In 2023, we finally made our dream of travelling the world on an extended adventure a reality. It was an unforgettable experience, but getting there wasn’t easy! From deciding which countries to visit and figuring out the perfect itinerary to dealing with the often-complicated visa processes, planning a world trip like this took a lot of thought and effort.
Whether you’re dreaming of a long-term journey, looking for some travel inspiration, or just curious about how we pulled it off, we’re excited to share our 6-month travel itinerary with you.
Overview of our 6-month trip
Countries visited: 20
Continents: 4
On this trip, we chose to go to three continents and added a few other places that made sense on the route or offered experiences we really wanted to have.
We started our trip with 2.5 months in Europe in July because who doesn’t dream of a long European summer? It was crowded, hot and expensive during this time, but having one too many gelatos made everything worthwhile. Moreover, coming from a country with a weak passport, it was a great relief to only need one visa for the 11 countries we visited during our trip.
After Europe, we went to Morocco in Africa because it was a breeze to get there—just a one-hour ferry from southern Spain.
Finally, we flew to Latin America for 3 months, starting in South America and ending in Mexico. Latin America is a backpacking haven offering many bucket list adventures and simple overland bus travel, making it a wonderful choice for us.
Why did we choose not to travel to Asia, Australia or more countries in Africa? Since we are from India, we often gravitate towards these countries due to their proximity. The idea of this trip, however, was to go to far-flung locations we can’t get to that easily.
Our 6-month World Travel Itinerary
Italy and the Vatican: July 1 to July 22
Places we visited
Rome and Vatican
Naples
Florence
Tuscany
Cinque Terre
Milan with a day trip to Lake Como.
Dolomites
Venice
Italy was our first country on this trip. It was the country we had been looking forward to the most and the one that impressed us most as well. We spent 3 weeks in Italy travelling from Rome to Venice, exploring central and northern Italy, and simply couldn’t get enough of the food, the art, architecture, cute towns, landscapes and the overall vibe! Even 21 days felt short and we’re already planning to go back to see everything we missed.
Slovenia: July 22 to July 25
Places we visited
Ljubljana
Bled
We took a 4-hour bus from Venice to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana, and spent 3 days in the country exploring the area around Lake Bled on a road trip. While Slovenia only made it to our 6-month world travel itinerary because we wanted to visit the famous Lake Bled, we felt that the country was extremely serene and totally underrated! Three days here felt quite short and we wished we had planned at least another day or two in the beautiful green city of Ljubljana.
Read our Slovenia Travel Guides
Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Montenegro: July 25 to August 7
Places we visited
Zagreb
Zadar
Split
Hvar
Dubrovnik
Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Kotor and Perast (Montenegro)
We took a 2.5-hour bus from Ljubljana to the capital of Croatia, Zagreb.
We never intended to include Croatia in this world trip. We were supposed to have actually gone to Austria from Slovenia but at the last moment, I added Croatia because our friends insisted we go. I have to thank them for that because Croatia blew us away and got firmly lodged as one of our top 10 countries.
Why?
Croatia has stunning cities and towns by the sea with such an old-world charm. No wonder it was the shooting location for The Game of Thrones series. Additionally, the waters were so clear and blue, making for the perfect European summer getaway. It’s proximity to other Balkan countries meant that we could do day trips to destinations like Bosnia and Herzegovina from Split and Montenegro from Dubrovnik.
We also started noticing that our stays were relatively inexpensive and so much better than the ones we stayed at in Italy so we really appreciated the value for money in Croatia.
Iceland: August 7 to August 17
We took a flight from Dubrovnik to Keflavik in Iceland, where Iceland’s main international airport is located. We rented a car at the airport itself and spent the next 10 days on a road trip along Iceland’s Ring Road. Though the weather was harsh, the food was from grocery stores and gas stations, and the guesthouse rooms were small, the landscapes we saw during our time here were so worth it. Think black beaches, glaciers, icebergs, waterfalls and the most insane volcanic vistas. The scenery is truly surreal!
