Breathtaking 4-night Red Centre road trip itinerary

With brilliantly blue skies contrasted by rust-coloured sands, bursts of green bushes here and there and kangaroos casting shadows on the red ground, the outback of Australia is a sight to behold. With the itch to revisit the area after more than 10 years, and a public holiday approaching, we stretched out a long weekend by taking an extra two days off to explore on an incredible Red Centre road trip.

After much research and budgeting, this five-day itinerary ended. up being perfect for us. But, depending on what’s more convenient form you, this schedule can easily be altered to either spend more time at Uluru at the beginning instead of the end. Or, you can make it a round-trip journey from Alice Springs.

Since Jetstar flies direct from Sydney (our home airport) to Yulara for about half of the price it would be to fly to Alice Springs, we used this as the starting point for our trip.

Day 1: Arrive at Uluru and drive toward Alice Springs

Flying in from Sydney, we arrived at Ayers Rock Airport in Yulara in the mid-afternoon. We immediately picked up our hire car and set off for Alice Springs. The 450-kilometre journey takes about 4.5 hours, or a little longer if you want to pull over to take in the scenery at points. Roughly half way, where the Lassetter and Stuart Highways meet, there’s a roadhouse with toilets that also serves food. To our surprise there were also a few pet emus there.

Wanting to avoid driving through the desert at night as much as possible, we did set out on our journey as early as we could. But, unfortunately it wasn’t quite early enough. About an hour outside of Alice Springs, seduced by the pink-and-orange skies, we did pull over at the Cannonball Memorial to watch the sun set over the red sands.

Recommended stops along the way from Uluru to Alice Springs:

• Mt Connor lookouts: This mountain, often referred to as a fake Uluru, sits just a few feet shorter than its counterpart and attracts none of the tourists as it sits within a privately owned cattle station
• Erldunda Roadhouse: A good taste of an outback roadhouse and a good excuse to stretch your legs mid-way to Alice. You’ll also see some very curious emus here.

Day 2: West Macdonnell Ranges and drive to Kings Canyon

Starting the day early to beat the heat, we headed away from the rising sun toward the West Macdonnell Ranges. We saved the swimming spots for the afternoon so we could cool off in when we really needed it.

Luckily, unlike most places out here in the Red Centre, the drive is short. From Alice Springs, it’s just a 25-minute drive to the first stop: Simpsons Gap.

Recommended stops along the way from Alice Springs to Kings Canyon via the West Macdonnell Ranges:

• Simpsons Gap
• Serpentine Gorge
• Ormiston Gorge
• Mount Sonder Lookout
• Ellery Creek Big Hole

Simpsons Gap

It’s only about a 500 metre walk each way from the car park, but feels like you’re a world away.

Rungutjirpa to the local Arrernte people, Simpsons Gap was just beautiful in the early morning light. When we arrived, the sun was just making its way into the gorge, making the red rocks glow against the blue sky. Although we weren’t lucky enough to see any, dawn and dusk are the best times to see the local rock wallabies. It was also incredibly quiet and we practically had the place to ourselves.

Although there are a few pools of water here, you aren’t able to swim. (But we’ll stop at some. other swimming stops a bit later in the day.)

Serpentine Gorge

An hour west of Simpsons Gap sits the vast Serpentine Gorge. To truly see the magnificent view of the place, you’ll need to take a bit of a hike.

The 3.1 kilometre track has a bit of a climb that is exposed to the sun, so we’re happy we did this one in the morning and would recommend you do, too. Especially as there’s nowhere to swim here either, unfortunately.

But we promise, getting to the top is worth it. Not only will you get to look into the rust-coloured valley, but panoramic views of the desert and ranges in the distance.

Ormiston Gorge

If you’ve seen the show The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart, you may recognise this spot. It’s where Alice and Dylan come for a swim shortly after she arrives in the outback. And it’s just as beautiful as it was on film.

