- Home
- Northern Territory
-
Alice Springs Tourism Guide
Alice Springs Tourism & Travel
Alice Springs Australia
In the centre of Australia surrounded by red desert lies Alice Springs, population 22,488, in Arrente country. The original Alice Spring, that the town was named after, is still there. It is a permanent waterhole that clinched the location of an Overland Telegraph Station and was named after the wife of the Postmaster General of South Australia. Although Alice may have once been a remote outpost, the second biggest town in the Territory now has all the conveniences of a modern city.
Alice Springs History
The township was originally called Stuart but officially became Alice Springs in 1933.
From the first residents in the 1870s until the completion of a railway service between Adelaide and Alice the town grew very little and supplies were brought in by camel train. The railway was completed in 1929 and the service became known as The Ghan after the Afghan camel drivers. A surfaced road link was not completed until the 1940s.
Since the 1970s a huge increase in tourism has brought fast growth and Alice Springs is now a lively city. Although the population is around 22 000, 400 000 travellers visit every year.
Alice Springs Today
Alice can be used as a base to travel to the Simpson Desert, MacDonnell Ranges, Uluru Ayers Rock and Kata Tjuta The Olgas.
The Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre, Jukurrpa Artists and Warumpi Arts are all Aboriginal owned and can be found in the centre of Alice Springs.
CAAMA radio is a station dedicated to providing a quality service to Aboriginal people has quickly become popular with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people due to its different and appealing approach. An art and souvenir retail outlet, CAAMA Shop, owned by Aboriginal community of Alice Springs can be found just out of Alice Springs town centre.
Alice Springs Climate
Between May and September, cloudless skies and warms are followed by refreshingly cool nights. The rest of the year is very hot and dust storms are common. Rains are usually brief but can come at any time of the year.