Amsterdam, Brugge and Paris: August 17 to August 31
Places we visited
Amsterdam
Brugge
Paris
We flew from Iceland to Amsterdam in the Netherlands and spent the next few days relaxing, visiting museums, eating delicious fries and stroopwafels, and admiring the beauty of the city of canals. This city break was much-needed after spending time in the wilderness of Iceland.
We then took a train from Amsterdam to Bruges in Belgium and spent two days admiring this gorgeous city with Gothic buildings surrounded by canals. A friend of ours said it’s his favourite city in world so we simply had to go. And God, he was right! Even Amsterdam has canals, but Brugge beats it in terms of beauty and is probably the most gorgeous city we’ve ever been to.
We took a 5.5-hour bus from Brugge to Paris to be here for a whole week. That might sound long at first to some but it really isn’t, especially for a city like Paris, which has a lot of amazing things to see and do. To top it off, this itinerary may leave you exhausted and craving slower days. 7–10 days is the perfect amount of time to spend in Paris.
Spain: August 31 to September 8
Places we visited
Barcelona
Granada
Ronda
Seville
We took a train from Paris to Barcelona to enjoy the wonderful city known for its modernist architecture and the most colourful buildings I’ve seen. Barcelona is such a vibey city that we really felt we could just move there—a problem the city has actually been struggling with.
We then went down to the southernmost region of Spain to explore Andalusia. This region is starkly different from other parts of Spain, as the Moorish influence is evident here through its colourful tile work and serene courtyards in the architecture, palaces, mosques and the mesmerising dance form Flamenco! We explored stunning cities like Granada and Seville and even did a road trip to see some beautiful white towns.
We ended our road trip in Algeciras/Tarifa since we were to board a ferry to Morocco in Africa.
Morocco: September 8 to September 18
Places we visited
Chefchoauon
Fes
Merzouga
Oarzazate
Marrakesh
The ferry from Tarifa in Spain to Tangier in Morocco takes just an hour, crossing the strait of Gibraltar that separates Europe from Africa. We rented a car in Tangier and did a road trip from there to Marrakesh, seeing the beautiful desert and mountain views. Spending 2 days in the middle of the Sahara Desert’s sand dunes and staying in beautiful riads was the highlight of our time in Morocco.
That being said, I didn’t love Morocco. Don’t get me wrong, the country is beautiful. But the whole time I was there, I just wanted to leave. Don’t ask me what it was that I didn’t like—maybe just the scamming culture (but we loved Egypt so maybe it’s not that)—and coming from Andalusia in Spain, the architecture also looked extremely similar—nothing extraordinary.
I felt that we simply should’ve left for South America right after Spain and instead added Belize to our itinerary between Guatemala and Mexico.
Madrid, Spain: September 18-September 19
We booked a flight from Marrakesh to Lima that had a 19-hour layover in Madrid. So we got a chance to explore the capital of Spain. To be honest, we didn’t particularly enjoy Madrid and felt it lacked the unique charm that all the other European places we visited possessed. Maybe it’s a great city to live in, or we needed to spend more time here to really fall in love with it but we doubt we’ll ever want to go back.
Peru: September 19 to October 10
Places we visited
Lima
Iquitos (Amazon)
Huacachina
Nazca
Cusco
Arequipa
Puno (Lake Titicaca)
Peru is such a diverse country! The three weeks we spent here enabled us to see this diversity, from cities to deserts to the ocean to mountains and even a jungle—the largest in the world! The vibrant culture of Peru is particularly evident in the mountainous cities like Arequipa and Cusco, making them a must-visit destination. The only issue we found with Peru was the difficulty and cost of independently visiting major attractions such as Rainbow Mountain and Colca Canyon, which made it necessary to take tours, that are often rushed.
Except for our visit to Amazon, the entire route was followed by buses—several overnight ones too. The Cruz del Sur buses in Peru were surprisingly comfortable, with seats reclining to nearly 180°, toilets that were always clean and well-equipped, curtains for privacy, etc. In fact, most of our bus journeys in South America were very comfortable.
We ended the Peruvian leg of the journey in the city of Puno, from where we took a bus to our next country on the 6-month travel itinerary, Bolivia.