Thirty minutes further west from Serpentine Gorge, brought us to the first swimming spot of the day. And if Alice Springs was our home, we’d happily make the 90-minute drive here regularly. This large swimming hole had sandy banks, plenty of shade beneath trees, cool water and even rocks to jump from.

Although we didn’t have enough time to do them, there are a few walks here ranging from 1.5 kilometres to more than eight, and there’s a kiosk. So, making a day of visiting Ormiston Gorge is a no brainer. And if we had more than just a day to see the West Macdonnell ranges, we certainly would have stayed in this spot longer.

Mount Sonder Lookout

Just a quick pitstop to take some more of the surrounding views of the West Macdonnell Ranges, Mount Sonder Lookout was our turnaround point before heading back toward Alice Springs. Although there was one more gorge along the drive before the asphalt highway turned to dirt, we didn’t have the time to head to the final spot (which also had a bit of a walk to it).

The peak is the fifth-highest mountain in the Northern Territory, and the view here doesn’t just take in the rugged hills. There were also some beautiful pale pink and purple wildflowers growing all around. After all we did visit during the spring.

Ellery Creek Big Hole

Everything you’d imagine in an outback swimming hole, Ellery Creek featured a huge pool of cold water that narrowed through a gorge of red rocks. And when we say the water here is cold, it’s cold. While it was a warm day, it still wasn’t hot enough to keep us in the water for too long.

But, we can just imagine on a hot summer day here when temperatures easily surpass 35 degrees that jumping into this outback swimming hole would be absolute perfection.

On the bright side, the cold water did mean we weren’t tempted to stay longer than we should have. The drive from here to Kings Canyon was a long one. We didn’t have a four-wheel drive and our hire car needed to stay on paved roads, so the journey was going to take us about 5.5 hours.

Day 3: Light Towers at sunrise, Kings Canyon Rim Walk, drive to Uluru and sunset at Kata Tjuta

Recommended stops at Kings Canyon:

• Light Towers
• Kings Canyon Rim Walk
• Kings Creek Walk
• Kings Creek Station

Arriving into Kings Canyon in the early evening and knowing we had to get up before the sun, we had a quick dinner and tucked in for the night.

Light Towers

With Vivid Sydney being one of our favourite times of the year, the idea of seeing a light installation set against the outback was something we had to sign up for. Especially considering we were also booked in for the Field of Light at Uluru; naturally we needed to compare the two.

Available either at sunrise or sunset at Discovery Resort – Kings Canyon, Light Towers is the work of British artist Bruce Munro. It consists of 69 colour-changing towers that you can wander between to a soundscape coming from each. They look best against the blackest sky, when the colours truly pop.

While it was a pretty cool experience, especially as we were fortunate enough to be the only people booked in, it wasn’t nearly as impressive as the Field of Light. (And we’re glad we did this one first.)

The $45 experience also included coffee and pastries, which were served overlooking the towers as the sun was illuminating the landscape.

Kings Canyon Rim Walk

After finishing up breakfast at the Light Towers, we went straight for the start of the acclaimed Kings Canyon Rim Walk. It’s recommended to start this one as early as possible as much of it is exposed and it gets hot out there.

Luckily, you get the hardest part over with right at the beginning. The 6 kilometre track starts with a steep climb with no shade, and if you start early enough it’s not too warm during it. But we promise it’s worth it.

Once on top, Kings Canyon’s rim is what we’d imagine its like to walk on Mars. Walkers are surrounded by red-orange stone that forms natural steps in places and takes on an otherworldly appearance. Along the way there’s rogue branches from long-gone trees and sandstone domes.

There’s an optional side track down to the Garden of Eden, and it’s the perfect spot to take a break, drink some water and have a snack, if you’d like. We definitely recommend it. Truly feeling like an oasis, down here there’s lush greenery surrounding a pool of water. (No swimming here, though.)

