Top Ayers Rock Hotels

The outback pioneer hotel have a great Bar b q bar where you chose your meat/fish and cook yourself, and they also have a singer. Makes a nice relaxed night out !

The variety of tours is mind-boggling and the staff at the tour desks are not permitted to make recommendations. I took a Kings AAT hiking tour to the Olgas and an Ecotours hike around the base of Ayers Rock and enjoyed both. I recommend morning hikes during the hot season. The highlight for me was the sounds of silence dinner; a champagne reception, followed by a buffet dinner with barmundi, emu, crocodile and kangaroo (as well as beef and chicken), followed by a star show and the opportunity to gaze through telescopes (we saw Saturn and its rings). It was expensive (A$135), but worth the cost.

As mentioned by others, buy a flynet!!!! I decided to do the "Sounds of Silence Dinner" based on other travellers'' comments on this website. I originally thought is was far too expensive, but afterwards, I felt it was worth every penny (any more!). The star gazing was amazing (as long as the weather is good!). I also planned to hire a car, but found a great value pass for the Uluru shuttle service, which was not mentioned in any guides. It might have been a short-term special offer, but it works out cheaper than self-drive if for less than 2 people.

The sun was obscured by cloud during the sunrise visit to Uluru, however the spiritual experience was amazing and the guided tour of the rock was very good. Visits to the Aboriginal Cultural Centre and the information centre in the resort were also worthwhile. Restaurants in the resort were good quality and value.

Australian Pacific Tours were great and very friendly co-ordinator, tour guides very knowledgable about Uluru and Kata Juta. The shuttle bus circling the Yulara village was a godsend in the intense heat. I was visiting for Xmas in Bundaberg with family and have always wanted to come to Uluru, a kind of pilgrimage to the people who believe in caring for the land and all its creatures. I would recommend going to Uluru in the winter months June/July. Visitor centre and shops all offered information on Aboriginal culture that I was particularly interested in.

The best way to get around is to rent a car. Surprising, car rentals are quite inexpensive, compared to hotel costs (I paid about AUD$50 for a day, including taxes, to rent from AVIS at the airport, which is about the same as Sydney or Melbourne area). A lot of people take bus tours, which cost a lot more.

Landscape is unusual and great. However, if you have been to Monument Valley, Zion and Brice National Park in U.S., I''d recommend that you pick another national park in Australia. The landscape a combination of the three U.S. National Parks.

Rented a car. It was expensive but loved the flexibility and freedom. Roads are very good so if you plan only Uluru and Olgas no need for extra liability coverage on car.

We took two tours - - Kata Tjuta for sunset and dinner and Anjanu for sunrise at Uluru and Aborigine talk/walk. Both were excellent. The sunset and sunrise were spectacular! The timing meant that the air was very cold for the dinner, so unfortunately we couldn''t enjoy it quite as much as we''d have otherwise. The Anjanu tour was all we''d hoped for except we would have like to have spent more time in the visitors'' center where we ate breakfast!

Don''t forget that there is a charge to enter the National Park - this applies whether you are travelling under your own steam or as part of an organised tour. We had to pay $25 each on top of our tour costs for a pass entitling us to park entry for three days. We would actually recommend hiring a car and driving yourself to the viewing points for dawn and dusk - the tour bus viewing areas get very crowded; this also gives you the freedom to explore the area at your own pace. The paths are well-marked and there always seem to be other folk around in any case. The "Sounds of Silence" dinner is well worth the extra money - we really weren''t sure about it but were very glad we did - it is a once in a lifetime opportunity to dine under the stars in the middle of a desert - don''t forget, the champagne, wine and port are all included in the cost of the meal, as is your transport, so it isn''t quite as unreasonable a price as it sounds. This said, for me, the real highlight was spotting a thorny devil in the wild - this amazing, prehistoric-looking creature sat and posed for photos for about five minutes before going on his way!