In Jules Verne's 1873 novel, Phileas Fogg set off on his fantastic journey around the world. His aim: settle an argument that it had become possible to travel around the world in only 80 days. To prove it, he accepted a wager of £20,000 - the equivalent of £2,000,000 in today's money!
Fast forward to the modern day and things have changed quite a bit. A plane leaves Heathrow every 45 seconds, taking tourists to each and every corner of the earth in a matter of hours. Train lines, roads and motorways snake across the planet, opening up a whole world of opportunity.
This got us thinking: how long would it take to recreate the trip in Jules Verne's fascinating story - visiting each and every country he visited - with today's modern convenience? And just how much would it cost?
London - Paris
Departure: Day 1 - 14:22 GMT
Arrival: Day 1 - 17:47 GMT+1
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 0
Train: 1
Bus: 2
Car: 0
Landmark: Eiffel Tower
Overnight stay: Hotel in Paris - £135
Total money spent: £262
Travel time: 2hr 25 mins
Phileas Fogg begins his journey with a train to Dover, where he catches a boat to France with his new servant, Jean Passepartout. That's where our journey begins too!
Paris - Mont-Cenis (Modane)
Departure: Day 2 - 07:53 GMT+1
Arrival: Day 2 - 14:30 GMT+1
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 0
Train: 1
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Col du Mont-Cenis
Overnight stay: N/A
Total money spent: £223
Travel time: 6hr 37 mins
This route stretches from the hustle and bustle of Paris to the pleasant Alpine mountainside of Mont-Cenis.
Mont-Cenis (Modane) - Turin
Departure: Day 2 - 18:55 GMT+1
Arrival: Day 2 - 20:18 GMT+1
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 0
Train: 1
Bus: 0
Car: 0
Landmark: Mole Antonelliana
Overnight stay: Hotel in Turin - £64
Total money spent: £81
Travel time: 1hr 23 mins
It took Fogg 3 days to get this far in the original journey. Today, it takes just 1 day and 5 hours!
Turin - Brindisi - (Layover in Rome)
Departure: Day 3 - 06:50 GMT+1
Arrival: Day 3 - 10:35 GMT+1
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 1
Landmark: Roman Column
Overnight stay: N/A
Total money spent: £167.50
Travel time: 3hr 45 mins
This trip takes us from the very North of Italy, to the heel of the boot in the South.
Brindisi - Suez (Cairo) - (Layover in Rome)
Departure: Day 3 - 19:05 GMT+1
Arrival: Day 4 - 02:35 GMT+2
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Suez Canal House
Overnight stay: Plane and Airport
Total money spent: £427
Travel time: 6hr 30 mins
It took Fogg 4 days on a steamer across the Mediterranean Sea to complete this leg. Today, planes make this much easier and you'll be able to get to Suez from Brindisi in just 6 hours 30 minutes.
Suez (Cairo) - Mumbai - (Layover in Abu Dhabi)
Departure: Day 4 - 06:10 GMT+2
Arrival: Day 4 - 14:55 GMT+5:30
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Gateway of India
Overnight stay: Airport
Total money spent: £199
Travel time: 5hr 15 mins
Taking just 5 hours and 15 minutes today, this was the second-longest leg of Fogg's journey - an 11-day boat cruise across the Indian Ocean. A Scotland Yard detective started following Fogg from Suez thinking he was a thief.
Mumbai - Calcutta
Departure: Day 5 - 06:10 GMT+5:30
Arrival: Day 5 - 08:45 GMT+5:30
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Victoria Memorial
Overnight stay: Hotel in Mumbai - £55
Total money spent: £162.50
Travel time: 2hr 35 mins
Today we favour air travel over elephant, and it's much faster, too. Instead of 5 days, it takes just over 2 and a half hours.
Calcutta - Singapore
Departure: Day 6 - 23:55 GMT+5:30
Arrival: Day 7 - 06:40 GMT+8
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 2
Car: 0
Landmark: Raffles Hotel
Overnight stay: Airport and Flight
Total money spent: £326
Travel time: 4hr 15 mins
Remember to respect cultural traditions if you want to avoid the troubles Passepartout had to endure when he didn't take his shoes off in a temple!
Singapore - Hong Kong
Departure: Day 8 - 08:10 GMT+8
Arrival: Day 8 - 12:10 GMT+8
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Victoria Peak
Overnight stay: Hotel in Singapore
- £130
Total money spent: £250
Travel time: 4hr 00
The ship Fogg boarded took him past the Great Andaman and the Straits of Malacca. Today we fly over them during our 4 hour flight.
Hong Kong - Yokohama
Departure: Day 9 - 00:40 GMT+8
Arrival: Day 9 - 05:30 GMT+9
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 2
Bus: 0
Car: 0
Landmark: Yokohama Landmark Tower
Overnight stay: Airport and Flight
Total money spent: £186
Travel time: 3hr 50 mins
This is where Passepartout ended up in a bit of trouble � and on the wrong ship � after drinking too much.
Yokohama - San Fransisco
Departure: Day 9 - 16:25 GMT+9
Arrival: Day 9 - 08:40 GMT-8
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 0
Bus: 0
Car: 2
Landmark: Golden Gate Bridge
Overnight stay: Flight
Total money spent: £465
Travel time: 9hr 15 mins
Don't make the same mistake Fogg and his friends did - make sure you account for the time zone change as you head 'back in time'.
San Fransisco - New York
Departure: Day 10 - 00:50 GMT-8
Arrival: Day 10 - 09:15 GMT-5
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 2
Bus: 0
Car: 0
Landmark: Central Park
Overnight stay: Flight
Total money spent: £273
Travel time: 5hr 28 mins
Thankfully it's a lot safer travelling in America these days - and you're not likely to travel using a sail-powered sledge, either! It takes just over 5 and a half hours for us to travel this 2,568-mile leg.
New York - Liverpool - (Layover in Dublin - Just Like Fogg)
Departure: Day 10 - 17:30 GMT-5
Arrival: Day 11 - 08:00 GMT
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 1
Train: 2
Bus: 0
Car: 0
Landmark: Albert Dock
Overnight stay: Flight
Total money spent: £575
Travel time: 9hr 30 mins
Unlike Fogg, you hopefully won't have to buy a boat and use pieces of it as fuel to get to Liverpool - particularly as it's a 3,312-mile journey across the Atlantic...
Liverpool - London
Departure: Day 11 - 12:47 GMT
Arrival: Day 11 - 15:04 GMT
Modes of transport used:
Plane: 0
Train: 1
Bus: 0
Car: 0
Landmark: Big Ben
Overnight stay: N/A
Total money spent: £112
Travel time: 2hr 13 mins
Congratulations, you made it - but in quite different conditions! Your trip was 8 times quicker than Fogg's and 520 times cheaper! Now you can relax (and sleep in a proper bed).
Total money spent: £3,709
Total Travel Time: 11 days, 42 minutes
Total Distance Covered: 22,376 Miles
Visas: 3
Vaccines: 9
Currencies: 7
Countries: 9
Languages: 8
Landmarks: 13
Journey times were calculated using Rome2Rio.com based on real world transport times and average ticket prices. Travel times include the amount of time on the move inluding any layovers. Since the purpose of the journey is to travel as quickly as possible, much of the journey's sleeping time is spent in the air. Deliberately adding hotel stays would significantly raise the trip's total duration and price.
We're passionate about travel and love crunching the numbers behind famous trips. When we're not picking apart pop culture, we're selling world class Car Hire Excess Insurance.
