Perth’s oldest cemetery holds the people who built the colony and the ones it tried to forget: the transported, the executed, children, Aboriginal people in unmarked graves. Some are the city’s founders. Some may be your own. Michelle, who wrote this walk with the National Trust, tells their stories at golden hour above the Swan River.
Think family is here? Search the burial records before you come.
★ 4.81,374 TripAdvisor reviews·★ 4.9on Google·Perth’s original walking tour company, since 2007·In partnership with the National Trust (WA)
Four Saturdays this October. Pick a date.
Sat 10 Oct
$59 $49 · launch price
Sat 17 Oct
$59
Sat 24 Oct
$59 · on sale soon
Sat 31 Oct
$59 · on sale soon
As the walk winds through the grounds you meet members of the Swan River Colony alongside lesser-known people who lived extraordinary lives in difficult times — tales of murder, migration, adversity and transportation to one of the most remote places on Earth.
A tranquil group of colonial cemeteries dating to the 1830s, telling the story of our city and state across their first seventy years.
The executed, children, and Aboriginal people in unmarked graves are part of the full history — shared with the reverence it deserves, never sensationalised.
The people buried here have living descendants, some walking beside you. Every story is researched history, told with respect. A single fresh flower is left on a child’s grave, nothing more theatrical than that.
The Swan River Colony buried its own at East Perth from 1829. If your roots run deep in Western Australia, some of the names may be your own.
The burial records are searchable on the East Perth Cemeteries website. Look your family up, then add the name when you book. A name is all it takes.
Every walk features one family from the burial records, told at the graveside. Some graves hold a whole life, some almost nothing.
Your route card doubles as a research trail, with names and dates to pick up your own thread long after the walk.
Search for your family in the East Perth Cemeteries burial records, the National Trust’s free online index of everyone buried here.
Michelle390+ tours led“We recently took the East Perth cemeteries tour and found it both interesting and informative. Our tour guide was well researched and professional, engaged well with the whole group and surpassed expectations. We have done a few different tours now with 2 feet & a heartbeat and would unreservedly recommend them to both visitors and locals alike”
Michelle built this tour with the National Trust of Australia (WA) and leads all four October walks. Years of research sit behind the colonial history she tells, delivered with the reverence the site asks for. The same care has earned her hundreds of five-star reviews across Perth and Fremantle.
Good to know
Four Saturdays is the whole season. Each walk runs with a minimum of four guests and caps at 25; the first walk on 10 October is a $49 launch price, then $59. If online booking for a date isn’t open yet, register your interest and we’ll email you the moment it is.
From 1,374 traveller reviews
From 202 reviews
Guiding Perth and Fremantle since 2007
$5 from every ticket supports conservation of the site
10 October launch, $49. The discount applies automatically from the Book button (weeks two to four stay $59). Code, if checkout asks:
Max 25 guests per walk · guided by Michelle · ages 16+. Private groups up to 25 can walk the cemeteries year-round on request.
The 2 hour East Perth Cemeteries Tour which I did Saturday 17th September 2022 was most interesting, with Anne as our friendly guide... Some of many highlights included visiting the graves of early WA pioneers such as Jo…
I have a strong interest in the East Perth Cemetery having taken my Year 10 students there each year over the course of the 1990s. Michele was able to 'read' the tombstones and link the lives of those buried there to his…
This two hour tour was very interesting. The guide was very informative and had an incredible memory. We walked around the cemetery listening to fascinating stories about the people who were buried there. We heard abo…
Crimes Month follows straight after — Crimes of Perth and Crimes of Fremantle across the four November Saturdays, written and guided by Vaughan Sadler.
Each walk features one family drawn from the burial records, told at the graveside. The records are searchable on the East Perth Cemeteries website, so you can look your family up before you come, then add the name when you book. Your route card doubles as a research trail to follow at home.
The cemeteries are a heritage site: paths are unpaved and uneven, and there is no artificial lighting. Flat, closed shoes are essential, and the route isn't suitable for prams or wheelchairs. The October tours run 4:00–6:00pm and finish at sunset, so the whole walk is in daylight.
Flat closed shoes, water, and a hat and sunscreen for the 4pm start — October afternoons in Perth are warm. Please note there are no toilets available at the site, and the tour is not suitable for children under 16.
No. Stories of the Past is a reverent heritage walk through colonial WA's oldest cemeteries, run in partnership with the National Trust of Australia (WA). The people buried here have living descendants — some of whom join the tour — so the stories are researched history, told with respect. No theatrics, no seances.
Cancellations less than 24 hours before travel are charged 100% of the booking as a cancellation fee. With more than 24 hours' notice you can change your tour date (subject to availability) or receive a full refund on retail tours. If Two Feet has to cancel a tour, prior payments are fully refunded (excluding third-party booking fees). Private, corporate and group bookings have their own cancellation terms to protect your exclusive experience, and gift certificates are not refundable.
Private groups of up to 25 can also walk the cemeteries year-round — see the East Perth Cemeteries tour or ask us anything.