The rest of the walk follows the south wall of the canyon and eventually makes its way back down again to the car park. This time, it’s a much more gentle descent. And, you should finish with enough time to sneak in the Kings Creek Walk, too.

Kings Creek Walk

Carving its way through the middle of the Kings Canyon valley, the Kings Creek Walk is nice and gentle in comparison to the rim walk. It’s quite accessible, too. So if you’re unable to do the more strenuous walk, this is a great way to get a taste of Kings Canyon.

At just 2 kilometres, this walk is short but sweet and provides a bit more shade than the rim.

If you are short on time though, or are walked out for the day, don’t force yourself on this one. If we had to pick just one, we’d opt for the rim walk, every time. (In face, we have! We’ve been to the area twice and made sure we had time to do the rim walk again the second time.)

Kings Creek Station

If you’re looking for somewhere to grab some lunch between Kings Canyon and the return to Uluru, Kings Creek Station is a perfect stop. We wanted to try a bit of the local flavour, and. this roadhouse was serving it up. The working cattle station grills up fresh dromedary burgers. (That sounds a whole lot more appetising than camel, doesn’t it?)

There’s somewhere around 1 million feral camels roaming around the Australian outback and like we do with all out-of-control animal populations, we’ve started eating them. While the burgers were seasoned a bit, they tasted quite like a lean beef or lamb and were quite sizeable. We had our lunch overlooking the dusty station, which seemed very apt.

With both our bellies and the car all fuelled up, it was time to make the journey back to Yulara. From here, it’s just shy of a 3 hour drive. We were able to arrive during the late daylight hours, letting us check out the Kata Tjuṯa sunset view area. Unfortunately, it was a bit overcast, but was still a stunning view.

Day 4: Uluru Base Walk, Field of Light at sunset

Recommended stops at Uluru:

• Uluru Base Walk
• Field of Light
• Sunrise at Uluru
• Sunset at Kata Tjuṯa
• Valley of the Winds Walk

We saved the most iconic site in the Red Centre for last on this itinerary. Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park is home to both Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) and the less popular (but we don’t know why!) Kata Tjuṯa. So we spent two nights here to make sure we saw as much of it as we could. Plus, it has two long-ish walks that we wanted to do.

Uluru Base Walk

Clocking in at 10.6 kilometres, the Uluru Base Walk is the best way to see the 348-metre-high monolith. The track circumnavigates the site allowing you to see it from various angles and learn about the different parts of it and how they were used and interpreted by the local Anangu people.

While not a challenging walk compared to some other hikes and bushwalks we’ve done around the country, it is still one of our favourites. With practically no tripping hazards like steps or tree roots long the way, you’re able to properly absorb the scenery arond you. Some parts of the track treat you to views a hundred or more metres away allowing you to take in the true size of it, while others get you up close enough to touch the rock and see the beautiful rusty hues and textures. Along the walk, there’s plenty of placards telling you about the history of the site, too.

We started at the Mala Carpark on the west side of Uluru and went clockwise around it, as that’s what was recommended. But, you can go either way.

It’s recommended to start this walk as early in the day as possible, especially during the summer months when the sun is at its strongest and temperatures can soar to around 40 degrees. There are water and toilets available about half-way through the walk, but you’ll definitely want to bring plenty of water with you. (Especially if you want it to be cold.)

Field of Light

On our bucket list since it opened to the public back in 2016, Field of Light was the perfect experience for the final night of our Red Centre road trip.

There’s a few different ways you can see the Field of Light, unfortunately all paid. They all include admission to the field and transport, as you can’t drive there in a private vehicle:

• General Admission ($48)
• Field of Light Star Pass: Also includes canapés and drinks ($115)
• Field of Light Dinner: Also includes canapés, a three-course buffet, drinks, a digeridoo performance and a star talk ($335)

We opted for the Field of Light Star Pass as both that option and dinner included watching the sunset and the lights slowly turning on, which was incredible to see. (We also found the canapés and drinks were plentiful enough to call dinner.)

