Children are quickly enamoured by the wildlife and landscape of the Australian outback, and there's no better place to experience it than in Alice Springs. Ecotours and visits to wildlife sanctuaries and zoos usually receive the most praise from Alice's younger visitors. But there are plenty of other creative ways to take in the outback, including tours by hot-air balloons or on the back of a camel.

Aerial Tours
Travel agencies throughout Alice Springs regularly arrange hot air balloon rides across the surrounding outback. Lofting out over the scorched landscape is an excellent way to take in the sites without succumbing to the heat and exhaustion associated with a land tour. Balloons typically lift-off early in the morning before the heat has kicked in. Quite-ride gliders are another nice way to take in sweeping panoramas of the outback. Gliding tours are launched from the air strip at Bond Springs along the North Stuart Highway. Either of these thrilling rides will give children a one-of-a-kind experience that they'll remember fondly for years to come.

Alice Springs Reptile Centre
This is the Northern Territory's largest collection of reptiles, and children love the opportunity to handle the bearded dragons and snakes. The is an easy-going facility, and it isn't unheard of for the owner to lift the glass covers of the display cases, permitting children to hand-feed insects to the lizards through the bars of their cages. The main reptilian attractions include the enormous perentie goanna, pythons, mulga snakes, death adders, and the infamous inland taipan (the deadliest land snake on earth). While children may beg to stay all day, families typically need at least an hour to tour the facility. Phone: +61 8 8952 8900.

Alice Springs Desert Park
This park has an excellent collection of Australia's indigenous plants and wildlife, with more than 120 animal species on display. A mile-long trail winds through the facility allowing up close viewing of many animals that you might otherwise miss during your visit to Alice Springs. Children will especially enjoy the opportunity to walk among a herd of kangaroos. In total, the park maintains three separate habitats, each one with its own unique niche of flora and fauna. Phone: +61 8 8951 8788.

Alice Springs is home to a number of historic buildings that were built by the region's first Western settlers in the late 19^th century. A number of museums catalogue both the region's natural history along with the technological triumphs of the early pioneers that planted the seed for the subsequent colonisation of Australia's nearly uninhabitable Red Centre. The most ancient relics of culture belong to the Arrernte aboriginal group which has lived here for millennia.

Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre
This centre offers half- and full-day tours led by members of the aboriginal community. Activities are varied and interesting, and tourists are afforded the opportunity to take lessons on the didgeridoo as well as try their hand at spear- and boomerang throwing. Half-day tours include a detailed explanation of the dreamtime creation stories that have long fed the spirits of these free-ranging people. Dance exhibitions are also on the agenda, and tourists are given the opportunity to learn and ask a great deal related to daily life (both past and present) in an aboriginal family. Phone: +61 8 8952 3408; website: www.aboriginalart.com.au.

Alice Springs School of the Air
Due to the remote and challenging nature of the outback, children living on outlying ranches or in sparse, scattered communities don’t have access to adequate educational institutions. Alice Springs has responded with the School of the Air, a broadcast educational institution that draws these distant communities together by placing students in live interaction with teachers and other students via radio broadcast. This virtual classroom spans an impressive 507,000 square miles. While it's not strictly a tourist attraction, the teachers and administrators are proud of this facility. Visitors are welcome to sit in on classes and explore this unique institution. Phone: +61 8 8951 6834.

Aruluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment
This is a venue for a variety of events throughout the year. Facilities include a cabaret stage, four separate art galleries and a theatre that seats up to 500 spectators. Even if there are no events taking place while you're in Alice Springs, this facility is still worth visiting if only for the wonderful stained glass window in the main hall. Drafted by Wenten Rabuntja, a local aboriginal artist, the painting was trans-interpreted into glass by a group of local aborigines. It depicts an aboriginal dream and tells three separate (though interrelated) stories. Phone: +61 8 8951 1120.

Ewaninga Petroglyphs Conservation Reserve
A number of ancient, aboriginal rock carvings have been preserved in this area. The malleable, sandstone rock outcroppings here were ideal canvases for ancient artists depicting the triumphs and struggles of aboriginal life in Australia's great Red Centre. In keeping with the ancient customs of the local Arrernte tribe, aboriginal women are not permitted to enter this site, though women of any other ethnicity are welcomed. This conservation area is located 25 miles south of Alice Springs city centre.

Harold Lasseter's Grave
Alice Springs Pioneer Cemetery has a number of grave sites dating back as far as 1888. A group of early settlers arrived in the late 19^th century, seeking gold in the alluvial fan, and their remains are kept here. Harold Lewis Bell is the most prominent name among these ranks, and he passed away in Patterson Ranges early in 1931. The cemetery was lost until 1957 when an expedition fronted by Lee Robinson and Lowell Thomas stumbled upon this historic landmark.

Museum of Central Australia
Essentially a field museum, this facility offers a wealth of information related to Central Australia's Palaeontological roots. Exhibits include a large-scale replication of an excavation site where palaeontologists have unearthed significant findings. Visitors can also view a recreation of an ancient watering hole with an enormous crocodile and the eight million year-old dromornis stirtoni, the largest bird (ancient or modern) known to science. Several other exhibits explore the formation of this landscape over the millennia, with detailed explanations of the Red Centre's evolutionary progress. Phone: +61 8 8951 1121; website: www.magnt.nt.gov.au.

