Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon sit hundreds of kilometres apart in the desert. Choose where
you start, how many days you have and where you sleep, and let a guide do the driving.
Where each tour starts and endsAlice Springs, Yulara or Ayers Rock Airport, before you book
Park passes, spelled outWhich listings include the national park entry and which do not
Free cancellationOn every listing here, from 24 hours to 14 days before
Secure checkoutBook on GetYourGuide, with a mobile voucher
Red Centre tours
Choose your Red Centre tour
In the centre, the classic: three days and two nights in swags for Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon.
On the left, a five-hour sunrise morning from your Yulara hotel. On the right, four days that add the West MacDonnell Ranges.
Sunrise over Uluru from the Talinguru Nyakunytjaku platform with tea and coffee, then the domes of Kata Tjuta and the Walpa Gorge walk, back at your hotel by late morning.
What's included
Pickup and drop-off at Ayers Rock Resort in an air-conditioned coach
Uluru sunrise at Talinguru Nyakunytjaku with tea and coffee
Kata Tjuta and the Walpa Gorge walk, then a lookout over both Uluru and Kata Tjuta
Commentary on Anangu culture and the park's geology from a local driver-guide
Walpa Gorge is rocky: not wheelchair accessible; check the listing for the park pass; free cancellation 24 hours before
Kata Tjuta, an Uluru sunset and sunrise, the full base walk and the Kings Canyon Rim Walk, with two nights in swags. Start and finish in Alice Springs or at Yulara.
What's included
Kata Tjuta guided walk, Uluru sunset and sunrise, the full Uluru base walk and the Cultural Centre
Kings Canyon Rim Walk on day three, past the Lost City, the Garden of Eden and the Amphitheatre
Two or three nights in swags with shared facilities, sleeping bag and all meals, per the listing
Entry to Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Watarrka national parks; audio app in five more languages
Not for under-8s or mobility impairments; one soft bag up to 15 kg; free cancellation up to 7 days before
The full loop: Uluru, Kata Tjuta, Kings Canyon and the gorges of the West MacDonnell Ranges, with three nights in eco-tents or swags and the last day back into Alice Springs.
What's included
Uluru sunset and sunrise, Mutitjulu Waterhole and Kantju Gorge, Valley of the Winds or Walpa Gorge
Kings Canyon rim or a seasonal alternative, then the Mereenie Loop or Ernest Giles Road west
Ormiston Gorge, Ellery Creek Big Hole, Standley Chasm and Simpsons Gap on the last day
Three nights in eco-tents with mattress and pillow, or a bush swag; most meals and all park fees
Medium to high fitness; doctor's certificate over 75; not under 7; free cancellation up to 14 days before
In the Red Centre the big differences are not the sights but the logistics: where the tour picks you up,
where it drops you, how many nights you sleep out and whether Kings Canyon is part of it. Lengths, start points and limits
are taken from each listing.
Option
Starts from
Best for
Length
Notes
Uluru, Kata Tjuta & Kings Canyon in 3 Days
Alice Springs or Yulara, both ways
The three big sights in three days, with swag nights and the Kings Canyon Rim Walk
Alice Springs or Ayers Rock Airport, ends at the airport
Four days of swags and campfires: Uluru, a Kata Tjuta sunrise and Valley of the Winds, Kings Canyon, then back to Ayers Rock Airport for the flight home
Free cancellation applies to every listing here, with different cut-offs: 24 hours on the short
tours, the pass and Field of Light, 3 days on the base walk, 7 days on the three-day camping tour and 14 days on the other
multi-day tours. The day trip from Alice Springs and the hop-on hop-off pass do not include the national park pass, per
their listings.
What you actually book
A triangle in the desert, not one rock.
The Red Centre is not a single sight. Uluru rises 348 metres above the plain; Kata Tjuta, a cluster of
36 domes, stands 58 km away by road; Kings Canyon, with its 100-metre sandstone walls, is about
300 km from Uluru; and Alice Springs, the town most people picture as next door, is about 465 km
away, roughly five and a half hours of driving.
That map decides the trip. Fly into Ayers Rock Airport and Uluru is a ten-minute transfer, so a half-day tour works.
