Uluru, Australia🌅🥾
Uluru, in my opinion, is a place that you must visit, if you have the time. Only a couple hours flight from Sydney or Melbourne, it is definitely worth the trip!
You can experience Uluru in different ways, either through booking a tour, driving there yourself from another state or landing at the airport and hiring a car. I chose to book onto a tour. The main reason was because I was doing it solo, so doing a tour was an easy way to meet people and socialise. This was my first solo trip in three years, since South East Asia and it made me fall back in love with solo travel. Ned chose not to come because it was both expensive and also the wrong time of year to go, due to it being summer, so the temperature was in the high 30s, meaning lots of flies. I went back and forth for a month about going because of this, but ended up booking the trip and I don’t regret it. However, because it took me ages to decide to go, the trip was a lot more expensive than it could have been, so don’t make the same mistake as me!
Flights
Flights can be incredibly cheap from Sydney or Melbourne, you can also go direct from Cairns but I didn’t check them out, so I’m not sure of the price from there. For me, the flights, were $637 AUD return, over $400 more than the flights were when I originally looked at them. Very silly mistake on my part, so if you know you want to go, book those flights asap! I flew direct from Sydney to Ayres Rock Airport, but you do have the option to fly to Alice Springs if you prefer, however, they are normally more expensive.
Depending on the tour you book and your plans for the rest of Australia, I personally think flying to Ayres Rock is the much better option. When booking your flights please note that flying to Alice Springs you would need to have arrived before 6am on the day your tour starts, which is when you get collected to make the drive down to Yulara, Ayres Rock. Meeting these requirements means you would most likely have to get there the day before, which isn’t included in the tour price so you would have to organise accommodation at your own cost. If you are flying into Ayres Rock Airport, make sure your flights arrive before 1pm as you will be collected between 1.45-2pm to begin your tour, I got in at 12:25pm.
Tour
There are many tour companies to choose from, but I went with Adventure Tours, who I was highly recommended to use. They offer 1, 2 or 3 night tours and I chose the 3 nights, swag (tent) accommodation option but you can upgrade to your own pre-made tent at an additional cost. Driving and hiring a car/camper yourself would probably be better for the flexibility but as I was solo, I didn’t want to be driving across the outback by myself!
The 3 nights tour cost $825 AUD and included, three nights accommodation, three meals a day plus snacks and the National Parks Pass for four days. Details on the 1 and 2 nights tours can be found on their website here.
The main difference between the 2 and 3 nights tour was that the 2 nights tour was for people flying out from Alice Springs. Once you have lunch after the Kings Canyon hike, those going to Alice Springs will get collected and get driven a further 3.5 hours arriving around 6pm. Depending on where you want to fly, there aren’t a lot of late flights so you might have to stay another night in Alice Springs, this accommodation for the 2 nights tour is not included, so you would have to book your own.
This was the same for me as it was not guaranteed what time we would be back to Ayres Rock from Kings Canyon, and because there were no late flights back to Sydney that same day I needed to stay another night. Because of this, it made no sense for me not to book the 3 nights tour as this third nights accommodation plus food was all included in the tour price. Our full itinerary will be explained below!
4 days, 3 nights tour itinerary
Day 1: Kata Tjuta (The Olga’s) | Uluru Sunset
After landing, I took the free 10 minute shuttle bus to the Deserts Garden Hotel. If your flight lands early and you have a few hours until you are meant to be collected at 1:45pm, Adventure Tours will email you to say that your new pick up point is at Deserts Garden Hotel. I got a booking confirmation email after I had paid for the tour stating they had changed my pick up point, only because there is nothing at the airport whereas the hotel is in Ayres Rock Resort, so there are more facilities there.
After getting collected and a short drive, you will arrive at Kata Tjuta (The Olga’s). Its 36 domes are of various sizes and is quite a contrast to Uluru. Here you will gain an understanding of the landscape and history of the domes when you get to walk inbetween them on the Walpa Gorge Walk. This walk takes around one hour return to complete, so only thirty minutes both ways once you get to the viewing platform. This walk is the only one done in the afternoon, so the temperature can be very hot! Make sure to wear suncream and drink lots of water as you will need it!
After the Gorge Walk, you will go to the Kata Tjuta Dunes Viewing Area, where you can see the domes at a further distance.
After Kata Tjuta you will get driven to your first nights campsite where you can drop your things and start setting up for the evening.
