Ayers Rock tours
An Uluru rock tour is bought by people who have seen the photograph and want to know what is actually there. The short answer: a single enormous sandstone rock standing alone in the red desert of the Northern Territory, 10.5 kilometres around its base, inside the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, with a waterhole, gorges and caves of Aboriginal rock art at ground level and the domes of Kata Tjuta an hour to the west. It has two names in common use, Uluru and Ayers Rock, and the listings on this site use both. This page is about the rock rather than the hour of day: what is at the base, which of the 18 listings get you to it, and how long each one gives you there. Fares across the site run from $69 to $1,249.
Quick answer
The short answer. If you want the rock at close range for as long as possible, book $182: the full 10.5 km lap of the base at first light, Mutitjulu Waterhole on the way, transfers included, 4.9 from 443 reviews. If you would rather walk it, $175 is six hours on foot in a small group with Kantju Gorge and rock art. And if you have one day and want the rock plus the culture plus dinner, our top pick across the whole site is $280.
The two names
Both names point at the same rock. Uluru is the name used by the Anangu, the local Aboriginal people, and it is the name the national park carries: Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park. Ayers Rock is the older name still attached to the nearest settlement, Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara, which is where most listings on this site collect you. So the two names sit side by side in practice: you fly in to the resort called one thing and stand in front of the rock called the other.
Which is why an Uluru rock tour and an Ayers Rock trip are the same booking. Operators mix the names freely, and so do the listing titles on this site. Nothing about the itinerary, the fare or the viewing areas changes with the wording.
The rock is not the only thing in the park. Kata Tjuta, a group of domes described in the listings as mystical, sits about an hour west, and one listing walks you through Walpa Gorge there. The Field of Light, an installation by the artist Bruce Munro, is set in open desert within sight of the rock. And the desert itself — red sand and spinifex in every direction — is what most people remember about the drive.
One plain fact about the top. The route to the summit has been closed since 2019. Every listing on this site works at ground level, and the things worth seeing — the waterhole, the gorges, the caves, the rock art — are all down there anyway.
Every trip, current fare
These are the listings that put you at the foot of the rock rather than at a viewing area: two walks round the full 10.5 km, two Segway listings, a small-group morning, two afternoons that take in the waterhole and the rock art, and a private listing with an Anangu guide. Cost per hour divides the fare by the listed length.
| Tour | Length | Price | What is included | Cost per hour | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uluru Highlights Small Group Morning Tour + Picnic BreakfastSmall group, breakfast, three hours | 3 h | $133 | A small-group morning: breakfast, Mutitjulu Waterhole, rock art and a drive round the base | $44.33 | 4.7 · 279 |
| Uluru: Sacred Sites & Sunset Tour with Wine & CheeseboardSacred sites, then wine at sunset | 5 h | $131 | Mutitjulu Waterhole, Aboriginal rock art, then sunset with sparkling wine and a cheeseboard | $26.20 | 4.5 · 515 |
| Best of Uluru - Segway and Walking TourRated 4.8 — Segway plus caves | 4 h | $154 | The most scenic stretch of the base by Segway, then caves and rock art on foot | $38.50 | 4.8 · 289 |
| Uluru: Guided Walking Tour at Sunrise with Light BreakfastThe full 10.5 km on foot at dawn | 5.5 h | $131 | The whole 10.5 km base on foot as the sun comes up, with a light breakfast and commentary | $23.82 | 4.6 · 316 |
| Uluru: Guided Trek of Uluru's Base in a Small GroupRated 4.8 — six hours on foot | 6 h | $175 | Six hours trekking the full base in a small group, with breakfast, Kantju Gorge and rock art | $29.17 | 4.8 · 269 |
| Uluru Base Segway Tour at SunriseRated 4.9 — the base at first light | 5 h | $182 | The full 10.5 km base by Segway at first light, with Mutitjulu Waterhole and transfers | $36.40 | 4.9 · 443 |
| Uluru: Small Group Guided Tour with Sunset RefreshmentsRated 4.8 — the Mala walk | 5 h | $175 | Mutitjulu Waterhole, the Mala walk and sunset refreshments with sparkling wine, small group | $35.00 | 4.8 · 217 |
| Uluru Private Tour with Aboriginal GuidePrivate, with an Anangu guide | $1,249 | A private trip with a local Anangu guide (the Anangu guide option must be selected) | — | 5 · 1 |
The strings people type
These phrases all arrive at the same rock, and most of them come from people looking at photographs rather than booking an Uluru rock tour. Here is what each one is usually after.
