Kakadu National Park Long Weekender - Britz

Three nights and 302 kilometres from Darwin into Kakadu and back in a campervan, which is the shortest way into the park.

Fogg Dam comes first on the way in, a wetland reserve with one of the densest concentrations of water birds in northern Australia and a boardwalk out over it.

Ubirr follows, where rock art under the overhangs includes a painting of a thylacine and the lookout above takes in the whole Nadab floodplain, which is where most people’s lasting image of Kakadu comes from. A sunset cruise on Yellow Water goes out among crocodiles and birds, and Burrungkuy, formerly Nourlangie, holds another major art site with the Anbangbang shelter beneath it. The return runs through Pine Creek, Adelaide River, Douglas Daly and Berry Springs to Darwin.

Britz supply the camper and the day-by-day plan, and the hire is priced live per vehicle rather than per person; campsites, fuel, ferries, park fees and activities are all extra, with a nil-excess insurance pack available at booking. Four days is short for a park this size, and the trade is that everything on the list is reachable on sealed road, so a standard camper will do. The two art sites and the Yellow Water cruise are the things worth prioritising if time runs short. Dry season is the practical window, since the wet closes a good deal of the park and floods the access roads. Anyone with a week rather than four days would be better served by one of the longer Kakadu itineraries, which reach the gorges and plunge pools this one leaves out.