Garie Beach - If you only had 5-7 days to visit Western Australia where would you go?

If you only had 5-7 days to visit Western Australia where would you go?

Western Australia is quite often thought of as being such a large place, perhaps too large to consider it for a short break! However, there are so many perfect short break getaway locations. If you only have 5-7 days what do you think you would do and where would you go on a 5-7 day holiday to Western Australia?

Public Comments

Well funny you should ask, I am taking my boyfriend to Perth and beyond for an 8 day visit over Easter! He’s never been and I am really excited to take him for a day trip to Rottnest Island to hire bikes and ride around the island, do some snorkelling and stop to see the little quokkas (it is the one place in the world where this cute marsupial lives). I am also taking him to see the port city of Fremantle which has a lot of interesting history from the settlement times and a big old prison you can do a tour of. If we get time we’ll hire catamarans and go out on the Swan River – last time I did that I saw dolphins! They swam right up to us! Plus King’s Park… of course… how could you not go for a big wander in there. I think we'll manage to do almost all those things in four days. We’re going to hire a car for four of the days and head to Margaret River – it’s only about four hours down the coast and as well as wine tasting I can’t wait to take him caving! There are some beautiful caves and the tours are really interesting. There is one cave that not many people know about that you have to abseil down into. He’s a daredevil so no doubt he’ll want to climb the Gloucester Tree in Pemberton – it used to be a fire lookout and is about 80 metres tall! You simply climb up the pegs that wind around it to the top! I’d rather do the treetop walk at Walpole – almost as high and not so scary! Hopefully we’ll have time for that too. If we had more time I’d actually like to take him to Kalgoorlie to see the goldmines, or even up to Broome – the top end of WA is breathtakingly beautiful – the beaches stretch for miles. I'll also be taking him to some of the big beautiful pubs in Perth in the evenings – The Left Bank in Fremantle or The Subiaco Hotel or The Queens in Mount Lawley spring to mind. I like the pubs in Perth much better than in the eastern states. I can't wait! Can you tell how excited I am to show him around!
Broome Monkey Mia - dolphins Ningaloo Reef
A lot depends on when you are planning the trip for. I wouldn't be going to Broome from December to March due to the heat, humidity and cyclones. Its only for beach bums to spend much time there, but a useful place to stop off for a rest after a top end tour. Albany is an interesting place to visit in the summer, as is Esperance. However Albany is around 5 hours and Esperance is nearer 7 or 8 hours drive from Perth.
I think Rottnest island for a day trip one day, Drive down to Margaret River and maybe stay overnight aroud there, see our Beautiful City, Fremantle and maybe the Swan valley, if your here in winter or Spring (go on a Sunny day though). Drive into the Perth Hills. Wander around Kings Park of course too.
Rottnest Island, why, because there is nobody there this time of year,excellent.
Go see Rottnest Island, the Quokkas are sooo cute. Have a stroll around Fremantle (Freo) Have a meal at Hogsbreath Restaurant, Perth. For anything further afield, I have no idea where to begin, yes WA is HUGE and beautiful!
As an ex WA girl, I am biased. WA is the most beautiful state. I should know, I have lived in all of the others (hubby is Defence) WA has the bluest sky, the whitest beaches, the friendliest people. This side of the country is mainly designed for tourism. I hope WA doesn't neglect their permanent residents for the almighty tourism Dollar. i can remember swimming at Bunbury before the yanks took over and told me that they bought the Dolphins to Bunbury. Treasure WA.. I know I do
I like Ellie 23's answer but I would adapt it to include a trip up to the Pinnacles (approx. 2.5 hours north of Perth), and also stop in the Swan Valley for a bit. The wineries there offer something a bit different to Margaret River, plus there is a few breweries and a distillery or two, and all in what is technically considered Perth suburbs.