| What people type | What it is usually after | Where it lands |
|---|---|---|
| Uluru Ayers Rock tour | Both names in one string, generally to check they are the same place. They are. | Any of the 18 listings here |
| the rock tour Uluru | Shorthand for a trip that goes round the base rather than one that watches from a car park. | The eight base listings above |
| Uluru Ayers Rock sunset | The last hour of Light at the rock, from one of the marked viewing areas. The rows marked … add a word or two to this same string. | The evening listings, on their own page |
| Uluru Ayers Rock at sunset | The same evening, phrased the way a photograph caption is phrased. | The evening listings, on their own page |
| … sunset Australia | Someone planning from abroad and pinning down the country. | Northern Territory, central Australia |
| Uluru Ayers Rock at sunset Australia | The same again, with the country added to the caption. | Northern Territory, central Australia |
| … sunset Northern Territory | Narrowing it down to the territory the park sits in. | Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park |
| … sunset desert | The setting rather than the rock: sand, spinifex, and nothing else for a long way. | The drive on every listing |
| … sunset red desert | The colour of the sand, which is what the word red is doing in these strings. | The drive on every listing |
| … sunset desert Australia | The same, with the country attached. | Central Australia |
| … sunset red desert Australia | The full postcard caption, typed into a search box. | Central Australia |
| … sunset landscape | Photographers after the wide shot with the desert in it, not the close-up. | The viewing areas and the drive |
| … sunset glowing red desert | Colour language borrowed from photographs. No operator sells a colour. | The evening listings |
| … sunset red monolith Australia | Monolith is the word people reach for when they mean one rock standing alone. | The rock itself |
At the base
The base is 10.5 kilometres round, and on an Uluru rock tour that number is the whole logistics problem. Walking it takes most of a morning. Riding it takes five hours with a guide and transfers. Driving round it with two or three stops takes three.
Mutitjulu Waterhole is the stop named most often in the listings, and it appears on four of them: $182, $133, $175 and $131. $175 walks a short way into it as well.
Kantju Gorge is named on $175, the six-hour trek, along with the rock art and breakfast on the way round.
The Mala walk is a section of the base named on $175, which pairs it with the waterhole and sunset refreshments.
Aboriginal rock art in the caves around the base is named on four listings, and on $154 it is the point: that listing does the most scenic stretch by Segway and then goes on foot into the caves.
And the culture. Most of the base listings include a guide talking about Anangu culture, the plants and animals and the geology. One goes further: $1,249 is a private listing led by a local Anangu guide, and the page notes that the Anangu guide option has to be selected when you book. It is the highest fare on this site, rated 5.0 from a single review, which is a sample of one and should be read as one.
The verdict
Eight listings reach the base, and an Uluru rock tour that reaches it is a different day from one that does not. They do it in four different ways.
If you want the whole lap without walking it, take $182. Five hours, the full 10.5 km at first light on a Segway, Mutitjulu Waterhole, transfers included, and 4.9 from 443 reviews — the highest rating on this site with weight behind it. The listing notes it is likely to sell out and asks for fifteen hours’ notice.
If you want it on foot, take $175. Six hours in a small group round the full base with breakfast on the way, Kantju Gorge, Mutitjulu Waterhole and ancient rock art, 4.8 from 269 reviews. $131 is the shorter guided version, 5.5 hours over the same 10.5 km with a light breakfast and commentary, at a lower fare and 4.6 from 316 reviews.
If you want the caves and the art specifically, take $154. Four hours: the most scenic stretch of the base by Segway, then many of the caves on foot with ancient Aboriginal rock art, 4.8 from 289 reviews. It is the shortest way to get properly close to the rock.
If you only have a morning, take $133. Three hours in a small group: a picnic breakfast, Mutitjulu Waterhole, rock art and a drive round the base, 4.7 from 279 reviews.
If you want the rock in the afternoon and a glass at the end, take $131. Five hours taking in the waterhole and the rock art, then the last of the light with sparkling wine and a cheeseboard, 4.5 from 515 reviews — the most reviewed listing here apart from our top pick. $175 is the small-group version at 4.8 from 217 reviews, with the Mala walk in it.
If you want an Anangu guide, take $1,249. A private listing led by a local Anangu guide, and the only one on this site that offers it. The fare is in its own bracket and the review count is one.
And if you are coming in for the day, our top pick across the site is $280: the full day from Alice Springs with Aboriginal culture, the rock, and a BBQ with sparkling wine at the end, 845 reviews at 4.7.
Book direct
The Segway lap at first light, the six-hour trek and the 5.5-hour guided walk round the full 10.5 km, the Segway-and-caves listing, the three-hour small-group morning, the two afternoons that take in the waterhole and the rock art, and the private listing with an Anangu guide.
★ 4.7 · 279 reviews
★ 4.5 · 515 reviews
★ 4.8 · 289 reviews
★ 4.6 · 316 reviews
★ 4.8 · 269 reviews
★ 4.9 · 443 reviews
★ 4.8 · 217 reviews
★ 5 · 1 review
The variables
None of them is the fare. Settle these and the eight listings sort themselves.
How far round you go
The whole 10.5 km on $131, $175 and $182; one scenic stretch on $154; a drive with stops on $133. Same rock, very different day.
