Coober Pedy tours compared

Are there tours to Coober Pedy from Adelaide?

Yes. Two seven-day tours leave Adelaide and spend a night underground in Coober Pedy: a swag camping trip to Uluru and an Explorer's Way hotel trip to Alice Springs. Both also run in reverse.

All five tours that include Coober Pedy come with free cancellation. The two camping trips cancel free up to 7 days before; the two hotel trips and the day tour up to 24 hours before. The table puts the essentials side by side. Prices are the listings' from-prices in US dollars per person for 2026.

One thing first: every seven-day tour uses the town as an overnight stop, so you get an afternoon and a morning there, not a full day. If you want more time in Coober Pedy, fly or drive in separately and add the Painted Desert day tour.

Why is there no day trip from Adelaide to Coober Pedy?

Because the town is about 850 km from Adelaide by road, a full day's drive each way. The daily Greyhound coach takes about 11 hours.

The District Council of Coober Pedy puts the town about 850 km north of Adelaide, via Port Wakefield, Port Augusta and the Stuart Highway. That is a full day behind the wheel, and nobody sells it as a return day trip. The only fast way in is the Rex flight from Adelaide, which runs about four times a week and takes about 2 hours. There are no taxis in town, so the council advises arranging a pickup with your accommodation or hiring a car.

This is why the multi-day tours make sense. On the camping trip the road to Coober Pedy is day three, after two days in the Flinders Ranges, and the long drive is broken up with Lake Hart's salt flats. For the full route and the self-drive option, see our Adelaide to Uluru via Coober Pedy guide.

What does the 7-day camping tour from Adelaide do in Coober Pedy?

Lake Hart on the way in, Old Timers Mine with a go at noodling, a night in a 5-share underground dorm at Radeka Downunder, then the Dog Fence and the Kanku-Breakaways on the way north.

The Adelaide to Uluru camping tour reaches Coober Pedy at the end of day three. You stop at Lake Hart's salt flats on the drive up from the Flinders Ranges, then visit Old Timers Mine, a 1916 opal mine with old dugout homes, and try noodling for chips of opal in the mullock. The night is spent underground at Radeka Downunder on the main street, in a 5-share dorm. Day four heads north past the Dingo Fence and through the Kanku-Breakaways Conservation Park before crossing into the Northern Territory.

It is the top-rated tour of the five, 4.9 from 22 reviews. Five nights are in swags at campgrounds with toilets and showers, and you get 6 breakfasts and 3 dinners plus all park fees. Bring a sleeping bag, which is not included. It needs a minimum of four people to run and is not for children under 12. One guest wrote: "Flinders Ranges, Coober Pedy, Kings Canyon, Uluru and Kata Tutja all I wanted to see at a good pace" (Sandra, Jun 2023).

The top-rated way to Coober Pedy from Adelaide: the Flinders Ranges, Old Timers Mine, a night underground, the Breakaways, Kings Canyon and Uluru, park fees included. Free cancellation up to 7 days before.

★ 4.9 · 7 days · from $1,258

Explore the 7-day camping trip from Adelaide → Tour details

Is there a Coober Pedy tour with hotel rooms instead of swags?

Yes. The Explorer's Way tours sleep in twin-share rooms on five nights and one night in a shared dorm, with a night at the underground Coober Pedy Experience Motel. Meals are not included.

The Explorer's Way tour north leaves Adelaide for Quorn on day one, then drives about 660 km to Coober Pedy on day two, with a stop at the Australian Arid Lands Botanic Garden in Port Augusta. You have time to explore the town before the night underground. Day three covers more of Coober Pedy than any other tour: Old Timers Mine, Josephine's Gallery & Kangaroo Orphanage, with its rescued joeys and Aboriginal art, and the Kanku-Breakaways, before Erldunda. It finishes in Alice Springs, or in Yulara if you prefer.

