AAT Kings Uluru Field of Light Sunrise: Our tour experience
The Field of Light is on Anangu Country.
AAT Kings Uluru Field of Light Sunrise: Our tour experience!
Our family trip to Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park was great - we had our first family bike ride, enjoyed a beautiful sunset and hiked the amazing Valley of the Winds trail together.
It was my first visit to the Red Centre and seeing Uluru - at all times of the day and all its fantastic colours - was incredible.
It was amazing to be in the heart of our country.
Uluru is a super family-friendly destination, with most activities and tours happy to include children. I wrote a full guide to exploring Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park here!
Options are a little limited for accessing the Field of Light if your child is under 5 years old. We choose AAT King’s Uluru Sunrise Field of Light tour as our best options with a 1.5 year old. I was keen to see at least one sunrise at Uluru and knew that we’d find it difficult to get up at 5:00AM without committing to a cannot-miss-it spot in our itinerary.
Our only other option for seeing the Field of Light with a child under 5, was the General Admission ticket with Ayers Rock Resort. It’s well after sunset and would push our bedtime pretty late.
Between an early morning or a late night, sunrise worked best for our family.
Got a toddler on tour? Check out these tips for taking your family on a sunrise tour:
Pack any bags and lay out what you need in the morning the night before
Dress your child in their clothes at bedtime for a quicker and smoother morning
Dress in layers and bring a bag to stow layers as they’re removed
Bring drinks and food for your family (we always carry our Subo bottle!)
Keep the rest of the day low-key and flexible to match your family’s energy levels
Booking tickets for AAT King’s Uluru Sunrise Field of Light tour
Tickets need to be booked online on the AAT Kings website.
Prices listed on the website are in USD - weird, I know.
You’ll get an email confirmation and need to confirm the booking - I experienced an annoying amount of back-and-forth before confirming our tour. This was during their peak season, so it does make sense that things would be a little slow.
TICKET PRICES
Adult: $89*
Child: $59*
*Price accurate from July 2023. Prices are set to increase from April 1st 2024 to $105 for adults and $75 for kids.
The Seven-Minute Coach Ride
We had fairly realistic expectations of our Field of Light experience after reading several lacklustre reviews online.
We had a 5:00AM wake up, knowing it takes longer than you’d think to wake and change a toddler, gather up bags and do toilet stops before wandering to the bus stop.
Our coach arrived on time at 5:30AM and we were surprised to find an almost-empty bus. I assumed we would be the last pick up, being at the campground. I’d forgotten about the couple of hotels on ‘the way out’ of Yulara. Instead, our 44-seat coach pretty much filled up at the next couple stops.
With all passengers on board, our tour guide began their spiel about the Field of Light. They rambled on, repeating the same 3-4 facts several times during our 7 minute bus ride (the length of which featured a mention at least twice on the way there and once on the way back).
It was definitely below-par for what I’d expect on a paid tour. I think we’d have all rather sat in silence.
The Field of Light
We shuffled off the bus and to the dune top viewing area - the wrong one, somehow. There was a bit of safety briefing and instructions to head to ‘the other viewing area’ for sunrise with a gesture towards the pitch-black darkness over the dunes to our right.
We entered the field of light with our fellow coach-load of passengers (plus another smaller tour bus) and despite the large group, everyone managed to meander off and it really didn’t feel crowded.
The lights are quite spectacular up close and the immersive experience of the Field of Lights is pretty cool. The paths are dimly lit, compact and smooth. It was easy to let our toddler wander herself and we only had to catch her a couple times when she tried to grab the lights.
I was surprised to find the Field of Lights a fairly kid-friendly, low-stress experience. The paths are obvious, wide and easy to follow.
If your child decides they’re in a running, grabbing or shouting mood, I can see that it would be considerably less enjoyable. I’d suggest bringing snacks, a torch, dummy, toy - whatever works for your child just in case. A small backpack will be easiest to manage on the bus and wandering through the Field of Light.
The lengths of colour-changing fibre optic cable and frosted lights have a lovely soft glow. I’ve read reviews saying the lights have ‘faded’ during their time in the desert. I don’t see any need for the lights to be brighter, especially with so many across the landscape. When you’re walking through the centre of the Field of Light, it stretches seemingly endlessly into the dark.
