Perfect for families! When I think back to our time in Perth and Western Australia, the first thing that comes to mind is how comfortable we felt there as a family with our two children. Western Australia is a long way from Europe (the flight time from our home town in Vienna via Doha to Perth is around 16 hours!), but it is so safe and fascinating that I can only recommend it as a travel destination – especially with young children.
We travel the world with them before school age and arrive in Perth in March, which is late summer in Western Australia, at Georg’s great cousin’s place – thank you so much for a wonderful stay, dear Anita and Chris!
While the first signs of spring can be seen at home, Georg’s family assures us “it’s only 30C on average anyway, instead of 40C or more like a few weeks ago” …! Even late summer in Western Australia is still hot and mostly sunny – Australian sun cream (and ice cream;) is one of our first purchases in Perth.
Here is a summary of our travel tips and things to do in and around Perth:
Hillary’s Boat Harbour & AQWA Aquarium of Western Australia.
We follow Anita’s first tip with young children in mind: Hillary’s Boat Harbour with its shallow “baby beach”, perfect for splashing and swimming, including a small shopping and restaurant area next door to a colourful underwater world, the AQWA Aquarium of Western Australia. Immerse yourself in the marine world of the Indian Ocean right on your doorstep!
Hillary’s Boat Harbour north of Downtown Perth is a true paradise for families.
We are truly amazed by the fascinating underwater world off the coast of Western Australia.
Outback Splash!
Another advantage of travelling to Western Australia in March is that schools have already started again and the big local summer holidays are already over. This means that we have main family attractions, such as the Outback Splash water park north of Perth, almost entirely to ourselves.
Outback Splash features not only water parks and slides for all age groups (babies & toddlers, children & teenagers), but also a mini golf course, a large chess set, numerous tyre and hedge mazes, as well as many other play options for kids. We spent a whole day at Outback Splash and can only recommend it.
View of the toddler and children’s slide area at Outback Splash near Perth. Even when it’s cloudy, always apply plenty of sun cream. It’s also best to equip children with full-body swimwear. The Australian sun is intense, to say the least!
Loved the tractor tyre maze!
Exploring Perth Hills wineries.
With all this “fun for kids”, I’m grateful to Anita for also making time to go on a “winesome” journey of discovery! The Perth Hills, I learn, are a fairly extensive wine-growing region east of the city of Perth. I totally missed it on my first visit to Western Australia in 2011 (back then, I was only going to the Margaret River wine-growing region). Anita takes me to Bickley Valley, where we taste our way through local greats such as Myattsfield, Fairbrossen & Carmel Cider Co (the latter have really excellent ciders in their range!).
A view of the family wine estate Myattsfield in Bickley Valley, Perth Hills.
Thank you for an excellent cider tasting …
… and amazing sunsets to be had over Perth.
Getting real close with kangaroos and koalas at Caversham Wildlife Park.
Another top tip from our lovely local family: Caversham Wildlife Park. It’s a place where you can get really close to the stars of the Australian animal world, such as kangaroos and koalas. For us and the children, it took some getting used to, to simply wandering amongst the kangaroos and wallabies lying around in the grass! They do, however, have a designated retreat where visitors are not allowed to follow them (surely a good thing).
We learnt a lot about the Australian snakes, spiders, tree kangaroos, birds and possums and can only recommend this visit with children.
A koala with its young: For many minutes, we simply watched the cosy marsupials before our eyes. It was magical to get so close to them!
Downtown Perth.
We quickly left the hot hustle and bustle in the immediate centre of Perth behind, lured by the tempting, cool freshness of the nearby Perth Botanical Gardens. At the Gardens, there are also regular tours with Aboriginal people from Western Australia. We deliberately opted for one of these tours, as children in particular learn an incredible amount on these warmly guided, often hands-on and interactive tours.
Hello, Perth! Yagan Square welcomes us to Downtown Perth.
