Australasia

Three weeks, and two stopovers

Twenty-two hours each way changes what a sensible trip looks like.

Two weeks in Australia means four days in transit or recovering, and you'll see one city. Three weeks is the honest minimum — and if that isn't possible we'd rather tell you to do Asia this year and Australia properly another. The second half of the answer is the stopover: almost every route stops in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai or Doha anyway, so breaking the journey for three nights each way costs very little and often nothing, turning one long-haul trip into four destinations.

Making Australia work

• Take two stopovers. You're stopping anyway. Three nights each way in Singapore, KL or Dubai costs little and transforms the trip — and booking engines never offer it.
• The seasons work against each other. Sydney and Melbourne want October to April; the reef wants April to October. March–May and September–November are the honest compromise.
• Pay for the small reef boat. Twenty people at an outer reef site versus three hundred at a pontoon. The single biggest quality decision on the trip.
• Distances are American, not European. Sydney to Cairns is three hours by air; Sydney to Perth five. Internal flights are unavoidable — budget for them.
• Avoid Christmas and January. Australian school holidays. Prices double, domestic flights fill, and the beaches are full of locals.