explore small museums and
tour historic buildings
in Perth's historic heart
Perth's east end is home to many small museums and historic buildings. Take time to walk the Historic Heart, from the Old Court House Law Museum to The Perth Mint and beyond, and explore the history of our city within these intriguing spaces.
Our Small Museum Walk is available on our Historic Heart of Perth Web App - free to download via link below.
The Small Museum Walk on our App is interactive, featuring check-in points and videos. But you can also explore the museums with the help of our website. Just download our brochure with map and plan your trip - details and opening times below.
1. Museum of Perth
The Atlas Building, 8-10 The Esplanade, Perth.
Open Mon to Fri from 10am - 4pm Admission is free.
For further details visit the Museum of Perth website.
The Museum of Perth chronicles the social, cultural, political and architectural history of Perth. Their exhibition gallery serves as a meeting place of ideas and stories, a retail space, micro-cinema and a cultural hub in a part of our city that is in flux.
2. Old Courthouse Law Museum
Stirling Gardens, cnr Barrack Street & St Georges Terrace, Perth
Open Tuesday to Friday from 10am - 4pm. Admission is free.
For further details visit Old Court House Law Museum website.
The Old Court House Law Museum is housed in Perth's oldest building, constructed in 1836. One of only a few law museums in the world, the museum's objective is to promote understanding of the law, legal issues and the legal profession in Western Australia’s community and to preserve the history of the law and the legal profession in this state. The Museum’s interpretive displays, Small Court House Big Stories and People and The Law, are accompanied by an audio overview and take visitors on a journey through Western Australia’s legal history.
3. Government House
St Georges Terrace, Perth.
Tours of Government House are offered to groups every second Tuesday at 11am. Bookings are essential.
For further details visit Government House Tours
The grounds of Government House are open Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday each week from 12pm to 2pm
for lunch in the grounds. Please note that the grounds are sometimes closed for work or private functions,
so we recommend calling ahead.
For further details visit Government House Grounds
4. WA Museum at the
Perth Concert Hall
5 St Georges Terrace, Perth
Open daily from 9am - 5pm. Admission is free to see the WA Museum display. For further details visit the WA Museum website
WA Museum has partnered with the Perth Concert Hall to display a selection of objects from its collection while the new museum is under construction. The display showcases Australia’s ancient history, including an iron meteorite found in 1917, dinosaur skeletons and skeletons of extinct megafauna.
5. Perth Concert Hall ...
behind the scenes tours
5 St Georges Terrace, Perth
For further details visit the Perth Concert Hall website
In addition to current WA Museum display, Perth Concert Hall offers behind the scenes tours where they reveal the secrets of the Hall - taking tour groups backstage, upstage, down narrow passageways, past technical contraptions and into a previously concealed area that is now used as a performance space.
6. St George's Cathedral
Cathedral Square, St Georges Terrace, Perth.
Open 7.00am to 6.00pm (5.30pm in winter and 5.00pm on Saturday). Note: Christmas Day closed from 12 noon;
Good Friday closed from 4.00pm; and other Public Holidays closed from 3.00pm, except on Sundays
Admission is free. For further details phone (08) 9325 5766 or
visit the St George's Cathedral website
St George’s Cathedral, designed in gothic revival style, is one of only a few cathedrals constructed of handmade bricks. Within the Cathedral are numerous icons, beautiful stained glass windows and memorials to West Australian pioneers, community leaders and those who served in the twentieth century wars.
7. Perth Town Hall
Cnr of Hay Street and Barrack Street, Perth
The Lower and Upper Foyers are generally open to the public from 10am - 4pm Monday to Saturday. Admission is free. Please note that the Town Hall is sometimes closed for private functions, so check before your visit by calling (08) 9461 3555.
Tours of the Perth Town Hall are conducted Thursdays at 2pm. Tours last about 45 minutes departing from the City of Perth kiosk in the Murray Street Mall. Tours are free of charge but it is advisable to book by calling (08) 9461 3444.
8. YAL Museum
45 Murray Street, Perth.
Open Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am - 2pm
Admission is free. For further information visit
YAL Museum website
With a 110-year history the Young Australia League museum has a wonderful collection of photos, artefacts and momentos from trips, tours and the evolution of the YAL, with a number of unique items which can’t be seen anywhere else.
9. Department of Fire & Emergency Services
Heritage Centre
Corner of Murray and Irwin Streets, Perth.
Open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays 10am - 3pm. Admission is free. For further details visit
DFES Education website
Housed in the original Perth Central Fire Station, constructed in 1899, the museum showcases vintage fire service appliances and has an exhibition space featuring the history and stories about fire brigades, hazards and emergency responses.
Welcoming over 18, 000 visitors a year, the centre is open to the public and offers an interactive, interesting and fun experience for schools, tourists, families and community groups.
10. Royal Perth Hospital Museum
1 Colonial House, Murray Street, Perth
Open Wednesday and Thursday 9am - 2pm.
Admission with gold coin donation.
For further details visit RPH Museum website
The RPH museum takes visitors on a walk through the history of the hospital from its opening in 1855. The medical equipment of the past provides a fascinating insight into the changes constantly taking place in medicine, each object with a story to tell.
One of the most valued artefacts in the Museum is a box containing the first ever x-ray equipment in Australia. Imported from France by Dr W. J. Hancock, the Cold Cathode X-ray tubes assisted in examining patients in the hospital in the early 1900's.
11. St Mary's Cathedral
Victoria Square, Perth
Public tours at 10.30am every Tuesday (except public holidays)
Entry $5 donation. Tour tickets available at the Church Office at
25 Victoria Avenue. For further details visit the
St Mary's Cathedral website
St Mary’s cathedral was constructed in phases, with the fi rst phase completed in 1865. A major addition was made in the 1920s. By the late 1990s, the cathedral required extensive repairs and funds were raised for the completion and expansion of the church which was reopened in 2009.
12. Mercy Heritage Centre
86 Victoria Square, Perth
Public tours at 10.30am one Tuesday per month.
Admission is free. Phone (08) 9325 4155 for bookings or
visit the Mercy Heritage Centre website
Located within the Convent of Mercy built in 1871, the Mercy Heritage Centre is a space where people can share in the story of the first Mercy Foundation in Australia in 1846 and learn more about the Mercy ministries and various traditions which have developed since then.
13. The Perth Mint
Hill Street, Perth
Open daily 9am - 5pm. Phone (08) 9421 7223 or visit
The Perth Mint website for admission prices and tour times.
14. WACA Museum
WACA Ground. Entry via the Museum/Tours Gate Hale Street, near the WACA logo corner of Nelson Crescent.
Museum open Mon to Fri from 10am to 3pm (except public holidays). Admission with donation. Visit the WACA website for further details.
Ground tours available Mon to Fri at 10am and 1pm. Fees apply.
Experience the rich heritage and history of the Western Australian Cricket Association (1885) and the WACA Ground through museum displays and ground tours which exist to inspire all to enjoy and play the great game of cricket.
Photographs by Dion Robeson.
