You might already be familiar with Fremantle or ‘Freo’ or as it is informally known in Australia? Maybe because of its history as a British penal colony, or because it’s a major Australian port? But did you also know that it’s a cool and vibrant city with wonderful architecture and great places to eat? It’s close enough to visit on a day trip from Perth central, or you could stay in Fremantle to discover more about hip and historical city. Here are some tried and tested ideas about how to enjoy a 3 day stay in Freo.
Table of Contents
Day 1 – Learn about the Indigenous and Convict History
Settle in with a morning walking tour of Fremantle
I like to get my bearings in a new place by taking a walking tour with locals which immediately immerses you in your new location and gives you some history to put your stay in context.
There are lots of walking tour options in Fremantle, however I would recommend the following tour, Fremantle – Convicts, Culture and Street Art, which we booked on Get Your Guide.
Whilst you are exploring the city on a walking tour of Fremantle, admire the stunning Victorian heritage buildings with painted iron balconies providing shade on the pavements below, many of which were built in the gold rush boom years.
On the way you’ll also see plenty of street art decorating the city, including murals from the series entitled ‘We are all Aussies’.
Order a fish and chip lunch at Kailis Fishmarket Cafe
After a couple of hours on your feet on the walking tour you might be ready to pick up a casual lunch of fish and chips from the Kailis Fishmarket Cafe overlooking the harbour. Kailis Fishmarket offers great options whereby you can select from a large range of fish before choosing how it is cooked – fried, grilled, BBQ. There is indoor seating or an outdoor patio overlooking the boats.
Don’t leave the harbour without spotting the statue of Bon Scott, the rock singer from AC/DC who was born in Scotland but moved to Australia when he was aged 6. His statue is next to the ‘I love Freo’ sculpture on the boardwalk.
Take a quick tour of the Round House, Fremantle
After lunch, walk 6 minutes to the Round House, Fremantle, for a quick tour (given by volunteers) of the oldest surviving public building in Western Australia. It was built as a gaol in 1830 but was quickly found to be too small, particularly with the arrival of convict boats from overseas, and so a larger gaol had to be built.
It was later used as a police lock-up, and then as a home for the Water Police Constable. Seeing the Round House before visiting Fremantle Prison, helps you learn about the convict history in chronological order. Listen out for the canon being fired, weather permitting, each day at 1.00pm.
Join the evening Torchlight Tour of Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison offers several different options for tours, but I recommend the Torchlight Tour in the evening which was lots of fun. The Torchlight Tours run every 15 minutes between 7.00pm and 9.30pm, and last for 1.5 hours. So, you can either book an earlier tour and go for dinner afterwards, or have dinner first and take a later tour.
Around 10,000 convicts were transported from Great Britain and Ireland to Australia, with the first convict ship arriving on 2 June 1850 from the UK. However, it had been blown off course from its intended destination and so arrived as a surprise in Fremantle. As the Round House gaol was full, the 75 convicts on board had to be left on the ship until a temporary prison was built on the site of Fremantle Prison, which they built themselves.
For the evening Torchlight Tour of Fremantle Prison, we were given small torches and led into the prison grounds before moving through the prison blocks, from the original blocks to the more modern ones. There were some intended surprises along the way, which made the tour fun as well as informative – I’ll leave them as surprises in case you take the tour.
Some of the stories, about floggings and gallows, were gory but then that’s expected for a tour of a prison. Overall, I wouldn’t say the tour was particularly scary, however it is not recommended for the Under 10s. On a brighter note, some of the prisoners had painted their cells with colourful pictures which looked great, although I am sure it was still grim for them.
Eat at the Emily Taylor Restaurant at Warders Hotel
Our meal at the Emily Taylor Restaurant was the favourite meal of our road trip from Perth, Western Australia. The restaurant is in the Warders Hotel, built by convicts in 1852 to offer lodgings for the senior staff of the prison. Emily Taylor was the name of one of the ships who brought immigrants to Western Australia.
The style of food is Asian fusion with sharing plates, and we enjoyed choices such as sweetcorn ribs with Thai green curry drizzle, bao bins, pork and beef wantons, scallop, and prawn dumplings. Everything was delicious and highly recommended.
