Around the World Flights   via the Far East

Explore the Far East

Locations:

South Korea Japan Hong Kong China

  

or call:

0845 3 447 667

Product Details

"Around the world tickets" (a.k.a 'Round the World' or 'RTW' tickets) are a series of single flights built into one ticket. Valid for 12 months - this ticket literally takes you "Around the World" - making this one of the cheapest way to do a big trip to Australia.

How do they work?
Simple - choose the regions / countries you want to visit on your way to Australia and then on the way back. You can build your own ticket - for example - the most popular route is:

London - Los Angeles [USA] - Fiji - Cook Islands [Pacific Islands] - New Zealand - Australia - Singapore - travel overland to - Thailand - London

Price guide:
- Basic routes (4-6 stops) leaving off peak (April-August) cost as little as £800 (incl. taxes*)
- Many stops on many Continents leaving at peak times (Nov-Dec) could cost £2,500+ all-in
- Most people: leave Sept, Oct, Jan-March and pay £1,500-£1,800 (incl. taxes*)

* BEWARE! Watch out for 'Fr' or 'From' [e.g. Fr £566] and what look like really cheap RTW tickets. Once you include taxes and your travel dates the price will be similar to above.

Around the world via the Far East

Be blinded by the neon lights of Tokyo, see the sunrise from Mount Fuji, catch a glimpse a Geisha's in Kyoto, take a stroll along the Great Wall of China, see the Forbidden City, visit the Terracotta Warriors, meet giant pandas at Chengduand, snowboard in South Korea and truly discover the magical Far East.

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"BUILD YOUR OWN" AROUND THE WORLD TRIP: 3 easy steps

1. Read below what gapyear.com users have to say about the Far East
2. Find out what you can do and where
3. Decide whether to build this region into your RTW ticket

When you're ready to compare the routes you like, or if you're struggling and need assistance, simply call 0845 3 447 667 or enquire through our online system and we'll help you with the rest. Details at the bottom of this page.

1. THE KEY RTW STOPS IN THE FAR EAST:

Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing (China), Tokyo (Japan) and Seoul (South Korea) are all possible.

2. POPULAR ROUTES THAT INCLUDE THE FAR EAST:

London - Beijing - travel overland to- Hong Kong [China] - Bangkok [Thailand] - Sydney [Australia] - Christchurch - travel overland to - Auckland [New Zealand] - Santiago [Chile] - travel overland to - Lima [Peru] - San Jose [Costa Rica] - London

London - Tokyo [Japan] - Perth - Cairns - travel overland to - Sydney [Australia] - Christchurch - travel overland to - Auckland [New Zealand] - L.A. [USA] - London

London - Beijing - travel overland to- Hong Kong [China] - Bangkok [Thailand] - travel overland to - Singapore - Bali [Indonesia] - Auckland - travel overland to - Christchurch [New Zealand] - Sydney [Australia] - Johannesburg [South Africa] - travel overland to - Nairobi [Kenya] - London

London - Hong Kong [China] - Auckland [New Zealand] - L.A. [USA] - London

London - Hong Kong [China] - Brisbane - travel overland to - Melbourne [Australia] - Auckland [New Zealand] - Fiji or Cook Islands [Pacific Islands] - L.A. [USA] - London

3. THINGS TO SEE & DO IN THE FAR EAST:

1. Skiing & snowboarding
2. Let Seoraksan Mountain take your breath away
3. Visit the border with North Korea
4. See the Boryeong Mud Festival

1. Hi-tech gadget shopping in Tokyo (pictured)
2. Catch a glimpse of the secret world of Geisha's
3. You'll be spoilt for choice for temples & pagodas in Kyoto
4. See the sunrise from Mt. Fuji
5. Sleep in a capsule hotel

1. Walk along the Great Wall of China (pictured)
2. See the Forbidden City
3. Visit the Terracotta Warriors
4. Check out Tiananmen Square
5. See giant pandas at Chengdu

The most popular trip around this region:

Most people only visit one of these countries as they aren't cheap / easy to get between.

