Australia

Australia is the only country to occupy an entire continent, and its distances are on the same scale: more than 3,000 km separate the tropical north from cool Tasmania. Sydney greets you with a harbour framed by the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge, Melbourne with its cafés, galleries and restaurants, Perth with Indian Ocean sunshine and Brisbane with subtropical warmth.

Along the north-east coast the Great Barrier Reef stretches over 2,000 km, with coral gardens and the Whitsunday Islands, while on the mainland the Daintree, one of the oldest rainforests on earth, runs down to the sea. In the Red Centre, Uluru and Kata Tjuta rise from the desert. The south brings the vineyards of the Barossa Valley and the Mornington Peninsula, the wildlife of Kangaroo Island, and Tasmania’s granite peaks and empty bays.

The seasons mirror Europe’s. The tropical north is best from May to October, when it is dry and warm; the south is at its finest from October to April, through the local spring, summer and early autumn. Australia suits honeymooners, divers, food and wine lovers, families and anyone who wants to combine a great city, the reef and the desert in one trip.