As someone who loves to travel, it seems a glaring oversight that until this week, I’d never travelled farther west in Australia than the border of Victoria – less than halfway across the country. Australia is a big country, but there’s so much to see along the east coast that I’d neglected destinations farther afield, like Perth, the capital of Western Australia.

Perth is the most isolated city in the world (city = more than 1m inhabitants), and while the beaches in Western Australia are famed for their beauty, they’re less visited than their east coast counterparts because Western Australia is so enormous and remote – it’s 11x the size of Texas, and larger than France, Italy and Germany combined. It makes travelling around WA a little more expensive and time consuming than reaching other destinations in Australia.

Which is a longwinded way of saying that until now, I hadn’t prioritised WA due to cost and perceived time commitment. I also thought Perth was a five hour flight from Melbourne, but as it turns out, it’s only 3.5, so it turns out that excuse was a feeble one! I’m so grateful that fate brought me to Perth, because I’m now more excited about travelling around WA than anywhere else in Australia.

Why Perth?

Regular readers might be wondering how I found myself in Perth, when I’m spending most of this year in New York. In September, I was offered an amazing job in New York City. In order to start work, I needed a working visa, which I could only get in Australia. Getting a work visa has been an unmitigated nightmare, by the way, and as I write this, I’m still unsure of what will happen next. Wish me luck.

It was a silver lining of needing to fly from New York to Australia to do apply for my E3 working visa, that I had the opportunity to travel to Perth, the capital city. The earliest appointment I could get at a US Consulate in Australia was in Perth, as more convenient locations like Melbourne and Sydney have a much longer wait time. Flying to Perth added around $1000 to my visa trip, but it took me to a new part of Australia I’d never visited before – and I loved it! The flights from New York to Los Angeles to Sydney to Perth was less glamorous.

I really didn’t know what to expect of the city – I was really stressed about the visa process and any thoughts of enjoying Perth were on the backburner. Luckily, once I’d dealt with my interview at the consulate, I had a beautiful city waiting for me. A friend of mine, Erin, is from Perth, and she kindly sent me a huge list of great recommendations which I followed closely – she has excellent taste!

First impressions of Perth

I’m not sure exactly what I was expecting, but I found Perth to be so much prettier than I expected. I think I expected it to feel more like a big country town (the way Brisbane once did), and was surprised by how cosmopolitan it was – albeit on a smaller scale. The economy is in decline now, but for the last ten years or so, the mining boom has poured wealth into the state, which has led to huge growth (as well as it becoming very expensive, for a time).

A pretty, compact city

Coming from New York, the Perth CBD (downtown) was unbelievably squeaky clean, the air deliciously fresh (and again, clean!) and walking around the city during peak hour felt like I was walking around with noise-cancelling headphones: it looked like a city, but I could barely hear it. I relished how sparsely-populated Australia is, and hearing baristas and bartenders being so genuinely friendly and warm to customers and one another nearly brought me to tears. I’ve often said that I’ve been surprised how friendly people have been to me in New York, but I realised in Perth that while people have mostly been friendly, it’s rare to hear the warm banter and genuine easygoing friendliness directed to the population at large. In New York, the tension in public is palpable and exhausting.

Exciting dining & nightlife

At risk of sounding like a snob, I was also super impressed (and a little surprised) by how modern and sophisticated the hospitality scene is in Perth. While it might not have the scale of Melbourne or Sydney, there were more trendy bars and restaurants than I could have visited in two trips even, and I was so excited by the places that I did visit. You don’t often hear about the hospitality scene in Perth, but it’s something I’m really looking forward to exploring when I return one day with David or a friend.

Public art

Perth is home to more than 200 pieces of public art, reflecting the city’s past and present identity. Many of these are sculptures, which I loved stumbling upon all over the city. My favourites were “The Mob”, which are two kangaroo sculptures on St Georges Terrace, one of which is drinking from a public fountain, and Appearing Rooms, which is a water feature in Forrest Place which shoots jets of water into the area to create nine distinct “rooms.”

You can do a self-guided art walking tour, which I wish I’d known about before my visit!

