Perth in 3 Days on a Budget (With Daily Costs)
Three days: the 2-day core plus Scarborough and the river ferry
Three days extends the 2-day plan with a second beach and the cheapest scenic boat ride in the city, the standard Transperth ferry across the Swan River. Same free Transit Zone core, same two $15 paid sights, one more day of options. Need less time or more? See the 2-day version to cut a day, or the 4-day and 5-day plans to add one.
Book these before you go
- Check Perth CBD or Northbridge hotel rates on Booking.com , inside the Free Transit Zone if you can.
- Browse Perth city tours on GetYourGuide if you’d rather have a guide for day one.
- Check Swan River cruise options on Viator as an alternative to the $3.50 Transperth ferry.
| Day | Focus | Getting there | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Free Transit Zone, Elizabeth Quay, Bell Tower, WA Museum | Airport Line + free CAT bus | about $18 + $15 (Bell Tower + Museum) |
| Day 2 | Kings Park, Cottesloe Beach sunset | Free CAT + bus to the coast | Free |
| Day 3 | Scarborough Beach, Swan River ferry, South Perth foreshore | Bus to Scarborough, Transperth ferry back | $3.50 cash / $2.80 Autoload SmartRider |
Day 1: Free transit, Elizabeth Quay and the Bell Tower
Land, then don’t spend a cent getting into the city: the Airport Line reaches Perth Station in about 18 minutes, and the moment you step off, you’re inside the CBD Free Transit Zone, where every train between City West and Claisebrook and every bus within the City of Perth boundary costs nothing. Walk or free-CAT-bus to Elizabeth Quay, the redeveloped Swan River waterfront, and spend an hour just wandering the promenade before climbing the Bell Tower (about $18 adult; concessions and family cheaper; 10am-4pm daily, last entry 3:45pm) for the best free-to-paid ratio view in the city. From there it’s a short walk or free Blue CAT ride to the Perth Cultural Centre in Northbridge, where the WA Museum Boola Bardip ($15 adult / $10 concession, free under 15) and the Art Gallery of Western Australia (free, Wed-Mon) sit across the same plaza. Have dinner in Northbridge, where the small-bar scene born out of WA’s 2006-07 liquor reform means a laneway bar and a cheap noodle place are usually next door to each other.
Day 2: Kings Park, free all day, then Cottesloe at sunset
Kings Park and Botanic Garden costs nothing to enter and never closes: 400 hectares of bushland and manicured garden on Mount Eliza, about 60 hectares bigger than New York’s Central Park, with the Lotterywest Federation Walkway treetop walk, the State War Memorial and 3,000-plus native WA plant species in the Botanic Garden section. Free guided walks leave daily from Aspects of Kings Park; budget at least half a day, more if the wildflowers are out (roughly September-November). In the evening, take a bus or short taxi to Cottesloe Beach, Perth’s calmer, more family-oriented swimming beach, lined with Norfolk pines and best known locally for the sunset crowd outside the Indiana Tea House. Swim between the flags; rips exist even on a calm-looking day.
Day 3: Scarborough Beach and the Swan River ferry
Scarborough Beach, about 12km northwest of the CBD, is Perth’s livelier surf-and-kitesurf beach, with a redeveloped foreshore of bars and restaurants that skews younger and busier than Cottesloe. Spend the morning here, then head back toward the city for the cheapest scenic boat ride in Perth: the regular Transperth ferry (Go Anywhere Fare, $3.50 cash or $2.80 with an Autoload SmartRider) crossing the Swan River between Elizabeth Quay and South Perth, near Perth Zoo. The South Perth foreshore path has the single best skyline-over-water photo angle in the city, for the price of a bus fare rather than a paid river cruise. Perth Zoo itself runs a reported $33-39 adult, verify before you go; on a tight budget, the free foreshore walk and the ferry crossing cover the same river view for a fraction of the cost.
How much does this itinerary cost per day?
Day 1 is the most expensive at about $33 in ticket costs (Bell Tower plus WA Museum), day 2 is free beyond a single Transperth fare to reach the beach, and day 3 adds only the $3.50 ferry crossing. Across three days, fixed attraction costs total around $34-38 on top of transit and food.
Is Scarborough or Cottesloe the better beach for a short trip?
Neither replaces the other. Cottesloe, covered on day 2, is calmer and better for a relaxed sunset; Scarborough, on day 3, is livelier with a proper surf-and-bar foreshore. On a 2-day trip pick Cottesloe only; three days is enough to see why locals rate them differently rather than interchangeably.
Book the free days around the paid ones, not the other way around: Kings Park and the beaches work in any weather, so let day 1’s ticketed sights anchor the only fixed appointments on the trip.