Australia

A city and coast stay
Some travellers prefer to keep it simple.

Sydney and one stretch of coast, whether that is the Great Barrier Reef, the Whitsundays or Byron Bay, makes for an easy and restful holiday of around two weeks with only one internal flight. It suits those visiting for the first time, and anyone who would rather settle in than keep moving.

A journey across several regions
Others want the contrast.

Sydney, Uluru and the Great Barrier Reef is the classic combination, taking in harbour city, red desert and tropical coast in a single trip. Melbourne, Tasmania or the Margaret River can be added when there is more time.

A wildlife and wilderness escape
A smaller number come for the natural world.

Kangaroo Island, Tasmania, the Daintree rainforest and the Kimberley all reward a slower and more remote style of travel, often built around a single lodge.

The key is matching the number of regions to the time you have.

Australia sits in the southern hemisphere, so the seasons are reversed, and the best time to travel depends on which regions you are combining.

The tropical north, including the Great Barrier Reef and Far North Queensland, is at its best during the dry season from around May to October, when the weather is warm and settled. The Red Centre is most comfortable over the same months, avoiding the extreme summer heat. Sydney, Melbourne and the southern coast are at their warmest from December to March, though they remain lovely well into spring and autumn.

For a journey taking in several regions, the shoulder months of April, May, September and October usually give the best balance across the whole country.

Australia is a country where distance shapes everything.

Flights between the major regions can take three to five hours, so an itinerary that looks straightforward on a map often involves far more travel time than expected. Two or three regions chosen carefully, with enough nights in each, will nearly always feel better than four or five.

Allowing a full day either side of the long flights, and resisting the temptation to add one more stop, is what turns a demanding itinerary into a thoroughly enjoyable one.