Alice Springs to Uluru Family 4WD Road Trip - Britz

Eight nights and 1,500 kilometres in a loop from Alice Springs in a 4WD camper, out to Uluru and back through the West MacDonnell Ranges.

Uluru comes first, standing 348 metres above the plain and running a good deal further below it, and the climb is now closed at the request of the Anangu traditional owners, so the base walk is the way to see it properly. Kata Tjuta follows thirty kilometres west, a group of domes taller than Uluru with the Valley of the Winds walk running between them.

Kings Creek Station comes next near Watarrka, with Kings Canyon and its rim walk, then Glen Helen and Ormiston Gorge in the West MacDonnells, where the gorges hold permanent water in the middle of a desert and the swimming is cold enough to be a shock in any season.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Nine days is a comfortable pace for this loop, which is what makes it the family version rather than the four-day dash, and the gorges west of Alice are where children actually get to swim. Winter is the season: by October the heat makes the walks unpleasant, and the park authorities close several of them in the middle of the day. A camper also removes the Yulara accommodation problem, where the resort has a monopoly and prices accordingly, and it allows a start early enough to be at the rock for sunrise.