Article Picture

Well, summer is the time when heat is totally unbearable, and you yearn for some cool drink to quench your thirst. If you are traveling or on a road drive, you look forward to some cool stopover to relax and get some freshness. Thinking of some ice-cold beer is just wonderful to the summer heat to slay the thirst. Here are the best 10 outback pubs, popular places to visit for some chilled beer, enjoy music, and have fun.

1. Iron Clad Hotel, Marble Bar, Pilbara, WA

Location: 15 Francis St, Marble Bar WA 6760, Australia

Phone: +61 8 9176 1066

Marble Bar is a town and rock formation in the Pilbara region of north-western Western Australia. It is well known for its extremely hot weather. Prop yourself up at the bar and have a yarn with Foxie at this classic, character-filled outback pub, which offers reasonable motel-style rooms (double from $120). There's not a big selection of meals, but they are tasty and large (try beef from nearby Yarrie Station, fish and chips, or pizza), and the beer, most importantly, is cold.

2. The Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, Flinders Ranges, SA

Location: High St & West Terrace, Parachilna SA 5730, Australia

Phone: +61 1800 331 473

The Prairie Hotel restaurant is renowned for innovative dishes with Australian native and 'Flinders Feral Food' twists and a focus on local and South Australian produce. Try the 'FMG'—Feral Mixed Grill—listed as one of the top 100 Gourmet experiences in Australia. Or try the signature 'Feral Antipasto', which includes kangaroo mettwurst, emu pate, goats cheese, and bush tomato chili jam, among other tastes.

Creative, non-feral, and non-carnivorous options abound for the less adventurous! Their menu highlights vegetarian and gluten-free choices too. The pub also offers luxurious accommodation in its refurbished heritage rooms and in an annex at the back.

3. Palace Hotel, Broken Hill, NSW

Location: 227 Argent St, Broken Hill NSW 2880, Australia

Phone: +61 8 8088 1699

Broken Hill is a teeming metropolis compared with Parachilna, yet the Palace remains an outback pub at heart and is well-known from the movie "Priscilla Queen of the Desert." With its wraparound balcony and ornate latticework, The Palace is pretty as a picture outside and adorned with flamboyant murals inside. It has 48 rooms, from the "Priscilla suite" to backpacker dormitories, and has regular live entertainment. You can enjoy cold drinks and great food in a top atmosphere here.

4. Adelaide River Inn, Northern Territory

Location: 106 Stuart Hwy, Adelaide River NT 0846, Australia

Phone: +61 8 8976 7047

Adelaide River Township, situated on the Stuart Highway 112 km south of Darwin, offers a warm welcome to travelers. The township came to prominence following the completion of the Overland Telegraph Line, followed by a hotel, a police outpost, and a railway station. The town became a popular overnight stopover for travelers and prospectors en route to Pine Creek following the discovery of gold there in 1871.

Next time you are passing through, or choose to make a day of it, head to Adelaide River for the atmosphere of the local pub, the Adelaide River Inn. The Inn welcomes locals, visitors, and travellers alike. The Inn, The Pub, or "303 Bar" as it has synonymously become known, forms a large part of the Adelaide River Resort Complex. Situated directly behind the BP Service Station, the Inn is surrounded by lush tropical gardens, shady trees, and well-manicured lawns. It is centrally located to many tourist attractions in and around Adelaide River Township and its surroundings. At the Inn, we offer something for everyone, warm hospitality, great bistro food, and a family atmosphere to enjoy them. "The" Pub or "303-Bar," "Charlie" the Buffalo from Crocodile Dundee, and "Diggers Bistro."

