So mum and dad are going to Perth for a wedding next year. They have offered to book a house and asked us if we'd like to come. My sister and family are also keen, so my niece and nephew would be going too.
Some of you might be scratching your heads going "Didn't OP just have a not-so-good holiday recently? Why is she thinking about another one?"
Well my theory is this would be different. We would learn from our, err, lessons. They were not mistakes
Anyway, tell me about Perth with kids. Good? Lots to do? Kids will be almost 5, 4.5, 3 and almost 3, plus our little one who will be 8mths or so by then.
Where would you stay? Thinking maybe Fremantle? Beach is good at Freo right? For kid swimming?
I've only been to Perth once, years ago, and can't remember much.
April it will be starting to cool down, one or two hot days maybe. Perthites wouldn"t class it as swimming weather, but Melbournites might.
Freo is a good place to stay but it can be exxy, also depending on where abouts in freo, you might have a few late night revellers around as well.
Plenty to do in Perth, it is a very family place and if you are willing to drive, there is a lot to do within about an hour or two travel time from Perth. Beware Perth works differently on Sundays. Only some tourist precints are open, otherwise everything else is shut.
Weatherwise come April is fantastic. Still warm and sunny so lovely to be outside but not so hot that you can't do stuff. DDs' birthdays are 2 and 7 May and for every one of their birthdays we've celebrated in tshirts and summer dresses.
Tons to do with the kids but our transport system is nowhere near as good as Melbourne's, and Perth is much more sprawling so hiring a car would be a must I think. Depending on how long you are here for, a couple of days or so down south Margaret River way would be fantastic - heaps for the kids to do and nice wineries, galleries etc for Mum and Dad. Otherwise we have the usual aquarium, zoo, tons of great parks, beautiful beaches.
In relation to Sunday shopping we're heading towards the 21st century and under new legislation from I think July all shops will be open from I think its 11am to 5pm so we're slowly getting there.
Agree with the others re swimming weather, but that is for us Perthites who like it nice and hot .
Things to do:
Kings Park - just beautiful, lots of different kids playgrounds and a couple of cafes, walking trails, great views - can easily spend half-full day there exploring it all.
Subiaco - Close to CBD of Perth, some great shopping - boutiques etc, lots of restaurants and cafes, on the train and bus lines, close to Kings Park, has Patterson Stadium (if you wanted to catch a game of AFL while here), easy to walk around. Train line from Subi will take you into either Perth or Freo so it is a pretty good place to stay but might be a bit exxy.
Fremantle - I am a Freo girl so am a bit biased . Markets on Fri/Sat/Sun. Lots of restaurants and cafes, a few good boutiques (Market St and South Terrace) and shops (arts/crafts etc especially walking down towards the Round House). Esplanade Park is a great big park for kids to run around and is right next to a couple of really family friendly big places for fish and chips - Ciccerellos and Kailis. Fremantle Prison is worth a tour and so is the Round House (original jail and the tour is free). The Round House is right on a small beach called Bathers Beach where kids could go for a bit of a paddle. All of these are walking distance from the train line. Has a couple of dept stores like Target and Myer. Great great pubs - I personally like The Norfolk and Little Creatures Brewery - has a sand pit and small play area for kids out the back. A 5 min car/taxi ride out of Freo is another great Pub by the river called The Left Bank - we take our kids there for meals a bit and they love it. Wakling along the same part of the river there is another cafe called Zephyrs which is located next to a playground, serves good brekkys and coffee and once again my kids regularly go for a paddle in the river here as it is nice and calm. Is a great spot to sit and watch all the million dollar boats go by.
Rottnest day tour - can be quite expensive the ferry ride but if you google rottnest island they sometimes have good ferry deals.
Mandurah - day trip, fish and chips by the water, playgrounds, lots of beautiful houses on the canals.
I don't often go north of the river so can't tell you much about that.
Perth Zoo is lovely too and you can catch a short ferry from CBD of Perth across.
Adventure World - not as great as your Gold Coast theme parks but they have recently upgraded it. It is also located right across a big lake called Bibra Lake where you can feed ducks and swans and there are a couple of good playgrounds.
Harbourtown in CBD Perth is outlet shopping.
Hmm thats all i can think of atm but feel free to PM me. I love Perth and for a nice relaxing family holiday would definitely recommend it.
April is gorgeous here. Still lots of sunny T-shirt days but none of that stupid hot weather. I love Fremantle so I'd say it is a great place to stay - for kids and the grown-ups. Or you could try somewhere more central and cosmopolitan like Subiaco or Mount Lawley - both have lots of shopping and restaurants and easy to access kid-friendly places. Depends what you like.
The hills are also beautiful - Kalamunda markets, Mundaring Weir (I love the pub there, and lots of families have Sunday lunches there so little one friendly), Rollystone National Park etc.
For the kids there is lots - the beach, the zoo, AquWA, Kings Park, just lots of outdoor places. Depending on how long you are here I'd also recommend a trip down south.
It's full of awesome people...*not biased in the least*
Personally I'd definitely recommend hiring a car as there's a lot of really cool stuff that's not available by PT. Definite favourites are Freo, Swan Valley is good (mmm, chocolate factory!) and Whiteman Park for the kiddies - has steam train rides and loads of space, plus there's Caversham Wildlife park where they can feed kangaroos and so on. A cruise down the river is a good way to spend an afternoon in April, not too hot and not too cold. If you're super lucky you might even see the river dolphins.
AQWA I would say is a bit of a gyp these days, $75 for a family and only takes about an hour or so to see everything. Hillarys Boat Harbour is lovely though, plenty of nifty shops, nice restaurants/cafes and a lovely calm sheltered beach for the kids. Water temps might be a bit lower than we like, but DD often still swims throughout April without freezing her butt off.
OP - just saw this and don't have time to write now but will do so later cause I'm in Perth! We could maybe meet up (organise some of the Perth girls) if you end coming over!
I moved here from Vic 13 years ago and LOVE it. BBL to write more
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Tell me about Perth.
. Markets on Fri/Sat/Sun. Lots of restaurants and cafes, a few good boutiques (Market St and South Terrace) and shops (arts/crafts etc especially walking down towards the Round House). Esplanade Park is a great big park for kids to run around and is right next to a couple of really family friendly big places for fish and chips - Ciccerellos and Kailis. Fremantle Prison is worth a tour and so is the Round House (original jail and the tour is free). The Round House is right on a small beach called Bathers Beach where kids could go for a bit of a paddle. All of these are walking distance from the train line. Has a couple of dept stores like Target and Myer. Great great pubs - I personally like The Norfolk and Little Creatures Brewery - has a sand pit and small play area for kids out the back. A 5 min car/taxi ride out of Freo is another great Pub by the river called The Left Bank - we take our kids there for meals a bit and they love it. Wakling along the same part of the river there is another cafe called Zephyrs which is located next to a playground, serves good brekkys and coffee and once again my kids regularly go for a paddle in the river here as it is nice and calm. Is a great spot to sit and watch all the million dollar boats go by.
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