Perth is the world's most isolated major city — the nearest city with a comparable population (Adelaide) is 2,700 km to the east, making Perth geographically closer to Singapore than to Sydney; the city's population of 2.2 million live in a metropolitan area that stretches 150 km along the Indian Ocean coast of Western Australia, bounded by the Darling Escarpment (the Darling Range, 300 m, 30 km east) and the Indian Ocean to the west. The isolation is arguably Perth's greatest quality: the city has 3,000+ hours of sunshine per year (more than any other Australian capital), 19 beaches within 30 km of the city centre (including the world-famous Cottesloe and Scarborough), a wine region (Swan Valley) 20 minutes from the CBD, and the Pinnacles Desert (strange limestone formations in Nambung National Park) 250 km north. Kings Park (400 ha overlooking the city and the Swan River from a 60 m escarpment, containing 320 ha of native Western Australian bushland within 3 km of the CBD) is one of the world's great urban parks — the spring wildflower season (August–September) when Western Australian wildflowers bloom (WA has 12,000 wildflower species, 60% of them found nowhere else on earth) is internationally renowned. Rottnest Island (19 km offshore, the most-visited destination in Western Australia) is home to the quokka, the small wallaby-like marsupial famous for its perpetual grin that has made it the world's most 'selfied' animal. Perth's food and wine scene has matured significantly in the 2010s — the Margaret River wine region (300 km south) produces Australia's finest Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay; the CBD's Northbridge district has the densest restaurant and bar concentration in Australia outside Sydney and Melbourne.
Kings Park (400 ha, 320 ha of native bushland within 3 km of the CBD) has the finest city views in Australia — the 60 m escarpment overlooks the Swan River, the CBD skyline and the Darling Range to the east; the botanic garden within Kings Park has Western Australia's 12,000 wildflower species; the 620 m-long DNA Tower has a 360° panorama.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Captain Cook Cruises ferries down the Swan River from Perth to Fremantle (45 min) pass the southern suburbs, the Swan Brewery and the Fremantle Port — the river is very wide (500+ m in places) and the cruise provides the best view of Perth's riverside suburbs; dolphins regularly follow the ferry in the Swan River estuary.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideFremantle Prison (1853, UNESCO World Heritage) was in active use until 1991 — the limestone convict-built prison has multiple tour formats including a nighttime torch-lit tour; the adjacent Fremantle Markets (1897, South Terrace) sell fresh WA produce, vintage clothing and local food every weekend; Fremantle's port streetscape of colonial limestone buildings is the best-preserved convict-era townscape in Australia.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideCottesloe Beach (20 min from Fremantle, WA's most famous beach) for the Indian Ocean sunset — the beach faces directly west and the sunsets over the Indian Ocean are extraordinary; the Norfolk Island pine trees behind the beach and the Indiana Teahouse (1910, heritage-listed café) are iconic; fish and chips from the beach kiosk is obligatory.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideNorthbridge (adjacent to the Perth CBD, walkable) is Perth's nightlife and dining hub — the strip along William Street and James Street has 200+ restaurants covering every cuisine: Japanese (strong Japanese community), Vietnamese, Italian, modern Australian; the wine bars serve Margaret River Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.
Rottnest Island (19 km west of Fremantle, no private cars allowed) is the most visited destination in WA — the Rottnest Express or SeaLink ferry (25 min from Fremantle, 90 min from Perth CBD Barrack Street) arrives at Thomson Bay; bike rental (A$30/day) is how everyone gets around the 11 km x 4.5 km car-free island.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe quokka (Setonix brachyurus) is found almost nowhere except Rottnest Island — the small marsupials approach humans fearlessly (they have no mainland predators on the island) and the 'quokka selfie' has been immortalised by everyone from Roger Federer to Margot Robbie; dozens live around the Thomson Bay settlement; the salt lakes in the island interior are a different landscape.
The Basin (the most sheltered bay on Rottnest, swimming since the 1890s) has exceptional snorkelling in the shallow reef — the Rottnest Island reef system has over 100 species of tropical and temperate fish due to the Leeuwin Current bringing warm water south; Geordie Bay and Little Salmon Bay have coral formations at 1-5 m depth accessible to snorkellers.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe 22 km cycling circuit of the island passes the historic West End (the most westerly point of Rottnest, where the Indian Ocean swells arrive uninterrupted from Africa) with its lighthouse (1896) and the blowhole — the afternoon sun over the Indian Ocean from the island's western edge with no land for 8,000 km is one of the great Australian views.
Nambung National Park's Pinnacles Desert has thousands of limestone pillars (1-5 m tall) rising from golden sand — formed from ancient seashell calcium over 35,000 years; the 'desert' is 3 km of these strange formations that look most dramatic at golden hour; most visitors take a guided day tour from Perth (5 hrs return), departing 07:00.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe Swan Valley (20 km from Perth CBD up the Swan River) is one of Australia's oldest wine regions (1836 vines) and combines wineries (Sandalford, Houghton), boutique breweries (Mash Brewing, Mandoon Estate), artisan cheese shops and a chocolate factory in a single valley drive; the Swan Valley Visitors Centre in Guildford has a map of 35 cellar doors open daily.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideScarborough Beach (northern suburbs, 15 min from CBD) has the most consistent surf in metropolitan Perth and the newly redeveloped Scarborough foreshore (2018) has a 50 m outdoor heated swimming pool, beach volleyball courts and the Scarborough Beach Bar with arguably the best Indian Ocean sunset view in the city.
🎫 Book tickets via GetYourGuideThe South Perth foreshore (ferry from Barrack Street, A$3.50) has the single best view of the Perth skyline — the CBD glittering above the Swan River with Kings Park to the left; the foreshore has ice cream, cycling and the Perth Zoo adjacent; the ferry back to the city at night across the lit-up Swan River is a perfect Perth farewell.