5. Birdsville Hotel, Queensland

Location: Adelaide St, Birdsville QLD 4482, Australia

Phone: +61 7 4656 3244

The Birdsville Hotel stands at the edge of the Simpson Desert in the heart of the Australian Outback. It’s a destination in itself, a place where yarns have been spun for more than a century by characters as colourful as the surrounding desert landscape. Whether you’ve driven for days or your plane has landed on the airstrip next to the pub, it offers you accommodation, food, drinks, and everything you’ll need for an authentic outback pub experience. You can see the overwhelming swaggering punters during the Birdsville races in early September every year, when the population of 100 swells to several thousand. It provides a focal point during the madness, with toy horse races held outside and Brophy's boxing tent providing thrills and spills next door.

6. Family Hotel, Tibooburra, NSW

Location: 30 Briscoe St, Tibooburra NSW 2880, Australia

Phone: +61 8 8091 3314

The hotel, run by Melissa and William Thomson who have owned it since 2013, was built in 1882 by Francis Bladon. Originally it was known as the Tattersall’s Hotel but its name changed to Downie's Family Hotel in 1887. Despite having eighteen owners in its 128-year history, it has always retained ‘Family’ in its title. This pub in NSW Corner Country is a long way from anywhere, 1200 kilometres inland from Sydney and over 300 kilometres from Broken Hill. Yet it was once on the Cobb & Co network and features murals by Australian artists including Clifton Pugh and Russell Drysdale. It's a reasonable stopover when Lake Eyre is filling up.

7. The Daly Waters Pub, Northern Territory

Location: 16 Stuart St, Daly Waters NT 0852, Australia

Phone: +61 8 8975 9927

The Daly Waters Pub focuses on the important issues of life such as cold glasses ... of which your very cold beer is poured into at -2 and filling the wine glass up past the line. There are 6 varieties of amber nectar on tap to choose from and all hit your glass in a frigid state. Not many outlets on the Stuart Highway have beer on tap, and it is as good as here. There is a great variety of Australian wines and for really special do's in their cellar selection. This tiny NT pub is 1000 kilometres north of Alice Springs. It's historic too, the oldest in the Territory, quenching thirsts since 1893 and accommodating high-flyers en route by plane to London, prior to WWII.

8. Imperial Hotel, Ravenswood, Queensland

Location: 23 Macrossan Street, Ravenswood.

Imperial Hotel is a heritage-listed hotel at Macrossan Street, Ravenswood, Charters Towers Region, Queensland, Australia. It was designed by Eaton, Bates & Polin and built in 1901. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

The Imperial is one of two surviving pubs in this former gold-mining town, 90 kilometers south of Townsville, which is listed in its entirety by the National Trust. With a population of under 200 now, Ravenswood is something of a ghost town, and this atmospheric pub is reputedly haunted. The central feature of the hotel is its intricately sculpted wooden bar, and there are also stained-glass windows.

9. Silverton Hotel, Silverton, NSW

Location: LOT 1 Silverton Rd, Silverton NSW 2880, Australia

Phone: +61 8 8088 5313

The Silverton is probably the most easily recognizable outback pub in Australia, having featured in numerous television adverts and played a part in movies like "Mad Max," "A Town Like Alice," and "Wake In Fright" among many others. Located close to Mundi Mundi plains, the Silverton Hotel is surrounded by galleries and outdoor works by local artists, including Peter Browne's quirkily decorated Volkswagen beetles. Cold beer on tap and sensational food, along with world-class hospitality, is what you can look forward to here.

10. Pub in the Paddock, Pyengana Valley, Tasmania

Location: 250 St Columba Falls Rd, Pyengana TAS 7216, Australia

Phone: +61 3 6373 6121

Close to St Columba Falls and a little inland from the dazzling Bay of Fires, the Pub in the Paddock has the most picturesque setting of all. Licensed since 1880 and one of the oldest pubs in Tasmania, the Pub in the Paddock offers cozy accommodation and a delicious menu. Lunch and dinner prepared from the finest ingredients, serve up fresh and hearty meals plus morning and afternoon tea. You can come here and have a drink with the locals. So if you are heading this way, make sure you come and visit.