Perth - What must I do/see?

[Lynda2475]

So I'm off the Perth during mandatory office shutdown between Christmas and New Years (27 Dec - 1 Jan), and since I haven't been there (except for passing through the Airport in August on way back from LHR) am looking for suggestions of must see/do, what I must eat other than Marron?

Accommodation is all sorted, will be staying at Peppers Kings Square Hotel (621 Wellington Street, Perth) which appears to be pretty central as far as city hotels go, got a great deal as I guess their usual target market is the business traveller and no one is traveller for business at that time of year.

I arrive mid morning on 27th and depart early arvo on the 1st, so I have a half day/evening + 4 full days and a morning on departure day. it will be a solo trip and I wont be hiring a car, am happy to do small group day trips etc.

Initial googling has me considering:
* Day trip to Margaret River with stop at Bussleton Jetty;
* Swan Valley Food and Wine Tour or Twilight Winery Experience (i think its near Old Guilford)
* A day trip to Rottnest Island for the mandatory Quokka photo
* A sunset trip to Pinnacles with night Star Gazing
* Kayaking around Penguin and Seal Islands
* Wander around Fremantle, maybe do the Gaol and markets

I would love to hear what you all recommend - especially if you live there or have visited more recently than me.

What is New Years Eve like in Perth?

Note: I will heading further North to Coral Bay and Exmouth next April for Whale Sharks - so during this visit, dont want to head too far out of Perth - no plans to go north to Monkey Mia etc.

I did a quick search before posting , couldn't see a lot of recent mentions for Perth - if Ive missed a great thread, please point me to it.

Thanks

 

[Daver6]

Margaret River is a very long way for a day trip. I wouldn't bother.

I'm a Perth local. I'm planning on doing the Penguin Island kayak sometime before Xmas. If I so, I'll report back here for you.

Definitely take the train to Freo (as we call it here). Go for brunch/lunch and there's a bunch of arty type things. There's the WA Maritime musuem and you can go on a tour/walk through of an old navy submarine. Perth can get pretty hot in summer. Doing Freo on a hotter day might be a good idea as the coast will be a bit cooler. Same with Rottnest actually.

Rottnest can be good for a day. Rent a bike, cycle around there and snorkel if that's your thing. You can get a ferry from both Perth and Freo. Advantage of going from Perth is you get a free tour of the Swan River. Disadvantage is it is pretty slow. Suspect the train to Freo and then ferry to Rotto (again, as we call it here) might be quicker.

New years is probably like everywhere else. An excuse for establishments to jack up the price and transport being a PITA.

Might be worth taking the bus (or Uber etc) to City Beach or Cottesloe (the latter by train and a walk). Checkout our PERfect beaches and have a meal with a view. Sunsets are pretty epic too.

Happy to answer further questions as they come up.

 

[Lynda2475]

New years is probably like everywhere else. An excuse for establishments to jack up the price and transport being a PITA.

That's why i thought NYE might be the best day to do one of the long day tours that gets back late night (either Pinnacles Star Gazing or Margaret River), so once back Id be exhausted and happy to grab a quick bite (even uber eats) and just chill in my room.

 

[Lynda2475]

Bump

Looking for restaurant and must try foods (there are no foodie tours running when im there) in Perth and Freo (even on Rottnest).

What is everyone's recommendation on Rotto - hop on hop off bus or grand tour?

 

[Daver6]

Bump

Looking for restaurant and must try foods (there are no foodie tours running when im there) in Perth and Freo (even on Rottnest).

What is everyone's recommendation on Rotto - hop on hop off bus or grand tour?

Degustation at Wildflower - Rooftop Perth CBD Restaurant | Fine Dining Perth Restaurant should tick those boxes.

For Rottnest, perhaps consider just renting a bike and doing it at your own pace? Unless you much prefer the tour "experience".

 

[AIRwin]

My brother and family visited Rottnest last year and I heard from them that the ferry is cheapest on a Tuesday...

 

[JackMiles]

Hi Lynda,
I live in Perth too and pretty much agree with everything Dave has said.
I definitely would advise against a Marg River day trip. It would be about 7 hours of driving all up. Although it's a lovely area, it's hard to imagine you'd have much time to enjoy much of it.
The pinnacles area is a fair bit closer, but still over 2 hrs each way. A sunset trip there does sound pretty nice though, so if you can handle the thought of 5+ hours of driving, could be a good choice.
Rottnest on the other hand is a great day trip and I too would recommend bike hire. The island is small and pretty flat, so it's not arduous cycling.
Kings Park could be worth a visit too, depending of course on your interests. It's pretty big, with different sections, but the area across the east side facing the CBD is probably the place to start.
if you have an interest in art, you could visit the Art Gallery of WA. I don't think anyone would argue it's a world class gallery but it does have some decent pieces in the permanent collection. Also can be a cool escape if you're here for one of Perth's brutally hot summer days. And is adjacent to the cafe/bar/restaurant district of Northbridge.
Lastly, again agreeing with Dave, if you like beaches, City and Cottesloe are good options for both swimming and having a drink/meal with a view. Clancy's at City Beach is a good casual option basically right on the sand (other places are set back to varying degrees). Coast Port Beach and Bib & Tuker North Fremantle (near each other) are also good beach-side eat/drink options on (generally) calm water beaches.

