Traveling Around Azeroth: A Transportation Guide

Posted 2012/01/15 at 1:29 PM by perculia

Travel Basics

Flight paths are what most players will use to travel between nearby zones, and Cataclysm added many new flight paths to the game. You can view them for a particular region by looking at our zone maps and turning on the flight path option. Continent maps also show boat/zeppelin paths as well.

We've got a page covering Riding: skill levels, mount types, speeds, and training costs.

A warlock's Ritual of Summoning is useful for straggler players left behind--and especially getting a low-level player to an otherwise inaccessible zone.

, the Level 21 Guild Perk, summons the entire raid to the target's location, 2 hour cooldown. This is great when a raid is moving quickly between instances.

Summoning stones are also found outside major instances and raids. This summons individual players to the stone's location.

Hearthstones

All players can get a new hearthstone and change the location by talking to any innkeeper.

Hearthstones are on a 30 minute cooldown--it used to be an hour before Cataclysm. It can be reduced to 15 minutes with Hasty Hearth, the Level 8 Guild Perk.

There are some fancy versions of hearthstones:
The Innkeeper's Daughter is a Dwarven Archaeology solve that tells a tale about the darker side of Dwarven culture.

Ethereal Portal is a rare item from the Trading Card Game--when you hearth, a neon portal in the style of the Consortium Ethereals pops up.

Ruby Slippers, a drop from the Opera event in Karazhan, are a clear reference to Dorothy's sparkling red shoes in the Wizard of Oz. They're boots with a hearthstone built in! These four items all share a cooldown.

The Last Relic of Argus is the anti-hearthstone; on a 12 hour cooldown, it will port you to an obscure place--and generally in an odd position, like on a tree branch. However, if you're bored, let the Last Relic port you to an area and see what's around to do. Doesn't share a cooldown with Hearthstones, and has the added bonus of being a 5 second cast affected by haste.

Scroll of Recall, Scroll of Recall II, and Scroll of Recall III are also unpredictable. They port you to your Hearthstone's location, but don't share a cooldown--which is great. However, as you level up, the results become more unpredictable, so it's a bit of a gamble to use them.

Astral RecallSpiritwalker's GraceGetting to: Kalimdor

Location

Transportation Methods

Darnassus, capital town of the Night Elves in Northern Kalimdor.

Boat from The Exodar
Boat from Stormwind City Harbor--farthest dock to the left.
Mages: Portal: Darnassus/Teleport: Darnassus

The Exodar, capital town of the Draenei, on an island by Northern Kalimdor.

Boat from Rut'Theran Village in Teldrassil.
Portal located in the Temple of the Moon, Darnassus
Mages: Portal: Exodar/Teleport: Exodar

Theramore, Jaina Proudmoore's city, located in Dustwallow Marsh, central Kalimdor. Also near Onyxia's Lair.

Boat from Menethil Harbor, Wetlands
Instant teleport from Stormwind if Return to Jaina is never turned in.
Mages: Portal: Theramore/Teleport: Theramore

Location

Transportation Methods

Orgrimmar, capital city of the Horde, central Kalimdor.

Guild capes:

Shroud of Cooperation: Teleports the caster to Orgrimmar, 8 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement A Class Act and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.
Wrap of Unity: Teleports the caster to Orgrimmar, 4 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement Guild Level 15 and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.
Cloak of Coordination: Teleports the caster to Orgrimmar, 2 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement Master Crafter and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.

Portals from:

Shattrath City, center by A'dal.
Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil.
Deepholm, right alcove of the Temple of Earth.
Sunreaver's Sanctuary, Dalaran
Tol Barad, by daily quest hub.
Tol Barad--downstairs in Baradin Hold, after winning.
Stair of Destiny (by the Dark Portal), Hellfire Peninsula
Twilight Highlands, Dragonmaw Port.

Mages: Portal: Orgrimmar/Teleport: Orgrimmar
Another easy way is to take the Blasted Lands portals from other major cities, go through the Dark Portal, and then take the port by the Stairs of Destiny, Hellfire Peninsula, to Orgrimmar.

Thunder Bluff, capital city of the Tauren, in central Kalimdor.

Zeppelin from Orgrimmar: Zelli Hotnozzle center of the city.
Mages: Portal: Thunder Bluff/Teleport: Thunder Bluff
Darkmoon Island, at the dock. (Drops off in Mulgore.)

Location

Transportation Methods

Ratchet, Northern Barrens--main goblin port in central Kalimdor.

Boat from Booty Bay.

Everlook, Winterspring--wintery goblin trade post in Northern Kalimdor.

Dimensional Ripper - Everlook--requires Goblin Engineering, on 4 hour cooldown. Can cause malfunctions and leave you falling in the air or turned into a murloc.

