Search car rental at Alice Springs Airport

Alice Springs is a unique city with a storied history. Remote and characterised by a lot of red dust, this region is rugged but full of wonder as the main service centre to the legendary Outback and a great place to pick up a car rental for an Australian adventure.

Looking for an alternative airport to start your road trip? Try Adelaide Airport car rentals or Darwin Airport car rentals.

Introducing Alice Springs for Drivers

With just 30,000 or so inhabitants, Alice Springs is not a place where you’ll need to worry about traffic jams, and there’s no such thing as ‘rush hour’.

The Alice Springs Airport is just 15 kilometres south of town, so it won’t take you much more than 20 minutes to drive there. If you’re heading in from the airport with your car hire, turn left as you leave onto Santa Teresa, and follow the road as it becomes the Stuart Highway and takes you straight into town. From central Alice Springs, make your way to the Stuart Highway and follow the signs to the airport.

There are both short and long term parking options at the Alice Springs Airport. Short term costs $5 for the first hour, but you get the first 10 minutes free for quick pick ups and drop offs. Long term parking is to the east of the terminal and costs $17 per day. In town, there are 14 council-operated car parks, and a number of areas where you can park on the roads.

The one main downside to driving in Alice Springs is the cost of fuel. Prices can be as much as 30 cents per litre more than you’d find in a major city, so be sure to budget a little extra for this expense.

Use AirportRentals.com.au to book your car rental

Book your Alice Springs Airport car rental with Airport Rentals for the best deals, the widest range of vehicles, zero booking fees, and easy online rental management.

All you need to do is pop online and enter in the dates you would like to pick up and drop off your car rental. From there, Airport Rentals will generate a list of vehicles available from leading brands such as Thrifty, Avis, Hertz, Europcar, Budget, Apollo, and more. This saves you from looking up vehicles and prices on each individual website, and ensures you get the best range of cars to choose from.

Alice Springs Airport

The Alice Springs Airport sees roughly 500,000 people fly in every year, and being one of the largest airports in the country at 3,550 hectares, there’s still plenty of room for growth.

When you arrive, there are a number of amenities to help you find your bearings in Alice Springs. The information centre is near the baggage carousel, you can jump on the free WiFi, and there are two ATMs in the terminal to stock up on cash before you head out.

Note that for specific questions relating to your flight such as baggage limits, you’ll need to check with your airline.

You can fly here direct from the major centres of Perth or Brisbane.

Places to Stay

If you’ve got your car hire in Alice Springs sorted, all you need next is a great place to call home during your stay. Try one of these options for a comfortable stay in town.

● Chifley Alice Springs Resort

● The Alice Motor Inn

● Alice Lodge Backpackers

● Quest Alice Springs

Events in Alice Springs

Keep an eye on the Alice Springs events calendar, as the year is packed with exciting festivals, especially between April and September when it’s not too hot.

● Alice Springs Cup Carnival (mid-April)

● Bangtail Muster (May)

● Alice Desert Festival (August-September)

● The Masters Games (biennial, October)

Alice Springs Cuisine Scene

For somewhere so remote, you might be surprised at the range - and incredible quality - of the food and dining available in town. There are plenty of spots where you can dine on quality bush tucker style meals (try a barramundi!), as well as a decent smattering of Indian, Thai, Italian, and other delicious dishes.

Geography, Culture and People

Make no mistake, Alice Springs is remote. The next nearest town is 200 kilometres away, so it may be something of a shock for those used to big cities. That said, you get all the charm that you can hope for in a small town. Expect a lot of character and a unique atmosphere.

The whole region is a hotspot for Aboriginal culture, which you can see and experience through tours, art galleries and museums, and historical attractions.

Alice Springs Attractions

Once you’ve got your car hire in Alice Springs, you can get just about anywhere - which is handy considering all the attractions on offer.

● Alice Springs Reptile Centre

● Alice Springs Desert Park

● Kangaroo Sanctuary

● Alice Springs Helicopter Tour

● Alice Springs hot air ballooning

Public transport in Alice Springs

There are four different public bus routes in Alice Springs, all of which run Monday through Saturday, excluding public holidays. Between them, you can get to most places around town fairly easily.

Note that there are no public transport options for trains.

Alice Springs Weather

Depending on the time of year, Alice Springs can be a real place of extremes.

Summer runs from December through February, and is usually round 20-35 degrees Celsius, however it can also jump up to 40 degrees. Autumn (March to May) and spring (September to November) are usually considered the best times of year to visit when temperatures cool to an average of roughly 12-30 degrees.

Winter isn’t cold like some places in the world, but it can drop below zero degrees overnight and leave a carpet of frost to wake up to!