Bolivia: October 10 to October 17
Places we visited
Copacabana
La Pa
Uyuni
Bolivia turned out to be a fascinating country. We didn’t love Copacabana, our first stop in this country! However, we thought that our next stop, La Paz, was such a cool place, with it’s ropeway system serving as a transportation system in the rocky mountainous terrain of this city, which is the highest capital in the world. We spent only one night here but should’ve certainly spent at least 2–3 days.
Our final destination in the country was a truly unforgettable experience: the Uyuni Salt Flats and the Bolivian Altiplano. We experienced this on a 3-day tour, seeing geysers, flamingos, giant cacti, multi-hued lagoons, volcanoes, etc. We did this tour in Spanish to save some money without even knowing how to speak Spanish. It was an exciting experience in its own right.
The tour we did picked us up in Uyuni and dropped us off at the border of Chile, where they’d arranged for another bus to take us to San Pedro de Atacama, a town in the Atacama Desert in Chile.
Chile: October 17 to October 30
Places we visited
San Pedro de Atacama
Antofagasta
Santiago
Punta Arenas
Puerto Natales
We hired a car to explore San Pedro de Atacama and its environs. This area was much like what we saw on the Uyuni tour, as it’s part of the same region, the Altiplano. It’s again a barren landscape with stunning mountains, volcanoes, salt lagoons (which you can take a dip in), geysers and more.
We actually didn’t realise just how big the Atacama Desert is and assumed that the famous Hand of the Desert statue would be near San Pedro itself but it turns out it is actually near the coastal city of Antofagasta so we actually drove 300 km to see it. It was nice to see what a coastal desert is like and to witness the fog that this desert is known for.
Next, we were to explore Santiago, the capital of Chile. The plan was to see the neighbouring Maipo wine region and the colourful town of Valapraiso nearby. But we were so exhausted during our time in Santiago that we didn’t step out anywhere and just did a small winery tour and tasting at the Cosino Macul winery, which is in Santiago itself.
We then boarded a flight to Punta Arenas in Chilean Patagonia. I usually sleep on flights but thankfully I didn’t because the views over the mountain were absolutely gorgeous—the most insane flight we’ve ever had. In Punta Arenas, we did a tour to see penguins and then took a bus to Puerto Natales to explore Torres del Paine National Park and hike the famous Laguna Los Tres Hike. We didn’t end up doing the hike, but just driving around the national park itself was amazing, with jagged peaks covered with snow, blue lakes, and waterfalls.
Finally, we took a bus from Puerto Natales in Chile to El Calafate in Argentina.
Argentina: October 30 to November 12
Places we visited
El Calafate
El Chalten
Buenos Aires
Puerto Iguazu
We had only one agenda in El Calafate: to see the Perito Moreno Glacier, which was absolutely gorgeous. We then took a bus to El Chalten to do some incredible hikes, like the famous Laguna de Los Tres hike. It was super long at 25 km, but we still managed to do it. Doing at least one major hike in Patagonia (if not more) is absolutely worth it!
We then flew to Buenos Aires, a city we were planning to skip but ended up falling in love with. We spent our time watching tango dances, eating fab food, roaming the streets of colourful La Boca and vibey Palermo, and bar hopping.
Our last stop in Argentina was Puerto Iguazu, home to the largest waterfall system in the world, which is located in both Argentina and Brazil. After seeing the Iguazu Falls from the Argentina side, we took a cab to the Brazilian side—Foz do Iguazu.
Brazil: November 12 to November 22
Places we visited
Foz do Iguacu
Paraty
Rio de janeiro
The Brazilian side of the falls at Foz do Iguacu is brilliant. This is where we also enjoyed a super thrilling boat ride for a dip under the falls. One of our most memorable moments from the trip.
Next, we wanted to go to Lencois Maranhenses, a unique place where you can witness blue lagoons amidst sand dunes. The sight is truly breathtaking! However, some travel agents told us not to come to Lencois Maranhenses because it wasn’t the right time to see the lagoons. We thought that if this didn’t work out, we’d go to Jericoacora, which is a seaside town with no roads and a lot of charm.