Stay: Quay Perth

I stayed at Quay Perth, which is conveniently located on The Esplanade in the Perth CBD. I wanted to keep costs as low as possible, but after coming off 3 long flights for a total of 48 hours of travel time, I didn’t want to scrimp too much – I wanted to feel safe and comfortable, and be relatively close to the consulate. I booked Quay Perth’s smallest room, which was affordable but all that I needed for a two-night stay. It was around $150/night (or $220 USD for 2 nights, total). I didn’t mind that the only place I could open my suitcase was on my bed, since it was just me staying there. The room was really well designed and the bathroom was beautiful – such a plus after spending so long in airports. All I wanted was a long shower and to do a face mask!

There is a communal working space at Quay, but I didn’t get a chance to use it. I had dinner on the first night at HQ, the rooftop bar on the 10^th floor, and loved the views over the water and the Asian-inspired menu.

Perth CBD

I walked the Perth CBD about ten times over I think, and was pleasantly surprised by how pretty it is. There are plenty of well-preserved historic buildings, but also many modern new buildings, many of which are surprisingly striking.

I headed to Wolf Lane on the first morning for coffee, at a tiny café called Wolf Espresso. The coffee was perfect! The laneway itself has a handful of cafes and bars, and is covered with beautiful murals.

On the second morning, I went to La Veen for coffee, but didn’t stay for breakfast as the only free tables were outside and it was unexpectedly chilly in the wind. I was feeling particularly fickle, so I had a look at the menu at Joe’s Mess Hall, which honestly looked very nice, but I was being very indecisive, and ended up back at Wolf Espresso again, this time for breakfast. Joe’s Mess Hall has a super cute, leafy fit out though, and if I was going for a proper sit down brunch rather than a quick (and cheap) bite, I’d definitely go there. 

Cottesloe Beach

Western Australia is famous for it’s large beaches, with white powdery sand and turquoise water. Cottesloe is the closest beach to the city, and one of Perth’s biggest drawcards.

I’ve been wanting to write a post about my favourite beaches in Australia for a long time, but I knew I just couldn’t do the post justice until I visited Cottesloe Beach, which in my opinion, is the best city beach in Australia. Soft, white, powdery sand and the clearest water I’ve seen near a major city in Australia. I prefer it to Sydney’s famous Bondi!

The beach was quiet on a Thursday afternoon, and I found a slightly shady spot where I could read my book on the sand (Educated by Tara Westover – can’t put it down!). I made a quick dash into the water, just to put my feet in, as I forgot to pack my bikini (!!!!!!), and it was so refreshing. I had planned to grab a bite at Il Lido, on the recommendation of my friend Erin, who grew up in Perth, but I wasn’t hungry so I decided to wait til I was in Fremantle.

Related: The Most Beautiful Beaches in Australia

Fremantle

Fremantle, or “Freo” as it’s known to locals, is a charming and eclectic waterfront town 40 minutes outside Perth by train. Blessedly, rather than the $25 USD ($36 AUD) that it costs to go 40 minutes outside of New York, this train was only $4.50 AUD.

I had lunch at Bread in Common, another great recommendation from Erin. I was expecting a trendy bakery, and instead found a dark, stylish restaurant space with an impressive menu – and wishing that I was visiting for dinner, with a friend. Afterwards, I spent the afternoon wandering around the pretty streets and along the waterfront. I found a great secondhand bookstore, stuffed with new releases for half price, simple called Secondhand Books. If I hadn’t already had six books in my suitcase, I would have picked up another one. I finished my afternoon with a coffee at Gino’s, a Fremantle institution.

South Perth

On my last morning in Perth, I caught the ferry from Elizabeth Quay across the Swan River to South Perth. The foreshore has a long running track as well as a handful of small beaches (although I’m not sure if people swim here). It was a pretty view of the city skyline, but there wasn’t much to do – unless you wanted to go for a run or bring a picnic!

Jacobs Ladder & Kings Park

Kings Park is the largest public park in the Southern Hemisphere. I didn’t get too far into the park, but hiked the stairs of Jacob’s Ladder and admired the 90 year old gum trees lining one of the drives into the gardens.

Plans to return

I’d love to return to Perth with David, to go to the Margaret River wine region (so many of my favourite wines come from here) or the Swan Valley wine region, as well as the tiny town of Busselton, and the gorgeous Rottnest Island, which is accessible as a day trip from Perth but much better enjoyed with a night or two’s stay. Western Australia is 100% going to be the first trip I do when we’re settled back in Australia!

Have you been to Perth or around WA? Please share any tips you have in the comments!