I would save going to the pinnacles (a couple of limestone rocks and well thats it. Definitely Augusta and Margaret River for the wine and the chocolate factory. Get yourself on the Southwest Highway and travel along it from Perth/Serpentine all the way along it going through Bridgetown, Pemberton (climb Gloucester Tree), Walpole (Walk amongst the Giants) until you get to Denmark. Whilst in Denmark I recommend staying at the Denmark Observatory Resort lovely place. From there along the coast to Albany and out to the Sandalwood Oil Factory about 15 minute drive out of town north on the Albany Highway. You could continue to Esperance, however I would recommend back to Perth and visit Kings Park (Perth beautiful heart). Have a look around Perth, you could accomplish this in a day visiting London Court and having a bite at one of the many cafes or pubs, particularly in Northbridge. A great little Vietnamese restaurant there is called the Saigon on Aberdeen Street, just across from the Brass monkey Brassery, or down to Fremantle to Little Creatures (Fishing boat harbour) Brewery. A must is the tour of the historic Fremantle Prison, dare you to do the night tour! This will fill a good four or five days. From there you decide where else you want to visit, whether to the hills to Mundaring Weir or out to Serpentine Dam (make sure its sunny or if it's windy take a jumper). Mosty of all enjoy your time and relax.
Start and finish your stay in Perth, the capital. Great beaches, clean city and although it has to be the remotest capital in the world it has everything and the people are pretty layback. Take a day to tour up to the Pinnacles. It's a petrified forest and to be amidst of it,is a feeling unlike any on the planet. Finally, a 2 day or so trek around Margaret River and Albany, the city on the southern tip of the state. Margaret River has the best wine in the world ! I know it is quite a claim but every year it wins gold at international competitions. Take back a few bottles of that liquid gold and impress your friends.
Hire a car and drive up the coast.
Kimberly region
Perth, of course, including the bell tower. AQWA, the aquarium where you walk under the water. Freo and all the markets, and then a lazy trip down south along the coast - in spring of course - all the way to Albany. Forget the north, too hot, and I don't like crocs...
Cable Beach? Broome sounds v interesting I personally have always been interested in the Batavia and would like to go the Geraldton and the Abroholos. Our history is markedly different to ther rest of Aus, it is a shame we don't know more about it
Geraldton and Kalbarri are beautiful, relaxed towns which are good for a week long family vacation. Couples however should go down south. Pemberton is gorgeous and is fantastic at winter time as it has so many cozy b&b's and wineries!
Of course I will start in Perth and end in Perth with a driving trip along the coast, down to Fremantle and back. Guess that is all the time I will have to drive at a leisure pace!
Perth
After traveling extensively throughout Australia with kids doing distance ed, WA was a favorite and now that I am home in Queensland and have children in high school we can only do short trips and have often talked about the best way to go back and visit and have come to the conclusion that to hire a britz camper ect. we would travel from perth down through to the Margaret River over the period of a week. Freemantle offers a great time with the maritime museum, freemantle prison and quaint shops, then further down the beautiful countryside, Busselton Jetty, breweries, wineries and my favorite spot of Smith's Beach just outside of Dunsborough. There is heaps of parks for overnight stops and at Prevally Caravan Park, which is on the water from Margaret River you can even fires in the allocated fire pits. Hope this helps and have a fabulous trip
Wave rock, Monkey Mia, and Broome.
South west for 3 days, esperance, marg. river, walpole then up north for the remainder besides 1 day in perth
Well i live in WA and i still havent seen it all! i would love to get a 4WD and go bush bashing in the south, visit monkey mia and visit all the wineries, got to broome and karajini national park, and leasurly drive through the open roads!
anywhere north of carnarvon.
start in perth, take 1-2 days to drive down to Margaret River and sample the wineries on the way
Go to rottnest island and then down to rockingham to swim with the dolphins, a nice cruise along the swan river, go for some wine tasting in the swan valley wineries, take a quick trip up to geraldton for a night or two and then take in the sites of perth with a picnic at kings park and a night in the city and take a tour of the old fremantle jail.
