Alice Springs blends natural wonders, rich culture and unique attractions — here are 10 reasons it should be on your Northern Territory travel list.
There is no town like Alice Springs, and it has all the ingredients for a perfect tourist destination. Situated in Australia’s Red Centre, Alice holds a special place in our hearts for its quintessential Aussie larrikinism and contrariness. How else do you explain the diverse range of activities and attractions that locals and visitors can enjoy in a place so far from anywhere?
While Alice Springs locals enjoy a self-contained lifestyle, much of the economy has relied on tourism for its prosperity. Unfortunately, over the last couple of years, Alice’s reputation has suffered under the spotlight of media scrutiny, which we’ll discuss in a bit. In the meantime, here are the top 10 reasons to spend a few days exploring Alice while on your way to the many fantastic destinations to the north or south.
Maps and guides for exploring Alice Springs and beyond
If you’re planning to travel to Alice Springs and the surrounding Red Centre, these Hema Maps products can help you navigate and discover key highlights:
- Central Australia Map – $15.95 RRP. Detailed touring map covering Alice Springs, West MacDonnell Range, Uluru, Kings Canyon and surrounding regions, with road distances, fuel stops and points of interest.
- Central Australia Adventure Pack – Currently $74.95 (down from $129.80 RRP). Bundle includes detailed maps of Central Australia and the NT, the Great Desert Tracks Atlas & Guide, plus an atlas and map wallet.
- Great Desert Tracks Map Pack – $69.95 RRP. This four-map pack is ideal if you’re venturing further afield into outback tracks like the Tanami Road, Plenty Highway or Simpson Desert routes.
1. Royal Flying Doctor Service Alice Springs Tourist facility
Rural Australia owes much to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS), and the RFDS Alice Springs Tourist Facility is a museum and interactive experience that is both informative and entertaining. Visitors can go inside a replica PC-12 air ambulance that’s displayed in the main hall and learn about how RFDS founder John Flynn envisioned the service through a holographic display.
You can see how things have changed over the years with an original 1939 communications centre, complete with two-way radio. A large digital map shows all the RFDS planes across Australia in real time, and the reach and number of flights is surprising.
Take a walk through history at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Alice Springs Tourist Facility
Find out more:
RFDS Alice Springs Tourist Facility
8–10 Stuart Terrace
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8958 8409
E: reservations@flyingdoctor.net
Open hours:
- Monday to Saturday: 9.30am – 5pm
- Sunday: 1pm – 5pm
2. Araluen Arts Centre
If anything is going to educate travellers on Alice’s sophistication and wide cultural embrace of all things worthwhile, it is the Araluen Arts Centre, a visual art and performance hub that opened back in 1984. Traditional and emerging Aboriginal, Central Australian and international art wows visitors across four galleries of permanent and scheduled exhibitions. The centre takes patrons through the ongoing evolution of Indigenous art of Central Australia and the collection includes original watercolour landscapes from renowned artist Albert Namatjira.
The Araluen Arts Centre grew organically over several decades and is part of the wider Araluen Cultural Precinct. The precinct incorporates buildings for the Museum of Central Australia, showcasing the unique natural and geological history of the region; the Central Australian Aviation Museum; a popular café; Arrernte sacred sites; and a 500-seat theatre. The theatre is always a winner, and its upcoming program includes a mix of world-class operas, chamber music and art films.
Find out more:
61 Larapinta Drive
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8951 1122
Open hours: 10am – 4pm daily
3. Alice Springs Desert Park
Operating since 1997, Alice Springs Desert Park is a short drive (7km) from town and offers a unique insight into this part of the country, reminding visitors that the desert is far from a wasteland and showcasing the remarkable plants and animals that continue to thrive here.
The main section of the park covers 54 hectares in a larger 1300-hectare area given to research, and it is owned and operated by the NT Parks and Wildlife Commission.
Spend the day exploring the beauty of the landscape and flora, and discover how Desert Park supports local wildlife. Join a guided tour to learn about Aboriginal culture and the use of plants for food and healing.
