Alice Springs Transportation

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Only two airlines fly to Alice Springs Airport (airport code ASP).

They are Qantas and Tiger. Almost 100% of the time Tiger will fly there cheaper, but their times will be less convenient and they will not give you meals or entertainment unless you pay for it. They also don't have any Frequent flyer miles. Like most things you get what you pay for.

there are no international flights out of ASP - you have to go to one of Melbourne, Syndey, Cairns, Darwin, or Perth first. Keep in mind that most flights leave earlier, not later in the day. You need to make sure you have time to get to the airport from the town center, which takes 20mins and costs maybe $70 by taxi. If you stayed at Toddy's or Alice Lodge there's a shuttle bus you book the night before you leave for $12.

There's 8 gates, all in the same hall, and there is a sole baggage claim. You cannot get lost. There is a cafe and a bar though, and they serve okay food with good drinks.

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I decided to take the Greyhound Croc Stopover Package to get from Darwin to Alice Springs. At 269 AUD, it was reasonably priced and included coach travel between Darwin and Alice Springs with 2 stops. One stop was optional and the other was an all inclusive stay at the Nitmiluk Katherine Gorge tent village for one night (shuttle to and from Katherine bus station, linen, bedding, pillow, dinner at the poolside kiosk or bistro, and a pancake breakfast). You have up to 14 days to complete the trip but I planned to do it in 4 days. Besides Katherine Gorge, I picked the Mataranka Homestead as my other overnight stop.

Everything would have been fine except that the bus departed Darwin at 13:40 instead of noon because it was stuck behind another bus with mechanical problems at the maintenance facility. We arrived in Katherine at 17:30 instead of 16:10. The station was closed and no one was there from Nitmiluk Tours to pick me up. When I called them, they refused to pick me up in Katherine since the bus arrived 30 minutes after my scheduled pick up time, which was 17:00. When I asked the bus driver what to do, he said to call the head Greyhound office. That was no help, so I decided to stay on the bus and go to Mataranka Homestead a day early. Fortunately they had plenty of vacancies and I got a room with no problem. All is well that ends well. Mataranka Homestead turned out to be a very nice place to visit.

After two days and nights at Mataranka, the bus picked me up exactly on time (18:45). I spent the third night traveling on the bus and we arrived in Alice Springs around 09:00. BTW, one of the rest stops in between was Aileron at around 07:00. Aileron is an interesting place because it has some huge metal sculptures. The Greyhound Australia bus station in Alice Springs is on Gap Road about two blocks south of the Todd Mall entrance. There is a taxi stop across the street from the Todd Mall on Gregory Terrace next to the Visitors' Center.

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Alice Springs Airport is remote to the town (as most airports are). The Alice Springs Airport Shuttle meets all incoming and departing flights to the airport and offers a fast, friendly and convenient service to the various hotels, hostels and accommodation throughout Alice Springs.

Transfer from the airport to Alice Springs can be booked on arrival, just look for the bus at the drop-off zone in front of the terminal - the driver remains with the bus and tickets can be bought from the driver (cash only). Return transfers are available.

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I caught the "Ghan Train"from Adelaide to Darwin crossing the continent from south to north stopping in Port Augusta and Alice Springs ..where I chose to stop for five days so as I could visit the Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and also The Kings canyon National Park..before continuing my journey to Darwin..The trip to Alice Springs from Adelaide is one of about 1600 kilometers and takes around 26 hours and travels right through the "Red Centre" of Australia..leaving Adelaide in the afternoon a lot of the trip is overnight.This was a really a long train..nearly a kilometer long...I chose to travel in the budget cheap seats in the "Red Kangaroo" section of the train..seats are similar to aircraft seats and are comfortable..The restaurant car serves good food and I found (for train food) to not only be good but not expensive and large helpings....unlike European trains where you need a personal loan to get a cup of coffee..there is much interaction with the so many different foreign travellers on board as.. there is a lot of room to move around in restaurant car and lounge car ..plug in PC's or recharges etc..I thoroughly recommend this really fun trip..I had five days in Alice Springs as I wanted to visit ULURU National Park etc.(these National Parks are a must to see).before joining the train for the onward journey to Darwin..(see this info on my Darwin page transport tip) I got tickets on special through ..Great Southern Rail..

Alice Springs Airport is a small airport, serving only 4 airlines (QANTAS, Aboriginal Air, Airlink & Vincent Air).

The Airport Shuttle Bus charges A$12 one way or A$20 return.

The Ghan railway travel from the Darwin in the North through Alice Springs and onto Adelaide in the South and vise versa. I travels a total distance of just under
3000 kms. It offers a very unique way to get to the red centre as well as offering some spectacular views along the way.

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The inside part of the Old Ghan Museum is small, but there are some interesting displays. Admission for seniors in August 2010 was 6 AUD. The kitchen is also there. You order your food at the counter. There are a few tables inside but there are nice outside dining areas in the garden next to the "Galahliment House." If you wish, they will bring your food to you at the tables outside. Their motto is "All food beyond this point is delicious and must be consumed." It's true too! I had the homemade soup lunch special for 8 AUD.

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Work began on the Great Northern Railway in 1878 to link Port Augusta with Darwin to open-up central Australia. The southern section of the line reached Alice Springs in 1929, and the train running this line became known as "The Ghan", named after the Afghan camel drivers who had contributed to the developement of communication and transport links in inland Australia. It was built to the South Australian narrow gauge of 3'6" (1067mm). A new standard gauge railway to Adelaide was built on a different route in 1980 and the Old Ghan was closed.

The Old Ghan Museum and Heritage Railway is all that is left of the narrow gauge. The collection includes an operational heritage railway featuring a W924 Steam locomotive, an NSU diesel electric locomotive, a DH40 shunting engine and a variety of flattops, dining cars bar cars and other carriages. The museum itself houses a collection of photographs and memorabilia relating to all eras of the Old Ghan heritage from construction in the mid 1920's to when the narrow gauge closed.

In the 1990's the Old Ghan made 30 km journeys down the track to Ewaninga each Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, but these trips were eventually stopped in 2001 when the museum had financial problems. Now the museum fires up one of the old steam or diesel engines to take visitors to Mount Ertiva (8km south of the museum) and back on the single-gauge track. Departure is on Sunday at 11:00 AM, returning around 12:30 PM. See also a videoclip.