Pass The Passport

Bucket List / Travel Goals

Savour Sunset At Uluru

Still to do

Watch a 348-metre monolith glow from ochre to blazing red to deep purple as the sun sinks over the Red Centre.

Savour Sunset At Uluru

The adventure

Uluru appears long before you reach it, a single vast shape rising from flat red desert and spinifex. Up close it is not smooth at all: it is pitted with caves, ripples and waterholes, streaked black where water cascades down in storms, and every feature has meaning in the stories of the Anangu, its traditional owners.

At sunset everyone gathers at the viewing areas, and the show begins. The rock shifts from orange to fiery red, then rust and violet as the light drains away, while the sky turns pink behind it. Before dawn, walk out among the glowing bulbs of Bruce Munro's Field of Light, then watch the sun rise over the desert with the domes of Kata Tjuta on the horizon.

Why it’s epic

  • Uluru is about 9.4 kilometres around its base, and the rock extends deep underground.
  • Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park is World Heritage listed for both its landscape and its Anangu culture.
  • Kata Tjuta's 36 domes rise higher than Uluru itself, the tallest about 546 metres above the plain.
  • The Field of Light spreads around 50,000 solar-powered lights across the desert.

What it is

Uluru is a sacred sandstone monolith rising 348 metres from the desert.

How to do it

Fly to Ayers Rock Airport and stay at Yulara. Walk the 10-kilometre base walk and visit Kata Tjuta.

Top tip

Climbing Uluru has been banned since 2019 out of respect for the Anangu people.

Need to know

  • You need a park pass to enter, and some sacred sites ask you not to photograph them.
  • UK visitors need an eVisitor visa for Australia, applied for online before travel.
  • Summer temperatures can top 40°C, so walk early, carry plenty of water and pack a fly net.

Plan this trip

Rough cost
£2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
Time needed
2 to 3 days
Best time to go
May to September
Fly into
AYQ airport

Flights to Australia and on to Ayers Rock, plus resort accommodation at Yulara, make this a big trip.

Sample itinerary

  1. Day 1Fly to Ayers Rock airport (Yulara); Uluru at sunset
  2. Day 2Sunrise, then the 10km base walk and the cultural centre
  3. Day 3The domes of Kata Tjuta and the Valley of the Winds walk

Make it happen

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Why it’s on my list

Not done yet. If you’ve done it and have tips, tell me about it.

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