Wildlife lovers will have plenty to spot, and birdwatchers will be in their element in the walkthrough aviaries, home to birds like princess parrots, tawny frogmouths, barn owls, budgerigars and wedgetail eagles. There’s plenty of seating inside the aviaries and water sources encourage the birds to come out into the open.
There’s also a big range of mammals (including dingoes, red kangaroos, ghost bats, spinifex hopping mice and western quoll) and reptiles (the Nocturnal House is a must-visit with plenty of Central Australian reptiles, invertebrates and rare or endangered animals found in the desert).
For a full list on all the animals and plants you can see at Desert Park, click here.
One of the most popular activities is the display of free-flying birds of prey at feed time. This ‘Nature Theatre’ show runs daily (twice a day during winter), where these birds of prey demonstrate their hunting and foraging skills with the MacDonnell Ranges as a dramatic backdrop.
Desert Park also runs experiences and activities throughout the year, like National Lizard Day (14 August 2025), National Wattle Day (1 September 2025) and Nature Playgroup for the littlies who love sensory play and bush activities.
A great experience to add to your visit is the guided Nocturnal Tour that will lead you on a spotlight adventure to discover endangered animals of the night like mala, bilbies, echidnas and bandicoots.
Alice Springs Desert Park is only a 7km/10-minute drive from the centre of Alice Springs, and you can either drive yourself, jump on the public bus, ride your bike over or join a transfer. Tickets are required to enter, and make sure you allow around three to four hours to experience everything properly.
Find out more:
Larapinta Drive
Alice Springs NT 0871
P: 08 8951 8788
Open hours: 7.30am – 6pm daily (last entry 4.30pm)
4. Standley Chasm
Alice is the meeting place of the East and West MacDonnell Ranges, where red rocks meet a vivid blue sky, and eons of rainfall have carved deep crevasses into the mountains. One of the best and easily accessed geological formations of the ranges is a 50km drive to the west on the Larapinta Trail: Standley Chasm.
Named after Alice Springs’ first schoolteacher, Ida Standley, Standley Chasm — traditionally known as Angkerle Atwatye, meaning ‘Gap of Water’ — is an 80m-high gorge that narrows down to 3m along the 1.2km walking track.
The area is privately owned and managed by the Western Arrernte people. We visited with young local guide, William Palmer, who pointed out various plants and their significance to Indigenous life. Features were ancient MacDonnell Ranges cycads, bloodwoods and magnificent river gums along the Angkerle Creek.
Tour guide William leading the way through Standley Chasm
A recently refurbished grade one wheelchair-accessible track takes visitors 1.2km along the creek to the gorge’s steep orange and red walls that glow in the middle of the day. Noon is the best time of day if you’re wanting to get some fantastic pictures but be prepared for likeminded travellers.
Two steep trails lead up to lookouts for the more energetic, both with great views of Standley Chasm and the West Macs, but we chose morning tea at the well-stocked cafe.
If you’re wanting to learn more about cultural experiences, then be sure to check out the Aboriginal Cultural Experience and Art Workshop (approximately three hours), with a guided walk, talk, dot painting workshop and lunch and a cuppa at the cafe.
If you want the full experience, you can book a camping site at Standley Chasm, with tent and unpowered and powered caravan-friendly sites available — campers are welcome year-round and there are facilities available. And if you’re walking and camping along the Larapinta Trail, there’s overnight parking available as well.
Visit Standley Chasm at noon for fantastic colours and photo opportunities
Find out more:
P: 08 8956 7440
E: info@standleychasm.com.au
Open hours:
- Monday to Saturday: 8am – 5pm
- Sunday: 8am – 2pm
5. ANZAC Hill
Popular at sunset and any time for views over the northern part of Alice Springs, ANZAC Hill is a short, steep drive, with parking near the summit, but it is probably not recommended for caravans. Walking paths from the CBD offer an alternative for anyone looking for a stroll.