Once everyone is ready, drive down to the Uluru viewing area and enjoy a light snack of crackers, cheese, and picky bits. As the sun begins to set, it casts various tones over Uluru before losing its glow.
After you get back to camp, get your swags and sleeping bags organised before enjoying a delicious spread of food with your tour group. The meals for the tour are the same for everyone, everyday, every tour. We had steak or sausages with mash, salad, and coleslaw for dinner. If you have any dietary requirements they cater for them as well!
As we had an early start the next morning we had an early night, however, if you don’t, make sure to sit outside under the stars because they are incredible.
Day 2: Uluru | Kings Canyon
Day two we woke up at 3:45am to the soft song of ‘Here comes the sun’ before having breakfast and getting ready for a 4:45am departure. This early start is rewarded with an incredible Uluru sunrise, however, the starting point of the base walk is a culturally sensitive site, meaning you can’t take photos of Uluru for the first 45 minutes of the walk. The full base walk around Uluru is self-guided, and can take between two to three hours depending on your pace and how many times you stop to read signs or take photos.
Your guide will meet you half an hour into the walk to give you some snacks before you carry on for another 45 minutes. At the next car park over, your guide will join you for the last 40 minutes walk to go through the history of Uluru, the women’s and man’s cave and the Kantju Gorge.
You will then visit the Cultural Centre, learn about the aboriginal history and view hand-crafted art by local people. There is also a cafe here and souvenir shops for you to browse at. Once back at camp, you will get your belongings ready before having delicious burgers for lunch. By midday you will drive three hours to Watarrka National Park (Kings Canyon).
This second camp is a tour favourite, because of the location, the sunset spot and the magical stars. First help each other by preparing dinner together, be mindful there is only one guide for a group of up to 25 people, so they appreciate any help! We made a delicious thai curry before walking ten minutes to the sunset spot, which was incredible. Remember to wear mozzie spray and bring your fly net hat. Spend another night under the stars in your swag!
Day 3: Kings Canyon | Uluru
Kings Canyon, in Watarrka National Park is another tour highlight. A lot of people miss this hike but I would 100% recommend it. The canyon is a huge gorge enclosed by sheer rock walls. If you have been to the Bungles Bungles in Purnululu National Park, this is very similar, but just as amazing. This hike is the hardest out of all three you do in the tour, and probably the most dangerous, which is why your guide goes with you. It can take around three to four hours to complete depending on your pace, includes 500 steps at the beginning, steep moments and sheer cliffs all around making it very strict with staying three meters away from the edge. The rangers for the park are also quite strict with the amount of water you take with you. They state one litre of water an hour should be taken, meaning you should take three litres with you from the beginning. Our guide mentioned that sometimes the rangers check if you have three litres and if you don’t, you and the guide might be fined for not following the parks rules. You also don’t want to get heat stroke or run out of water, so its best to bring as much as you can, even though it is heavy to carry.
Along the hike, your guide will point out the canyon’s most famous locations, such as the Lost City, the Garden of Eden and the North & South Walls of the canyon. It was jaw dropping how amazing this walk was so make sure to add the extra day in!
Once back at camp, we have wraps for lunch before hitting the road. We drop anyone going to Alice Springs at the drop off point, before continuing back to Ayres Rock Resort. Once we arrived back, we had free time to do whatever we wanted. There’s a pool at camp, camel tours or a viewing platform that you can check out and has views of both Kata Tjuta and Uluru. We went to the lookout for sunset and if you wait there long enough, you will be lucky enough to watch the Drones Light Show for free!
Day 4: Yulara | Ayers Rock Airport
After a nice lie in (depending on your flight), enjoy one last breakfast with your tour before getting dropped off at the airport or Desert Gardens Hotel. If you have time before your flight, you can leave your luggage at the hotel and spend some time at Ayers Rock Resort, which has cafes, souvenir shops and an IGA for snacks. There are regular free airport shuttles from the Desert Gardens Hotel to the Ayers Rock Airport, which is what I took on the first day.
All in all, I am so glad I booked this trip. It was amazing and I had so much fun getting back into solo travel. You don’t realise how much you rely on friends or partners when travelling, so it was great having to socialise by myself and meeting new people from other countries. Definitely recommend Adventure Tours, the guide was so friendly, she made everyone feel welcome, had a great understanding of Uluru and its history, answered any questions that we had, and overall made it good vibes!
