The Ghan is so much more than just a train journey. Waking up to sunrise over a new destination each morning, world-class food which makes the most of local indigenous ingredients, deep red dirt, towering gorges, Aboriginal rock art, crazy outback mining towns and falling asleep to starry skies as the train rattles along this historic route, it’s a truly special journey which will leave you with life long memories.
It’s also a rare opportunity to sit down with people you would never normally meet in everyday life. Everyone has a story to tell on The Ghan and you’ll find yourself sharing like old friends over crocodile tail and a glass of red. From crime scene investigators to vintage clothes shop owners who came over as 10 pound poms, the people are as interesting as the every changing scenery from your window.
Here’s exactly what to expect on the world famous Ghan journey.
What it's like to travel on The Ghan
The experience - an adventure
We’re going to take you through everything there is to know about travelling on The Ghan from the cabins to the food and excursions, but first of all we want to share what the experience is like as a whole.
My overall feeling about both The Ghan and the Indian Pacific journeys (yes I am pinching myself that we have been lucky enough to do both!) are that they feel like an adventure.
I’ve always loved overnight train journeys and falling asleep to the train chugging along the tracks, there’s just something about it which feels exciting.
Even when I was sometimes jolted awake I would remember where I was and smile that right at that very moment I was travelling through the Outback! I love the pace of the train, that you can see the landscape change little by little, rather than flying over the top and missing everything in-between. There really is nothing quite like it.
Luxury
The Ghan is a luxury experience and from the moment you’re picked up at your hotel you’re treated like a VIP. Whilst the service is relaxed, everything is taken care of and outlined to you as you settle in to your cabin.
This is great for people who want to disconnect from the outside world, unwind and not have to think about the logistics of anything.
Once you have booked your trip on The Ghan, everything is included: the food, the wine, the excursions and the entertainment. You won’t spend a dollar unless you want to upgrade to a flight over Uluru or Nitmiluk Gorge (or maybe buy yourself a cute camel teddy!).
As soon as you’ve had the welcome intro and picked your excursions for the coming days the train is yours to explore.
The people
Most people head straight for the lounge car for a coffee or maybe an early glass of wine! The lounge car becomes the hub for socialising on the train and as the journey progresses you speak to more and more people before realising at the end of the trip that you pretty much know everyone in your carriage!
Getting to know people from all over Australia is one of the great pleasures of the train but if you’re not feeling overly social you can always retreat to your cabin and watch the world go by from your window.
Generally speaking unless you are in Platinum class, you will probably be sat with others at the dining tables and even if this isn’t so much your thing conversation always flows over a few glasses of wine!
The destinations
On The Ghan trip you actually spend quite a bit of time off the train too, much more so than on the Indian Pacific. You’ll get to choose from a range of three to four options each day and they are very varied.
There’s actually so much to do over the journey that I didn’t read any of my book at all!
You’ll find that many people you meet have already done one of the other train journeys and we found ourselves eyeing up the Great Southern Rail trip…
The possible routes
The itineraries
The trans-continental journey between Darwin and Adelaide spans 2979km and there are three options:
1 night/2 day version (from Adelaide or Darwin to Alice Springs)
2 night/3 day version from Adelaide to Darwin (seasonally can be from Darwin to Adelaide as well) or
3 night/4 day Ghan Expedition from Darwin to Adelaide only
The main difference between the 2 night/3 day version and the 3 night/4 day Ghan Expedition is that The Ghan Expedition stops at the same places but has additional excursions at Coober Pedy for the day, and the dinner at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station.
Which is the best?
If you can, we’d definitely recommend The Ghan Expedition (the 3 night/4 day version) because we thought that the Coober Pedy trip was fab, and it also includes a dinner under the stars at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station - which, to be honest, was not just a Ghan highlight, but a highlight of our seven years living in Australia! More about that in the excursions section.
You can also break it down by doing just half the trip - Adelaide or Darwin to Alice Springs - but in honesty, I feel like you would be left wishing you had done longer. However, if you have limited time, then it’s definitely still worth it.
The cabins
There are four types of cabin onboard the Ghan. Gold twins, Gold superiors, Gold singles and the more expensive Platinum cabins.
