Taking in beautiful coastal scenery, this drive can just about be accomplished in a day - or you might want to stay overnight to fully appreciate the area.

Leave Perth via the Stirling Highway, then follow Cockburn Road and Patterson Road to Rockingham.

Make a brief stop at Rockingham, an attractive seaside resort offering excellent beaches and the chance to see fairy penguins at Penguin Island.

Continue south on the Mandurah Road.

Located on the coast at the mouth of idyllic Peel Inlet, Mandurah is the perfect spot for swimming, fishing and boating. There is a wildlife park, a miniature village, and swimming with dolphins in summer.

Continue south on the Old Coast Road.

Yalgorup National Park offers a peaceful environment of swamps, lakes, dunes and woodland. Birdwatchers should look out for some of the 100 or so species of waterbird that frequent the area.

Continue south.

The popular seaside resort of Bunbury has good beaches and a harbour, and you might well see dolphins at Koombana Beach, where the Dolphin Discovery Centre is located. You can drive further south to see the tall 400-year-old trees of the Tuart Forest National Park. If you wish to stay in the area overnight, continue to Busselton and Margaret River.

Head back towards Perth on the fast South Western Highway.

Returning to Perth, stop at the historic town of Armadale (History House Museum), 30km from the city, the Araluen Botanic Park at Roleystone, and Cohunu Koala Park at Gosnells.

Continue on to Perth.