A Little Black Book for Perth
COMO’S INSIDER RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EXPERIENCING PERTH'S BEST
Destination 5 minute read
From world-class wineries and fine dining to white-sand beaches and sleek coffee shops, COMO The Treasury is a springboard for Perth’s best culture and cuisine. Here’s our guide to the best things to see, eat and do while in Western Australia’s City of Light.
The State Buildings
The State Buildings are situated on the site where Perth was founded in 1829. Once home to various government offices including the Treasury and the General Post Office, the State Buildings are now home to COMO The Treasury as well as some of the city’s best restaurants and boutiques.
Telegram Coffee — Perth’s cult destination for artisanal brews — is among our favourites, located in the same building COMO The Treasury. Barista Luke Arnold uses locally roasted beans to brew coffee with a range of tasting notes from hazelnut to jasmine.
Another local favourite is Teassential, serving a range of unusual and hard-to-source teas from across the world. Alongside classic herbal and black teas, signature infusions include the antioxidant-rich ‘Dragon Well’ Chinese green tea, with hand-fried leaves, and Gin & Tea, a botanical — and alcohol-free — blend of juniper berry, lemon myrtle and elderflower.
Just a couple of doors down from Teassential, Sue Lewis Chocolatier is regarded as the city’s best chocolate shop, with the eponymous chef crafting handmade, ethically sourced treats blended with local, seasonal produce. Lewis, who trained under master chocolatier Paul Young, makes small batches of melt-in-the-mouth masterpieces, from truffles flavoured with saltbush caramel, to chocolates suffused with wattleseeds harvested from Australian Acacia trees.
Art Gallery of Western Australia
Western Australia’s foremost art gallery holds over 18,000 works. Along with pieces by Picasso, Barbara Hepworth and Frank Auerbach, their collection also highlights a significant number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists.
These works offers a way to connect with Western Australia’s Indigenous history, as well as its reputation as a region at the forefront of contemporary design. Landmark exhibitions for 2024 include Yhonnie Scarce’s ‘The Light of Day’, showcasing her signature glass installations. Through archival imagery and handmade glass objects, she reveals hidden stories of Australia, representing how colonisation affected First Nations people. ‘The Light of Day’ is open until 19th May.
Rottnest Island
Rottnest Island is a nature reserve 19 kilometres off the coast of Perth, renowned for its white-sand beaches, pristine waters and unusual wildlife In addition to sightings of the quokka, a small marsupial, Rottnest Island has bike paths, walking trails and colourful snorkelling. If you visit during the migration season for humpback and southern right whales (September to December), it’s also a top whale watching spot.
Bell Tower
Billed as ‘one of the largest instruments on Earth’, The Bell Tower is an extraordinary 271ft building with a glass spire housing eighteen bells. Twelve of the bells were made in the fourteenth century for London’s historic St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, donated to Australia to celebrate its bicentenary in 1988; the other six are cast from local metals.
Visitors can ascend the tower and learn about the art of bell ringing, even having a chance to sound the original bells. But perhaps the best thrill is the sweeping views from the top of the building over the serpentine Swan River and Elizabeth Quay.
Perth Concert Hall
Perth Concert Hall is regarded as having some of the best acoustics of any music venue in Australia. In addition to performances by world-famous contemporary artists and classical ensembles including the resident West Australian Symphony Orchestra, the venue also hosts comedy and lecture events.
This year’s diverse programme includes a talk with Nigella Lawson, a rendition of Handel’s Messiah, and a performance by Matteo Bocelli — son of the legendary Italian tenor — headlining his first Australian tour.
Swan Valley
There are a number of brilliant wineries around Perth, including in Margaret River, three hours’ south of the city. But for something a little closer, Swan Valley is just 30 minutes’ drive from Perth. It’s Western Australia’s oldest wine region, best known for its Chenin Blanc and Shiraz. It’s charming too, with most businesses family-run over generations. A day’s tour gives you a chance to explore the valley’s numerous wineries, restaurants, distilleries and microbreweries.
Kings Park Festival
Kings Park and Botanic Garden is a peaceful 990-acre escape from Perth’s city centre with far-reaching views over the Swan River. It’s worth a visit at any time of year, but the Kings Park Festival, running annually for the whole of September, is the real showstopper. It’s Australia’s largest wildflower exhibition, featuring hundreds of indigenous plant species and fungi. Indigenous guides bring stories and traditions to life, while musical performances, workshops and art exhibits are also scheduled throughout the month.
Let us plan your itinerary; contact COMO The Treasury now.