Both the dinner and Star Pass take place on a sand dune overlooking the field with Uluru in the background, allowing you to take in the incredible landscape as it changes colours with the day’s fading light. The whole thing was even better than we could have imagined; the weather was just perfect and watching the sun set with a glass of sparkling while the lights started illuminating the field was just magical.

Although it was supposed to be a temporary installation, it’s now been extended indefinitely.

Day 5: Sunrise at Uluru, Valley of the Winds walk

Getting up nice and early to make the most of our final day before an afternoon flight, we rose before dawn to take in the sun rising at Uluru before heading over to Kata Tjuṯa.

Sunrise at Uluru

Having already seen the sunset at Uluru, it’s only natural we’d also want to see it rise here.

Talinguṟu Nyakunytjaku is the official sunrise viewing area for Uluru, and its positioned in such a way that each morning it appears that the sun is painting the rock in an incredible orange glowing light.

There can be crowds here, so we recommend getting here a bit early so you don’t have anyone in your way. But, crowds or not, it’s totally worth it. It’s a beautiful sight to see and one you’ll never forget. (In fact, it’s been the background on our computer ever since we got home!)

There are a couple of short walks here, both wheelchair accessible too, but unfortunately we didn’t have time to check them out as we wanted to do the Valley of the Winds walk before heading to the airport.

Valley of the Winds walk

After watching the sunrise at Uluru, we made the 59-kilometre journey to the start of the Valley of the Winds walk at Kata Tjuṯa, meaning ‘many heads’ to the local people. The area’s made up of a series of rust-coloured, rock-shaped domes with walking tracks passing between them.

Sometimes referred to as the Olgas, the area’s much less busy than Uluru and you’ll come across fewer people along the walk. Many people only walk up to the first viewpoint, too, so if you do the whole thing it’s pretty quiet.

Along the way you’ll be treated to some pretty other-worldly views between the rocks and out to the surrounding landscape. We visited in spring and were also treated to plenty of colourful wildflowers, too.

One thing to remember before starting is that the 7.4-kilometre walk may be shorter than Uluru’s, but it is more strenuous, so we’d recommend going early in the morning or on a cooler day if possible. If it’s hot, you’ll also want to bring plenty of water.

How long do you need for a Red Centre road trip?

You can spend as little as two days or as long as a week and still pack in plenty. Distances are pretty far here, so if you’re only able to spend a night or two, we’d recommend just staying at in the Yulara area. Here, you’d have Uluru and Kata Tjuta to explore.

With three or four days, we’d extend the trip out to Kings Canyon. It’s home to our favourite walk in the region (the Kings Canyon Rim Walk), and is one not to be missed.

If you have five to seven days, also visit the West Macdonnell ranges. We had five days and really felt like we were just squeezing it in. An extra day or two would have been perfect. We would have been able to do more walks and see more gorges in the area.

How do you get to the Red Centre?

You can either fly into Yulara (near Uluru) or Alice Springs. If you’re looking for the cheapest option, we’d recommend checking flights to Yulara as this is where Jetstar flies and often has sales with flights below $100 each way.

It’s a very far drive from any major coastal city in Australia, so we wouldn’t recommend driving – especially if you’re just looking for a weekend away!

When is the best time to visit the Red Centre?

Overall, we’d recommend going between April and May or September and October.

We’ve visited in both January and October. While we loved both visits, weather-wise, October was definitely better. When we were there, days were warm, between 25 and 30 degrees, but not too hot. We were comfortable enough walking in the mornings and also enjoyed the pool at Ayers Rock Campground (where we stayed in a cabin) in the afternoon.

In January, it was very hot; between 35 and 40 degrees. We also had a very rainy day while doing the Valley of the Winds walk, so were especially looking forward to that on our return visit.

Where to go next…