Unfortunately, the flights to reach these locations were too costly so we decided to go somewhere near Rio itself and ended up taking a bus to Paraty, a charming seaside town with Portuguese architecture. We spent some beautiful days lazing on beaches and enjoying walks in the town with colonial architecture.
Lastly, we visited Rio de Janeiro, home to one of the seven new wonders of the world, Christ the Redeemer, and one of the 7 natural wonders of the world, Guanabara Bay. It’s a gorgeous city, with stunning beaches, a national park within the city, excellent nightlife, and amazing views everywhere. However, the rain and Taylor Swift’s concert during our visit disrupted many of our plans.
After we finished exploring Brazil, we flew to Bogota, the capital city of Colombia.
Colombia: November 22 to December 5
Places we visited
Bogota
Salento
Medellin
Cartagena
We started our trip in this country by understanding a bit about Bogota and Colombia’s history with a walking tour and seeing some other sights in the city.
From Bogota, we took a flight to Armenia to go to the colourful town of Filandia, where we stayed in a glass cabin with a view of green hills. It was a much-needed, serene and peaceful getaway. We then took a colourful Jeep to the colourful town of Salento to see the coffee farms and hike the Cocora Valley—both must-dos in Colombia.
From Salento, we took a morning bus to Medellin. Medellin, once one of the most dangerous cities in the world due to it being Pablo Escobar’s home, has now rebuilt itself in a positive way. It’s a beautiful green city with outstanding weather year-round, excellent cafe culture, rich history and a superb party scene. It’s difficult to not love this city!
From there, we took a flight to Cartagena, where we enjoyed walking in this very aesthetic city and beach time on the islands nearby. But it was blistering and humid that we simply couldn’t step out during the day.
Finally, we took a flight to Antigua, Guatemala, in Central America.
Guatemala: December 5 to December 15
Places we visited
Antigua
Lake Atitlan
Flores
I’m not sure if you’ve ever heard of this country or why it’s a must-visit. Guatemala is a country that totally surprised us and we think its so underrated! We went for the volcanoes but fell in love with the sunsets, architecture, and nature.
We started our time in the country with Flores. The initial idea was to go to Flores last so as to be able to take the land route to Mexico via Belize. But there was some issue with going to Belize carrying a drone so we chose to skip Belize altogether. We did Flores first and then the other cities in Guatemala.
Flores is home to the ancient Mayan city of Tikal. The pyramids here are way more mysterious and stunning than in Chichen Itza, as they’re located in the middle of an overgrown jungle.
After exploring Tikal, we took an overnight bus and shuttle to Lake Atitlan, where we celebrated our anniversary by staying in a beautiful resort by the lake to relax and enjoy the stunning views of Lake Atitlan’s blue waters and volcanoes.
Lastly, we spent some time in Antigua, again a very charming city that’ll transport you back in time. We did the Acatenango hike to see an active volcano erupt every 10–15 minutes. The hike is gruelling but damn, those views are everything. We also explored the many beautiful sights, colonial architecture, and delectable food of Antigua before leaving for Mexico.
Mexico: December 15 to December 29
Places we visited
Tulum
Valladolid
Isla Holbox
Mexico City
We made it to the Yucatan Peninsula—a region we loved so much that we can’t wait to go back. We hired a car and went to Tulum, Valladolid, Izamal, and Isla Holbox to see Mayan ruins, beaches, colourful towns and cenotes (sinkholes you can take a dip in). If you’d like, you can also visit Bacalar instead of Isla Holbox.
Finally, we took a flight to Mexico City for our final few days of this 6-month world travel itinerary. Mexico City is absolutely wonderful with its rich history, amazing museums, and many getaways. We especially loved our visit to the Tolantango hot springs and look back on our time in Mexico very fondly.
Wrapping up our 6-month mini-world trip feels like closing a chapter in a well-loved book. We’ve seen, done, and experienced so much. We’ve seen some incredible places, but more than just the places we visited, it’s the memories, the lessons, and the connections we made along the way that we’ll carry with us forever.
And if you’re thinking of planning your own around-the-world trip or just daydreaming about it, remember that the world is full of possibilities—just waiting for you to take that first step. Drop any questions you have in the comments section below or DM us on Instagram.
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