This guide covers seven places in central Perth, from the Swan River to the east end of the city: the Spanda sculpture at Elizabeth Quay, the Talbot Hobbs Memorial, St George's Cathedral, Perth Town Hall, St Mary's Cathedral, the Perth Mint and Queen's Gardens. They sit along one easy line through the city centre, and together they tell the story of Perth from a convict-era colony to a modern city on the water.
Spanda
Spanda is the tall white abstract sculpture at the centre of the north shore of Elizabeth Quay, the waterfront precinct that opened in 2016. Made by the artist Christian de Vietri and commissioned by the state's redevelopment authority, it rises about 29 metres above the promenade. Its curved forms change as you move, so walk all the way round it and look at it again from the Elizabeth Quay Bridge.
Talbot Hobbs Memorial
Sir Talbot Hobbs, born in London in 1864, arrived in Western Australia in 1886 and became one of Perth's leading architects, designing among other things the Weld Club and the State War Memorial in Kings Park. In the First World War he fought at Gallipoli and on the Western Front and went on to command the Australian Corps. He died at sea in 1938 while sailing to France for the unveiling of the Australian memorial at Villers-Bretonneux.
His memorial, a block of Donnybrook stone topped by a bronze bust, was built just before the Second World War on the Esplanade, and for decades it was the saluting point for Anzac Day parades; Queen Elizabeth II took the salute there during her 1954 visit. In 2014 it was moved to the Supreme Court Gardens to make room for Elizabeth Quay, where you will find it today.
St George's Cathedral
Perth's Anglican cathedral was built between 1879 and 1888 to a design by the Sydney architect Edmund Blacket, in a Gothic Revival style. It is made of local brick, with limestone from Rottnest Island and Western Australian jarrah wood inside. It stands on St Georges Terrace at the corner of Cathedral Avenue, a short walk from the Supreme Court Gardens.
The bell tower links it to the previous stop: it was paid for by a public appeal after Queen Victoria's death in 1901 and designed by Talbot Hobbs. The 1968 Meckering earthquake damaged it, the bells fell silent in 1973 when bricks came loose, and the peal was recast in 1975.
- Inside, look up at the timber hammerbeam roof and turn round to see the rose window at the west end.
Perth Town Hall
Perth Town Hall, on the corner of Hay Street and Barrack Street, was built between 1867 and 1870 by convicts and free men, and it is often described as the only town hall in Australia built with convict labour. Designed by Richard Roach Jewell and James Manning in a Victorian Gothic style, it was restored in the late 1990s and is still owned and used by the City of Perth. Many of its bricks came from the clay pits where Queen's Gardens is today, the last place in this guide.
- Look at the windows: some are shaped like the broad arrow, the mark stamped on convict property in the colonies.
- Look also for the ornaments said to represent a hangman's rope, another nod to the men who built the hall.
St Mary's Cathedral
St Mary's Catholic Cathedral stands in the middle of Victoria Square, at the top of Victoria Avenue. It grew in three stages: a first church opened in 1865, a larger Gothic building by Michael Cavanagh was begun in 1926 and opened in 1930, but the Great Depression left it unfinished, with the old church serving as its nave.
The cathedral was finally completed by the architect Peter Quinn, whose works ran from 2006 to 2009. They replaced the old nave with a new curved extension, added a second spire and reopened the cathedral in December 2009. Old and new parts are easy to tell apart from the square outside.
- Inside, look for the sanctuary mosaics based on designs from the Book of Kells and the stained glass by John Hardman of Birmingham.
The Perth Mint
The Perth Mint on Hay Street opened on 20 June 1899, two years before the Australian colonies federated, and its original limestone building still stands, with a modern manufacturing plant added beside it in 2003. In 2011 it produced what was recognised as the world's largest and heaviest gold coin: about 80 centimetres across, 12 centimetres thick and made of just over a tonne of pure gold, with a face value of one million Australian dollars.
- The original 1899 limestone building, listed on the Western Australian heritage register since 2000.
Queen's Gardens
Queen's Gardens, at the eastern end of the city centre, began life as a clay pit and brickworks: bricks were made here from 1860 to 1890 and went into buildings such as Perth Town Hall. After public protests the pits were partly filled to form ponds, the park opened in 1898 and was named Queen's Gardens in 1899. Today it is a quiet, green spot with small bridges and ponds, and a favourite place for wedding photos.
- The Peter Pan statue, a copy of the one in Kensington Gardens in London, made by its original sculptor George Frampton and given to the city by the Rotary Club in 1929.
- A bench copied from the one in the 1999 film Notting Hill, donated by a local resident. It is the last stop of our scavenger hunt.
How to see them in one walk
Start at Elizabeth Quay with Spanda and walk up into the Supreme Court Gardens for the Talbot Hobbs Memorial. Cross to St Georges Terrace for St George's Cathedral, then go up Barrack Street to Perth Town Hall. Continue east along Hay Street, or detour north to Victoria Square for St Mary's Cathedral, then carry on to the Perth Mint and finish in Queen's Gardens, by the Peter Pan statue and the Notting Hill bench.
See Perth with World City Trail
Our Perth scavenger hunt turns the city centre into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops, from Spanda to the Notting Hill bench in Queen's Gardens, and all seven places in this guide are stops, along with the Bell Tower and the Royal Perth Hospital Museum. At each stop you solve a puzzle and learn a story, at your own pace.
There is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Perth, for people who prefer a different format.
Play the Perth scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Perth →
Play the outdoor escape game in Perth →
Facts checked in October 2026.