Alice Springs is the place to start exploring the Australian Outback. Alice Springs, also known as the Outback capital can be found driving on the 3000 km Stuart Highway, approximately halfway between Adelaide in the south and Darwin in the north.
Because of the great distances, there is no way to explore the Outback in a few days. However, those who don’t have much time should start their trip in Alice Springs, as there are many well-known tourist attractions near this city. If you want to see more than the famous Uluru, you should make time to visit the whole national park where Uluru can be found, Alice Springs Desert Park.
Undoubtedly the greatest tourist attraction on the Australian continent is Uluru (Ayers Rock), and Alice Springs sees so many tourists because Uluru is relatively close to it. However, many tourists fail to make a correct estimate about the distances in the Australian Outback: ‘close’ means Uluru is 450 km away from Alice Springs.
If you are there, you should also visit the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park: Kata Tjuta is only 50 km from Uluru, so if you made that big trip, you shouldn’t miss this attraction. The third big tourist attraction in Alice Springs is Wattarka – Kings Canyon. This is a different national park, and it is 300 km from Uluru.
There are a lot of things to see in the Alice Springs area besides the top three tourists attractions. For those who have the time to explore the surroundings West MacDonnell Ranges and the East MacDonnell Ranges can be a good option, and Palm Valley, Hermannsburg, Chambers Pillar are also places to see.
Those who choose to drive all the way from Alice Spring to Darwin must prepare for a really long journey. Those who find inspiring the endless horizon, great open space and ever changing landscape will enjoy the trip. However, a lot of people are unhappy about the journey, saying that the drive is too monotonous, with few tourist attractions on the way.
One place to stop is Devils Marbles, 393 km north of Alice Springs. Mataranka, the next interesting place is 660 km away, and from here one must drive only 105 km to reach Katherine and one of the most beautiful places on the continent: Katherine Gorge. Those who arrive in Darwin will have a lot to see in the city itself, and also there are few national parks in the area, out of which Kakadu National Park and Litchfield National Park are the favorite with tourists.
If you are driving to the south from Alice Springs, halfway on the trip to Adelaide is the opal mining town Coober Pedy. This place is very different from the other Australian tourist attractions: a lot of people love it, others hate it.
For those who are looking for real adventure, there is the Outback of the Australian Outback, the Kimberley region in the remote north-west territory. This is the place where most of time 4WD jeeps are the only means of transportation. Among the must see thing there is the Great Northern Highway from Broome to Kununura, the Gibb River Road, and countless waterfalls, rock pools, secret fishing spots, national parks and one of the world’s top 5 beaches.
Isabella Olsen is a travel writer who has toured major destinations worldwide, including many European countries by car. To book a car rental Czech Republic, or learn more about cheap car hire worldwide, visit www.zencarhire.com
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