Start in Alice Springs and every option begins with a long drive, so a tour that ends at Ayers Rock Airport, or one that
loops back over two to four days, makes more sense than a day trip. You are choosing a start point, an end point and a
number of nights more than a company.
2019
The year the Uluru climb closed for good, on 26 October. Uluru is
sacred to Anangu, its traditional owners, who jointly manage the park with Parks Australia.
Kings Canyon, about 300 km from Uluru: the Rim Walk is a 6 km loop of three to four hours.
01
Pick your start
Ayers Rock Airport puts you ten minutes from Uluru at Yulara. Alice Springs puts you about 465 km away, but closer to the West MacDonnell Ranges.
02
Count the nights
Uluru and Kata Tjuta fit two days. Kings Canyon adds at least one more; the full loop with the West MacDonnells takes four on a tour.
03
Check the pass
Every visitor needs an Uluru-Kata Tjuta park pass. Some listings include it, some do not; buy it online if yours does not.
04
Who should skip camping?
Anyone who needs a real bed or level access: the swag tours set age and fitness limits. Stay at Yulara and take short tours instead.
The days
A Red Centre day in four moves
Whether you take a five-hour morning or four days under canvas, desert tours follow the sun. Here is the
shape of a typical day.
01
Out before dawn
Sunrise tours collect you from Ayers Rock Resort in the dark; the base walk starts about an hour before sunrise. Park gates open between 5:00 and 6:30 am depending on the month.
Bring a warm layer in winter
02
Walk while it is cool
The big walks happen in the morning: the 10.6 km Uluru base walk, Valley of the Winds or the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. On hot days some tracks close from 11 am.
A litre of water per hour
03
Shade and stories
The middle of the day is for the Cultural Centre, lunch and the drive between sights. Guides use it to explain Tjukurpa and the country you are crossing.
Cultural Centre 7 am to 5:45 pm
04
Sunset, then camp
Most tours here build in a sunset or a sunrise at Uluru. On camping tours the evening is a campfire dinner and a swag or eco-tent under a very big sky.
Getting there, who each tour suits, a sample stay and what to bring.
Ayers Rock Airport: direct flights from Sydney (about 3 hours), Melbourne, Brisbane and Cairns; the resort at Yulara is about 10 minutes away.
Alice Springs: its own airport, with flights from the major cities and Darwin; Uluru is about 465 km away by road.
Yulara: the resort town outside the park, about ten minutes from the entry station. All the short tours here collect you from its hotels.
Driving yourself: the highways are sealed, but roads are unfenced and long; avoid driving at night. The unsealed Mereenie Loop needs a permit.
Rock to Rock: recommended for ages 18 to 49, per its listing; outside that range, contact the operator.
Camping tours: the three-day tour is not for under-8s, the two-day tour not for under-8s or over-80s, and the four-day loop asks for a doctor's certificate over 75.
Mobility: the camping tours are not suitable for wheelchair users, and the sunrise coach's Walpa Gorge walk is rocky. The Talinguru Nyakunytjaku sunrise area has wheelchair-accessible tracks.
Children: under-18s enter the national park free.
Day 1: fly into Ayers Rock Airport, settle in at Yulara and watch your first sunset at Uluru.
Day 2: sunrise and the base walk in the cool of the morning; the Cultural Centre at midday; Field of Light or a quiet night.
Day 3: sunrise at Kata Tjuta and the Valley of the Winds before the heat, then fly out or join a tour to Kings Canyon.
With more time: a camping tour links Uluru, Kings Canyon and Alice Springs in three or four days.
Water bottles: the park advises at least one litre per person per hour of walking. The three-day tour asks for a 3-litre bottle.
A hat, sunscreen, sunglasses and a fly net, especially in the warmer months.
Warm clothes from May to September: desert nights get cold, and swags are on the ground.
Sturdy walking shoes, a torch for camp and a soft bag: the three-day tour limits luggage to 15 kg.
465 kmAlice Springs to UluruAbout five and a half hours by road.
300 kmUluru to Kings CanyonOn the Red Centre Way.
