Best for Exploring Wilderness
Base Camp: Darwin
Australians banked on the Hugh Jackman epic Australia to attract hordes of tourists. It didn’t happen, and plane fares, usually the main hurdle to an Oz vacation, have been halved. Darwin is the very best place to exploit the weak Australian dollar: Its remoteness has kept it cheaper than Sydney and more authentically Aussie. Start at the Mindil Beach Sunset markets, where 59 vendors serve up tasty barramundi, mud crabs, and crocodile kabobs under a tropical sunset (mindil.com.au). Just off the beach, the Medina Grand Darwin Waterfront has cheap kitchenettes ($163; medina.com.au). Get a tour from Robert Mills, who lends an aboriginal perspective on Darwin ($82; batjitours.com.au).
Excursion 1: Groote Eylandt
Take a 90-minute Air North flight ($125) to idyllic Groote Eylandt. Not a tourist destination until 2008, this island is home to the area’s best beaches and fishing — catch massive barramundi and black marlin right offshore. The lone hotel hugs a fishing village and miles of deserted coast ($230; dugongbeachresort.com.au).
Excursion 2: Katherine Region
From Darwin, catch the Ghan train ($56) to Elsey National Park, where you can wade in the Mataranka Thermal Pool or canoe through the Victoria, Daly, and Katherine Rivers ($600 for a three-day trip; geckocanoeing.com.au).
Can’t Get It At Home: The Darwin Stubby
Only available in the Northern Territory, the 2-liter uniquely Australian beer is the world’s largest.
Read Before You Go: The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin
An evocative human history told through a trek in the outback.
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