Two honest points. It is a new listing with no reviews yet, and you pay for your own meals along the way, so budget for breakfasts and dinners on top of the $1,721. In return you get a real bed every night, a group of up to 15 and 24-hour free cancellation.

Should you go north from Adelaide or south from Uluru?

Go north if you start in Adelaide and want Uluru as the finale. Go south if you are already in the Red Centre, or want the Flinders Ranges and a Clare Valley wine stop at the end.

The Uluru to Adelaide camping tour meets at the Desert Gardens Hotel in Yulara at 2pm and finishes in Adelaide at about 6:30pm on day seven. Coober Pedy is night four, after the long drive south from Kings Canyon, and Old Timers Mine with noodling comes the next morning before the run to Warren Gorge. It rates 4.7 from 14 reviews and also needs four people to run. If a departure does not fill, the listing says your money moves to a future date, or you get a full refund.

The Explorer's Way tour south starts in Alice Springs or Yulara and reaches Coober Pedy on day five, via Marla and the Kanku-Breakaways, with Old Timers Mine and Josephine's that afternoon. Day seven ends with a tasting at Skillogalee Winery in the Clare Valley.

Both southbound trips suit people who fly into Uluru. Guests liked the guiding: "a really good guide (elliott!!) who taught us a lot about aboriginal culture & different stories about the history of the landscapes" (Valentina, Jun 2025).

Uluru, Kata Tjuta and Kings Canyon first, then a night underground in Coober Pedy and the Flinders Ranges on the way to Adelaide. Free cancellation up to 7 days before.

★ 4.7 · 7 days · from $1,257

Explore the 7-day camping trip from Uluru → Tour details

Is there a day tour from Coober Pedy itself?

Yes, one: the Painted Desert and Moon Plain day tour, every Saturday from town, about 10 hours, four guests at most, from $225.

The Painted Desert day tour runs with the outback mail man in an air-conditioned 4WD. It heads north on the Kempe Road across the Moon Plain and pastoral country to the Arckaringa Hills, the coloured mesas of the Painted Desert, with short walks, a picnic lunch, a snack pack and water refills. You come home through the Breakaways country.

It is the only GetYourGuide tour that starts in Coober Pedy, which makes it the natural add-on if you fly in or drive yourself. Mind the limits: the listing says it is not suitable for children under 5, people over 70, or anyone with back or heart problems, because of the rough outback tracks. It has few reviews so far (4.4 from 5), and seats are limited to four, so book your Saturday early.

What is included on the Coober Pedy tours, and what costs extra?

Guide, vehicle, accommodation, activities and park fees are included on all four seven-day trips. The camping trips add 6 breakfasts and 3 dinners; the hotel trips include no meals.

Park fees matter here: the Kanku-Breakaways charges A$13.50 per car for self-drivers, and the tours cover it. Snacks, soft drinks and alcohol are extra on every Untamed Escapes trip, and bags are limited to one 15 kg soft bag plus a small piece of hand luggage. At Uluru, the camping trips offer an optional upgrade to the Field of Light experience in the evening.

Which Coober Pedy tour should you choose?

Take the camping tour north for the best-reviewed trip, the hotel tour for comfort, the southbound versions if you start at Uluru, and the Saturday day tour if you are already in town.

• The camping tour from Adelaide if you are fit, happy in a swag and want the strongest reviews. It also costs less than the hotel tours.
• The Explorer's Way north if you want a room every night and the most time in Coober Pedy itself, including Josephine's and the kangaroo orphanage.
• The camping tour from Uluru if you fly into Yulara and want to finish in Adelaide.
• The Explorer's Way south for rooms, heading south from Alice Springs or Yulara.
• The Painted Desert day if you base yourself in Coober Pedy for a few nights.

Two tours you will see nearby do not go to Coober Pedy at all: the 2-day Uluru camping trip from Alice Springs covers only the Uluru end, and the 3-day Flinders Ranges 4WD tour stops well short of the opal fields. Both are good trips, for a different plan.

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