Kings Park Botanical Gardens for both the views and the shade, overlooking the city of Perth from above.
Aboriginal Cultural Tour with Nick Abraham of Warrang Bridil.
I found Nick through a recommendation from WAITOC (Western Australia Indigenous Tourism Organisation). He immediately agreed to teach me and my family about the values of the original inhabitants of Western Australia, the Nyoongar People, by means of an Aboriginal Cultural Tour.
This includes a traditional smoke welcome ceremony as well as many explanations of the cultural understanding of the original inhabitants (“enlighten to acknowledge”). Check out their website Warrang Bridil Swan River Cultural Tours to learn more about them!
Nick Abraham during a welcome ceremony.
Liam assists in greeting and acknowledging the river beyond- an interesting experience for him!
Food Loose Tour in Perth’s China Town.
Change of scene: Our (culinary) immersion in Perth as part of a food tour with Food Loose Tours in Perth! We follow Will, our guide, through the flavoursome history of Perth’s Chinatown and eat African, Italian and, of course, Asian food! We also make a spontaneous detour for some delicious oysters (thank you Will, and thank you dear Anita for an evening off for Georg and me!)
Food Tour in Perth’s Chinatown: Go for it !!
Fremantle with its European flair, street markets and arts centres.
After visiting Perth, you should definitely also see Perth’s “smaller European sister”: Fremantle. The city is particularly famous for its markets; we can also recommend a visit to the “WA Western Australia Shipwreck Museum”, playing and running around in the huge Esplanade Park and a visit to the Fremantle Arts Centre, where Aboriginal art is always on display. Fremantle also has this interesting European flair, which offers visitors like us a certain “point of reference in the distance”.
Incidentally, ferries to Rottnest Island also depart from Fremantle (Fremantle’s landing and departure points are much closer to Rottnest Island than those of downtown Perth). For this reason alone, it is worth combining both destinations when visiting.
The extensive Esplanade Park in Fremantle commemorates the circumnavigator Vasco da Gama, who is said to have “linked Europe with the Indian Ocean”.
I really loved this art installation at the Fremantle Arts Centre!
Happy family faces in front of the West Australian Shipwreck Museum: “No drama just coffee” …!
Day trip to Rottnest Island off Perth.
Throughout our trip round the world, we were asked again and again: How do you manage 24/7 for months on end with (little) kids? After all, we know that parents don’t go on holiday. They just look after their children in another country …!
One of the (many) answers to this question is: organise any given day in such a way that it is not just interesting, but also reasonably relaxing for the adults. This includes good organisation as well as knowing your own needs (for coffee, certain routines, etc.) and then prioritising accordingly. Also, less is more!! Truly.
We were able to spend our day in Rottnest Island with a friend from Austria and her Scottish partner due to lucky circumstances – a total highlight for us and the children, not to mention the cute quokkas and the fascinating island landscape just off Perth.
In contrast to my first visit to Rottnest Island in 2011, tourist buses now operate all over the island (back then, you could only explore Rottnest Island on a hire bike). Just be aware of the left-hand traffic and the fact that smaller buses might cross the road from time to time …! The quokkas, small Australian marsupials that look infinitely cute, don’t mind all the hustle and bustle – they are used to it by now and are happy to be photographed from all sides. Check this out.
Watching quokkas in the wild (and in close proximity to the island’s cycling and hiking trails) is one of the absolute highlights of Rottnest Island.
We explore the island by bike (there are also bike trailers for hire for small children). Just know that there is no shade anywhere, lots of intense Australian sun – luckily we were always able to fill up our water bottles for free along the way!
The reward: incredibly beautiful stretches of beach, some bays also ideal for swimming, all along the island.
My next post features family travel tips a few hours away from Perth: Read more here about what’s particularly worthwhile with kids in Mandurah, Gingin and Pinnacles Desert, Western Australia.
Or are you drawn further afield? Then you may find our road travel tips along the East Coast of Australia particularly interesting to read.