The 21 best things to do in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

It's lights, camera and serious action as the Red Centre morphs into a delicate and huge web of glowing colours each night at Field of Light Uluru. Designed by renowned British artist Bruce Munro, this dazzling light spectacle is currently the largest of its kind to date. As dusk falls, the dark desert becomes a canvas for 50,000 swaying, solar-powered spindles of light, which twinkle like the night sky. It’s a truly once-in-a-lifetime art experience set in a once-in-a-lifetime destination.  

If you want to feel like you are on top of the world, take on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk. It's about four hours' drive from Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, and the drive is part of the fun, with long stretches of empty road as far as the eye can see. The six-kilometre Canyon track undulates from sweeping views of Watarrka National Park to the Garden of Eden, an oasis of rare plants and rock holes filled with precious water. The first 500 steps are steep, but then it’s easier going. Warning: it gets pretty hot in the desert, so we’d suggest starting the walk before 9am. The orange and red sandstone looks particularly vibrant during sunrise so it’s worth the effort to go early.

When it comes to once-in-a-lifetime meals, it’s hard to top Sounds of Silence, Australia's first under-the-stars dining experience. Set in the heart of the Australian desert with spectacular views of Uluru at sunset, guests will enjoy a beautiful three-course bush tucker-inspired buffet with premium Australian wines and beers. The evening becomes even more magical with a didgeridoo performance and a star talk that brings the twinkling night sky to life. 

While you're in Uluru, take a 40-minute drive to Kata Tjuta (formerly known as The Olgas) to explore another remarkable and magnificent red rock formation that's imbued with ancient secrets and deep spiritual meaning. You can choose from easy walks or more challenging hikes, each leading you through or ending at the Kata Tjuta dune viewing area, where you’ll enjoy stunning panoramic vistas of the 36 steep-sided domes.

If watching an Uluru sunrise is high on your bucket list (which it should be), you’ll want to stay somewhere that guarantees beauty sleep before the big show. Enter Sails in the Desert. Named after the striking white, sail-shaped awnings that shade the property, Sails is the only five-star hotel at Ayers Rock Resort – the major complex housing all the accommodation, shops and restaurants, just a ten-minute drive from Uluru. Complimentary perks include airport transfers, a shuttle bus, pool access and cultural activities.

Follow the locals to the Outback Hotel for ice-cold drinks, classic pub fare, free pool and live tunes six nights a week. For a fun, do-it-yourself barbecue experience, head over to the Outback BBQ and Bar. Here, you can pick a cut of meat or fish from the butcher-style counter, then fire it up on the communal barbecues, before loading your plate with sides, including jacket potatoes, pesto pasta salad and charred corn. Next door, the Outback Kiosk is open daily from noon to 9pm, serving casual favourites, like pizzas, fish and chips, and burgers.

Audible gasps are aplenty as 1,200 drones light up the desert night sky for Uluru’s most breathtaking spectacle, Wintjiri Wiru. Created in close collaboration with the local Anangu community, this immersive cultural storytelling experience uses cutting-edge lasers and light projections to share an ancient story of one of the world’s oldest living cultures. It’s a mesmerising display, marking the first time a show of this kind and magnitude has been performed regularly anywhere in the world.  

Acknowledgement: As custodians of the land, Anangu hold the Mala story from Kaltukatjara to Uluru. To share their story, Ramus designed and produced an artistic platform using drones, light and sound to create an immersive storytelling experience.

Early birds are in for a real treat with Desert Awakenings, an unforgettable sunrise experience in the heart of the Red Centre. After being picked up from your hotel, you’ll be whisked away to a private sunrise viewing spot, where the starry night sky gradually transitions from dark blue into a symphony of dusty pink, orange and yellow – a sight that photos simply don't do justice. A classic Aussie breakfast of damper and bacon and egg rolls is included, and post-sunrise, you’ll set off on an interpretive tour at the base of Uluru. 

The siren call of the great red north just got even louder, with the unveiling of an all-new, immersive Indigenous art experience in mid-2024. Sunrise Journeys illuminates the talents of three Anangu artists, who have collaborated on a bespoke dot painting that tells the story of their deep connection to culture and Country. The vast desert landscape of Uluru and Kata Tjuta will become a living canvas, with their artwork recreated on the dusty red sands before sunrise using cutting-edge laser and light projection. Accompanied by natural soundscapes and the artists' narration, this breathtaking display unfolds against the backdrop of Uluru at sunrise. Pure magic!

Arguably one of Australia’s most spectacular and famous walks, the Uluṟu Base Walk allows you to fully appreciate the immensity and wonder of the mammoth red rock and sacred Aṉangu Country. Start in the early morning and follow the shade around the monolith by walking clockwise. The ancient landscape around Uluṟu is highly diverse, encompassing acacia woodlands and claypans, and dotted with cascading waterholes and rock art paintings. You will pass several important cultural sites that are part of the Tjukurpa (creation stories), so make sure to respect the restrictions on photography. 

