Indoor activities for winter in Perth

Educational experiences

Visit WA Museum Boola Bardip to explore West Aussie history, or check out the current exhibition To the Moon, which looks at how Earth’s closest celestial neighbour has entranced scientists, artists, poets and dreamers for centuries.

Next door, the State Library of WA has several free exhibitions featuring lesser-known aspects of our history. Learn about pre-colonial Aboriginal architecture or the South Asian cameleers who migrated to Australia around the turn of the 20th century.

And over at Scitech, there are educational exhibits and entertainment for all ages. Get an up-close, hands-on look at how our world works, from physics phenomena to engineering innovations and more.

All things artistic

Feast your eyes on free exhibitions at the Art Gallery of Western Australia, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts or UWA’s Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.

And while you’re at AGWA, catch the TIME.RONE exhibition, an immersive installation fresh from Melbourne. Walk among remnants of mid-century Australia pondering the nature of time.

You can also swap an evening in front of the TV for a night out at a show. WA Opera presents Rusalka, an intoxicating, tragic fairytale, at the beautiful and historic His Majesty’s Theatre later this month, while Black Swan Theatre Company’s Prima Facie is on at the Heath Ledger Theatre now.

Fun and games

Grab a group and head for old-school arcade games at one of the city’s many venues. There’s B. Lucky & Sons in Forrest Chase or Palace Arcade, Planet Royale and Timezone in Northbridge.

After something a little different? The Nostalgia Box is a video game console museum where you can play your childhood faves. And Ready Team One enables you to step into a virtual reality world. Gear up and roam their arena fighting zombies or aliens.

For more ways to indulge your competitive streak, try axe throwing at Lumber Punks or Maniax, darts at Flight Club or i Darts NIX, or ten-pin bowling at Strike.

Or collaborate to solve puzzles and tackle challenges in an escape room at Escape This or Lost in Perth. There are loads of themes with different difficulty and scariness levels to choose from depending on your team’s ages and experience.