58 kmUluru to Kata TjutaBy road, inside the national park.
10.6 kmThe Uluru base walkAbout three and a half hours on foot.
6 kmKings Canyon Rim WalkA loop of three to four hours.
1 litreWater per hourPer person, the park's advice for walking.
The start
Yulara or Alice Springs
Ayers Rock Resort, Yulara, and Alice Springs
Yulara and Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia
There is no single meeting point: the tours come to your hotel. The sunrise coach, the base walk, the hop-on hop-off
pass and Field of Light collect from the Ayers Rock Resort hotels at Yulara. The day trip and the two-day tour collect in
Alice Springs. The three and four-day tours give you a choice: an early pickup in Alice Springs or an afternoon pickup at
Ayers Rock Airport. Check the time on your voucher the evening before.
The three-day tour ends at Yulara or Alice Springs, your choice at booking
Rock to Rock ends at Ayers Rock Airport around 10 am; the West MacDonnells loop ends in Alice Springs
The two-day tour ends at Yulara around midday, in time for an afternoon flight
Great tour! It was cool to do the base walk in a small group and learn about all the stories.
★★★★★
It was a superb trip. The scenery was magnificent, the guide did a fantastic job using her excellent knowledge, the food good.
★★★★★
Our guides, Jim and Hayley, definitely made the trip feel extra special.
★★★★★
Pick up from Alice Springs meant a great drive across country I wouldn't otherwise have seen.
★★★★★
Laura was an absolute incredible guide! Went above and beyond and really made sure that everyone was having such a good time.
★★★★★
The sunset barbecue was fantastic, the food was delicious. The reflection of the red sun on the rock was magical!
★★★★★
The Field of Lights is amazing and seeing the sunrise over Uluru is a heart stopper.
★★★★★
Jose was a great guide, very friendly and knowledgable. He ensured the group kept a comfortable pace.
★★★★★
Everything was extremely well organised and perfectly on time.
Before sunrise
The Field of Light
Every tour above is about rock, sand and distance. This one is about light: a short early-morning walk through
an art installation in the dunes near Yulara, timed to finish with sunrise over Uluru.
Field of Light at Sunrise with Hot Drinks
Pickup at Ayers Rock Resort · 2 hours · GetYourGuide
Before dawn, walk among Bruce Munro's field of more than 50,000 softly lit glass spheres, climb to the dune-top viewing area with a hot drink and watch the sun rise over Uluru, with Kata Tjuta behind, per the listing.
Search for a Red Centre tour and the pictures look alike: a red rock at sunset, a canvas swag under the
Milky Way, a walker on a canyon rim. The pictures are real. What the results rarely say is how far apart those places are,
that a tour's start and end points shape your flights, and that the heat decides when you can walk. Here is how to read the options.
Whose country this is
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is Anangu land. Its title deeds were handed back to the traditional owners on 26 October
1985, and the park has been jointly managed by Anangu and Parks Australia ever since. It is on the World Heritage list twice
over: in 1987 for its natural values and in 1994 as a living cultural landscape. For Anangu, the rock and the land around it
hold Tjukurpa, the law, stories and spirituality that guide life. That is why the climb closed in 2019, why some places must
not be photographed, and why a good guide spends as much time on stories as on geology.
Uluru rises 348 metres above the plain and runs 9.4 km around its base.
Three places, hundreds of kilometres apart
Uluru and Kata Tjuta share a national park, but they are 58 km apart by road. Kings Canyon, in Watarrka National Park,
is about 300 km from Uluru and roughly three and a half hours from Ayers Rock Airport. Alice Springs, the Red Centre's town,
is about 465 km from Uluru, and the West MacDonnell Ranges begin just west of it. A day trip from Alice Springs to Uluru
exists, but it means about five hours on the road each way. If you fly into Ayers Rock Airport, short tours from Yulara make
sense; if you start in Alice Springs, a tour that ends at the airport or loops back over several days uses the distance better.
The honest small print: every visitor to Uluru-Kata Tjuta needs a park pass, and listings differ
on whether it is included. The day trip from Alice Springs and the hop-on hop-off pass state that it is not; the camping
tours include park fees. Check the listing, and buy the pass online if it is not covered.