Gadgetzan, Tanaris--capital of the Steamwheedle Cartel, in Southern Kalimdor.

Ultrasafe Transporter: Gadgetzan--requires Gnomish Engineering, on 4 hour cooldown. Can cause malfunctions and leave you falling in the air or turned into a murloc.

Caverns of Time, Tanaris, in Southern Kalimdor

Teleport from World's End Tavern, Shattrath City. Zephyr, a blood elf in a Mooncloth Robe by the bar, will port you if you are Revered with the Keepers of Time.
Portal from the Violet Citadel, to the left of the stairs, Dalaran.

Ramkahen, Uldum, in Southern Kalimdor

Port from Stormwind and Orgrimmar opens up after initial quest series.

Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal, in Northern Kalimdor

Port from Stormwind/Orgrimmar opens up after initial quest series.
Players initially travel to Hyjal by picking up Hero's Call: Mount Hyjal!/Warchief's Command: Mount Hyjal!--a member of the Cenarion Circle will port you to Moonglade, from which a dragon will fly you into Hyjal.

Nighthaven, Moonglade--home of the Cenarion Circle, in Northern Kalimdor.

Druids can always teleport to Moonglade: Teleport: Moonglade
During the Lunar Festival, players can use Lunar Festival Invitation to teleport to Moonglade from Moonlight beams.

Shaper's Terrace, Un'Goro Crater, in Southern Kalimdor.

Quest series related to An Issue of Trust must be completed to activate portal.

Getting to: Eastern Kingdoms

Location

Transportation Methods

Stormwind City, capital city of the Alliance, in Southern EK.

Portals from:
Shattrath City, center by A'dal.
Mount Hyjal, Nordrassil.
Deepholm, left alcove of the Temple of Earth.
Darkmoon Island, at the dock. (Takes you to nearby Goldshire.)
Dalaran, The Silver Enclave.
Tol Barad, by daily quest hub.
Tol Barad--downstairs in Baradin Hold, after winning.
Stair of Destiny (by the Dark Portal), Hellfire Peninsula
Twilight Highlands, Highbank

Mages: Portal: Stormwind/Teleport: Stormwind
Guild capes:

Shroud of Cooperation: Teleports the caster to Stormwind, 8 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement A Class Act and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.
Wrap of Unity: Teleports the caster to Stormwind, 4 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement Guild Level 15 and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.
Cloak of Coordination: Teleports the caster to Stormwind, 2 hour Cooldown. This item can be purchased from a Guild Vendor upon earning the guild achievement Master Crafter and reaching Honored reputation with your guild.

Boats from:

Rut'theran Village, Teldrassil
Valgarde Keep, Borean Tundra

Deeprun Tram from Tinker Town, Ironforge.
Another easy way is to take the Blasted Lands portals from other major cities, go through the Dark Portal, and then take the port by the Stairs of Destiny, Hellfire Peninsula, to Stormwind.

Ironforge--capital city of the Dwarves, in central EK.

Mages: Portal: Ironforge/Teleport: Ironforge
From the Dwarven District, Stormwind: Deeprun Tram, an express subway.

Menethil Harbor, Wetlands--flooded port city in central EK

Boat from Theramore
Boat from Howling Fjord
Fun fact: Cap'n Placeholder was a temporary fix in WoW's beta, allowing players to travel between Menethil Harbor and Auberdine before boats were implemented. When the Menethil boat glitched on live, he was put back in game and instantly gained mass popularity since his travel was infinitely faster than waiting for the boat. Players were disappointed with his removal when the boats were fixed in April 2005 and even made a lament petitioning Blizzard to reinstate him. He's since shown up on the Cataclysm beta as a level 95 elite Horde dancing on the Goblin Rocketway in Azshara.

Location

Transportation Methods

Undercity--capital city of the Forsaken, in Northern EK.

Mages: Portal: Undercity/Teleport: Undercity
From Silvermoon: Orb of Translocation from the Inner Sanctum, Sunfury Spire. Leaves players in the Ruins of Lordaeron.
Zeppelin:
From Orgrimmar
From Vengeance Landing, Howling Fjord
From Grom'gol Base Camp, Cape of Stranglethorn

Silvermoon City (Burning Crusade)--capital city of the Blood Elves, in Northern EK.

Mages: Portal: Silvermoon (Burning Crusade)/Teleport: Silvermoon (Burning Crusade)
From Ruins of Lordaeron, Undercity: Orb of Translocution.

Stonard, Swamp of Sorrows--largest Horde outpost in Eastern Kingdoms, in Southern EK.