In truth very few people have travelled to the Far East, so beware of any advice you get, especially from your grandparents’ generation, many of whom had a terrible time out there during the war. When choosing between Japan, South Korea, China and Mongolia, the majority of backpackers tend to visit Japan, but probably because they got a great deal on a flight that stops there... so they have to. The reality of this region is that Japan and South Korea are very safe and easy to travel through and are probably the best dual destination to give you an awesome Far Eastern experience on your round the world travels.

China you will find exceptionally difficult as a first time traveller; however, a quick stop-over would certainly give you an experience that you will never forget and stories to tell in the pub. As for Mongolia, you’ll probably only visit if you stop off during a trip on the Trans-Siberian Express.

Our recommendation? Spend a month on the way out to / back from Australia doing a tour of South Korea and Japan. You will experience stuff that you may never do again (temple stays, bullet trains and a culture built around being ‘polite’ - very unusual!).

Why the Far East?

Getting fed up of the stories that everyone has from their stop-over in Thailand on the way to or back from Australia? Want to do something that is a bit different? Have a think about stopping off in South Korea to impress your mates back home. Seoul is now one of the most happening capitals in the world, an awesome stop-over shopping destination if nothing else. The country is full of national parks, a serious ski scene (it was on the shortlist for the winter Olympics) and you can really live the history of the North / South war with a quick zip up to the Northern border on the cheap bullet trains to sit in the room where the Treaty was signed. From here take a cheap ferry ride or short flight to Japan. Slightly more expensive, but with unique temple stays, impressive cities like Tokyo and a culture based around chomping raw fish and singing Elvis songs after a tub of Sake at the local Karaoke bar, you'll have a blast.

The other destination in this area is of course China. We'd recommend first time travellers stick to the easier tourist spots of Beijing or Shanghai, the language, alphabet and culture making it a very difficult country to travel around. For those more adventurous, China is a massive country to explore. National parks, pandas, the Forbidden City, Tiananmen square - take loads of film or plenty of disk space! Another thing to take may be a stomach of steel, well, you have to try the delicacies of duck's tongue, chicken's feet and pigs blood - 'When in Rome' and all that. Or you could just stick to the sweet and sour pork balls.

What others say about this region...

Hannah Simmons: "Hong Kong is my favourite place of all. I just fell in love with it as soon as I arrived. The harbour at night was amazing, and all the people were so friendly. Plus, it was so easy to get around..."
Click here >> for more"

Adam Lunn: "I just fell in love with Japan in a big way. The Japanese are some of the most generous people you can imagine and love to welcome you and make you feel at home in their country..."
Click here >> for more"

South Korea

Ramy Salameh writes...
Culture shock, modern, unique, dynamic, stunning, friendly, technological, ancient! These are all words that I would use to describe Korea and no doubt there are many more, which you will discover when you visit the country. The country has a population of around 47.5 million packed into a country slightly bigger than England.

Korea is sandwiched between China and Japan with a history intricately entwined with both. Samsung, LG, Daewoo and Hyundai are just some of the major companies you will recognise all of which are Korean and are the result of Korea’s rapid growth into one of Asia’s major tiger economies. This highly advanced and technologically superior destination hides a scenically stunning landscape with a history dating back 5000 years. The country is very mountainous with mountains covering around 70% of the land and the Republic of Korea consists of nine provinces with the capital being Seoul. The Korean peninsula is divided slightly north of the Capital by the De-Militarised Zone (DMZ), which was the legacy of the Korean War some 50 years ago. On one side you have the communist Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea and on the other the Republic of South Korea.

Ramy's Top 5 things to do:

1. Do a temple stay (if you fancy being woken at 3am by a Monk banging a drum).
2. Do a Taekwondo course.
3. Seoul - is a paradise for shopaholics: lose yourself in markets.
4. Go hiking in a National Park: Korea has 20 of them, all with spectacular scenery.
5. The Hanyeo or diving ladies of Jeju Island are worth a visit as they can be seen diving off the shoreline without breathing apparatus.

