Perth

See

thumb|Inside the Art Gallery of Western Australia Top sights in and around the city are: The renovated WA Museum, the Art Gallery of WA and PICA, and the Perth Mint — see city centre page. Kings Park and Botanic Gardens — see city centre page Fremantle Prison, Maritime Museum and Shipwrecks gallery — see Fremantle page

Outside of the metropolitan area are some unspoilt national parks, unpopulated coasts and other interesting locations.

Do

Perth's parks range from inner-city parks such as Kings Park, Bold Park, and Lake Monger, to outer city parks such as John Forrest and Whiteman Park. See a concert. Perth has an enormous traditional arts scene. There are many world-class orchestras and opera companies, as well as theatre and jazz. The West Australian Symphony Orchestra is the premier orchestra in Perth and mostly performs every few weeks at the Perth Concert Hall. The WA Opera produces between 4 and 6 operas a year, performing at His Majesty’s Theatre. The WA Ballet also produces 4 ballets a year, most productions are at His Majesty’s. The Ellington Jazz Club is renowned for major acts and local jazz in an intimate setting. Sets are playing almost every day. Golf: notable courses are Royal Perth, Maylands and Mount Lawley. thumb|Perth's Bell Tower at Barrack Square. Fremantle Markets are a "Fremantle institution" popular with tourists and locals for local crafts, fresh produce, food, and entertainment. Opens on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and is an easy 8 minute walk from Fremantle train station. Kalamunda Farmer’s Markets run every Sunday morning in Central Mall in Kalamunda, 30 min from the CBD. Parking is free and plentiful, with a large array of local produce and food for sale. Open 8AM-noon. Manning Farmers Markets are popular with locals for fresh local produce, breakfast and coffee. It has more than 50 stalls and is very busy before 10AM. Open Saturday 7:30AM-12:30PM. Regular public transport to Curti…

Buy

The largest concentration of boutique shops is in the City centre while adjacent Northbridge is the place for niche independent stores. Trendier suburbs such as Mount Lawley, Leederville and Subiaco have a number of offbeat designer fashion stores.

Most of the top end luxury brands like Gucci, Chanel and Louis Vuitton are located on or around King Street in the CBD.

Large shopping complexes located in the outer suburbs, such as in Morley (Galleria), Cannington (Westfield Carousel), Midland (Midland Gate), Joondalup, Booragoon (Westfield Booragoon), Innaloo and Karrinyup have the usual department and chain stores.

Fremantle Markets offers an experience on its own with its over 150 independent stalls.

Eat

One of Perth's drawbacks is that its people have not embraced late night dining. Very few places will serve food after 10PM, even on Friday or Saturday nights. Most restaurants in Perth do not cater for vegetarians or vegans, and if they do - the range is extremely limited. If you are looking for a place that embraces vegetarian food, Fremantle is great.

Go next

Heading east from Perth: Toodyay is a historical town on the Avon river, with regular festivals. It's a favourite place for day trips and overnight getaways from Perth, and once the home of Bushranger Moondyne Joe. Hyden is the closest town to Wave Rock, a granite rock formation that looks like a large breaking wave.

Heading south, Margaret River (three hours from Perth) has some of the world's best wines. Good food and pristine beaches make the South West region a favourite destination. It's an ideal weekend getaway.

Heading north, follow Coastal Highway 60 to Pinnacles Desert in Nambung National Park. Other places of interest are Jurien Bay, Cervantes with its odd stromatalites, and (poorly signposted just past Cervantes) Lesueur National Park for wildflowers.

Cervantes is about the northern limit of a day-trip from Perth. From here on it becomes a road trip, and there's an awful lot of Australia ahead of you. Places within a day or so's drive are Dongara, Geraldton, Kalbarri National Park, Shark Bay and Monkey Mia, Carnarvon, and Exmouth & Coral Bay for Ningaloo Reef. And still the road stretches on ahead across this vast red continent.