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Fremantle packs a UNESCO World Heritage prison, a 19th-century market hall, working breweries and a string of beaches into a walkable city of about 30,000 people. Most of the headline sights sit within a 1.5km loop of the train station, so you can cover the core in a day, then use a second day for the coast and Rottnest Island. Here are the top things to do in Fremantle, with prices and hours, as part of our Fremantle travel guide.
Things to Do in Fremantle: Heritage and Museums
Fremantle Prison
Fremantle Prison is the city’s one UNESCO World Heritage site, built by convict labour in the 1850s and run as a working prison until 1991. Entry to the Gatehouse, which holds the Visitor Centre, Convict Depot and gallery, is free, but the interior is accessible only on a guided tour. The Convict Prison tour runs hourly from 10:00am to 5:00pm and costs A$25 for an adult, A$22 concession and A$15 for a child, while the Tunnels Tour (A$68, ages 12+) descends into the hand-dug water shafts beneath the site. Book the tunnels tour ahead, it sells out in summer.
Round House
The Round House is the oldest surviving public building in Western Australia, finished in 1831 as a jail and later used as a signal station. It is free to enter (a gold coin donation is welcomed) and open daily 10:30am to 3:30pm. The 1:00pm time ball and cannon firing still happens every day, a tradition that ran from 1900 to help ships set their chronometers.
WA Maritime Museum
On Victoria Quay, the WA Maritime Museum holds the America’s Cup winning yacht Australia II, the Oberon-class submarine HMAS Ovens, and timber recovered from the 1629 Batavia wreck. Adult entry is around A$15 and it is open daily 9:30am to 5:00pm. The submarine is a separate guided tour and well worth the extra fee if you have an hour.
Fremantle Arts Centre
The Fremantle Arts Centre occupies a Gothic 1860s building that was once a lunatic asylum, set in garden grounds on Ord Street. Exhibitions are free and open daily 10:00am to 5:00pm, and the centre runs free live music in the courtyard on Sunday afternoons from October to March. The on-site cafe is a quiet spot away from the market crowds.
Things to Do in Fremantle: Markets and Food
Fremantle Markets
The Fremantle Markets have traded in their 1897 Victorian hall on the corner of South Terrace and Henderson Street since the gold rush. They open Friday, Saturday, Sunday and public-holiday Mondays, with The Yard from 8:00am and The Hall from 9:00am, closing at 6:00pm. Expect about 150 stalls of fresh produce, food, crafts and buskers. Go Friday for fewer crowds or Sunday for the fullest atmosphere.
Cappuccino Strip
South Terrace, known locally as the Cappuccino Strip, is a run of pavement cafes that has anchored Fremantle since Italian migrants opened espresso bars here in the 1950s. It is the natural coffee stop between the markets and the Round House. A flat white runs about A$5.50 and the strip is busiest on weekend mornings.
Fishing Boat Harbour
Fishing Boat Harbour is the working marina where the fishing fleet unloads, ringed by seafood restaurants. Cicerello’s and Kailis have served fish and chips on the water here for decades, and Little Creatures Brewery occupies a converted boatshed with its taproom on the dock. A fish and chips lunch runs about A$25 to A$35, and the brewery is open from 11:00am daily.
Things to Do in Fremantle: Beaches and Day Trips
Bathers Beach and South Beach
Bathers Beach is the small city beach directly below the Round House, calm and shallow, good for a quick dip between sights. South Beach, a 15-minute walk south, is the longer stretch with a cafe, lawn and a summer sunset market on Saturday evenings. Both are free and patrolled by surf lifesavers on summer weekends, and the sea sits at 21 to 23°C (70 to 73°F) from December to April, as the Fremantle weather by month breakdown details.
Rottnest Island Day Trip
Rottnest Island (Wadjemup) is a 30-minute ferry ride from B Shed at Victoria Quay and the reason many people base themselves in Fremantle. Rottnest Express charges about A$88 for an adult same-day return including the A$21.50 island admission fee. The car-free island is best explored by rental bike, and its quokkas have made it a global social media draw. Book the ferry at least a few days out in summer.
The Fremantle Doctor and Port Beach
For the classic Fremantle afternoon, catch the sea breeze on Port Beach or Leighton Beach north of the river mouth, where kite surfers and windsurfers take over once the Fremantle Doctor arrives around 2:00pm in summer. These are less crowded than the city beaches and back onto the dune trail that runs north toward Cottesloe. The best months for all of this are covered in our best time to visit Fremantle guide.
Once you have your sightseeing list, the Fremantle events and festivals guide shows what might be on during your dates, and the where to stay in Fremantle guide covers the best areas to sleep.
To plan your arrival, see our Fremantle travel tips for the airport transfer, and the Fremantle neighbourhoods guide for a look at each district.
