Free tool · No sign-up
Great circle map
Add airports to draw a route as true great-circle paths — the actual shortest way round a sphere, not a decorative arc between two dots. Add as many stops as you like, and share the result with a link. Free, and no sign-up needed.
Total distance
9,592 km
1 flight
Airports
2
2 countries
Longest flight
LHR–NRT
9,592 km
Around the world
0.2×
Times round the equator
Routes worth seeing drawn properly
- London → Tokyo9,592 kmLHR → NRTThe clearest demonstration: the shortest path runs over the Arctic, nowhere near the straight line on a flat map.
- A round-the-world ticket37,997 kmLHR → SIN → SYD → LAX → LHRFour legs, one continuous path, back where it started.
- New York → Hong Kong12,970 kmJFK → HKGCrosses the pole, not the Pacific — which is why the flight time surprises people.
- Santiago → Auckland9,653 kmSCL → AKLCrosses the antimeridian, the case that breaks naïve map drawing.
Common questions
What is a great circle?
The shortest path between two points on a sphere. Because the Earth is round and a map is flat, that path looks curved when it is drawn on one — the more north–south the route and the longer it is, the more pronounced the curve. A straight line on a Mercator map is not the short way; it just looks like it.
Why does London to Tokyo go over the Arctic?
Because that genuinely is the shorter way. At high latitudes the meridians converge, so a path that arcs north covers less ground than one that stays level. It looks like a detour only because the projection stretches the poles.
Is this the route the aircraft actually flies?
Close, but not exactly. Aircraft follow published airways, avoid restricted airspace, route around weather, and ride the jet stream, so a real track is usually a little longer than the great circle. The great circle is the theoretical floor, which is why it is the standard basis for distance.
Can I share the map I made?
Yes — the route is part of the link (for example /tools/great-circle-map/zrh-jfk-lax), so copying it shares the exact map, and a link pasted into a chat previews with the route drawn on the world.
Can I map all my flights at once?
Yes — switch to “Paste a list” and paste your routes, one per line. Every route is drawn on the same map with the total distance, airports, countries and longest flight counted, and the link you copy shows exactly that map.
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This map, but drawn from your real flights
routebook keeps every flight you have taken on one map — filterable by year and airline, with the distance, hours and countries counted for you, and a public profile you can share.
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