Perfect Perth Walking Tour: Historic Streets, Sculptures and Stories

Perth is a unique Australian city that’s packed with exciting architecture, colourful characters, contemporary sculptures, and engaging local history. On this walking tour, you’ll explore the heart of its business district, hearing stories about colonial settlement, Aboriginal heritage, and the people who shaped this unique metropolis.

This tour starts at Perth Train Station on Wellington Street and past historic arcades and pedestrian malls. You’ll discover how this small city developed within tight constraints, with the Swan River to the south and east, swamp land to the north, and Kings Park to the west.

You’ll pass grand government buildings and peaceful garden retreats, and experience the diverse elements that make Perth special. The tour ends at Elizabeth Quay Train Station, where an entertaining amusement park once drew crowds with its charitable competitions.

On this hour-long tour, you’ll have a chance to:

• Discover the ’Big Green Cactus’ sculpture that cost a million dollars and divides public opinion
• Admire the Old Perth GPO’s Beaux Arts architecture, built on nine-meter Jarrah logs due to unstable soil
• See Percy Button’s bronze statue caught mid-handstand, celebrating this famous 1930s street entertainer
• Watch the ’Jousting Knights’ perform every hour at London Court’s medieval entrance
• Walk through St George’s Cathedral with its majestic vaulted ceilings and rose window
• Stand among the bronze kangaroos on St George’s Terrace next to the giant blue astronaut sculpture, which honors NASA astronaut John Glenn
• Visit Stirling Gardens, Perth’s oldest public space, where colonial botanist James Drummond worked
• Learn about Captain James Stirling’s founding ceremony for the Swan River Colony in 1829

By the end of this tour, you’ll have encountered the blend of local history, culture, and architecture that makes Perth an unforgettable destination, and a photographer’s dream come true.