7 Best Sights in Red Centre, The Outback

Focusing on the desert, which makes up 70% of the Australian landmass, this 128-acre site contains a range of plants and animal species in several Australian ecosystems—including a large nocturnal-animal house. You can also do a tour at night, when animals such as bilbies and echidnas are most active. At daily presentations, Indigenous guides discuss the different plants and animals that have helped people traditionally survive and thrive in such an arid desert environment. Don't miss the twice-daily birds of prey presentation at 10:30 am and 3 pm. Allow about four hours to explore the park, which is located about 7 km (4 miles) west of downtown Alice Springs.

The most distinctive building in this complex is the Museum of Central Australia (A$8 entry), which charts the evolution of the land and its inhabitants—human and animal—around Central Australia. Exhibits include a skeleton of the 10½-foot-tall Dromornis stirtoni, the largest bird to walk on earth, which was found northeast of Alice Springs. Also in the precinct are the Aviation Museum (free), Central Craft (free, prices for workshops vary), and Araluen Arts Centre, which is home to art galleries showcasing the contemporary Aboriginal art movement and the works of watercolorist Albert Namatjira, known for his depictions of the Central Australian landscape. The precinct is located 2½ km (1½ miles) southwest of town, and is on most tourist bus itineraries. The on-site theater has regular screenings and events.

The Kangaroo Sanctuary, which was made famous in the BBC documentary series Kangaroo Dundee, is the passion project of Chris “Brolga” Barns, whose life’s mission is to rescue and rehabilitate orphaned kangaroos and educate people about how they can easily do the same. All you need to do is pay attention while you’re driving, and if you spot a deceased kangaroo on the side of the road, check to see if there’s still a living joey in its pouch, since they’ll often survive the impact of a vehicle and can live for up to four more days after it. You can visit on a prebooked sunset tour, just as the 'roos are waking from their day sleep, on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, where you will get the chance to take turns holding and feeding baby kangaroos. The price includes a bus transfer to the property, no self-drive is permitted.

Thorny devils, frill-neck lizards, some of the world's deadliest snakes, and "Terry" the saltwater crocodile inhabit this park in the heart of town, opposite the Royal Flying Doctor Service. From May to August, viewing is best from 11 to 3, when reptiles are most active. There's also a gecko cave and free talks conducted daily at 11, 1, and 3:30, during which you can handle small critters and pick up pythons.

What do children who live hundreds of miles from the nearest school do for education? Find out at this informative visitor center, which harbors a working school within its walls. Discover how distance education has been delivered to the country's most remote parts since 1951; from pedal-operated radio systems to interactive online classes, it's come a long way. During your visit you may have the opportunity to watch a live lesson being taught in one of the broadcasting studios; outside school hours, you can see a recorded lesson.

This much-visited tourist attraction in Alice Springs has a theater, interactive displays, and a full-scale replica of the fuselage of the service's current Pilatus PC-12 aircraft. The site has long been the radio base for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, which directs doctors (using aircraft) on their house calls to remote settlements and homes hundreds of miles apart, making it a vital part of Outback life. The center features historical displays, a holographic audiovisual show portraying RFDS founder Reverend John Flynn, tours that run every half hour throughout the year, and a lovely café at the back.

This fascinating museum, which is housed in the Old Alice Springs Gaol, tells the stories of the brave, strong women of the Red Centre, with exhibits showing the important role women played during WWII, and how women of all races helped shape Australian politics, education, medicine, aviation, sports, and pretty much every aspect of today’s society. You’ll also be able to tour the old jail, which began as a prison for both sexes but became an all-male prison in the 1980s, and hear the stories of its former inhabitants through an interactive audio display.