We are planning a trip to WA in February. What are the best areas to see. We are seniors and like to relax and soak up the culture. We have done extensive travel on the East Coast of Aust. Is it better to go North or South along the coast.? Is it worth the trip to Kalgoorlie ?

WA is a fantastic part of Australia to see but there are two caveats: firstly, it is seriously hot in WA in February, except for the extreme south (Albany, Denmark). It will be over 30 degrees every day. If you head up north of Perth expect high 30s to 40s every day. Secondly, everything in WA is a long way apart. Be prepared to travel big distances if you want to see a lot.

Having said that, here are a few recommendations: Around Perth, visit Kings Park, Fremantle, Scarborough Beach, Hilarys Marina, Subiaco. If you like wine, take a trip down to Margaret River (allow 2 or 3 days). I've spent a bit of time at Kalgoorlie and I reckon it's a really interesting place but it's a bit of a wild west town. Lots to see and do, mostly centred around the gold mining history of the town. I highly recommend a trip down one of the old mine shafts and going to a game of two-up if you get the chance. You can catch the train from Perth to Kalgoorlie, stay a day or two, then train it back to Perth.

If you like driving long distances and have a week or two to spare, you could think about driving from Perth to Kalgoorlie, then south to Esperance, then west to Albany then back up to Perth. It's a long trip and it will be bloody hot but you'll see a lot of the best of WA. Esperance has my favourite beach anywhere in the world - Twilight Cove. The Karri and Jarrah forests in the south-west are also spectacular and Albany is a lovely little town, with a couple of surprisingly good restaurants.

I can't recommend heading north of Perth at that time of year, it's just too hot. Most of WA north of Perth is red dirt and you'll see plenty of that if you go to Kalgoorlie.

Have a great trip, Pumblechook

Totally agree with Pumblechook, but jsut to emphasise trip to Esperance is long. My favourite town is Albany - greeat scenery. Mandurah is probably a bit more like a suburb now, but is an easy day trip and do down to Dawesville - along the estuary. New Norcia is a reasonable day trip not too far north for interesting architecture and some beautiful Italian paintings in the local church Benedictine (?) brothers school and monastery. I never thought much of Scarborough when I lived in Perth - much prefer Cottesloe where I was brought up. For prettiest suburb, go along to Peppermint Grove on opposite side of railway from Cottesloe, and stroll by the river there. Fremantle has far more character than Perth itself.

Thank you very very much,, Pumblechook and Travelnick !!
I was unsure about going North ( the travel agents do not mention how hot it is there) So now we have decided to stick to the South. Is there any nice small hotel in Mandurah or Bunbury that we could use as a base for 3-4 days and then move on to Albany and Esperance. We have two weeks. Still thinking about Kalgoorlie ( the train sounds good). Do we have enough time for all this ( spending 3 days in Perth) Your advice is much appreciated.

Mandurah is only about 1 hour south of Perth, so I wouldn't base myself there - you might just as well stay in Fremantle. Bunbury is a better option as a base for exploring the south west but I really have to emphasise that the distances involved in touring the south west probably make the idea of having a "base" impractical. A good trip for you might be to head down to Albany via the coastal highway, overnighting at Bunbury, Busselton or Australind along the way, then coming back a different way, perhaps with a stop at Margaret River.

While Esperance is one of my favourite spots in WA, I wouldn't recommend driving there from Albany unless you were going to do the loop I suggested in my previous post. To drive to Esperance and back from Albany would be pretty dull and a waste of your valuable holiday time.

I think 2 weeks is probably not quite long enough to do my Perth-Kal-Esperance-Albany-Perth loop unless you really like driving. You could do something like this:
Day 1-3: Perth and Fremantle
Day 4: Drive/train to Kalgoorlie
Day 5: Kalgoorlie
Day 6: Return to Perth
Day 7-12: Loop of south west, taking in Bunbury, Margaret River, Albany, karri forests and whatever else takes your fancy.
Day 13: Return to Perth

I can't really help with hotels, it's been a long time since I've been over there. Most of rural Australia is serviced by chains like Best Western (http://www.bestwestern.com.au/home/index.html) and Flag Inns (http://www4.choicehotels.com/ires/en...uM.2ne9A548W.4)
These are generally 3-4 star properties of a very reliable standard and not too expensive.

Hope this helps.

Another suggestion would be a few days at Rottnest, a small island just off the coast from Perth. It is usually a few degrees cooler over there, which does make a difference. The Lodge seems to be the favourite place to stay for non locals.

I would second going south, towards Albany. Visit the coastal towns on the way down. We had fine times in Pemberton and Margaret River. Another favourite spot was Eagle Bay near Dunsbourgh. Check out Bunbury for a chance at the dolphins.

Albany has quite a bit to do. We really enjoyed the whaling station and the Natural Bridge. The old jail was interesting too. Mt Barker is good for wines. We also did a tree top walk, can't remeber where but not too far from Albany.

The drives were long, but not when compared to where we come from (Montana) and the different scenery made up for it. Perth to Albany was about 4-5 hours on the inland route, longer by the coastal route.

Have a great time.
Bill

My wife and I have visited Australia in November,1999 and again in October-November, 2000. We visited Sydney, GBR, Alice Springs, Uluru, Melbourne and Tasmania. Loved every minute of it.

The postings listed here have convinced us to go for trip #3, Western Australia.
Thank you all for your wonderful input.
John

I second that ! You are all so kind and I just can't wait to get back to OZ.

Try staying a few days at Bussellton. Most of the good resorts are around 6 klms. out of town, this is not a problem....the beaches are magnificant & go for miles. Abbey Beach Resort is great. Hire a bike & take in the bike track along the water.Take day trips to Margaret River wine area...we felt this was way way too overrated. You can do a trip to Augusta as well.
Yes go to Kalgoorlie. Rottnest Island is a must do & stay if possible. Scarborough Beach is also worth staying at if you are into swimming, enjoy

ttt for jd51

Two good day trips from Perth that we can recommend - New Norcia (old Benedictine monastries and churches) and York (little old town with very good small car museum in main street). Both places are about 1 hours drive from Perth.