Adelaide to Alice Springs road trip: Distance, hours & best stops
The 1,535km drive from Adelaide to Alice Springs should take 15-and-three-quarter hours. Turn it into a road trip, and good stops between Adelaide and Alice Springs include the Barossa Valley, Woomera, Lake Hart and Coober Pedy.
The Australian outback is an enormous place, as you’ll quickly discover on an Adelaide to Alice Springs road trip through the middle of the country. Alice Springs is pretty much in the centre of Australia, but getting there from anywhere else takes a really long time.
Adelaide brings food tours of the fabulous Central Market, Torrens River cruises, swimming with dolphins and the chance to walk across the roof of the Adelaide Oval. To book Adelaide accommodation, step this way. For a full range of Adelaide tours and experiences, explore here.
Alice Springs offers hot air ballooning over the rugged outback, spectacular adventures in the West MacDonnell Ranges and quirky camel rides. For a bigger range of Alice Springs activities, step this way, and for Alice Springs accommodation, book here.
Seven essential Alice Springs activities to add to your trip.
- See imposing red rock cliffs and stunning swimming holes – on a West MacDonnell Ranges day trip.
- Glide across the changing morning colours of the outback – on a hot air balloon ride.
- See how education works across the outback – at the School of the Air.
- Take in the epic outback scenery – on a scenic flight.
- See the outback wildlife come to life – on a Desert Park nocturnal tour.
- Try camel rides through the red dirt landscape – and learn the weird history of Aussie camels.
- See stunning, often unvisited outback sites – on a Palm Valley 4wd tour.
The nearest big city to Alice Springs is Adelaide in South Australia. Northern Territory capital Darwin is ever-so-slightly closer, but it’d be extremely generous calling Darwin a big city.
For much of the Northern Territory outback, though, Alice Springs is the big smoke. That’s despite having a population of just over 25,000. On the way north on the seemingly interminable Stuart Highway, Alice Springs is a logical place to stop. It has supermarkets, traffic lights and everything.
Adelaide to Alice Springs distance and driving time
According to Google Maps, the drive from Adelaide to Alice Springs should take 15 hours and 44 minutes.
15 fabulous Adelaide experiences to supercharge your visit
- DOLPHINS 🐬: Swim with wild dolphins, kayak with the resident bottlenose pod or watch them on a dolphin cruise.
- FOOD AND WINE 🍷: Indulge on Adelaide food tour including Adelaide Central Market. Or try a wine discovery tour with tastings at the National Wine Centre. Or the ultimate Penfolds Magill Estate experience with full estate tour & Grange tasting.
- WILDLIFE 🐨: Spot koalas on a guided Morialta nature hike. Or walk from Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty with entrance to Cleland Wildlife Park.
- CRUISES ⛵: Watch the sun set on a twilight coastal cruise, get to know the city on a Torrens River cruise or take a high tea cruise aboard the Popeye.
- SPORT 🏏: Dare to take on the Adelaide Oval Roofclimb or enter the fabled scoreboard on the behind-the-scenes stadium tour.
- ACTION 🚵♂️: Descend Mount Lofty on a downhill mountain bike tour or kayak along the Torrens River.
That Adelaide to Alice Springs driving time is based on sticking to speed limits.
The distance from Adelaide to Alice Springs is 1,535km going by the quickest route, although barrelling straight up the Stuart Highway towards the Tropic of Capricorn is effectively the only route. Fortunately, car hire cost is not prohibitive.
There is a little light frivolity before hitting the outback, however. A road trip from Adelaide to Alice Springs starts with the Adelaide to Port Augusta drive via Lake Bumbunga. If you’re smart, this takes minor detours through the Barossa Valley and Clare Valley wine regions, or Mount Remarkable National Park.
8 unusual Barossa Valley experiences to book in advance
- Half day Mustang convertible tour.
- Two hour kayaking experience.
- Half day trike tour with commentary via headsets.
- Wine-tasting tour in a bright red London cab.
- Winery hopping by e-bike.
- Gin-making workshop with lunch.
- Behind the scenes VIP tour at Seppeltsfield.
- Learn about barrel-making at the Yalumba Cooperage.
Once you leave the crossroads town of Port Augusta, though, it’s relentless saltbush and spinifex. The outback scenery on the Port Augusta to Coober Pedy leg of the journey is surprisingly entrancing, though. The sky seems huge, the horizon relentless, the sense of conquest palpable.
Click through for the next section: Stuart Highway attractions.