First up is a bit of research. Chances are you’ve already done a fair bit of this by speaking to friends and family who have been away and devouring the travel supplements in the Sunday papers. There is a wealth of information out there in the form of specialist travel magazines, books, blogs and websites all of which are great places to look for ideas and inspiration. Make the most of these resources as they will help you pick out the “must see” from the “might be nice to pop in while I am in the area” places. It is handy to know which can be omitted if your ideal route comes in over budget. This might also be the chance of course to visit take in those places that have always captured your imagination, though be warned, including Timbuktu might add £1,000 to your trip price..

With the aid of a World map jot down the places you want to visit/sights you want to see and then arrange them into a rough geographic order. You can start your trip by heading either East or West and don't have to keep going in the same direction. Some zig- zagging or back-tracking is OK (e.g. London - Beijing overland to Hong Kong - Bangkok - Sydney is fine, whereas London - Bangkok - Cairo - Sydney wouldn't work so well..).

Don't assume that you have to travel “Round the World”. You can go out and back to Australia via the same part of the world or out via Africa and back via Asia for example.

While most RTW trips take in Australia and or New Zealand but you don't have to go to these countries.

Trip planners: 2009 trip planner + 2010 trip planner

If you’ve got the time then it makes sense to incorporate some overland travel (surface sectors) into your itinerary. If you travel overland from Bangkok to Singapore for example you’ll get to see Southern Thailand and Malaysia en-route. Travelling from St. Petersburg through Mongolia to Beijing is another popular overland route as are Santiago to Lima, Sydney to Cairns and Auckland to Christchurch.

For more information see Surface Sectors.

There are lots of fantastic transport passes and small group adventure tours that will help you make the most of your overland travel experience. We will be able to recommend these and book them for you in conjunction with your flights and will often be able to do so at a discount.

For more info on overland travel see On the Ground

Decide on when you want to depart and how long you want to be away for (Round the World tickets are valid for up to 12 months).

The cheapest to leave the UK from mid-April to the end of June, though fares aren’t too much higher at other times as long as you avoid the really busy times (fares for departures during Easter, July/early August and December / early January are usually higher) . If you have to leave at this time if the year, all is not lost – we also have access to some special ‘non-seasonal’ fares, where no premium is payable for peak season departures.

Check out what weather you can expect in each place when you’re likely to be there. While it’s impossible to guarantee sunshine everywhere you go it might be worth switching a few things round if you can avoid the worst of the monsoon or get the best trekking season!

If you live in Continental Europe it’s usually cheapest to organise RTW flights from the UK and get a low-cost carrier or train here separately.

Including pre-payable taxes, prices for economy class round the world tickets range from well under £1,000 for basic routes up to £3,000 for massive ones. It is worth noting that unlike lots of other products, with round the world tickets, if you spend more, you tend to get proportionately more for your money – e.g. a trip costing £2,000 will almost certainly have more than double the number of stops and will contain fewer compromises than one costing £1,000.

Don’t assume that what you really want to do isn't possible or will be too expensive. We can give you a quote for any round the world route and will also be able to tell you what changes need to be made to save you money if your ideal route is over budget.