The Residency
Alice Springs enjoyed a brief tenure as the seat of the Central Australian government in the late 1920s. During that time, Resident John Charles Cawood lived here on the corner of Hartley and Parsons streets. From this location, he administered the entire Northern Territory. Today, the building operates a small museum with information related to the Northern Territory's history. The facility is run in conjunction with the Northern Territory's Museum and Art Galleries Board. Phone: +61 8 8953 6073.

Shopping in Alice Springs centres on Aboriginal artworks and crafts, with a number of retailers throughout the city offering a variety of goods for tourists to peruse. Buying arts and crafts directly from the artisan is the best way to ensure that you're getting a fair price, and there's the added consolation that your money is benefiting the artists rather than a middle man.

Works of art include traditional paintings on canvas or linen, which can often fetch fairly high prices. These are typically sold without frames to simplify trans-continental shipping. It's also easy to find aboriginal prints and designs on less expensive mediums like posters and t-shirts.

Common handicrafts include spears, boomerangs, clapping sticks, woven baskets and coolamons. The latter is a dish that aboriginal women traditionally use to carry water. Jewellery and other trinkets are widely available as well.

Didgeridoos are an ever-popular souvenir. Authentic versions of these musical instruments can be found at several outlets including the Aboriginal Art and Culture Centre on Todd street. It is also possible to pick up CDs of Aboriginal fusion music, blending traditional instruments and rhythm with elements of modern music to create a truly distinct creation.

There is an impressive range of restaurants and cafés located throughout Alice Springs. Most of them are huddled around Todd Mall or situated along the west bank of the river. These venues cover a variety of tastes and budgets, with menus specialising in local cuisine along with international fare.

Restaurants typically offer good value relative to tourists' countries of origin. In many cases, guests are allowed to bring their own alcohol in exchange for a modest corkage fee. There's also a strong bar culture throughout Australia, and a visit Down Under wouldn't be complete without a trip or two to a local tavern (or ‘hotel’, as bars are sometimes called here).

Delicious and inexpensive meat is the staple of Australian cuisine. Steak cooked on the ‘barbie’ (short for ‘barbecue’) is a favourite dish, and gatherings of friends that centre on the barbie constitute one of the favourite local pastimes. You'll find coin-operated barbies in parks and other public places. All you need is a few cuts of meat and an hour or two to enjoy it.

Some of the more upscale restaurants specialise in exotic meats like camel, crocodile, kangaroo and emu. This is some of the most exciting ‘Aussie tucker’ (as locals affectionately refer to their cuisine) available in the country.

A thriving Italian population has contributed a great deal to the Australian palate, not the least of which is the pungent clove of garlic. Locals have also adopted a love of espresso from the Italians, and espresso machines can be found in practically every café.

Everything in Alice Springs seems to stem from the ubiquitous outback that stretches immeasurably in every direction. There is a strong tide of outdoor activities available to visitors, many of which blend elemental tours of the landscape with hallmarks from Australia's past, like the never-thirsting camel. Cycling and walking are popular pursuits, though you don't have to over-exert yourself to enjoy the outdoors. Soaring hot-air balloons carry tourists to lavish champagne brunches in remote parts of the backcountry, another relaxing way to enjoy being outside while visiting the Alice.

Bushwalking
Meditative and often deeply spiritual walks through the outback were in fashion long before the arrival of Western colonists. Today's walking enthusiasts flock to the Larapinta Trail, where a variety of skill sets are catered for. This 155-mile walking path is subdivided into several smaller stretches, each with its own focal point or landmark. The more popular walks are outfitted with campsites for those who like to stretch this activity out over two or more days. As with all of Alice's more strenuous activities, bring more water than you imagine needing. The Parks and Wildlife Commission offers trail maps in downtown Alice Springs.

Camel Rides
The resilient camel has made an important contribution to settlers in the outback, and these animals were a regular part of transportation before the advent of the automobile. Today, more than 200,000 free-ranging camels roam the outback and there are a number of local activities that incorporate these beasts. A camel safari is a great way to tour the arid landscape, and a number of farms throughout the Alice Springs area offer hour-long guided tours in a variety of settings. Frontier Camel Farm is one of the strongest contenders in this arena; in addition to planning tours, the facility also houses an interesting museum. Phone: +61 8 8950 3030.

Cycling
Cycling is a wonderful way to experience the landscape surrounding Alice Springs, and there are many places downtown that hire out bicycles at hourly or daily rates. The best cycling trail begins west of the city centre at John Flynn's gravesite (along Larapinta drive) and winds for more than 10 miles through the bush. Along the way, cyclists enjoy the view in the foothills of the MacDonnell Range before arriving at Simpson's Gap, where spectacular panoramic vistas are the main attraction. The trail is moderately easy, but you'll want to bring plenty of water along as there are only two spigots along the way.