It’s exceptionally difficult to take photographs so we grabbed a few family snaps with the aid of our fellow tourers and just enjoyed the rest of our time taking it in.
We probably spent 15 minutes wandering the lights before choosing to head up to the dune top viewing platform. Most of the group was still looking at the lights, but it’s a more impressive view up on the dune platform for first light.
Uluru Sunrise
We didn't get a fantastic morning for the sunrise, nor was it terrible. There was too much cloud around to really light up the sky but there’s nothing to be done about the weather. It’s still lovely to watch the Field of Lights fade as Uluru comes into view.
The viewing platform felt crowded. There’s very limited seating and no raised viewpoints from the platform. Most people stood around the edge taking photos. And whilst everyone was great about taking turns, it meant that once you’d had your turn and snapped a photo… you didn't have much of a view.
In a strange (and I think, obvious) oversight, our tour guide carried a huge torch to guide people back up to the viewing platform from the Field of Light. It’s important to note the paths are suitably lit for walking up and down and the torch is used to signal which platform to return to (there’s two, the smaller tour group had the other viewing platform).
Whilst our tour group was up on the platform watching the sunrise, our guide was below - swinging the torch around. Maybe looking for stragglers?
As a result, any photographs had a long beam of torchlight through the middle and it was quite distracting too. I understand safety precautions must come first but surely there’s a less intrusive way to do this.
It must have been interrupting the experience of the smaller tour group too - who, by the way, managed to find their viewing platform without landing lights.
Coffee, tea and hot chocolate
Okay, so this is absolutely as advertised. Plus there’s some packets of biscuits, which you could consider a bonus.
But for a tour that’s soon to cost over $100 per person…. surely they can do better than instant coffee.
I hear you say, “but Emma, it’s in a remote location, you should lower your expectations”. Yep, sure - but Yulara is a town with everything, including fancy restaurants and luxury hotels. If they wanted to get something better, they absolutely could.
Plus… we also did the Discovery Parks “Light Towers” tour at sunrise, another light installation and immersive art experience from Mr. Bruce Munro himself. When you read about what’s included with their tour, I’m sure you’ll agree that AAT Kings could up their game!
Is the Field of Light tour worth it?
Overall, I enjoyed the experience. With low expectations of the tour, I didn’t really have any feelings of disappointment - more an amused disbelief at how some very small changes would greatly improve the tour experience.
It’s always nice to see the sunrise and it’s a special moment to watch Uluru light up with the first rays of sunlight. It was an ‘easy’ way to make sunrise (we are not morning people) and see the Field of Lights at the same time - two birds, one stone, really.
Is it worth the price?
Absolutely not… but prices are outlandish these days. I paid it and so will many others, if only to tick off the bucket list and satisfy their curiosity.
And as prices are increasing, I’ll let you know I paid $90 per adult and my 1-year-old was free in 2023.
If we were travelling again next season, it would cost our family $285… that’s over $100 extra, due to the cost increase and because Sprout would need a child ticket too. That extra $100 for us, would likely have meant giving the Field of Light a miss.
So, final verdict - tour or not?
If you want to see the Field of Lights, you’ll need to join a tour.
As an attraction, the Field of Lights is lovely - but the actual “tour'“ experience leaves a lot of be desired. If it were a free or low-cost activity, I know would feel differently - in that I’d be recommending the attraction as a “must do”.
Personally, I’m glad we went. It was within our budget. We had six days at Uluru-Kata Tjuta, which was plenty of time to fit in all the activities.
It was enjoyable enough, we had done all the other tourist-y things possible during our trip and I would have felt I missed out without ticking the Field of Lights off my list.
Is it the absolute ‘best’ use of your time and money at Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park..? No.
If you’re short on time or funds, I’d choose to:
watch sunrise from a lookout
check out the Cultural Centre
ride/walk around Uluru
hike the Valley of the Winds trail
catch the sunset glow on Uluru
You’ll be able to do all of the above free activities in a couple of days.
Looking for other ideas of how to spend your time at Uluru Kata-Tjuta National Park?
Check out this ultimate guide to exploring Uluru and Kata-Tjuta with your toddler - the only resource you’ll need!
We acknowledge over 65,000 years of continuous care and custodianship of the Anangu people over these lands and waters. Their sovereignty has never been ceded. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and the Anangu people as the traditional and rightful owners of this Country.