The William Street Collective

Adjacent to the Perth Train Station on the Northbridge side, this is the hub of cultural activity in Perth. Including the Art gallery, Museum, State Library and the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) (See listings below). In addition, the amphitheatre (under the video screen screening ongoing visual confectionery) is an excellent vantage point for watching people flow between Perth's railway station and places of work and play around Northbridge. A 2-min walk from the Perth Train Station. Blue CAT Stops 7 and 15 both service the Cultural Centre, as well as Yellow 24 and Red 31.

The museum has an interesting collection of social and natural history from WA and beyond. The main building has an extensive display of marine creatures, minerals, butterflies and birds, as well as the shrivelled taxidermed bodies of mammals familiar to generations of Perth residents plus the revitalised Katta Djinoong Aboriginal history display. The Old Gaol building at the rear houses colonial artefacts, displays of life from the different periods and a couple of meteorites. Make sure to look into the creepy eye of the rare Megamouth shark whose preserved body floats in a subterranean tank next to the Old Gaol.

Rotating exhibitions of contemporary Australian, International and Indigenous art and design drawn from the state collection. Exhibitions can be a bit heavy on Indigenous art (though there are some fantastic Indigenous works represented) but you could easily fill a few hours here surveying 150 years of Australian Art.

Rotating exhibitions of local and international artists work that focuses toward the more experimental end of contemporary art.

Perth's little Chinatown, with its own Chinese gate, is a good spot for picking up Asian groceries and also the best place for late night dining in Perth. Most venues are BYO. Chinese businesses in Northbridge are not confined to Chinatown but can be found throughout Northbridge, and most visibly along William St.