park is one of Perth's most popular wildlife parks. In Whiteman Park, it features rich Australian native animals (koalas, kangaroos, wombats, Tasmanian devils) and interactive experiences (feeding kangaroos, koala photos, sheep shearing) — Perth's top destination for wildlife encounters. Australian native animals — koalas, kangaroos, wombats, Tasmanian devils, platypus and birds. Feed kangaroos, koala photos, sheep shearing and working dog shows. About 30 min from Perth. Visiting for kangaroo feeding and koala photos is a classic Perth family experience.

Kings Park is the pride of Perth, on Mount Eliza west of the city centre, covering about four square kilometres and one of the world's largest city parks, bigger than New York's Central Park. Most of the park keeps native Western Australian bush, and the WA Botanic Garden collects over three thousand local plants. Each September and October during the wildflower festival, flowers blanket the hills in brilliant colour. From the high ground you take in the Perth skyline, the Swan River and distant hills, a perfect spot to overlook the city. Free to enter, it is both a plant treasure and the city's green lung for rest, picnics and views.

Fremantle's Shipwrecks Museum occupies an 1852 commissariat vaulted stone storehouse built by convict labour, and the building itself is the first exhibit. Recovered artefacts tell of Western Australia's coast as a centuries-long 'shipwreck corridor': the centrepiece is the Batavia, a Dutch East Indiaman wrecked on a reef in 1629, whose salvaged timbers, cannon and nautical gear fill the museum's largest gallery, alongside remains of the Zeewijk (lost 1712) and the Zuytdorp (stranded 1727). The Batavia's story — mutiny and massacre among the survivors — remains one of the most harrowing chapters in early Australian maritime history.

Cottesloe Beach is Perth's most iconic shore — white sand, blue sea and Indian Ocean sunsets form Western Australia's classic picture. Each spring the 'Sculpture by the Sea' exhibition scatters artworks along the sand; a stroll on the esplanade, a swim and the sunset are a Perthonians' weekend rite. Beach cafés and esplanade steps are prime sunset seats; weekends bring picnics and yoga.

Fremantle (locals nickname it Freo) is a historic port city at the mouth of the Swan River, about half an hour from Perth, keeping Australia's most complete 19th-century port townscape. Victoria-era colonial buildings line its streets, and the old convict prison is now a World Heritage site you can enter to learn British transportation history. The lively Fremantle Markets, open since 1897, sell fresh food, eats and crafts; along the port, craft beer bars, fish-and-chip shops and street performers give the town a relaxed artistic and down-to-earth feel, a distinct historic and cultural day trip near Perth.