There are a thousand ways around the world. Ask a different traveler which are the best round the world itineraries and you’ll get a different answer, which region is the most beautiful or which curry stop will roast your mouth the best.

But even with these voices, you still need a little objective advice to help make your decision the best one when planning a route of your own, the opinion of someone who has seen what travelers do and why. To help dampen the noise of popular opinion, I’ve assembled a helpful list of 5 different routes that make sense in getting you around the world.

The following trips are compiled with a few things in mind: price (overall cost-effectiveness), efficiency (fewer hours in the air), value (getting more for your money) and overall amazingness of the destinations (based on common perceptions of what’s cool in the world to visit).

These are in no particular order and arbitrarily go in an easterly direction, even though prices are typically similar regardless of which direction you travel. They all start in New York, for lack of a better starting point. Yours can start from wherever you happen to be.

Click on the images below to be taken to TripPlanner with the route all ready to be tweaked or submitted to an agent!

New York – London – overland to Dubrovnik – Athens – Istanbul – Bangkok – Tokyo – New York

A solid Euro-heavy route that gives you some good train time and eases you from West to Far East. Will give you some of the greatest cities in Europe and a  taste of delicious Asia before returning home.

TripPlanner estimate: $2388 to $3271 including tax.

» Customize a round-the-world or multi-stop itinerary with TripPlanner

New York – Madrid – Casablanca – Cairo – Delhi – Singapore – Bali – Hong Kong – New York

Gives you both sides of Northern Africa and spicy India before a visiting a major chunk of equatorial Southeast Asia.

Trip Planner estimate: $2545 to $3486 including tax

New York – Amsterdam – overland to Rome – Mumbai – Bangkok – overland to Ho Chi Minh City – San Francisco – New York

A personal favorite! Shows you the central corridor of Western Europe by land then to Southern India before touching on Thailand and Vietnam and finally one of America’s most beautiful cities, San Francisco.

Trip Planner estimate: $2183 to $2930 including tax

New York – Sao Paulo – Buenos Aires – Cape Town – overland to Johannesburg – Sydney – overland to Melbourne – Christchurch – overland to – Auckland – Fiji – Los Angeles – New York

The most expensive of the bunch but arguably the most diverse and distant. Gets you down to South America, South Africa and some quality travel in the South Pacific nations of Australia, new Zealand and Fiji.

Trip Planner estimate: $3793 to $5195 including tax

New York – Paris – overland to Prague – Nairobi – Bangkok – overland to Hanoi – Shanghai – overland to Beijing – New York

Major overland travel route.If you love seeing the countryside this great trip gives you the benefit getting to see a lot of the world outside big cities where much of the soul of countries lie in threes separate continents.

Trip Planner estimate: $2981 to $4083 including tax

All these routes were priced with our Trip Planner application. If you’d like to test your own ideas try ‘em now. Start from your hometown, or wherever, and feel free to include any other cities or directions you like. It’s a lot of to boot!

Please note: if you wish to have AirTreks price you a custom itinerary, please call us: 1-877-247-8735, or +01-415-977-7100 outside the US.

We’re available during regular business hours, Pacific Standard Time.