Day 2 – Shop and learn about Freo’s maritime history
Go early to the Fremantle Markets
The Fremantle Markets are hosted in large market halls built in 1897. They are usually open on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 8.00am until 6.00pm but this can vary on public holidays so check on-line before setting off. Try to schedule your trip to Freo on a market day so that you can see what’s on offer.
The area outside the Fremantle Markets is usually very busy on market days with crowds being entertained by street performers. I would advise visiting the Fremantle Markets early before the crowds built up as it does get very congested which can spoil your enjoyment and prevent you seeing everything on offer including – a food hall, boho clothes, jewellery, gifts and souvenirs and eateries.
After your time in the Fremantle Markets, wander towards the Victoria Quay but take your time to enjoy the sights and shopping opportunities along the way. We found a lovely bookshop where you could buy ‘blind date’ books wrapped up in brown paper, so you make your purchase based on the description on the front. There were good clothes and souvenir shops if you are in the buying mood.
Grab a casual lunch at Gage Roads Freo Brewery
Once at Victoria Quay, head to the Gage Roads Freo Brewery for a casual lunch, ideally on their outdoor terrace so that you can watch the ferries leaving the port and heading off to Rottnest Island. Whilst sitting outside, enjoy the ‘Freo doctor’, a light breeze keeping the town cooler that in the city of Perth. The branding of the brewery products is colourful and fun so you might decide to pick up some merchandise from their shop – from ‘tinny coolers’ to ‘budgie smugglers’.
Visit the Fremantle Maritime Museum
As Fremantle has such a close relationship with the ocean, then it felt important to visit the Fremantle Maritime Museum and explore its exhibits which included: HMS Ovens (a submarine from the Cold War era), aboriginal fishing boats, displays about the pearling industry in Broome, and America II, the yacht which won the America’s Cup in 1983. My husband took the tour of the submarine whilst I sat and watched the boats sail by outside the museum.
As we walked back towards town from the Fremantle Maritime Museum, we noted links everywhere to the shipping industry, such as, the old-fashioned P&O Hotel, Mediterranean Shipping Building and the more modern Fremantle Ports building.
Enjoy roof top drinks at the National Hotel
We found the roof top bar at the National Hotel by accident but were glad that we ventured upstairs in the lift. The National Hotel offers roof-top terrace with comfy sofas, umbrellas for shade and views over the streets of downtown Fremantle, offering a lovely for a post sightseeing, or pre-dinner drink.
Book Vin Populi for your evening meal
Vin Populi was recommended by our AirBnB owner and was a big hit. It is a modern Italian restaurant with a cosy neighbourhood feel to it. The menu was chalked on the board in the dining room with a good range of options – fish, meat, and vegetarian – and the pasta courses were fantastic. My Spaghetti al Vongole was perfect. An excellent recommendation.
Day 3 – Take the ferry to Rottnest Island for a holiday highlight!
You can either visit Rottnest Island for the day, or book in to stay over if you prefer. We visited Rottnest Island as a day trip from Fremantle which I have written about in a separate blog.
Watch the sunset at Bathers Beach House Restaurant
After a day of cycling on Rottnest Island you will likely be very tired and very hungry, so when you get off the ferry at Victoria Quay in Fremantle, head to Bathers Beach House Restaurant for dinner.
The Bathers Beach House restaurant is perfectly positioned to enjoy amazing sunsets and so try to book, or grab, a table in time to watch the sun go down. Say hello to the statue of Bella outside the restaurant, who sits in her swimwear on a bench.
So, as the sun goes down on your time in Fremantle, we hope you have enjoyed your time here as much as well did on our road trip from Perth. I would be happy to return in a heartbeat!
Thank you so much for reading my blog, I hope you found it useful?
For more stories, itineraries, and advice, check out my Related Posts and sign up to receive my blogs by email.
If you have a blog-related question, please do ask in the Comments box and I’ll try to help…
Request please – if you use my photos, then please credit Love Travel Planning on your social media or give me a shout out on Instagram @lovetravelplanning as I am growing my website. Huge thanks.
Enjoy your travels!
Subscribe to my monthly newsletter!
Stay up to date with my travel stories, advice and planning tips.
Leave a reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.