The Ghan covers 2,979 kilometres of Australian landscape in a single journey — from Adelaide in the south to Darwin in the north, traversing the entire continent on a line that runs through the red heart of the country. It takes three nights and two days by the time you factor in the scheduled stops at Alice Springs and Katherine. There is no faster way to travel it, and that is entirely the point.
The train is named after the Afghan cameleers who helped open up the interior of Australia in the nineteenth century, riding their camels along the same rough route before the railway was built. The original line — a rough, flood-prone track that was perpetually washing out — was abandoned in 1980. The current line, following a drier and more stable route further to the west, opened in 2004 and has run reliably ever since.
The Journey
The Ghan departs Adelaide on Sunday mornings (southbound from Darwin on Wednesdays) and the first day’s travel takes you through the Flinders Ranges foothills and into the proper outback as the afternoon light turns the landscape shades of red and orange that seem implausible until you see them. By dinner on the first evening, you are several hundred kilometres north of Adelaide, the last signs of the city long gone, and the sky outside the window is the great open dark of the interior.
Alice Springs is reached the next morning. The train stops here for several hours, long enough to visit the town, the Telegraph Station historic reserve, or join one of the organised off-train excursions to Simpsons Gap in the West MacDonnell Ranges. Whether Alice Springs fully meets the romantic expectations most visitors carry — it’s a small, sometimes challenging outback town of around 26,000 people — is a question the train is not responsible for. But seeing it from the ground, even briefly, is better than not seeing it at all.
The second night is spent crossing the Katherine region of the Northern Territory. Katherine itself is a stop with an off-train excursion option to Katherine Gorge — Nitmiluk National Park — whose series of 13 sandstone gorges cut by the Katherine River is one of the great natural spectacles of the Top End. The gorge excursion is worth adding to the journey.
Worth adding to your itinerary: Things to Do in Adelaide.
Darwin is reached on the third morning. The transition from the dry red interior to the tropical Top End — the vegetation changing, the air thickening with humidity — is something you feel on the train before you arrive, watching the landscape shift through the window over the final hours.
Cabins and Classes
The Ghan operates in two main categories: Gold Service and Platinum Service.
Gold Service includes a private cabin with bunk or twin beds, all meals in the Queen Adelaide Restaurant (table service, three courses, good food — genuinely better than you might expect on a train), and access to the Outback Explorer Lounge. Cabins are compact but well-designed, with a window that serves as your personal cinema for the entire journey.
Platinum Service upgrades the cabin to a larger suite with separate seating area, a higher-end dining experience, and exclusive lounge access. It costs significantly more and is worth it if the journey is a significant occasion — an anniversary, a milestone birthday — and you want the most indulgent version of it.
There is no budget sleeper option on the Ghan. Sitting up through a two-night journey is not a reasonable proposition — if the price of a Gold cabin is prohibitive, the Indian Pacific (Sydney to Perth, four nights) offers the same operator with the same quality at a broader price range.
When to Go
The Ghan operates April through October (the dry season). It does not run in the wet season (November to March) because the northern sections of the line can become dangerous in monsoonal conditions. The best months are May, June, and July — warm days in the Red Centre, mild nights, and clear skies. August and September see increasing heat in the interior. April has the advantage of running through the tail of the wet, when the landscape can still show green in the north.
Booking
The Ghan is operated by Journey Beyond and books out months in advance, particularly for the April–June period when demand peaks. Book directly through the Journey Beyond website. Off-train excursions can be added at the time of booking or up to a few days before departure, subject to availability.
Exploring more of the Northern Territory, read our guides to eco lodges in Kakadu northern territory, aboriginal cultural centres Kakadu, south australian museum aboriginal culture, cage diving with great white sharks, and best road trips south Australia.