The memorial to fallen World War I soldiers was opened in 1934, but it’s now home to interpretive signs detailing the conflicts Australia has taken part in over the years through to the present.
There are many commemorative engravings and monuments, and make sure you bring your camera to snap a pic at either sunset or sunrise with views of the ranges lit up in brilliant colour.
View of Alice Springs from ANZAC Hill
Find out more:
ANZAC Hill
Anzac Hill Road
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8950 0500
6. Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists
Any visit to Centre Australia should include checking out Indigenous art, and Alice is the hub of numerous outstations and communities that produce a vast range of traditional and modern interpretations of culture and country. Alice Springs has numerous reputable outlets for authentic art, including the Mbantua Gallery representing the Utopia group and Iltja Ntjarra (Many Hands) Art Centre for the Namatjira watercolour style.
We visited Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists, a unique gallery and a centre of learning established back in 2000 dedicated to giving Aboriginal artists with disabilities a safe place to practice their skills. The gallery grew out of Bindi Enterprises (est. 1978), which provided employment and community engagement opportunities to people with disabilities, and in the 1990s, the late Billy Benn Perrurle started his career painting on offcuts of timber and sheets of metal salvaged from the Bindi workshop.
Growing from its humble beginnings, the art from the gallery is now exhibited nationally and is highly prized by collectors.
Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists
Inside Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists gallery
Find out more:
47 Elder Street
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8958 6215
E: bindiart@lifestylesolutions.org.au
Open hours:
- Monday to Friday: 10am – 4pm
- Saturday and Sunday: Closed
7. Olive Pink Botanic Garden
Located in the centre of town, Olive Pink Botanic Garden is something of an Alice Springs institution and a popular meeting place over lunch. It owes its existence to its namesake, Olive Pink, a formidable botanical illustrator, anthropologist and activist for Aboriginal rights.
Born in 1884, Olive lost the love of her life at Gallipoli and never married. After meeting anthropologist Daisy Bates in 1926, she devoted her life to Aboriginal issues, living for a time among the Eastern Arrernte near Alice Springs. Her activities gave her a high public profile, although she was often at odds with authorities.
In 1955, Olive applied for and was granted a 20-hectare parcel of land to establish what became the Australian Arid Regions Flora Reserve, where she lived until she died in 1995.
The reserve was opened to the public as the Olive Pink Flora Reserve in 1985 and then renamed Olive Pink Botanic Garden in 1996.
Bring your walking shoes and picnic basket to soak up the serenity in Olive Pink Botanic Garden in Alice Springs
The now 16-hectare garden has more than 600 Central Australian species and diverse wildlife, including 89 bird species, the black-footed rock wallaby and various reptiles. Be sure to check out the Registered Sacred Site Tharrarletneme (Annie Meyres Hill), a significant site to the Arrernte people, where there is plenty to learn about local plants, Indigenous bushfood and medicine plants.
Take a self-guided walking tour along one of the many trails, enjoy a picnic under the trees, views of Alice Springs and the MacDonnell Ranges and finish up at the Bean Tree Cafe. Entry is by donation.
Find out more:
Olive Pink Botanic Garden
27 Tuncks Road
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8952 2154
Open hours: 8am – 6pm daily
8. National Road Transport Museum
If you’re that kid who gestured to truckies for a blast of the air horns or sat riveted while the Hornby trains circled for hours, then this place is for you. The National Road Transport Museum and adjacent Old Ghan Heritage Railway precinct combine the love of coal and diesel into a sprawling attraction where you can spend hours exploring. Climb over railway rolling stock and engines, then wander through three giant pavilions and acres of outdoor displays which began to take shape in 1995.
Inside the National Road Transport Museum
The museum shed has a range of early model trucks and cars as diverse as a 1960s Mini to a 1924 Rolls-Royce. The Kenworth Dealer Hall of Fame features a 3400sq m display showcasing amazing trucks. There are some absolute showstoppers and a fan-favourite is the first Australian-built Kenworth, the ‘Grey Ghost’, produced at the Bayswater factory in 1971.
