Visitor Centres - Central Operations
Alice Springs Visitor Centre
The Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) Visitor Centre in Alice Springs, situated only 600m from the Post Office, commenced operations in the late 1970’s and since its inception it has become one of the most popular tourist attractions in Central Australia.
(Download map of Alice Springs).
The television series ‘The Flying Doctors’ which was based on the real life RFDS and viewed around the globe, has made the Centre a “must see” for many travellers.
The Centre is interactive and you can choose to take part in a tour, stroll through the Museum, have a bite to eat in the Café, and wander through the gift shop to find that special gift to take home.
Tours and Museum
Take the RFDS Visitor Centre tour and learn about the incredible history that has shaped the RFDS of today. You will view some amazing footage and listen to some incredible stories. Following the tour, our friendly staff will direct you to the museum where you can wander at your leisure.
The interactive museum satisfies the most curious minds. You can discover what it's like to be inside one of our aircarft and look inside a replica fuselage of a Pilatus PC12 or even better - to fly one of our aircraft and test your skills in our Flight Simulator. Find out what it was like to communicate before telephones were invented and use an original Traegar Pedal Radio to talk to visitors at the Alice Springs School of the Air.
Tours run every half an hour from 9:00am-4:00pm and are also available for coach groups (coach groups must be booked in advanced by email reservations@flyingdoctor.net or phone (08) 8952 1129 to talk to one of our helpful reservations staff). Non-English speaking groups are catered for with tours running every half hour (on the quarter hour) from 9:15am - 3:45pm (all non-english speaking groups must have their own guide to conduct the tour for their group). Subtitles are available in 6 languages and Translated Talk Sheets are also accessible in 14 languages.
RFDS Gift Shop
The Gift Shop contains a wide selection of fantastic gift ideas and with a variety of items, there is something to suit every budget. All proceeds from the Gift Shop go towards purchasing and medically equipping new aircraft, at a cost of around $6 million each.
We also have an Online Shop with an array of RFDS merchandise. Products can be mailed interstate and overseas. Click here to view our online Shop.
RFDS Café
The RFDS Café is located within one of the finest heritage buildings in Alice Springs. Built in 1939, it was home to the first RFDS radio operator for the Alice Springs Base.
You can dine under the original veranda, in the old dining room or venture out to the informal garden setting where you can enjoy the best weather Alice Springs has to offer.
The Café serves a variety of sumptuous food and fabulous coffee. In fact, the coffee served in the café is especially blended for the RFDS by a local coffee roaster in Alice Springs. ‘Flying Doctor Coffee’ can now be purchased in the RFDS Gift Shop.
Please call (08) 8952 1129 to make a reservation at the Café. Alternatively, you can email your booking enquiry to café@flyingdoctor.net