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Alice Springs

Alice Springs

Alice Springs is a town in the Northern Territory, Australia; it is the third-largest settlement in the Northern Territory after Darwin and Palmerston.

Plan a trip to Alice Springs From Darwin

The name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd, wife of the telegraph pioneer Charles Todd. The town is situated roughly in Australia's geographic centre, nearly equidistant from Adelaide and Darwin.

Get in

Getting to Alice Springs

  1. 01
    Alice Springs Airport

    The airport doesn't have air bridges, so that passengers need to use stairs to get in/out of planes.

See

Worth seeing

Alice Springs has quite a few interesting things to see; one of them happens every night. If you don't get out of town and watch a sunset, even just sitting off the main highway, you've missed something special. Other than that: Alice Show. The annual festival with shopping, fair ground rides, animal displays, fireworks, art and crafts, races and performances. Henley On Todd Regatta.

  1. 01
    Reptile Centre

    Examples of the local reptiles and one NT croc specially imported, on display by the guy the locals call when something with fangs is in the kitchen.

  2. 02
    Alice Springs Desert Park

    871 Larapinta Drive (B6) (10km west of town).

  3. 03
    Olive Pink Botanical Garden

    Doesn't bloom much, but if you happen to get here after a rain, it's a really nice spot.

  4. 04
    The Residency

    Built in 1927 as the residence of the Government Representative to Central Australia, the house was the centre of government and social activity right up to the early 1970s.

  5. 05
    Women's Museum of Australia and Old Gaol

    2 Stuart Terrace, Old Alice Springs Gaol (Next to the Royal Flying Doctor Service),.

  6. 06
    Alice Springs Telegraph Station Historical Reserve

    Stuart Highway (a few kilometres north of town),.

Do

Things to do

Pyndan Camel Tracks – Take a one-hour or half day journey aboard a "ship of the desert", through the scenic Ilparpa Valley, located in the famous MacDonnell Ranges. Owner and cameleer Marcus has been working with camels since 1982 and his camels are well trained.

  1. 01
    Pioneer Park Races

    Pioneer Park Racecourse, Stuart Hwy, Connellan, info@alicespringsturfclub.org.au.

  2. 02
    Henbury Meteorites Conservation Reserve

    Ernest Giles Road (145km south west of Alice Springs),.

  3. 03
    Museum of Central Australia

    Araluen Cultural Precinct, 4 Memorial Ave (Corner of Larapinta Drive and Memorial Ave),.

  4. 04
    Araluen Arts & Cultural Centre

    An amazing local art museum, with works by Namatjira and other local artists.

Eat

Where to eat

Despite its small size, Alice has a good and varied restaurant scene. There are a fair few options here in Alice Springs for tucker (dinner). Maccas, KFC, Hungry Jack's, and Red Rooster are the main take away chains, but there are also your small family take aways, such as Big Al's, East Side Fish and Chips and Scoff. Additionally, there are some great pizza shops in town, La Casalinga is a great feed.

  1. 01
    Bean Tree Cafe

    Solid cafe set amidst the trees and birds.

  2. 02
    Loco Burrito

    The first burrito joint in town, it does a reasonable job from a friendly, hole-in-the-wall outlet.

How locals move

Getting around Alice Springs the local way

  • Go nextLarapinta Drive and Ross Highway are sealed for a couple hundred kilometres in each direction, but after that they convert to dirt roads which you will need a 4x4 vehicle to access.
  • Go nextThere is a web of dirt trails - sometimes called unsealed roads - which surrounds Alice Springs, and some of the nicest places within a few hours drive will require a four-wheel drive vehicle (4x4) to get to.

From Wikivoyage: Alice Springs, CC BY-SA. Not yet checked by us. Last edited 2026-09.

Text adapted from Wikipedia and Wikivoyage, CC BY-SA 4.0. Photograph: Dominic Nelson (see Commons), Wikimedia Commons.