i used to live in western australia, if theres any place i would go it would be balcatta. because the people are nice, the places are beautiful and i'll never forget the beach! LOL
The west. Just Love it. Spend a day in perth, every city is the same. Margeret River is the best. I don't like the wineries, but so much to see. Visit esperance, mandurah on the way. You will have an absolute ball. Broome too far away for seven days. Relax and unwind with nature. Check out all the itineries, it will blow your mind away. Happy holiday.
geraldton ,kalbarrie shark bay ,the pinnicles
It is easy, King's park then out to the races at Ascot racecourse to start punting on Sydney races at about 11.00 and stay all day.
you should try rotness and monkey mia
I reckon that there are a couple of places that you should visit when in WA. 1: Mandurah (An Hour's drive south of perth..) 2: Margaret River..(A good 5 hours drive south of perth..) 3: Monkey Mia..( A day or so drive north of perth..) 4: Kalgoorlie..(A day or so drive east of perth- if you go there drop into the super pit!) 5: Kunnunurra (A three hour flight from perth.. The best mangoes are grown up there.. Make sure you go to Burra Banana's... Mmmm mmm....) 5: Rottnest Island.. (A short trip be ferry over..)
This is hilarious. People are giving Tourism WA advice on where to go on a holiday in Western Australia. Hello peoples they know where to go, they are doing research on what you think are their best attractions. Anyway, I would go to Perth and definately check out the Margaret River region. Those are the places that immediately come to mind and I know very little about the rest of the state. Cheers
I would visit my friend who lives in Albany and ask him to take me to all the best places seeing as I live in the UK!!
oh boo Rottnest is so over rated. boring. Drive down south to margret river or yallingup to see the caves. Busselton down there is also stunning, but if you want to stay in the metro area for a bit the Swan valley is gorgeous with weekends there is always something going on. Up north towards geraldton is also a great trip. with beautiful landscape. Fremantle is very quirky and only 20 mins from the CBD. Maybe a trip to york which is North east or to go that little bit further (about 6 hours to Kalgoorlie which is a historical place. Or better yet up to broome or kalbarri. Oh and down south is pemberton and the karri forrest. Just don't waste time going to RATSNEST if you want islands go to the Whitsundys' Arlie and the islands! if you have afour wheel drive you can get some fantastic tracks to explore. Me and my bf found this place out near Leinster called wanjarri, its an old deserted staion in the middle of nowhere! But was magic. Also far south is Esperance, I had the best time there too, the ocean shines pink in the early hours of the morning!
Broome - all the way baby! That is the place I want to go in the whole wide world!!!
I wouldnt go near Margaret River to many drug addicts there an it isnt the safest place, I live in Busselton(2-3hrs south of perth) so I know the southwest pretty well if I only had a week to go somewhere I would go to Monkey Mia the beaches are beautiful and the people are really friendly
I would go to Margret river and catch some waves there. Or go and visit the cyclone affected areas of the Kimberly and the gascoyne region and see how they are coping after severe cyclones George & Jacob hitted those regions.
I would love to go diving, is there good diving in Western Australia? Just moved from San Francisco here and would liek to discover another part of Australia.
Kings Park at dusk is a must. Take a picnic. The Cott for the sunday session- legendary! Nice beach too. Hillary's boat harbour for a lunch.
I would recommend Esperance usually, however there has been several health scares due to lead poisoning of wildlife over the past 6months that are quite worrisome and as such most people are avoiding it. Despite this, Esperance is the best place in Australia, I been everywhere and it is always top of my list.
I would fly into Broome and then do a 5-7 day Chartered Fishing trip up to the Kimberley's and back. Ever since I watched my first Malcholm Douglas Doco. It has been a dream to fish the Kimberlys. Then after being back home for 1-2 years I would go back to Perth and do the trip to Rottnest. Then Margret River for surfing and the wine and food. Albany would be the next stop, because I've wanted to play the Albany Golf Course ever since I saw pictures of it in a Tom Ramsey book on Australian Golf Courses. It so reminds me of Royal County Down GC just outside of Dublin, Ireland. Back to Perth and do a days fishing out in Cockburn Sound and then back home to Sydney. Do you see a trend appearing here LOL.
