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The Best Things to Do in Alice Springs for Adventure Seekers
Embark on an unforgettable adventure in the beating heart of Australia's Red Centre.
Alice Springs, or Mparntwe, does not do small impressions. Set between red desert plains and the sculptural spine of the MacDonnell Ranges, this is a place where art, story, heat, dust and history sit close to the surface. Mparntwe is Arrernte Country, with the Arrernte people recognised as the Traditional Custodians, and the surrounding landscape holds powerful Dreaming stories, including those connected to the ancestral caterpillar beings who shaped the town and ranges.
For travellers, Alice Springs is often framed as the gateway to the Red Centre. True, but that undersells it. This is a desert town with its own pulse: Aboriginal art galleries, ochre-coloured ranges, desert gardens, reptile encounters, excellent bakeries, old-school pubs and sunsets that make everyone go a little bit silent. It is rugged, creative, deeply storied and full of surprises, with culture and Country guiding the way. From sacred sites and ancient landscapes to hot air balloons, camel rides and very good coffee, these are the best things to do in Alice Springs.
Best Things to Do in Alice Springs: Explore
Take in the Views From Above
Alice Springs makes a strong case for seeing the desert before the day has found its heat. With Outback Ballooning, you rise above the red plains in the hush of early morning, the MacDonnell Ranges cutting a rugged line across the horizon below. One of Australia’s longest-established ballooning companies, operating here since 1986, it turns the Red Centre into something vast, cinematic and strangely intimate all at once.
Make a Scaly Friend at Alice Springs Reptile Centre
For the creatures you’d rather meet behind glass, Alice Springs Reptile Centre is a brilliant little thrill. Inside are more than 100 reptiles, from tiny geckos and thorny devils to massive goannas, venomous snakes and Terry the saltwater crocodile, viewed safely through his underwater window. The star billing belongs to the perentie, Australia’s largest monitor lizard and a true Red Centre heavyweight.
9 Stuart Terrace, The Gap
Go on an Adventure at Alice Springs Desert Park
Seven kilometres from town, Alice Springs Desert Park is the Red Centre in concentrated form. Set at the base of the MacDonnell Ranges, it traces the life of the desert through three habitats: Desert Rivers, Sand Country and Woodland. The site is culturally significant to the Arrernte people, with connections to Akngwelye Artnwere and Yeperenye Altyerre, while the Nature Theatre brings the drama with free-flying birds of prey, desert animals and survival skills in full flight.
Larapinta Drive, Alice Springs
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Wander Through the Olive Pink Botanic Garden
In a town defined by red earth and big sky, Olive Pink Botanic Garden gives the desert its softer, stranger close-up. Australia’s only arid-zone botanic garden, this 16-hectare reserve was founded by artist, anthropologist and Aboriginal rights activist Miss Olive Pink in the 1950s, and now holds more than 600 Central Australian plant species. Wander the trails for bushfoods, medicine plants, birds, wallabies and views from Tharrarletneme, a sacred Arrernte site also known as Annie Meyers Hill.
27 Tuncks Road, Alice Springs
Explore the Northern Territory on Camelback
This one sits well beyond Alice Springs, but for travellers folding Uluru into a Red Centre itinerary, Uluru Camel Tours earns its place. Based in Yulara, Australia’s largest working camel farm takes you through the desert with Uluru and Kata Tjuta rising in the distance. Go early for sunrise, stay for the ochre light, and let the camels set the pace. It is touristy, yes, but wonderfully so.
10 Kali Circuit, Yulara
Immerse Yourself in Aboriginal Artwork at Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists Gallery
Bindi Mwerre Anthurre Artists is one of Alice Springs’ most remarkable creative spaces. Established in 2000, the studio supports Aboriginal artists living with disability, giving them space, structure and national pathways to develop their practice. The work is vivid, personal and deeply connected to Central Australia, spanning memory, Country, humour and desert life in colour-rich form. Visit the Elder Street gallery to see art with real force behind it, and buy directly from a centre doing vital work.
Sitchu Tip: Alice Springs is one of Australia’s great art towns, so leave time for its wider gallery trail, from Aboriginal-owned art centres to contemporary spaces showing work from across the Central Desert.
47 Elder Street, Alice Springs
Trephina Gorge Nature Park
Make a day of the East MacDonnell Ranges at Trephina Gorge Nature Park, where red quartzite cliffs, sandy creek beds and ghost gums give the landscape its hard-edged beauty. The short Trephina Gorge Walk takes you along the rim before dropping into the creek bed, while more seasoned walkers can tackle the Trephina Ridgetop Walk towards John Hayes Rockhole. It is rugged, sunlit and wonderfully spare, with some of the region’s finest views saved for those willing to climb.
Sitchu Tip: John Hayes Rockhole is worth the detour, but treat it as an adventure rather than a guaranteed swim. After good rain, the waterhole can be a welcome desert dip; in drier stretches, the reward is all rock, scale and silence.
