One of Australia’s best-known country towns, Alice Springs was named after a telegraph official’s wife. It is a town of 25,000 beside the dry Todd River, home of the famous Henley-on-Todd Regatta, held every August.
Today, Alice Springs/Mparntwe is a place of contrasts. Hip, even hipster, cafes are dotted throughout its centre, while looming large over the township is the majestic MacDonnell Ranges – one of the most peaceful, awe-inspiring and gentle landscapes our country has to offer.
The town also draws a crowd due to its proximity to Uluru. It is, in fact, a 4.5-hour drive. But as far as 4.5-hour drives go, it’s a fairly quick and easy run due south along the Stuart and west along the Lasseter highways (all-sealed). You can even find several tours that take you to Uluru and return you to Alice in a day. Just make sure you stay long enough to enjoy the hidden gems of this unique outback town.
You can fly to Alice Springs from all Australian capital cities – it’s around a three-hour flight from the east coast and around two hours from Darwin. You can also fly direct to Uluru (Ayers Rock) in around 45 minutes.
Alternatively, take a journey with an all-inclusive rail holiday upon The Ghan from Adelaide or Darwin to Alice Springs. Great Southern Railways operates the Ghan from Adelaide north to Alice Springs, then on to Darwin twice a week; return services from Darwin to Adelaide are also twice a week.
Alice Springs is more or less (give or take a few hundred kilometres) halfway along The Explorer’s Way, an epic trans-continental road trip from Adelaide to Darwin. For most of its 3000 or so kilometres, it follows the footsteps of John McDouall Stuart, who explored the land in preparation for the Overland Telegraph in 1862.
The sealed route in its entirety runs sea to sea, from Adelaide north to Darwin, and if you want to drive the whole thing – allowing a few stops to explore along the way – you’ll need at least two weeks.
Alice Springs is 1540km north of Adelaide and 1513km south of Darwin on the Stuart Highway.
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Float over the Red Centre as the first morning light illuminates the rugged MacDonnell Ranges on a hot-air ballooning adventure. Keep an eye out for native wildlife and gain an appreciation of the outback’s remoteness as the balloon glides over this arid land.
There are more than a million wild camels currently roaming around central Australia and no trip to the Red Centre is complete without a camel ride. Tours range from half-day morning rides to one-hour rides throughout the afternoon, although the best time to go if you want to see the red desert at its most vibrant is at sunset.
Alice Springs is a great base from which to explore the magnificent MacDonnell Ranges, which fan out from the edge of town in two directions. Head to the West Macs for fantastic swimming holes and rocky gorges, or to the East Macs to explore forgotten gold rush ghost towns and gorges like Trephina that are just as spectacular as those in the West Macs, but hardly anyone goes there.
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If your stay is short, or you can’t venture further afield, a trip to Alice Springs Desert Park offers an insight into Central Australian fauna and flora. A gentle walking trail takes you through three distinct ecosystems – woodland, sand country and desert rivers.
See the oldest building in town at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station, and peek inside the world’s largest classroom – the world’s first School of the Air was established in Alice Springs in 1951 and is something you’ll only see in Australia.
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You’ll find plenty of choice when it comes to places to stay in Alice Springs.
Lasseters, next to the casino, is the most luxurious option, and the DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs, next door, is home to one of the town’s best restaurants, Hanuman’s (which also has an outpost in Darwin).
If you want to stay in the centre of town, the Diplomat Motel is a great choice, and for those on a budget try the Alice Springs YHA – it used to be an outdoor movie theatre before it was transformed into a hostel.
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There’s no better place than the Red Centre for bush tucker, native Australian food. Every September, the Alice Desert Festival offers the chance to sample the Red Centre’s indigenous ingredients, with part of the festival focusing on wild bush foods.
The restaurant offering in Alice Springs flies under the radar but there is a growing list of excellent places to dine. For upmarket restaurants, Saltbush, renowned for its innovative approach to contemporary Australian cuisine, and Hanuman, with its menu a fusion of Thai and Indian cuisines, are both excellent choices. For good coffee head to Page 27, which you’ll find hiding down a laneway off Todd Mall. And for everything else, you can dive into our Alice Springs restaurant guide.
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