Low Cost RTW Trip
Low Cost RTW Trip: UK - Bangkok - (overland) - Singapore - Darwin - (overland) - Sydney - Auckland - San Francisco - (overland) - New York - UK
In 2012 this route was on offer from £899, and the site promised round-the-world tickets for under US$2,000. The flights on the same route now come to about $1,639 to $2,501 per person in economy, so the low end is still under $2,000. That is a planning estimate from AirTreks fare history, checked 1 October 2026, and an AirTreks specialist will price your exact route and dates.
Start off in Bangkok, move on to Singapore, fly to Australia to explore the north and the east coast, hop over to New Zealand, then finish with the United States, coast to coast, and New York.
The overland gaps
Three legs of this route aren't flights. They keep the ticket cheap, and they're where you see the most.
Bangkok to Singapore is about 1,200 miles by train, for around US$80 according to Seat61, which updated its guide in July 2026. You book each train separately: an overnight train from Bangkok to the Malaysian border at Padang Besar, Malaysia's fast ETS trains down through Kuala Lumpur to Johor Bahru, and a short shuttle over the causeway into Singapore.
Darwin to Sydney is the long one. In 2012 this page suggested a 25-day overland trip from Sydney up to Darwin: the east coast, the Whitsundays, the island then called Fraser Island (officially K'gari since 2023) and Uluru. If you'd rather take the train, The Ghan runs from Darwin to Adelaide in four days and three nights.
San Francisco to New York can be done by train too. Amtrak's California Zephyr runs daily between the San Francisco Bay Area and Chicago in about 51 hours, over the Rockies and through Salt Lake City and Denver, and the Lake Shore Limited takes another 19 hours from Chicago to New York.
Keeping the rest cheap
Fewer stops usually cost less. On an alliance round-the-world ticket AirTreks finds routes with three to six legs book 61% to 91% of the time, against under 6% for seven or more. AirTreks gives the example of a route twisted to fit in one more city that cost US$800 more in airfare and two extra days in transit.
Book early. The AirTreks guide on when to buy RTW tickets puts the best window at 6 to 11 months before you leave.
Spend your time where your money lasts. Most of the travellers in BootsnAll's RTW Traveler Profiles went through Thailand, and 32 of the 161 who said what they saved set off with less than US$5,000. The median was $10,000.
Sleep cheap: see Hostels around the World and Hospitality Exchange. For working on the way, see work and travel around the world, and for cycling, buses and hitchhiking, Bicycles, Buses, Hitchhiking. BootsnAll has 35 budgeting tips for long-term travel, and AirTreks breaks down what an RTW trip costs.
Other budget routes from 2012
The site also sold six budget routes from London, from £950 to £1,080, among them London - Hong Kong - (overland) - Shanghai - Auckland - San Francisco - (overland) - Los Angeles - London, and London - Johannesburg - Sydney - Los Angeles - (overland) - New York - London. Those prices are long gone. AirTreks can price any of the routes today.
Tags: rtw low cost, travel low cost, low cost rtw, travel the world low budget
Planning a round-the-world trip? AirTreks has built multi-stop itineraries since 1987. See sample routes or ask a specialist.