Despite what the guidebooks say, down under is a pretty straightforward destination. You’ve got crocs at the top, wine at the bottom, Perth on the left, an opera house on the right and nothing in the middle but a great big rock.

Despite air fares dropping faster than a crook cockatoo, most of us still see Australia as the once-in-a-lifetime, dream destination.

Consequently, we try to see the entire continent in one go. Big mistake.

Concentrate on one bit at a time — our smart guide has the right package, whether you have less than a fortnight or more than a month for your trip — and with flight prices as low as £499 return (0871 423 9090, malaysiaairlines.com ), you can always go back and do the rest another time.

Five best trips in the Australian outback

A homestead, a tour by private plane, a cattle station, cowboy country and luxury in the bush...

• My Australia: Baz Luhrmann

• Australia's five best roadtrips

• Ningaloo: Australia's other reef

10 classic Australia stories

From city brunch spots to the outback for artists, these are the gems from our Australia archive, says Assistant Travel Editor of Times Online, Ginny McGrath

Australia's five best roadtrips

Infinite desert, perfect beaches, fine wine and food – Oz knows how to do great drives

• 10 classic Australia stories

• Go glam on Australia's Ghan

Related Links

• 10 classic Australia stories

• City style: Sydney

11 DAYS

Book before April 30 and you can grab the cheapest deal since the days of the £10 Pom — the £899 Taste of Australia trip, with Qantas Holidays (020 8222 9102, qantasholidays.co.uk ). It’s split between Sydney and Cairns, so you can hit Bondi and Manly beaches, see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House, and grab a pie from Harry’s Café de Wheels before flying to Queensland for five days of reef and rainforest.

14 DAYS

If you’re looking for the untamed Australia of the Baz Luhrmann flick, you need to head to the Northern Territory, where cattle stations the size of Wales lie alongside Aboriginal dreaming sites in a wild landscape of river and rock.

Travel up here requires a frontiersman’s mentality — this is the bit where the crocs live, remember — but if you’re up to the challenge, Bridge & Wickers (020 7483 6555, www.bridgeandwickers.co.uk ) can tailor-make an itinerary. A Top End package, with a week in a camper van and a week to recover on the perfect beaches of Port Douglas, near Cairns, is a steal at £1,160.

Don’t fancy the crocs? Then try Trailfinders (0845 050 5871, trailfinders.com), which offers an Across the Middle trip. Starting in Perth, where you’ve got five days to sample Western Australia’s surf and shiraz, you drive across the red centre, stopping off at Alice Springs, Kings Canyon and Uluru — no, you still can’t climb it — before flying on to Sydney for your final five nights.

Prices start at £1,499. Or do it Appleyard-style with Original Travel (020 7978 7333, originaltravel.co.uk ). Its luxury Out and Back itinerary offers four nights at the InterContinental Sydney, three at Burrawang West and a week back on the coast at the Byron Resort & Spa, in Byron Bay. It costs £3,115.

21 DAYS

Times recommends

• Live Q&A: Howard Marks on his holiday highs and lows
• How to do Florence for free
• The UK and Ireland's 25 best Christmas events