In the Red Shed, find ‘Bertha’, Australia’s first road train, a collection of Mack trucks and beautifully restored big rigs. Outside is more historic transport, including Birdsville mailman Tom Kruse MBE’s old Leyland Badger mail truck and a collection of army vehicles.
Tom Kruse MBE’s old Leyland Badger mail truck
The Old Ghan Heritage Railway precinct is next door to the museum
If you want to spend a bit longer surrounded by Australia’s automotive history, then check out the museum’s camping area. There are sites suitable for caravans, motorhomes and big rigs — but powered sites suitable for big setups are limited. The campground is basic but there are facilities, including showers, toilets and a laundry area, available. It’s worth noting that the campground is next to the railway tracks, so be prepared for the train horns.
Find out more:
National Road Transport Museum
91 Norris Bell Avenue
Alice Springs NT 0870
P: 08 8952 7161
Open hours:
- Monday to Saturday: 9am – 3pm
- Sunday: Closed
Recommended to arrive by 1.30pm at the latest, as the museum is large and you’ll want at least 1.5 hours to explore.
9. Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve
In the 1800s, shipping was the primary means of communication to Europe. Consequently, the South Australian government constructed the Overland Telegraph Line that connected Adelaide to Darwin, then extended to Java, Indonesia, via an undersea cable, and finally linked to the existing line to London. The Old Telegraph Station (now known as Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve), a few kilometres north of what became Alice Springs, was one of 12 repeater stations manned by crews who transmitted messages by morse code. It became the first European settlement in Central Australia. The station’s site was chosen for the seasonal waterhole, which was thought to be a spring. The site was named after Alice, the wife of Charles Todd who won the contract to build the line, while Charles had the Todd River named in his honour.
The station’s first message was transmitted in October 1872, and the station operated until 1932 when a post office was established in town. From 1963, the area became a historical reserve, and the many restored stone buildings attract thousands of tourists. The original post office is even still registered and operational, and visitors can use the service and the unique Telegraph Station Commemorative Franking Stamp.
There’s a cafe on site to refresh after enjoying the history. The reserve is also classified as a national park, and there are plenty of spots to enjoy a picnic, barbecue or go for a bushwalk, hike or bike ride and soak up the Central Australia atmosphere.
Explore the restored stone buildings at Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve
Find out more:
Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve
Telegraph Station CPA
87 Herbert Heritage Drive
Stuart NT 0870
P: 08 8952 3993
E: trailstation@outbackgroupnt.com.au
Open hours:
- Telegraph Station: Daily 8am – 4pm
- National park: Daily 8am – 9pm
10. The outback needs you
Anna Dakin runs the award-winning Art Tours of Australia and counts herself as a passionate Alice Springs local since migrating from England in 2018. Anna told me that “the media makes one of the most profoundly beautiful parts of our planet sound like a hellscape. The disparity between the lived reality in Alice Springs and what the media reports on is shocking. Unfortunately, these reports do have an impact on visitor numbers, which puts pressure on the businesses that celebrate this region.”
Bill Wilcox runs Sandrifter Tours and owns the G'Day Mate Tourist Park. He agrees that the problems with Alice are exaggerated and that there are very few problems with the five caravan parks in town.
Several locals told me a core of disgruntled attention seekers play up any problems, with a lot of incidents shown on various apps are old news or from other places. Some of the feedback among travellers comes from people who have never had any dealings with Aboriginal communities. Seeing groups of Indigenous folk talking in their own language, often loudly, can be a surprise, but maybe it shouldn’t be. For a large number of the Indigenous communities in central and northern Australia, English is a second language, and poverty is endemic. Let’s make that a takeaway, rather than a negative impression.
Earlier this year, NT Tourism ran some online features around ‘Love Letters to Alice Springs’. You will find some inspiring stories from the campaign here.
Bill Wilcox left me with a parting piece of advice — come and have a look for yourself, and you might be pleasantly surprised.
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