Summary

Korea scores full marks for its mountains and its winter sports - in fact, 70 per cent of the nation is covered in mountains, and the slopes are easy to get to and of a high quality. Its city life and its shopping also get five out of five - no wonder this is a fast-growing backpacker destination.

Japan

Gwilym Cox writes...
Situated Far East, Japan consists of four main islands (Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku) and almost 7,000 smaller ones. It is roughly one and a half times the size of Britain, over 70% mountainous and has a population of over 126 million crammed into less than 10% of the landmass.

Isolated from the rest of the world until 150 years ago, Japan has striven to make enormous progress since that time through the Post-war Allied occupation to the outrageous wealth of the 1980s bubble economy. The crash and subsequent unemployment that followed did not stop the world’s appetite for all things Japanese.

Japan embraces modernity in all aspects of everyday life, yet manages to retain much of its time-honoured culture. From the cacophony of sights, sounds and smells that is Tokyo, it is possible to make a short journey and find yourself atop a mountain with nothing other than mountaintops surrounding you. Walking in any town it is not uncommon to find a peaceful temple or shrine within minutes of passing a street filled with noisy hostess bars and amusement game centres. The combination of old and new makes Japan an utterly unique and captivating place to visit

Gwilym's Top 5 things to do:

1. People-watch: the fashion-crazy teens in Tokyo are fascinating.
2. Visit the Sony Building and play with gadgets galore.
3. Visit the Peace Park in Hiroshima.
4. Check out the beautiful temples at Kyoto.
5. Climb Mount Fuji in time to catch the sunrise.

Summary

Japan is one of the more expensive countries you'll visit on your RTW trip. However, it's a fascinating nation in which the ancient and the modern coexist in inspiring ways. It scores highly for its city life and its shopping, and is home to some must-see icons too. Its relatively high score for 'working' is because of the large number of well-paid jobs available for English teachers..

China

Joe Gudgeon writes...
I suspect it is fair to say that most people don’t know much about China. There’s a misconception that it doesn’t welcome foreigners: in fact nothing could be further from the truth. I lost count of the number of times I was approached by people desperate to practise their English on a complete stranger.

The metropolis of Shanghai was my first stop, a city with a population of sixteen million in a country of one point three billion. The place is a jumble of impressive skyscrapers, rurally primitive housing, deserted shopping malls, aggressively packed markets, westernised bars and clubs and more building sites than you can shake an English planning permit at. Just walking down a new street can offer a different experience, while crossing the road is an art to be mastered alongside speaking and reading Mandarin and manipulating chopsticks.

Beyond Shanghai there is a huge country to explore, the ancient splendour fused with Communist authority of Beijing, the natural beauty of the Yellow Mountains and the bizarre westernisation of Yangshou. This country is an undiscovered backpackers’ paradise with cheap food, cheap accommodation and cheap transport. It can be tricky and time-consuming, but it’s well worth it

Things to do

1. Walk along part of the awe-inspiring Great Wall.
2. Visit the Giant Panda Breeding Research Base in Chengdu.
3. Marvel at the epic grasslands of Inner Mongolia.
4. Visit Leshan (Sichuan) - 71m high Buddha statute carved into the rocks
5. Explore the Longgong caves, an awesome network of caverns in the Guizhou province.

Summary

Home to a third of the world's population, China is vast and daunting. It's a difficult country to get around, and the culture shock will knock your socks off. However, if you've got a bit of travel experience and an open mind, it's a country in which you can really immerse yourself, and which is sure to provide you with enough travel tales to last a lifetime.

THE FAR EAST: SUMMARY

In the Far East you'll find booming modern economies, and peasants who live as they did hundreds of years ago. You'll find bustling cities packed with the latest technology, and vast expanses of barely-populated grassland. You'll burn holes in your pocket in Japan, and get by on a few quid a day in China. It really is impossible to generalise about this area of the world: you'll just have to experience it for yourself.

STA Travel

STA Travel is the World's largest youth and independent travel agency. With over 65 branches in the UK and over 450 around the World, you can visit them if you have problems overseas. The Gapyear.com team at STA Travel are on standby to help you plan your dream trip.

  

or call:

0845 3 447 667