Perth, Australia : 9 tips to visit Perth on a budget
Wednesday, January 11, 2017
Budget is actually one of the main things to plan when you go for a trip. I'm always a cheapskate when it comes to travel. I'm not really a backpacker, but I do travel on a shoestring budget. Below are 9 tips on how to minimise your spending when you visit Perth.
1. Plan your itinerary
Having an itinerary is one of the most crucial things for those who are visiting in limited time and have a tight budget. Take time to plan your itinerary.
For those who just learned to travel on your own without following any travel agency, you can refer to other people's itinerary and from it, you can arrange which attractions to visit on which day.
2. Public transport vs Car rental
My visit to Perth was with my parent. I cannot imagine having my mother carry her luggage onto the bus or trains. As most of the points of attraction we would like to visit are not within walking distance from bus stations and in my opinion, it's cheaper to drive rather than to hail a cab/taxi. So hiring a car from and to the airport was our best option. Below is the list of some of the car rental companies as promised.
It is also wise to visit Vroom Vroom Vroom to compare the best car rental deals from several companies.
The best deal I got was from the Ace Car Rental which was only AUD220.01 with unlimited miles. I heard from other people, Bayswater also offers good deals for their cars.
What are the things you should know before you hire a car in Australia? I'll do a different post for that.
3. Skip expensive tour
Travelling on a shoestring budget doesn't mean you experience less than other people. However there are certain activities that can be skipped to save your money such AUD 28 for 1 hour-Mandurah Dolphin Cruise and AUD20-60 for Fremantle Prison Tour Packages. It's not because those tours are not interesting but in my regret, I paid too much to see a dolphin for less than a minute!
4. Check out for promotions, coupons,discounts and offers.
Some tourist attractions offer discounted entrance fees on certain days. You can opt to visit the points of attraction on the day they offer cheaper tickets such as the Mandurah Cruises offers discounted tour for only AUD25 on Tuesday and I find that the entrance fees for Araluen Botanic Park are slightly higher during Tulip Festival. We paid AUD12 per pax when we visited it in August 2015 while now the entrance fee stated on their website is only AUD6 per adult. They also offer special price on Tuesday.
5. Shopping at Watertown Outlet
Shopping for anything other than souvenirs shouldn't be on any backpacker's list, evah. But one cannot have too many shirts right? Watertown Outlet is actually a good place to shop. Cotton On, Rip Curl and Fossil are among the stores that sell their products at much cheaper price than their outlets in Malaysia.
6. Cook
It's pretty simple, aite? I didn't cook actually but more of heating our MREs that we brought from Malaysia. I had nasi lemak in Perth yeay. I remember we also bought eggs and cook them in the microwave. Food in Perth is not very expensive, to be honest. But we just felt that we could save up a lot more if we cook our own meals. For this trip, I allocated around AUD10 for each person per day, just for food, errr more specifically just for lunch. We had our breakfasts and dinners at the hotel.
However before you fly in all the food stocks with you, it is advisable to check whether it's permissible or not since Australian customs are quite strict. Make sure to declare every item you bring with you.
7. Parking fees
One of the disadvantages of driving on our own is that I tend to worry about parking fees. The rate of the parking fees in Perth is quite high, in my opinion. Parking fees around CBD area could cost you about AUD 4.40 per hour. Parking area in the building is around AUD10-14 per hour. There's a free parking zone at the most of the places I visited except for the city. In the city, free parkings are available from 6pm until 8am. However most of the shops will be closed at 5pm.
8. Fill up at the cheapest petrol station
Petrol price in Australia changes daily, if I'm not mistaken (or weekly) in accordance to the international market. The petrol price will be higher the further you are from the city. The prices may also vary depending on the companies. Different companies, different price. My advice: check the price signs and compare. Most of the times we fill up our tank with Unleaded 91 at Caltex.
9. Halal Food and Restaurant
There are so many halal food in Australia. Visit Halal Square and Zabihah to find out more about halal restaurants or restaurants with halal certificate. Most of the chocolate brands are halal and pork free. There are halal brands like Maggi, Harvest Fresh Milk, Sun Rice, Ayam Brand products available at Woolworths Mart. Fresh fruits and veggies also wouldn't cost you much.
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