Gold twin
We travelled in a Gold twin cabin. The cabins are compact as you might expect on a train but they have everything you need for a comfortable journey. During the day the second bed is folded up and you have a large cushioned bench seat running across the length of the cabin.
At night the second bed is pulled down and a sturdy ladder set up to get you up there with ease. The cabins are made up for sleeping as you have your dinner, so when you arrive back you are ready to just fall into bed, they even leave a chocolate on the pillow and turn the night lights on!
At breakfast it is all packed away for you.
The cabin has an ensuite bathroom which even has a shower. The bathroom products all feel luxurious, as does having a private bathroom on a train!
There are lots of little details I liked such as various lighting options for if one person wants to stay up reading and the other doesn’t, as well as a radio which offers various channels for music or train commentary. You’ll also find water, sun cream and antiseptic wipes on the shelf for you too.
We thought there would be virtually no room for luggage but actually we shared my big Osprey 70l soft case and it easily fitted in the space. Any additional luggage is checked in and returned to you at the end of the trip.
Gold single
The Gold singles share a large (and we mean actually large, not train large!) bathroom and have a bed/seating running alongside the window. Whilst they look very small I actually loved that you had such a long window and could lie in bed watching the stars much more easily than in the twin cabins.
Gold superior
We didn’t get to peek into one of these but were told there is a 3/4 double bed as well as a pull down bed and you also have armchairs.
Platinum
Platinum Cabins are more expensive and come with a few extra perks too. We did get to take a look at Platinum and you have roughly double the space of the Gold twins, with either a double bed or two singles, but not in a bunk configuration.
You also have arm chairs and I believe a bigger bathroom, but we didn’t get to see inside it. It’s worth noting that in Platinum you use different lounge cars to Gold class and they have a little less seating, so you can choose to dine alone or with others.
The food and wine
All food and wine onboard the train and on the excursion is included. Generally speaking we’re not fans of all inclusive situations because they tend to be average buffets with low quality drinks - pretty much the exact opposite of what you’ll experience on The Ghan.
The food is incredible and the wine is fantastic without exception - it is a highlight of your trip on The Ghan. We noticed several of our fave wineries on the wine list and all the spirits are also premium.
All dietary requirements are catered for and there was always a veggie option on the menu without having to specifically ask for it. The food utilises local ingredients from the areas you travel through which is a great opportunity to try some dishes that you might not have ever had the opportunity to before.
Personally I don’t eat meat but I did make an exception to try the croc (I can count it as fish, right?!) because everyone was raving about it and I have to say it was delicious.
And on that note I actually ordered the veggie option and tried to persuade Joe to order the crocodile so I could try a tiny bit, but he didn’t so the lovely staff brought me an extra dish of croc just so I could try it.
That’s the sort of service you’ll find on The Ghan - relaxed, friendly and very accomodating.
There are always lots of ‘normal’ food options too, so you don’t have try anything different if you don’t fancy it, but otherwise I saw kangaroo, croc and buffalo on the menu, as well as quandong and various bush herbs.
Each meal including brekkie is three courses so you’ll want to ditch any diets before you get onboard!
A few of the meals are off the train, for us that was lunch and dinner in Alice Springs and lunch in Coober Pedy. We’ll cover those in the excursions section.
As well as beer, wine and cocktails, you’ll also be able to get tea, barista made coffee and soft drinks from the lounge car all day every day, and if you do want something after hours there is a little tea and coffee station at the end of each carriage.
The excursions
One thing to note about The Ghan journey is that you are off the train for quite a lot of the time. The excursions are great, but I did wish I’d had more time on the train itself. That’s a personal preference though - I could just sit looking out the window for the entire trip!
As I mentioned earlier, the excursions do differ according to which direction you travel in and whether you do The Ghan Expedition which includes Coober Pedy.
We booked on The Ghan Expedition from Darwin to Adelaide and our excursions were as follows:
Nitmiluk Gorge, Katherine
We arrived in Katherine roughly four hours after departing Darwin and had the option of taking a cruise on Nitmiluk Gorge or an outback experience on a cattle station.
