My wife and I are in the early stages of planning a round-the-world trip next <BR>year. We are at the point of listing the ideal stops. Once we have that in <BR>place, we can figure out what time of year to go. At this point we are <BR>expecting the trip to be 2 - 3 months. <BR> <BR>Given the fact that the Fodors readers are of some of the most well-traveled folks on the planet, I hoped you could help us out. Please make some suggestions about the greatest places you have visited. We <BR>are athletic, in our young thirties and looking for both adventure and well as <BR>cultural destinations. <BR> <BR>Thank you very much in advance, <BR> <BR>Brett Cooper <BR>Salt Lake City, UT

Firstly, forget the round the world trip. In 2-3 months you could barely see Europe. Having said that I guess it depends on how deep you would like to explore countries and cultures. You could of course go London/Paris/Barcelona/Rome/Istanbul/ all in 3 weeks. Following that you could head down to Asia (Thailand/Vietnam are my personal favourites) for 2 weeks before dropping into Australia. <BR> <BR>From Asia you will fly into Perth which is fabulous from Oct - April. From here you will have to make some decisions. Western Australia is enourmous and largely undeveloped so it is not a matter of getting on a local bus. Unfortunately from there you will not be able to see both Northern and Southern Australia without wasting a good deal of time and indeed money. I would make your decision depending on the time of yr. Nov - March the North will be largely under water, it is extremely hot and the Ocean is lethal to enter.....literally! There are box jelly fish that kill a human in a couple of minutes if stung. So I would head south if it is summer and North (where it is still warm) if it is Winter. Whatever the time of yr Sydney and Melbourne are beautiful and are a must. Again summer head to Tasmania, Winter head to Cairns/Brisbane. <BR> <BR>I hope that helped, if even a little. <BR> <BR>Here you run into a problem - Australlia is so large that you will either have to restrict what you see greatly or be there wiDepending on what time of yr you are going I w

Brett, HP is right. I spent 6 weeks seeing Italy, 2 months in Great Britain/Ireland and then 2 months for Western Europe and that was still not enough to see even one country in great depth. Around the world in 8-12 weeks will mean whistle stops at various places. If I could afford another long holiday, I would go to Turkey, Spain and the south of France, largely because I visited them already. Outside Europe it would be Kenya, Syria, New York, Tahiti and Chile.

Brett my wife and I are planning on taking a year off and traveling the world in the very near future (w/in next 3-5 years). I know that last year there was a couple from San Diego that this a one year round-the-world type thing. The L.A. Times printed a weekly update on Sundays. I gathered a lot of info from them including how much they budgeted for and how much it actually cost them. I realize that you are going for 2-3 months but would be interested, if you don't mind, giving me a general idea of how much you have budgeted for. At time, I have thought maybe doing several 3 month stints might be better so we don't tire. Thanks.

We've done this a fewtimes, three months at a time, on a RTW fare with Staralliance. <BR>1.Sydney, South Africa(Kruger National Park was the BEST!!) Dubai, Teheran (Iran is most interesting with hospitable people interested in you, because there is little tourism, Istanbul (wonderful) Frankfurt for a German holiday and to see relatives, then Bangkok on the way back. <BR> <BR>2. Sydney, Seattle (hire car for a few weeks in Canada, Denver (to see the Badlands and Mt Rushmore, Miami (ugh!!!) Rio de Janiero, (great fun and more beautiful even than Sydney) Iguacu Falls (worth the stay at the Falls itself) El Calafate to see the calving Perito Morino glaciers and spectacular beauty of Patagonia, back to Buenos Aires and home to Sydney. <BR> <BR>Three months was enough each time. <BR> <BR>My favourite places were Rio for its wonderful beach culture and scenery, <BR>Istanbul for the Islamic culture and colour, and Cologne in Germany because I've learnt to know it best. <BR> <BR>We travel off-season if we can, then you are sure of a room at a reasonable rate, and not too many people at the attractions. <BR> <BR>Sydney is great too.