donm

Can anyone recommend any publications or guides or tips which would be useful in Planning this once in a lifetime trip for 2 retired folk around the world from England taking in dubai, china, japan, australia, newzealand, south pacific & home. Thanks

Gardyloo

Unfortunately Fodors doesn't seem to offer too much for these kind of big trips, but others do - for example http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ca...s.cfm?catid=58

Air travel arrangements can be complex to easy. Here's a place to start -
http://www.airtimetable.com/Around_World_Airfares.htm

Using Star Alliance carriers, for example, (Lufthansa, Swiss, Thai, Air New Zealand, many others) you could go London - Zurich - Dubai - Bangkok - Beijing - Tokyo - Sydney - Auckland - Fiji - Los Angeles - London for around £1500 plus tax in economy class. All you need to do is plan the land portion.

Happy planning!

kaneda

You need to do a lot of homework on this first and decide exactly what you want to see and where you want to go. You can book a round the world air ticket which can have overland stretches between destinations. Such tickets travel in one direction and you can't double back on yourself but you can book side trips.

You also have to allow that summer up north is winter down under. You should also check out rainy/monsoon seasons, particularly in Asia where it can be very heavy and prolonged.

Why Dubai? It's a place people mostly go to relax for a week and maybe buy a bit of gold (which the customs will charge you on if they see it).

How about Paris, Venice, Rome, Bangkok on the way to Beijing? Little in Shanghai. Pop into Xian for the Terracotta warriors. Hong Kong? Australia is very big and people usually fly between destinations. It's cheaper to buy the flights before arriving there. What do you want to see in NZ?

I would have looked in on South America on the way back rather than expensive sand traps in the South Pacific.

You will of course need visas in China and Australia. Check elsewhere.

donm

Thank you both for your ideas if you can think of anything else to help us start planning it would be most appreciated

Gardyloo

Send me an email at gardyloo at comcast dot net.

Neil_Oz

Random thoughts in no particular order:

Use www.weatherbase.com to check out the likely weather in the places you plan to visit.

There are many helpful trip reports and comments in past threads on these forums - use the search box above.

After Aust/NZ you'll have the choice of returning home via North or South America. Any preferences, such as a longstanding desire to see NYC (or Macchu Picchu)? I think Qantas is starting Sydney-Santiago services next year, for what it's worth.

I too wonder "why Dubai?" There are other and arguably more interesting places you can work on your tan - the Great Barrier Reef for example.

In Japan I'm told you shouldn't miss Kyoto.

If you can give examples of what particularly interests you, I'm sure you'll get more useful hints - e.g. natural wonders, the history and cultures of foreign lands, etc.

LizzyF

Hi there:
I have done about 3 RTW trips now and the last one was the most interesting. Australia - Bangkok - Helsinki - Prague - London - Boston - NY - Miami - Lima ( side trip to Macchu Picchu) Buenos Aires - Santiago - Auckland - Sydney. However I for one would endorse your idea of going to Dubai if only for a few days as my daughter is there and from all accounts it is a facinating place. Since JAL and Royal Jordanian joined the One World alliance you have got heaps of choices but for my money I would go with Royal Jordanian and go and see Petra instead of going to Dubai which is interesting but very, very modern, whilst Petra to me is one of the most outstanding places in the World - if you go make sure its for more than one day and hire an archeologist to show you around. Depending on how many stops you want and which scheme you are paying for will determine how many places that you can go. I am certainly glad to hear from Neil that Qantas is going to re-start their flights to South America because that part of the World is just so facinating. You can go there with Lan Chile in the One World group which flies into and out of the USA - if you go there you can get flights IN Chile to other areas of South America quite cheaply but not so if you buy outside of S.A. The RTW trip that I did allowed us to do a side trip from Lima to Cuscu thense to Macchu Picchu within the price structure - this we did on Lan Peru which is an offshoot of Lan Chile - a very good airline by the way. For instance you could do somsething like this - London - Rio - Santiago - Auckland - Sydney - Asia somewhere - Dubai and Jordon perhaps - London. In Australia you could somehow get the flights that leave from Sydney then up to Cairns and leave from there to Asia! Anyway hope that helps.

Bokhara

Hi Lizzy,
Could I ask you how long you took for your last RTW trip? Also, what time of year did you go? Sounds fabulous.

Carrabella

We've done six RTW trips, starting from Sydney, using Star Alliance, the latter ones on more limited budgets than when we were working, but still most enjoyable.
Like Lizzy, we liked Dubai (hired a car and drove out into the desert, as well as walking around town in heat and wind), but Petra was better! We stayed in Jordan, and did a day trip tour, but it would have been better to stay in Petra overnight. Also had a hire car in Jordan - fascinating to negotiate a city with very few English road signs! From Dubai, we had a side trip to Iran, and found it a most hospitable and fascinating country. (about 10 years ago)
I'd try to fit in South America - fabulous - we missed Machu Pichu because of altitude worries, but flew from Australia to LA, Denver, Miami, Rio de Janiero ,Iguassu Falls, Buenos Aires and Rio Galegos,further south in Patagonia, to drive to El Calafate and see the fabulous glaciers. Mainland USA is also a wonderful place to travel, very scenic and easy once you get the hang of driving on the wrong side of the road.

I made use of the library for Lonely Planet books and any others I could find. Kept a notebook and wrote down things I might like to see and do, and in later years, the internet was great for booking hotels and hire cars.

My tip is to pack light, and keep copies of all important documents hidden on one's person. With flash cards, it is now possible to wear them in a chip around one's neck, but I still like a paper copy as well, in a plastic bag in a hidden money belt.

LizzyF

G'day Bokara, we took about 7 weeks for our RTW trip which was not really long enough and made for a bit of a rush in places but fine in others. For instance as I had been to Bangkok a number of times that stop was only an overnight one, Helsinki was for 3 days and was about as boring as you could get except we went to Tallin in Estonia for the day. Helsinki was super expensive but if Donm is from England then that would not be as bad. Prague, I had also been to previously and because they had not accepted our American Express credit card and would not allow us to use it for the shows that we had booked the stay was a short one and we brought forward our trip to London where we spent time with friends. Boston and surrounds were great as was NY and Miami. We spent only a few days in Lima before going to Cusco ( another 4 days or so) staying at a great B&B there named Los Aticos which is run by a family who also have a travel agency next door and who got us some fantastic deals on tours and a great deal with the B&B as well - very clean and very well run. Then I think about 5 days in Argentina, 4 Santiago and then home via Auckland.
Since that trip I have been down to El Calefate in Argentina and was absolutely blown away by the Patagonian Ice cap region and the glaciers which are the best I have seen close up but Bariloche is my love and if anyone can get to Argentina then that is where to go - anytime of year in my eyes, so is the other side of the Andes in Chile equally as beautiful - that and/or the area in and around the fiords, the Beagle Channel and Terra del Paine.
I have been to Japan a couple of times and to my way of thinking it is the least interesting of the Asian countries.
I am hoping to get back to Petra again in the next year or so but for a longer time so that I can fully take in that fantastic place which I have always thought should be one of the Wonders of the World. So I would say to anyone going on a RTW to do it to the hardest to get places, take as much time as possible but in any event just go! Remembering that for donm that Tiger Airways ( a budget airline of Singapore airlines) has very cheap flights within and throughout Asia so if there is a place that you cannot get in your RTW it may be an idea to check on their prices and do your own side trip. Same with some places and flights within Australia on www.jetstar.com or www.virginblue.com.au and www.tigerairways.com

Bokhara

Thanks Lizzy, that's great info. Just daydreaming at this stage - but ....