Perth perfection: Exploring the western Australian capital

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When it comes to exploring the great Australian outdoors, there are only a handful of getaway destinations that are just as breathtaking as Western Australia.

As Australia's biggest state, WA can already offer adventurous tourists a plethora of unique experiences, ranging from skydiving over scintillating sandy shores to driving through some striking red desert regions.

If you're thinking of making Perth the setting for your next big interstate family adventure, we're here to tell you that you'll have plenty to look forward to.

What can you add to your Perth trip itinerary? Let's explore the answer to this question in-depth today.

If you're looking for luxury accommodation like Perth's Crown Towers or other hotels that are in and around the Perth CBD for your first trip to WA, then you'll be happy to hear that there's still plenty to see and do when staying cityside.

The city of Perth is rich with a variety of sights and activities that will be sure to please the entire family.

You could, for instance, take a day trip to the Perth Zoo, have a picnic in Perth's own Kings Park and surrounding botanic gardens, head to Cottesloe Beach or some of Perth's other fantastic coastal areas for a quick swim and sandcastle building sesh, or perhaps even play a game of golf in Maylands.

What all these experiences actually have in common is that they are actually all accessible from the water's edge, as the city's Swan River winds through the very heart of Perth's CBD.

Both Perth Zoo and the city's botanic gardens can be found along the waterfront, as well as a huge selection of the city's other idyllic picnic and garden spaces, with one or two golf courses even boasting breathtaking views of the river in multiple directions.

Many first-time travellers to WA have opted to explore all that Perth has to offer not by car or even by foot, but rather by sailing across the length of Swan River.

Fans of sailing will enjoy seeing Perth from the water, and a few days of sailing along the Swan has been said to help tourists set great expectations for the rest of their trip in and around the greater Perth area.

If you are interested in sailing along the Swan or would even like to grab some snaps of sailboats, we highly recommend planning your trip to coincide with the Royal Perth Yacht Club's annual Swan River Retro Series, which will see a veritable platoon of the world's most unique yachts race or simply put on a display for riverbank spectators to gaze at in awe.

If you've spent enough time in and around the Perth CBD and are looking to explore everything else that there is to see and do in the Western Australian bush, then there's truly no better place to start than with a quick trip further west to a little island that you may very well have heard of before: Rottnest.

With its many breathtaking beaches and bays, picturesque hiking trails, little local eateries, and unique critters, Rottnest Island is one of WA's most popular gems and is on the bucket list of many Aussie and international travellers alike.

There's a lot to see and do across the face of Rottnest, but a trip to this happy, little island off the coast of Western Australia would be incomplete without snapping a photo or two with the island's iconic marsupial, the happy little quokkas.

These little beings are generally very friendly and incredibly curious, meaning they will happily interact with tourists and flash you one of their signature heart-melting smiles as soon as you get your camera ready.

They may very well consider posing for photos part of their daily routine now!

Alongside sunbathing at one of the island's 63 beaches, swimming in one of its 20 bays, and snapping smiley shots all along the way, Rottnest Island may also be the perfect place for you to pick up a few other new hobbies, like sailing and snorkelling.

Rottnest is home to many interesting underwater landscapes, so both avid snorkelers and amateur divers alike will find themselves spoiled for choice on their first few days on the island.

Be sure to set around half a week aside in your Perth itinerary in order to take in all that there is to see and do on Rottnest.

If you don't want to wake up in the Perth CBD for every day of your trip that you spend on the mainland, then you'll be happy to hear that there's plenty of luxury Perth accommodation that can be found in and outside of the city centre too.

WA is by far the easiest state in Australia to get off the beaten track, as there are accommodation options along the entire length of the Western Australian coastline for one reason in particular: the Humpback Highway.

Every year between May and August and then again from September to December, WA tourists are able to witness an estimated population of 35,000 whales travel north from Antarctica to the Indian Ocean and then all the way back again as a part of their annual breeding cycle.

The populations of travelling pods are so large that whales can regularly be seen even from the shores of the mainland during their peak travel seasons.

You did read that right! You don't even need to get on a boat to see the splashes of humpback tails on the horizon!

WA's Whale Superhighway is an unmissable experience in itself, which is precisely why travellers of Perth and its surrounds will be able to take advantage of both accommodation options as well as a myriad of ethical whale touring services across the entire Western Australian coastline.

There is, however, a general consensus amongst avid whale watchers and marine biologists alike that WA's Margaret River region is the place to be to really witness the majesty of all the humpbacks, minke whales, and other whale species that make the long and arduous journey across the great Western Australian coastline every year.

Finally, while you're in WA you should absolutely set some time aside to go on a driving tour of the state's awe-inspiring Kimberley region.

Characterised by its gargantuan red canyons and cliffs alongside also being home to some of Australia's most striking waterfalls, the Kimberley region is rich with plenty for avid outdoor explorers to see and do.

Enjoy hiking deep into some of WA's most epic national parks, including Dimalurru or 'Tunnel Creek', renowned across the globe for being the site of Australia's oldest cave system.

Home to a wide selection of unique wildlife, such as bats and crocodiles and featuring some mesmerising natural features like stalactites, and chilled freshwater pools, Dimalurru is truly a land lost in time, and it doesn't take very long for many tourists to feel as though they've stepped back into the prehistoric age of Gondwanaland.

Alongside Dimalurru, a visit to the Kimberleys may also see you getting up close and personal with some of Australia's other most otherworldly formations (aside from Uluru), including Windjana Gorge in the Bandilngan (Windjana Gorge) National Park, as well as Talbot Bay's iconic Horizontal Falls, which Sir David Attenborough called 'one of the greatest natural wonders of the world'.

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As you may be thinking after perusing our top Perth attractions, seeing all that Perth and its expansive surroundings have to offer will likely take more time than you may have in your trip itinerary, and that's okay!

Don't feel the need to squeeze everything outlined above into a single trip, simply because WA is a destination that truly needs to be savoured.

Even if you spend all of your time in the Perth CBD, chances are high that you'll still be able to look back on your time in WA and consider it to have been a more than enriching holiday experience.