Which Australia is right for you?

Having lived in Australia and travelled extensively around it, one of the most useful things I can tell you is this:

You don't need to see everything. You need to work out which Australia you want to experience. Because with a country this incredible and this big, choosing well matters more than trying to fit everything in.

Start with what you want from the trip

You may already have places you absolutely want to see. Keep those, then think about the experiences you'd like around them.

Wide-open landscapes and a sense of space? Wildlife and wilderness? Warm water and tropical coastlines? Food and wine? Cities and culture? Or the freedom of a road trip where the journey becomes part of the holiday?

Different answers can take you to very different parts of Australia.

• For space and wilderness, you might be drawn to the vast landscapes of the Northern Territory, the huge distances and extraordinary coastline of Western Australia, or Tasmania's combination of wilderness, walking, wildlife and food.
• If it's the coast calling, you have an immense choice of beaches all over. From the coastal towns of New South Wales to the reef and tropical islands of Queensland, or the wild beauty and enormous horizons of Western Australia where you could drive for hours to reach a beach with barely another person in sight.
• Food and wine might lead you towards South Australia's vineyards and cellar doors, Melbourne paired with the Yarra Valley, Sydney and the Hunter Valley, or Tasmania for cool-climate wines, seafood and exceptional local produce.
• Wildlife and nature could mean Kangaroo Island, where you can combine wildlife encounters with wild coastline, beaches and great local produce; reef and rainforest in Queensland; Tasmania's walking and wilderness; or the extraordinary marine life of Western Australia's Ningaloo Coast. And then there are the famously friendly quokkas of Rottnest Island.

And that's the point: there isn't a single version of Australia waiting to be discovered.

The Australia I remember most

I've travelled through Australia in many different ways, but some of my strongest memories come from moments when the surroundings did most of the work.

Sailing through the Whitsundays and arriving at a remote beach with barely anyone else there. Travelling from Adelaide to the centre of Australia, and watching the landscape change before finally reaching the breathtaking views of Uluru. Walking straight from the beach into the water at Ningaloo Reef, with the coral astonishingly close to shore.

And the road trips, where choosing the four-hour route over the three-hour one, stopping when something catches your eye or changing plans along the way becomes part of the experience.

Those memories have something in common: space, discovery and the chance to really experience a place.

Some of the best journeys are built on contrast

This is where Australia gets really interesting. Sydney energy, then silence. Food and wine, then wilderness. Reef and rainforest. A long road trip, followed by a few days when somebody else takes care of everything.

You could pair Melbourne's food and culture with walking in Tasmania. Follow the Red Centre with the tropical Top End. Combine South Australia's wine regions with the wild Eyre Peninsula, or explore Western Australia by road before slowing down beside the Indian Ocean. And if you're travelling to see people you love, their home can become the starting point for discovering somewhere new together — or adding another part of Australia before or after your visit. The possibilities are enormous.

So, which Australia is yours?

You may already know some of the places you want to see. Others might emerge as you start putting the journey together.

But the beauty of this incredible country is that there are countless ways to experience Australia. The fun is discovering which one is yours.