Travel company launches ‘responsible’ flight-free round the world tour on trains and cargo ships

Get saving – trips start from £26,500

A travel company is launching a completely flight-free world tour for travellers who want to see the world while keeping an eye on their carbon footprint.

The 80-day tour is done by train and cargo ship, taking in Canada, China, Kazakhstan, Russia, Switzerland, Ukraine and the US.

This trip of a lifetime comes with a price tag to match: £26,500. However, this does include all transport and transfers, accommodation and sightseeing activities.

Accommodation will be in comfortable, generally four-star hotels; train travel is in first-class or private sleeper compartments; and cargo ship travel will be in private en-suite cabins.

Some meals will also be included.

Tours can be adapted to suit guests, but the suggested itinerary sees travellers set out from London and cross Europe by train.

Passengers will be given time to explore in Lviv, Ukraine, before stopping in the Russian cities of Moscow and Samara.

Following the path of the Silk Road, they will continue on to Kazakhstan, taking in Aralsk and Baikonur, and Uzbekistan, where 10 days will be spent exploring its historic cities.

Travelling by high-speed train, tourers will stop off in five Chinese cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, as they traverse the country from west to east.

Finishing up in Xiamen, travellers will then embark on an epic 16-day crossing onboard a cargo ship, sailing across the Pacific Ocean all the way to LA in the US.

The tour continues up the Pacific Coast to Seattle via San Francisco by train.

From there, guests hop over the border to Vancouver to join the famed Canadian trans-continental train service to Toronto, crossing through the dramatic scenery of the Rockies.

After stops in Toronto and Montréal, travellers board the last sleeper train of the trip to Halifax, Nova Scotia, from where they can catch a final cargo ship for a seven-day crossing across the Atlantic to Liverpool.

Given the current prohibitive travel restrictions caused by the pandemic, the tour isn’t scheduled to go ahead until 2023.

But flight-free travellers are advised to book early due to limited availability, particularly on cargo ships.