‘Responsible’ no-fly world tour features trains, cargo ships

Guilt-free world tours come at a high cost to comfort, according to one eco-travel agency.

ResponsibleTravel.com has mapped out an 80-day trip to see some of the world’s largest expanses of land and sea via trains and cargo ships — a greener, more carbon-footprint-minimizing mode of transportation compared to air travel.

While the pricey itinerary is somewhat customizable, the $37,000 all-inclusive package suggests stops in some of the world’s most notable cities in the UK, Switzerland, Austria, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and China — following along the historic Silk Road route.

Next, intrepid travelers move on to a “unique adventure” that sees passengers hopping across the Pacific Ocean to North America, where tourists will take in “stunning” views of the West Coast and the Canadian Rocky Mountains, then over to Montréal and Canada’s East Coast before setting course back to the UK.

En route, travelers will shack up in private sleeper train cars, en-suite ship cabins and a few four-star hotels. (However, there will also be an option to “return in style” to the UK aboard the Queen Mary 2.)

Special tours and attractions may include visits to United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Sites, cathedrals, national parks, fabled merchant bazaars and malls, museums, ancient palaces and more.

“By choosing to travel by land, even in at least one direction, we can promote the role of responsible tourism as a way forward for the future,” the tourism site reads.