On foot, on a Segway, or in a seat
10.5 km is a long walk in the open. The Segway listings exist for exactly that reason, and they carry the two highest ratings among the base listings.
Morning or afternoon
The walking, trekking and Segway listings run early. $131 and $175 do the base in the afternoon and finish with the last of the light.
Who is guiding
Most listings include a guide on Anangu culture, plants, animals and geology. $1,249 is the one led by a local Anangu guide, and the option has to be chosen at booking.
Straight answers
Can you climb it? No. The route to the summit has been closed since 2019, and nothing on this site goes up. Every listing here works round the base.
Do you need a guide at all? The park has marked viewing areas and a walking track round the base that you can use with a hire car. What the listings add is the commentary, the transfers from Ayers Rock Resort, the breakfast or the wine, and on the Segway listings a machine you could not otherwise take in. There is a separate page on this site that works through whether that is worth paying for.
How far is the rock from the resort? Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara is the pickup point for every listing here except the full day from Alice Springs, and it sits beside the park. Alice Springs is the other starting point and it is a long drive, which is why that listing takes a whole day.
Uluru or Kata Tjuta? Both, if you have five hours: $131 takes in the light at the rock and then the domes and Walpa Gorge. Otherwise the rock is the closer and shorter trip.
What is the rock made of? Sandstone, and the listings talk about the geology as part of the commentary. Beyond that, this site quotes what the operators publish rather than filling in numbers of its own.
What people talk about afterwards. Three things, on almost every listing: the scale of it close up, the caves and the art at ground level, and how different the same rock looks from one side of the base to the other.
Mistakes
All six are settled on the listing page before anybody leaves the resort.
Ten of the 18 listings on this site never reach the foot of the rock. If close range is the point, the eight in the table above are the ones that do.
It is flat, it is in the open, and it takes 5.5 to 6 hours with stops. $182 exists because that is a lot of walking for some people.
No listing does. The summit route has been closed since 2019; the Segway goes round the base, not up it.
It is a separate group of domes about an hour west. Only $131 includes it, and that is why it runs five hours.
The page for $1,249 says the Anangu guide option must be selected. Book it without, and you have booked a different product.
Two listings here carry 5.0 from very few reviews. The strongest evidence on this page is $131 with 515 and $182 with 443.
Checklist
One minute on the listing page saves a morning.
The wording is explicit on every Uluru rock tour listing: the full 10.5 km, the most scenic section, or a drive with stops.
Mutitjulu Waterhole, Kantju Gorge, the Mala walk and the rock art caves are named listing by listing. This site copies those names rather than assuming them.
Ayers Rock Resort for seven of the eight base listings; Alice Springs for the full day.
Small group is stated on three of the eight; an Anangu guide on one, as a booking option.
Several listings show Free cancellation and ask for ten to fifteen hours’ notice. Both are on the listing page.
The commonest question about this rock is not what it is but when to stand in front of it. Both halves of the day have their own page here.
The early listings compared→Common questions
The eight listings that reach the base run from $131 and $131 up to $182, with the private Anangu listing at $1,249. Across the whole site the range is $69 to $1,249.
Yes. Uluru is the Anangu name and the one the national park uses; Ayers Rock is the older name, still attached to Ayers Rock Resort in Yulara where most listings start. The listings use both.
No. The route to the summit has been closed since 2019. Every listing on this site stays at ground level and goes round the base.
The base is 10.5 km. The guided listings allow 5.5 hours for the walk and 6 hours for the small-group trek, both with breakfast on the way.
$182 and $175: both cover the full lap, one on a Segway in five hours, one on foot in six.
One: $1,249, a private listing with a local Anangu guide. The page says the Anangu guide option must be selected at booking.
Mutitjulu Waterhole, Kantju Gorge, the Mala walk and caves with ancient Aboriginal Rock art. Which of them you get depends on the listing, and the table above says which.
Not for these listings: seven of the eight collect you at Ayers Rock Resort, and transfers are named on the Segway listing. The eighth is the full day from Alice Springs.
Go deeper
Eight listings that put you at the rock for the last hour of Light, from 90 minutes with wine to a full day with dinner.
Sunrise toursSeven early starts: the viewing platform, the 10.5 km base walk, the Segway, and the Field of Light at dawn.
Sunset dinnerFive listings that feed you after the light goes: BBQ sites, sparkling wine, and what each one actually includes.
Base walkThe full lap of the base on foot, with breakfast, and how the guided and trekking versions differ.
Camel toursWhat a camel ride at the rock is, when it runs, and who it suits.
SegwayThe 10.5 km lap by Segway: the sunrise version, the shorter scenic version, and what the ride is like.
From Alice Springs: Day Trip to Uluru with BBQ Dinner
★ 4.7 · 845 reviews · Free cancellation 24 h