We are looking at a 10-12 day trip to Darwin and area in October. Since most of our trips are shorter (we are Americans) We like to be active and travel fast....so what can we see in that time to make the most of a short trip. Also, places to stay, travel suggestions, airlines from Sydney (or other airports) to Darwin. Thanks!!!

You can fly via Alice Springs, for Ayres Rock and the real Outback and then onto Darwin with Kakadu National Park being the absolute must see. Return via Cairns for the Great Barrier Reef and you will have seen a lot of Australia. Qantas flys that route.

Kakadu and Litchfield are great to visit from Darwin. I am pretty sure Virgin Blue also fly up, are you flying in from Sydney or the US ?

Try www.asiaoz.com , they have reviews for lots of places to stay, Kakadu Lodge at Jibiru is good, in Darwin the Novotel Atrium is nice.

I also suggest a 2-3 night stay in the Katherine area. Visit Edith Falls NP, Katherine Gorge NP, Cutti Cutti Cave, Mataranka, and take the Crocodile Night Adventure in Katherine.

We did a trip to Darwin/Kakadu/Katherine/Litchfield about 3 years ago in July.Absolutelyfantastic. Must sees in Kakadu include termite mounds, Ubir Rock, Cooinda where you must go on the dawn Yellow water cruise ( book ahead). Twin falls depending on the weather. Then head down to Katherine where a gorge boat cruise is essential or canoe trip depending on how physical you want to make it. Thermal springs in town are wonderful. We didn't go to Mataranka because the camp ground was closed because of the bats. A must see on the way to /from Katherine is Edith Falls with a walk to the top pool and waterfall. Litchfield is beautiful with Buley Rockholes, Florence Falls and Wangi worth a visit. On the way to Darwin is Berry Springs which is lovely.Our children enjoyed the animal park near Berry Springs - this can be done as a day trip from Darwin also.The Adelaide River jumping crocodiles are great fun and Window on the wetland is fun and educational at the same time. In Darwin we had fun at the fish feeding place, Mindl Beach night markets for food and purchases are fantastic. Fish and chips out on the wharf. We stayed at Cullen Bay apartments which was handy to the marina/markets/casino.

We just came back from there. We flew Qantas largely because their flights arrive and depart Darwin during the day unlike Jetstar and Virgin Blue which arrive and depart around midnight. It is not safe to drive outside Darwin to Kakadu late at night because of Wallabys.

We took the Yellow Water cruise and went to Jim Jim and Ubirr. All were terrific. The aboriginal art and scenery are beyond unique.

We did have two problems. The first was the hotel. We stayed at the Gagudju Lodge, which bills itself as the home of Yellow Water. The room was awful, cracked and missing tiles, filthy grout, and peeling paint. If at all possible I would adjust my schedule to try and stay at the Holiday Inn. We did not stay there, but I can't imagine it would not be much better. The grounds around Gagudju are probably nicer, it is individual cabins with four rooms in each, but as I said, our room was awful.

We also rented a four wheel drive Land Cruiser. This is necessary to access some areas in the park. We did so from Advance Rent a Car. We also paid for the extra insurance, which still left us with a potential liability of AU$ 1100. We were charged this on our card despite bringing the car back in perfect condition. AMEX is trying to resolve this, but my sixth sense tells me it may be a fight. Sadly Hertz and Avis who I rely on for rental cars for business travel and who we used in NZ (we got a four wheel drive Escape from Hertz) do not rent such vehicles in Darwin.