Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
and closed Sundays. Another source of information and maps (plus a free book-
ing service) is
Perth Tourist Lounge,
Level 2, Carillon Arcade off 207 Murray
Street Mall (
&
08/9481 4400
), open Monday through Thursday from 9am to
5:30pm, Friday 9am to 9pm, Saturday 9am to 5pm and Sunday from noon to
5pm.
For an untouristy lowdown on the city's restaurants, cultural life, shops, bars,
nightlife, concerts, and the like, buy the excellent local glossy quarterly magazine
Scoop
(A$8.90/US$5.80; www.scoop.com.au), available in bigger newsstands.
CITY LAYOUT
The city center is 19km (12 miles) upriver from the Indian
Ocean, on the north bank of a broad reach of the Swan River.
Hay Street
and
Murray Street
are the two major thoroughfares, 1 block apart; both are bisected
by pedestrian malls between William and Barrack streets. It helps to know that
Adelaide Terrace and St. Georges Terrace appear to be one and the same street.
The name change occurs at Victoria Avenue.
MAPS
Of the many free pocket guides to Perth available at tour desks and in
hotel lobbies,
Your Guide to Perth & Fremantle
(Countrywide Publications) has
the
best street map,
because it shows one-way streets, public toilets and tele-
phones, taxi stands, post offices, police stations, and street numbers, as well as
most attractions and hotels. The
Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia
(see “Exploring the State,” at the start of this chapter) is a good source of maps
to the state, as is
Map World,
900 Hay St. (
&
08/9322 5733
). You will find
tourist maps at the Perth Visitor Centre and the Perth Tourist Lounge (see “Vis-
itor Information,” above).
NEIGHBORHOODS IN BRIEF
City Center
The central business
district (called the CBD in Aus-
tralia) is home to shops and depart-
ment stores. A good introduction to
Perth's charms is to take in the
views from the pedestrian/bike path
that skirts the river along Riverside
Drive. Within walking distance is
Kings Park & Botanic Garden.
Northbridge
Just about all of
Perth's nightclubs, and a good many
of its cool restaurants, bars, and
cafes, are in this 5-block precinct
north of the railway line, within
easy walking distance of the city
center, or take the free Blue CAT
buses. It's roughly bounded by
James, Beaufort, Aberdeen, and
Lake streets. What locals call the
Cultural Centre—which means the
Western Australian Museum, the
Art Gallery of Western Australia,
the State Library, and the Perth
Institute of Contemporary Arts—is
here, too.
Subiaco
This well-heeled suburb is
on the other side of Kings Park. Sat-
urday morning just wouldn't be the
same for Perth's see-and-be-seen
crowd without a stroll through
“Subi's” villagelike concoction of
cafes, markets, boutiques, antiques
shops, and art galleries. Most of
the action is near the intersection
of Hay Street and Rokeby (pro-
nounced
Rock
-er-bee) Road. Take
the train to Subiaco station.
Fremantle
Not only is “Freo” a
working port, it's also Perth's second
city heart, and a favorite weekend
spot to eat, shop, and sail. A 1980s
restoration of Victorian warehouses
turned Freo into a marvelous exam-
ple of a 19th-century seaport—like
San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf
without the commercial taint. Fre-
mantle is 19km (12 miles) down-
river on the mouth of the Swan.
Scarborough Beach
This is one
of
Perth's prize beaches, 12km