 

[1963transtasman]

Download Transperth App , I always get the Bus into the CBD.from the Airport
There are a couple of buses than run from the Airport into the CBD from memory
You can get the Bus for free along St Georges Terrace in the City
Use the free CAT buses to get around the cbd
I always like to go to Koshari Zone to eat Egyptian Street food , its cheap and casual and near the Perth Mint

 

[cosi]

The tourism industry web site will have many suggestions:

Explore Perth | Destination Perth

A local tourist publication with lots of information

Perth - Welcome To The Best Tourist Guide, Events, Discounts & Maps - Hello Perth

 

[Lynda2475]

Thought I would report back, in case it is of help to others:

Accommodation: I had a King Room at Peppers Kings Square Hotel on 13th Floor with a view over Wellington St toward Northbridge and the RAC Arena. The room was very comfortable and reasonably spacious, great bed with nice pillows and rainfall shower. As Id signed up to their rewards program (no status as this was first stay with Mantra) I was given 2 free drinks, wifi and late check-out.



Location was very central, easy walk to Murray St, Elizabeth Quay, North Bridge. Plenty of restaurants and public transport nearby.

I had breaky at the hotel on New Years Day as not much else was open, service was appalling slow - 10 mins before a waiter gave me a menu, another 5mins before my average coffee arrived then 35 mins before the very ordinary big breakfast (bacon, eggs, toast no butter!, baked beans, mushrooms and frilled tomato) arrived. Further there are no hot options on their late nigh in-room dining, so use uber eats if your peckish late night.

So whilst id recommend as a comfortable hotel, I would always recommend dining elsewhere.

Dining:

Due to activities which often included meals I didn't do as much dining out as planned, but two recommendations:

La Veen Coffee & Kitchen (90 King St, corner of Wellington), this cafe has great coffee and yummy all day breakfast options - i had breaky here most days.It gets crazy busy on Saturdays, so plan accordingly.

The Spaniard (31 Wolf Lane), is a hidden gem, a Tapas bar with great selection of Spanish wines

Sightseeing: Some things weren't running during the Xmas - New Years period, or on days that didn't suite. I ended up doing:

Day 1 - Oh Hey WA's Ultimate Perth Walking Tour - it was a good way to orient myself with the layout of the city on arrival day, the guide Adie was very enthusiastic, taking us through hidden laneways to view Street Art.

Day 2 - I took a uber to Fremantle for an early breaky then ferry over to Rottnest Island. I did the tour around the island (to decide which beach was best for me), then took the local bus to go snorkeling (was way too hot for me to ride a bike). The reefs are nice and close to shore. Got mandatory Quokka photo and stopped a Japanese tourist from feeding her iced cup cake to a baby Quokka. Lunch at the pub and ferry back to Freo.

Ghostly Tram Tour Fremantle - opted to take this tour (same day as Rottnest visit) as wanted to see more of Freo before ubering back to Perth. I don't believe in ghosts and found the guides enthusiasm for all things ghostly quite humorous, luckily I was seated with a couple who shared my sense of humour and scepticism. Tour included Fish & Chips dinner from Cervantes restaurant, quick lap of the main sights plus stops at the Round House, Fremantle Arts Centre and the night torchlight tour of the Fremantle Prison. Finished about 11pm. Ubered back to Perth.

Day 3 - Sunrise Kayal to Seal and Penguin islands (with GPS Adventures). Got picked up at 6am, was paddling out by 6:45am when the seals are most active. Clams water, lost of juvenile male seals came out to swim beside and underneath our kayak, also spotted some bottled nose dolphins. Then Kayaked over to Penguin Island (saw one chick, but the little penguins were out, so mostly just other bird life) for picnic breakfast, walked the boardwalks, had a swim then paddled back to the beach. Was a nice start to my day, although I needed a nap later.

Day 4 - Sunset trip to Pinnacles with night Star Gazing (with GPS Adventures) - 12:30pm departure, first few stops were in Swan Valley for tastings of Chocolate (Margaret River Chocolate Company), Wine/Olive Oil/Vinegars (Providore), Coffee (Yahava Coffee Works) and Honey and Mead (House of Honey). Then drove out to Lancelin (sneaky hot pie from the bakery) before sand boarding at the Lancelin dunes (so much fun, not as steep as the Huacachina dunes in Peru, and the sand wasn't hot), then The Pinnacles just before sunset. Stayed at Pinnacles for sunset, then had BBQ dinner and star gazing via telescope and binoculars in the park. Returned to Perth about midnight. Lost of Kangaroo sightings both ways.

Gavin & Natalie from GPS were great guides, they had 2 smaller vehicles so could drive inside the pinnacles park right up to viewing platform unlike the larger Adams coaches where their passengers had to walk in for the sunset. They also took lovely photos of the group (and individuals) with long exposures to capture the stars - the best souvenir. Highly recommend this trip, even though its a long day, however in the winter you get back by 9pm.

Day 5 - Day trip to Margaret River (with Explore Tours) - As warned this was a very rushed trip (about 13 hours) but as someone else did all th driving it was a good teaser for what Margaret River has to offer. 5 passengers plus guide in a small bus. 7am departure, first stop at the Crooked Carrot Cafe for breakfast, then on to Busselton Jetty (no time for a swim), then Margaret River Dairy Company for Cheese tasting, and township of Margaret River for a quick wander. Lunch (choice of 6 options) and wine tasting was at Watershed Winery (lovely Rose), then coffee stop at Yahava Koffee Works, tastings at Vasse Virgin and Temper Temper chocolates. next stop was at Robert Oatley Vineyards for more wine tasting. Then onto Canal Rocks, before an afternoon swim at Meelup Beach (plus a Hawaiian ice or ice cream), before heading back to Perth (with a bathroom/snack stop at servo on the way). I would definitely have liked to visit one of the caves, this could have easily been done had the trip been an hour longer.

It was short and busy trip, and next time i wont leave decades between visits.