A morning, a night out or four days
The tours on this page come in three shapes. Short tours from Yulara, such as the sunrise and Kata Tjuta morning, the base
walk at dawn or Field of Light, fit around a hotel stay and take two to six hours. Camping tours spend one to three nights
in swags or eco-tents: the two-day tour links Alice Springs with Uluru, the three-day tour adds Kings Canyon, and the four-day
tours add either the West MacDonnell Ranges or a slower finish at Ayers Rock Airport. And if you would rather go without a
guide, the hop-on hop-off pass simply drives you between Yulara, Uluru and Kata Tjuta.
Swag nights are part of the camping tours; the four-day loop also offers eco-tents.
Which option, and when
With one morning at Yulara, take the sunrise and Kata Tjuta tour or walk the base with a small group. With three days and
a taste for adventure, the three-day camping tour covers Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon and lets you start and finish in
Alice Springs or at Yulara. With four days, add the West MacDonnell Ranges, or take the Rock to Rock tour if you want to end
at Ayers Rock Airport. Whatever you choose, aim for May to September, start walks early, and carry more water than feels
necessary; our guide to the seasons explains why.
The Kings Canyon Rim Walk: on 36C days you must start before 9 am.
Straight answers to what people ask most about tours in the Red Centre.
What is the best tour company for Uluru and the Red Centre?
There is no single best company; there is a best fit. Decide first where you start (Alice Springs or Ayers Rock Airport), how many days you have and whether Kings Canyon is in. The three-day camping tour is the classic. Our tour guide sets the options side by side.
What is the best month to go to Uluru?
Parks Australia names May to September, when daytime highs are usually between 20C and 30C. Winter nights can drop below freezing, and August and September bring wildflowers. When to go covers every month.
When should you avoid Uluru?
The hottest months, roughly October to March, when days regularly pass 35C, some walks close from late morning and flies are at their worst. Tours still run; start early and carry at least a litre of water per hour of walking.
How many days is enough for Uluru?
Two full days cover Uluru and Kata Tjuta at an easy pace; Parks Australia also publishes a three-day plan. Add a day for Kings Canyon, about 300 km away, and allow at least six for the whole Red Centre Way loop. How many days explains the options.
Can I walk around Uluru by myself?
Yes. The base walk is 10.6 km, about three and a half hours, and you need a valid park pass. The ranger-guided Mala walk is free with park entry. Walking around Uluru has the times and rules.
Can you still climb Uluru?
No. The climb closed permanently on 26 October 2019, after the park's Board of Management voted unanimously to close it. Uluru is sacred to Anangu, its traditional owners.
Is Uluru close to Alice Springs?
Not really: it is about 465 km by road, roughly five and a half hours of driving each way. A day trip from Alice Springs exists, but most of the day is on the road. Uluru from Alice Springs compares the ways in.
Do I need a park pass for Uluru?
Yes, every visitor needs one; under-18s go free. Buy it online before you go. Some tours include it and some do not, so check the listing. The NT Parks Visitor Pass for Kings Canyon and the West MacDonnells is a separate pass.
Can seniors get a discount on the Uluru park pass?
The Uluru-Kata Tjuta pass page lists no seniors concession. The separate NT Parks Visitor Pass has concession rates for Seniors Card, Pensioner Concession and DVA card holders. Tours for seniors covers age and fitness limits too.
How much does a Red Centre tour cost?
Prices change with the season and the date, so this site does not print them; the figure at checkout is the one that counts. What moves it is the number of days, where you sleep and whether park passes are included.
What happens if my plans change?
Every listing here offers free cancellation, but the cut-off differs: 24 hours before on the short tours and the pass, 3 days on the base walk, 7 days on the three-day camping tour and 14 days on the other multi-day tours.
Ready to book
Sunrise on the rock, a night under canvas.
The three-day classic, a sunrise morning from Yulara and the four-day loop, each with free cancellation.
Half a day from Yulara
5 hoursCoach, English guideFree cancellation