Trephina Gorge Nature Park, Hart
Hike Up Anzac Hill
For the best views in town, head to Anzac Hill, where Alice Springs opens out in every direction. A short, steep climb, or an easy drive, brings you to a lookout framed by the MacDonnell Ranges, with the town below and desert stretching beyond it. Go at sunset, when the ranges deepen in colour, then pause at the memorial. Up here, history, landscape and scale meet without needing much embellishment.
Best Things to Do in Alice Springs: Eat & Drink
The Goods Coffee Shop
After a morning of red dirt, big sky and early starts, The Goods Coffee Shop is where Alice Springs goes for caffeine with a little soul. This family-run Todd Street favourite keeps things easy with excellent coffee, light breakfasts, lunch plates and the sort of sunny, local energy that makes you want to stay for a second cup. Pull up, refuel and plot your next desert move.
11 Todd Street, Alice Springs
The Bakery
Run by husband-and-wife team Neil and Mel, The Bakery is one of those Alice Springs staples that makes an early start feel worth it. The cabinets are stacked with sourdough, artisan loaves, pastries, pies and doughnuts filled by hand, all made with quality ingredients and a properly loyal local following. Stop in for coffee and something flaky, or leave with a loaf for the road.
4/11 Todd Street, Alice Springs
Epilogue Lounge
Epilogue Lounge is the Alice Springs all-rounder with more personality than the average breakfast-to-late-night brief. By day, it’s coffee, brunch favourites and locally minded plates at the edge of Todd Mall; by night, the mood shifts to tapas, pizzas, cocktails, craft beers and rooftop music. It has been part of the town’s dining fabric since 2013, and you can feel it: relaxed, social, a little offbeat and exactly where you want to land after a day in the dust.
1/58 Todd Mall, Alice Springs
Bella Alice
Bella Alice brings a little Italian ease to the middle of Alice Springs. By day, its cafeteria keeps Todd Mall moving with Segafredo coffee, breakfast and casual bites; by night, the restaurant and pizzeria becomes the main event, with wood-fired pizzas, homemade pastas and European-inspired plates built for an easy dinner after a day in the desert. It is relaxed, generous and refreshingly unfussy, with enough Red Centre charm to keep it from feeling like anywhere else.
57 Todd Mall, Alice Springs
Warung Makan Alice
Warung Makan Alice brings Indonesian comfort food to Hartley Street with the ease of somewhere built on big flavour and little fuss. The menu moves through fragrant nasi goreng, slow-cooked beef rendang, noodles, sambal and rice dishes made for hungry travellers who have had their fill of red dirt and road time. Casual, generous and full of spice, it is one of Alice Springs’ best low-key dinner moves.
64 Hartley Street, Alice Springs
Bojangles Saloon & Dining Room
Bojangles Saloon & Dining Room is Alice Springs turned all the way up: part saloon, part pub, part late-night local institution. Come for the big plates, pizzas, pastas and steak-night theatrics, then stay for the trivia, karaoke or live music that keeps Todd Street ticking after dark. It is not here to be subtle, and that is precisely the charm.
80 Todd Street, Alice Springs
Loco Burrito
For a quick, satisfying feed between desert adventures, Loco Burrito keeps things fresh, fast and full of flavour. This locally owned Alice Springs favourite does slow-cooked Mexican food with a Tex-Mex tilt, from burritos and tacos to nachos loaded with house-made salsa, fresh lime, slow-cooked meats and guacamole mashed daily. Grab it to go, or settle into the courtyard for a casual, spice-laced reset.
10/74 Todd Street, Alice Springs
Best Things to Do in Alice Springs: Stay
DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs
DoubleTree by Hilton Alice Springs is for travellers who want the Red Centre by day and resort comforts by golden hour. Set between the Todd River and Alice Springs Golf Club, with the MacDonnell Ranges rising behind it, the hotel has 236 refreshed rooms and suites, a garden-framed outdoor pool, tennis courts, 24-hour gym, self-service laundry and several dining options, including Saltbush and Hanuman. Plus, after a $6 million room refresh, it feels current where it counts: cool sheets, range views, post-adventure swims and easy tour pick-ups.
82 Barrett Drive, Alice Springs
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Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters
Crowne Plaza Alice Springs Lasseters is the easy, resort-style base for travellers who want the Red Centre by day and a refreshing pool moment by late afternoon. Set beneath the MacDonnell Ranges, the hotel has 205 rooms, a resort pool, spa, sauna, gym and several dining options across the wider Lasseters precinct. After a morning in the dust, that combination starts to look very good indeed.
93 Barrett Dr, Alice Springs
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Sturt Desert Pea House
Sturt Desert Pea House is the Alice Springs stay for travellers who want a whole house with real Red Centre character. Set on the outskirts of town, this mud-brick and local-stone property has recycled timber, leadlight windows, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a mezzanine, balcony, outdoor BBQ area, native garden and a fenced saltwater pool made for hot desert afternoons. It is spacious, self-contained and wonderfully suited to families or friends travelling together.
Outskirts of Alice Springs
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Now you’re done adding all the things to do in Alice Springs, line up your travel dates with our cultural guide for all the events and festivals happening in the Northern Territory in 2026. Or, continue planning your trip around Australia and let the stars take you on an adventure with these Australian holiday destinations that match your zodiac sign.