Perth, Fremantle, Margaret River & Ningaloo Reef.
Grab a car and a road map and drive like hell! Stick to the coast - it's awesome. If you get time try to get down to Albany (about 2-3 hours South of Perth).
Everyone is being so nice about Perth, my home. BUT!!! You REALLY need to listen up to this: PERTH CITY IS DANGEROUS AT NIGHT. DO NOT GO THERE AFTER DARK unless it's Friday night (late night shopping - after 9pm though it's DANGEROUS!!) BEWARE of the "LOCALS" - that's the only way I can put it and not be called "racist". They are VERY dangerous. Don't say I didn't warn you. On the brighter side, Kings Park is okay, Freo is okay (once again, though, BEWARE OF THE "LOCALS"!). Rotto is okay if you have a boat. Claremont is classy with no "locals" and Subiaco is nice too. Good for food and boutique shops. DO NOT GO TO NORTHBRIDGE (the "nightclub" district)!!! No one with any class goes there as it's DANGEROUS! Again, the "locals" will abuse/bash/mug you at any opportunity and for no reason. There's also lots of loser drug addicts and Asian/South American/African/bikie/mafia gangs. If you want to go clubbing, go to Subiaco or Claremont, even Freo is better than Northbridge. Go to Bunker Bay (near Dunsborough) and stay at Quay West Resort - it's GORGEOUS! Margaret River is pretty but boring (like all of Perth). Up North is where it's at. Broome is beautiful (again! beware of the 'locals' and stay in the resorts otherwise there's a good chance you will be bashed/raped/mugged!). You must think I'm so negative, but seriously, there should be travel warnings about this frigging state. I once read that Perth at one stage had the highest violent crime rate for our population in the WORLD! And nothing has changed, it's gotten worse if anything. Go to COTTESLOE Beach - it's luverly!
kalgooli, bunbury, fremantle, perth... ive allways wanted to drive along the coast of WA :)
I would go and see my Aunt and Uncle and my favourite cousins (they are only 5 and 1) in the world!!! That's where they live and i live in Melbourne and hardly ever get to see them. So if it were me i would stay with them 24/7.
I'd go to Swancon, the science fiction convention held annually in Perth. That's three days. Then I'd look around the city and maybe slip over to Rotto for a day (and of course pat a quokka if I could). If time left I'd go for a boat trip up the Swan.
Hi... I would definitely go to Mandurah. It's a top place..lovely beaches and lots of water sport possiblities. And instead of staying at resorts, hotels or motels I would get on the list of Mandurah Getaway and you'll get the best discount for accommodation. Now the accommodation is not top class but good value for money and you'll be looked after. Can't beat $100/day. 4 weeks and over $350/wk. Mandurah is a pretty place and can be your base - less than an hour to Perth the capital. You can easily go for trips from there. Down south to wine country and north to Fremantle and Perth. Then pick a new base up north to see the rugged bits.. a place like Broome...but very hot in summer. See the gorges..very beautiful.
The top end without a doubt including Kununurra, the Kimberley's etc beautiful, restoration and relaxation.
Kununurra - then go to Kachana station by way of a flight via the bungles. Not very expensive but a great way to really get a feel for the Kimberley.
Depends on what you want to see. WA has so many beautiful places to see and such differing beauty. Go up to north to Monkey Mia and see some dolphins and ruggered and gorgeous scenery and down south to Margaret River and the many brilliant winerys, caves and Karri forests. The beaches in WA are just out of this world. But Mandurah about an hour south of Perth is really beautiful. We have so much truely beautiful wildlife and well the people are great too. Theres so much to see, a week is not long enough.