We chose the cruise which took you along two sections of the gorge (you could also opt for only the first gorge if you didn’t want to walk the 500m between the boat docks for each gorge).
Nitmiluk Gorge is a real beauty and we enjoyed listening to the commentary whilst keeping an eye out for wildlife - we spotted a freshwater croc and several osprey.
At the end of the first gorge you’ll also get the chance to see some fabulous Aboriginal rock art.
If you don’t mind the walk inbetween, you’ll definitely want to see the second gorge too, which is a little narrower and even prettier than the first one. In total you are off the train for around three hours.
Alice Springs - Simpsons Gap
You have quite a few options in Alice and we opted for the Simpsons Gap discovery walk. You can also choose a trip around Alice, taking in sites such as the Royal Flying Doctors Museum and the Women’s Museum, or head for the Alice Springs Desert Park for a wildlife experience and bird show. Then there’s the most adventurous of the lot: mountain biking at the Telegraph Station.
All trips then have lunch at the Alice Springs Brewery, before having a couple of hours to freshen up on the train before heading for the dinner under the stars experience.
Our trip to Simpsons Gap involved around 4km walking across three seperate trails (any of which could be sat out if you didn’t want to do them all).
You’ll have a guide who will share local stories and details on the flora and fauna as you go. It was our third trip to Simpsons Gap, but we just love it and couldn’t go past the opportunity to visit again.
The huge red gorge is always an awe inspiring sight, and the final walk we took up a hill offered magnificent views of the West MacDonnell Ranges.
After lunch you either have a bit of free time to go shopping in the town, or head back for a some extra time (read nap!) on the train. In total if you do the shopping as well you’ll be off the train for around six hours.
An Outback BBQ at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station
The creme de la creme of all excursions for us was the outback BBQ at the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. It’s hard to convey how wonderful it is to sit outside by the historic buildings, surrounded by fire pits, listening to a fantastic band whilst eating gourmet food.
I knew there and then it was an experience I would never forget. Just as Mars and a few stars began popping out, the clouds took over and we didn’t get to experience the sensational night skies that you get in the Outback, but it didn’t even matter.
It had already been a real dream. It reminded me of the Sounds of Silence dinner at Uluru but with much better food! There were even marshmallows to toast over the fires if you could possibly fit them in!
You could dance, chat, or simply sit in silence soaking up the whole wonderful atmosphere.
There were even camels on hand if you fancied a little jaunt as the sun set, just before the dinner started.
All in all, it’s an experience you really don’t want to miss.
A day in Coober Pedy and the Breakaways
Coober Pedy is a full day off the train. You can either do an explorer trip taking you to many of the towns famous sites, a trip focussing more on opal mining or one focussing more on the Breakaways.
As I’d never been to Coober Pedy before we opted for the full explorer trip covering a bit of everything. After a 30 minute drive from the ‘station’ at Manguri, the trip begins with a tour of the Umoona Opal Mine & Museum which was fascinating, particularly getting to see an old miners dug out, as well as a modern example of an underground home.
You’ll also visit the underground church, another mine where you can try your hand at picking or noodling, the famous Dog Fence (the longest fence in the world) and have a glass of wine whilst looking out on the jaw dropping scenery of the Breakaways.
You’ll also have lunch at a mine which was a unique experience in and of itself!
It was a great trip and even just driving along and looking out at all the colourful mounds where the opal had been mined was a unique experience. I definitely want to return and explore this unusual town a little more!
At Coober Pedy you are off the train for roughly seven hours.
Final thoughts on The Ghan
We had wanted to ride The Ghan since we first heard about it when we arrived in Australia seven years ago. There was something that just sounded so romantic about crossing the length of the country by train, and it definitely doesn’t disappointment.
It is one of those trips that you’ll find yourself talking about long after you get home. It really is a special experience and a fabulous way to get a taste for the Outback.
When we pulled up in Adelaide we both found ourselves saying we wish we could just stay on board and do the whole thing again!
If you have any questions about any details of the trip please drop them in the comments below or shoot us an email, we’d love to hear from you.
We travelled on The Ghan as guests of Journey Beyond, all thoughts and opinions expressed in this post are - as always - our own.
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