Western Australian Museum

Getty Images

Western Australian Museum – Perth

Perth

LoginSave

The state's museum is a six-headed beast, with branches in Albany, Geraldton and Kalgoorlie as well as two in Fremantle. This main branch in Northbridge is closed for renovations and is due to reopen as the renamed New Museum for WA in 2020. See online for an outline of the project – it's going to be amazing. While the hub is closed, key exhibits are being displayed as pop-ups at other venues around town; see the website for details.

One of the Northbridge location's most interesting exhibits is currently on loan to the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. Set in its own preservative bath, Megamouth is a curious-looking species of shark with a soft, rounded head. Only about five of these benign creatures have ever been found; this one beached itself near Mandurah, south of Perth.

Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

  • Kings Park Bridge

    Kings Park & Botanic Garden

    1.78 MILES

    The 400-hectare, bush-filled expanse of Kings Park, smack in the city centre and enjoying epic views, is Perth's pride and joy. The Botanic Garden…

  • Fremantle Prison, Fremantle, Australia

    Fremantle Prison

    9.64 MILES

    With its forbidding 5m-high walls, the old convict-era prison dominates Fremantle. Various daytime tours explore the jail's maximum-security past, give…

  • Part of the wreck of the Batavia at the Shipwreck Galleries.

    WA Shipwrecks Museum

    10.18 MILES

    Located within an 1852 commissariat store, the Shipwrecks Museum is considered the finest display of maritime archaeology in the southern hemisphere. The…

  • Western Australian Maritime Museum

    Western Australian Museum – Maritime

    10.24 MILES

    Significant West Australian boats are suspended from the rafters of this sail-shaped museum building. There's the yacht that won the America's Cup race in…

  • Australia, Perth, Exterior

    Art Gallery of Western Australia

    0.08 MILES

    Founded in 1895, this excellent gallery houses the state's preeminent art collection as well as regular international exhibitions that, increasingly, have…

  • Core Cider

    Core Cider

    17.11 MILES

    This hidden valley in Pickering Brook has sustained apple orchards since 1939. Take a one-hour tour through the trees on a tractor-pulled carriage, a 45…

  • The Basin

    The Basin

    19.36 MILES

    The Basin is Rotto's top family swim spot – a sheltered, natural sandy-floored pool, fringed by reefs to keep the waves at bay. It's a short cycle from…

  • Shark gliding above the viewing tunnel as patrons look on, Aquarium of Western Australia (AQWA)

    Aquarium of Western Australia

    11.17 MILES

    Dividing WA's vast coastline into five distinct zones (Far North, Coral Coast, Shipwreck Coast, Perth and Great Southern), AQWA features a 98m underwater…

View more attractions

Nearby Perth attractions

1. Art Gallery of Western Australia

0.08 MILES

Founded in 1895, this excellent gallery houses the state's preeminent art collection as well as regular international exhibitions that, increasingly, have…

2. Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts

0.1 MILES

PICA (pee-kah) may look traditional – it's housed in an elegant 1896 red-brick former school – but inside it's one of Australia's principal platforms for…

6. Elizabeth Quay

0.62 MILES

A vital part of the city's urban redevelopment is Elizabeth Quay, at the bottom of Barrack St. Luxury hotels and apartments – including the Ritz – are…

7. Perth Mint

0.65 MILES

Dating from 1899, the compelling Mint displays a collection of coins, nuggets and gold bars. You can caress bullion worth over $700,000, mint your own…

8. Bell Tower

0.67 MILES

This pointy glass spire fronted by copper sails contains the royal bells of London's St Martin-in-the-Fields, the oldest of which dates from 1550. The 12…