Time Out tip: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park runs free, daily, ranger-guided tours that follow the Mala Walk along the base of Uluru through to Kantji Gorge waterfall. Along the way, you’ll learn how Uluru and Kata Tjuta formed, admire rock art, and hear Tjutkurpa (creation stories) of the rock formations.

Aboriginal art is no one thing. It’s as varied as the colours of a desert sunset, each creation holding its own cultural significance. At the Gallery of Central Australia, you can admire art from more than 25 art centres in the Central Desert Region. In addition to dot paintings, GoCA showcases textiles, wood carvings, jewellery and other handcrafted items that you can purchase as a memento of your time in Uluru. It’s worth joining the daily guided tours at 10.30am to learn more about the creation stories behind each artwork. Eager for more? You can also explore Mulgara Gallery (located in the foyer of Sails in the Desert), or, Wintjiri Art Gallery and Maruku Arts (both located at the park’s Cultural Centre). 

With long flat desert plains, little to zero light pollution and very low humidity, Uluru is famous for being a brilliant place to see stars. At night, the heavens are so bright and plentiful that you'll feel like you're walking through the Milky Way. To get the most out of a stargazing experience in Uluru, we recommend doing an astronomy tour, where you'll learn the Indigenous history of these very ancient constellations. 

Whether you marvel at Uluru from its base or afar, try to check out the heritage-listed sandstone monolith from as many different viewpoints as possible. Right up close you can explore crevasses and caves, which are filled with history, paintings and even the Mutitjulu water hole. From way back, you can admire its sheer size and the different colours it turns as the sunlight hits it. Forget about the selfies; just embrace it for what it is.

Hop on the back of a Harley, bop along on a camel, cruise along on a segway or ride high in an all-terrain vehicle. There are countless ways to get around Uluru, each promising an experience in itself. We suggest saddling up for a calming camel ride, where you can take in the vast expanse of the desert at a relaxed pace. Uluru Camel Tours runs camel train tours daily, but if they’re fully booked (read: book early), you can still explore the camel farm – Australia’s largest – for free.

Once dubbed the best place to see the sunset in the world, Uluru's skies are just as spectacular as its rocky flanks. Park up at Uluru’s car sunset viewing area and you’ll be in full view of the western surface, where a reaction between the mineral particles in the sandstone and the sun’s rays reflect hues of yellow, pink, deep red and fluorescent orange. An Uluru sunset is nothing short of breathtaking – it’s no wonder watching it is a bucket-lister for many domestic and international travellers.

If you're after glamping with a capital G, you can't look past the otherworldly wonder of Longitude 131º. Direct private view of Uluru? Tick. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the desert stars? Tick. Five-star lodgings fit for an earthy rockstar? Tick. Although this glamping experience edges more on being a five-star resort than a humble tent, a tent it still is, and a pretty epic one at that. If you pitch up in one of their 16 raised tents, you'll get an incredible view of Uluru, spa treatments, and free-flowing artisan food and liquor. If you're feeling very fancy, you can book the 'Dune Pavilion', an immense luxury suite with deep rainwater bathtubs and a private plunge pool that has a view of both Kata Tjuta (The Olgas) and Uluru. Priceless.

Forget about four walls – the Southern Desert sky is your roof for this intimate, open-air dining experience, open exclusively during the cooler months. Tali Wiru, meaning 'beautiful dune' in the local Anangu language, offers a sensational five-star, four-course dinner, drawing on native ingredients and flavours – think finger lime caviar, desert succulents, wattleseed gelato and Kakadu plum compote. Paired with Penfold wines and the soothing sounds of a didgeridoo, the only thing that might distract you from the food is the stunning setting – Uluru is your dining companion.

If you haven’t had enough of the sound and light spectacles at Uluru, drive 3.5 hours to Kings Canyon where you can check out Light-Towers. This immersive, outback maze (also designed by Bruce Munro) at the Discovery Resort consists of two 69-metre tall towers that change colour in tune with sound. Whether you visit at sunrise, sunset or after-dark, wandering among this stunning installation beneath the desert stars – all while an ethereal soundtrack plays in the background – is a pretty magical experience. 

If you don’t stumble upon bush plum (arnguli), native fig (ili) and quandong (wayanu) plants while exploring Kata Tjuta National Park, you’re sure to find these ingredients incorporated into nearly every menu in Uluru. Keen to learn more or sample these delights? Ayers Rock Resort runs a free, daily Bush Food Experience, where you’ll learn to identify, gather and prepare these local bush foods that the Anangu people have survived on for tens of thousands of years. 

The didgeridoo is thought to be the world’s oldest wind instrument, created by Aboriginal people in the Northern Territory thousands of years ago. Traditionally known as yidaki, this instrument was played only by men during ceremonial occasions, but today is played by women just as well as men. You can listen to the enchanting sounds of the didgeridoo and play along with clapsticks in a free didgeridoo workshop, held daily at 11am and 3pm outside the Gallery of Central Australia.

Flying above South Australia and the Northern Territory is a spectacle in itself – hilly green ranges transform into vast plains of rust desert. While you’re in the sky also keep an eye out for the stunning flats surrounding Lake Eyre. And when you’re close to landing, you’ll be able to spot Uluru from a bird’s eye view.