Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus: Prices, time & tours
The Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus is not quick, but it is convenient for visitors wanting to explore the Red Centre without hiring a car.
If exploring the Red Centre of Australia’s Northern Territory, having your own car is the best way to get around. However, it is surprisingly doable without wheels – a combination of bus transfers and guided tours can get you to most of the key sights.
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.
Book your Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus tickets here.
Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus price
A key factor in being able to tackle the Red Centre this way is the triangle of coach transfers between Alice Springs, the Ayers Rock Resort near Uluru and the Kings Canyon Resort near Kings Canyon.
You can book an Alice Springs to Uluru bus, then a bus from Uluru to Kings Canyon, and finish the triangle on the Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus. Tickets for the latter cost $189 and can be booked online.
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Kings Canyon to Alice Springs bus time
Be warned: This is not the quickest way to get from Kings Canyon to Alice Springs. There are short cuts if you are driving and have a 4WD vehicle. Going by coach takes around seven hours and 15 minutes. Although it does have the benefit of dropping you directly at your Alice Springs hotel.
If you do just one thing in Alice Springs…
Make it a West MacDonnell Ranges day tour. It’ll show off many of the Red Centre’s most dramatic gorges, photogenic swimming holes, rugged landscapes and weird rock formations. (FIND OUT MORE).
Australia travel expert David Whitley.
There are also lunch and refreshment stops at the Kings Creek Station and Erldunda Roadhouse on the way to Alice Springs.
Ways of exploring Kings Canyon without your own car include doing a guided rim walk. You can also learn about Indigenous life on the Karrke Aboriginal Cultural Experience.
Things to do in Alice Springs once you get there include learning about outback ecosystems at the Alice Springs Desert Park, hot air balloon rides and taking a history-drenched highlights tour.
Best Alice Springs accommodation choices
These are the best Alice Springs accommodation picks:
- For a solid, relatively affordable motel: Elkira Court Motel.
- For villas, gardens and a lagoon-style pool: Desert Palms.
- For backpackers: Alice’s Secret Travellers Inn.
- For a kid-friendly holiday park: Discovery Parks Alice Springs.
- For business-friendly serviced apartments: Quest Alice Springs.
The essential Kings Canyon checklist
- Book your transfer to Uluru (or from Uluru).
- Or fix up your bus to Alice Springs.
- Book your accommodation at Discovery Parks – Kings Canyon or Kings Creek Station.
- Reserve your place on the guided Kings Canyon Rim Walk.
- Consider doing the easier canyon floor walk with a guide.
- Maybe add the Karrke Aboriginal cultural experience to your trip.
More Red Centre travel
What’s the price of an Uluru Park Pass.
Can you swim in the Ellery Creek Big Hole?
What are the best day trips from Alice Springs?
Where to stop on an Adelaide to Uluru road trip.
What are the best day trips from Uluru?