Planning an RTW Route

When you’re planning a one- or two-week trip somewhere, figuring out your route is essentially the same as figuring out your itinerary. You’ll fly into Rome, take a train to Florence, rent a car and drive around Tuscany for a week, and then spend a couple days in Venice before flying home again. People agonize over these details – what order to go in, how to get from place to place – but the truth is they’re relatively easy to figure out compared to laying out a whole RTW route.

One major consideration is which direction to travel in – do you head west first? East? Maybe south or north? – but the direction is only part of the route-planning equation. Carrying everything on your back means you’ll want to pack light, and the best way to do that is to stick to warmer locations whenever possible – so watching the seasons is another thing to keep in mind when you’re planning a RTW route.

Other things to think about when figuring out a route for your RTW trip include which places are more budget-friendly (do you go to expensive places first, or make your money last longer by starting where it’s cheaper?) and which ones require particular visas and immunizations (can you string together a series of destinations that all require the same shots, so you don’t have to get some again later on?).

This month’s RTW travel newsletter from BootsnAll is all about planning a RTW route, so be sure to sign up so you don’t miss anything.