Kata Tjuta Tours & Holidays

Trips from 1 January 2023 onwards

From 1 January 2023, Intrepid will no longer require travellers to provide proof of vaccination against COVID-19 (excluding all Polar trips and select adventure cruises). However, we continue to strongly recommend that all Intrepid travellers and leaders get vaccinated to protect themselves and others.

Specific proof of testing or vaccination may still be required by your destination or airline. Please ensure you check travel and entry requirements carefully.

Learn more about Intrepid's COVID-19 proof of vaccination policy

All of our Kata Tjuta trips start in Yulara (a resort town on the outskirts of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park) or Alice Springs. The quickest way to get to Kata Tjuta is to fly to Yulara. You can fly direct from a few Australian cities including Melbourne, Sydney and Cairns with Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Australia.

You can fly direct to Alice Springs from most major Australian cities including Brisbane, Darwin and Adelaide (flights are generally more frequent from Alice than Yulara). From here, it's a 465 km (5.5 hours) drive to Kata Tjuta.

If your tour finishes in Yulara, we can drop you off in Alice Springs (at no additional cost), with an arrival back in town at around 6:30 pm.

Technically you can visit Kata Tjuta at any time of the year but if you want to enjoy blue skies and warm but comfortable temperatures, the best time to visit is between April and September. Kata Tjuta sits in a semi-arid desert climate zone, so summer is staggeringly hot with occasional storms (the amount of rainfall varies yearly), while winter is warm and dry during the day with cold nighttime temps that often plummet below zero.

It's best to pack heaps of layers when you're adventuring through the Aussie Outback as temperatures can often be quite warm during the day and plummet to freezing levels at nighttime. Pack things like shirts, shorts, pants, t-shirts and singlet tops, which you can then layer with jumpers and thicker long-sleeve tops once the sun sets. You should also pack comfortable walking shoes or hiking boots as our Northern Territory trips include walks you won't want to miss. A camera (or a good quality phone), a backpack, and a reusable drink bottle are also must-haves. 

Cell phone and data signal within Ayers Rock Resort (Ayers Rock Resort also offers free Wi-Fi) and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is pretty good. However, there are some regions within the park where you won't have any signal at all. This is likely to be the case when you're driving to and from Kata Tjuta or walking around the base of Kata Tjuta. Don't worry though, your network service should come back the closer you get to Yulara. 

Yes, drinking tap water is safe throughout the Red Centre. Ensure you bring a 1-2 litre reusable water bottle to refill at the water station in the Kings Canyon car park. Staying hydrated is important as the Outback sun is intense and you'll be doing many outdoor activities.

The Anangu (pronounced arn-ung-oo) people are the traditional owners of Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park and other regions of the Central Western desert. They've been custodians of the land for over 60,000 years and are one of the world's oldest living cultures. For the Anangu people, Uluru and Kata Tjuta are places of deep spiritual connection; they are physical evidence of Tjukurpa (the creation period) and the ancestral spirits who reside in the land.

Along with not photographing culturally sensitive sites, don't go searching for creation stories and stories of ancestral beings at Kata Tjuta. The domes at Kata Tjuta remain an important men’s business site and regular ceremonies are still held throughout the year. For this reason, knowledge of the Tjukurpa stories and cultural activities that go on here is restricted to initiated Anangu men and are not to be shared with travellers to the area.

Learn more about what you can't do at Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

Intrepid is committed to making travel widely accessible, regardless of ability or disability. That’s why we do our best to help as many people see the world as possible, regardless of any physical or mental limitations they might have. However, we’re always happy to talk to travellers with disabilities and see if we can help guide them towards the most suitable itinerary for their needs and where possible, make reasonable adjustments to our itineraries.

Learn more about accessible travel with Intrepid