Mages: Portal: Stonard/Teleport: Stonard

Grom'gol Base Camp, Northern Stranglethorn.

Zeppelins from both Orgrimmar and Undercity arrive here.

Gnomeregan, a low level instance and former capital of the gnomes, in central EK.

As this is in low-level Alliance territory, it's very difficult for Horde to get to, especially before LFD. Scooty by Grom'gol Base Camp will port you inside Gnomeregan now--before, it used to be even sweeter. Before Cataclysm, he gave a quest that rewarded Goblin Transponder, which ported Horde right outside Gnomeregan--perfect for Ironforge raids. For a brief period of time, Alliance could pick up this teleport as well.

Location

Transportation Methods

Karazhan, Deadwind Pass--in southern EK

Atiesh, Greatstaff of the Guardian, no longer obtainable, had a use effect that created a portal to Karazhan. Still useful for farming Fiery Warhorse's Reins.

Booty Bay, The Cape of Stranglethorn--large pirate city, and site of the fishing contest! In Southern EK

Boat from Ratchet, Northern Barrens
Boots of the Bay: Whisks you away to the finest drinking establishment in Booty Bay. (1 Day Cooldown). Reward from the weekly Kalu'ak Fishing Derby.

Light's Hope Chapel, Eastern Plaguelands--Argent Dawn hub in northern EK

Gidwin's Hearthstone from Gidwin's Hearthstone. One-time use, but can be picked up again if the quest is dropped and picked up.

Ebon Hold, Eastern Plaguelands: Death Knight only. Northern EK.

Death Gate: Opens a gate which the Death Knight can use to return to Ebon Hold. (1 min Cooldown). Creates a sinister purple portal that the Death Knight can step through to reach their starting citadel and trainers.

The Dark Portal, Blasted Lands, Southern EK.

All capital Alliance/Horde cities have a port that takes players to the Blasted Lands. This is an easy way for high-level players to pass through the Dark Portal, and then take the portal in Hellfire Peninsula back to their faction's capital city.
Leaving Nethergarde Needs You!/Call of the Warmatron incomplete will also keep a portal from Silithus to Blasted Lands open.
Portal from Shattrath City, near Ad'al.
Alliance players have a quick flight if they choose to fly from Ironforge--you will phase right after leaving the city.

The Grim Guzzler--Blackrock Depths, central EK.

Direbrew's Remote: Give your party a ride to the Grim Guzzler. (1 Hour Cooldown). Creates a mole machine in the style of Brewfest--anyone who clicks on it in your party/raid will be transported to the BRD bar. This makes for amusement when people click on it at unexpected times, like right before Alterac Valley starts. This item is obtained from Keg-Shaped Treasure Chest, a reward for killing Coren Direbrew.

Western Plaguelands--Northern EK.

Keeping the breadcrumb quest The Battle for Andorhal/The Battle for Andorhal will allow you access to a teleport from Booty Bay to Andorhal.

Alterac Valley, battleground in central EK.

Stormpike Insignia Rank 6/Frostwolf Insignia Rank 6 ports the user back to their faction's leader in Alterac Valley (must be already in the battleground), but the battleground has changed so much, it's not really essential.

Twilight Highlands--location of The Bastion of Twilight, central EK.

Portals open up from Stormwind and Orgrimmar to Highbank and Dragonmaw Port respectively.

Tol Barad Peninsula--site of dailies for Baradin's Wardens/Hellscream's Reach.

Players Honored with the factions above can purchase Baradin's Wardens Tabard/Hellscream's Reach Tabard for 0 Tol Barad Commendation from their respective quartermasters. 4 hour cooldown.
There are portals from Stormwind and Orgrimmar--unlike Wintergrasp, they do not despawn after a loss, or port you directly to the battle area.
Mages can also port/teleport level 85+ players to Tol Barad.

Getting to: Northrend

Location

Transportation Methods

The Underground…

This is a 6th option rarely available from Wormhole Generator: Northrend. It ports you to a grate by the Horde section of Dalaran. Sitting at the bottom is undead engineer Kaye Toogie, who sells dragooning schematics in rare supply. Oh, and you'll need some sort of port or rocket boot malefaction to safely get out.

Runeweaver Square

Many portals drop you off here:

From Wintergrasp
From the Teleportation Crystal in Crystalsong Forest, referenced in Learning to Leave and Return: the Magical Way.
From Mages: Portal: Dalaran - Northrend/Teleport: Dalaran - Northrend.
From Kirin Tor rings, such as Ring of the Kirin Tor (30 min cooldown).
If you do not turn in the various The Magical Kingdom of Dalaran quests upon hitting 74 (offered in all major inns), then you can always talk to the questgiver to port you to Dalaran. This map shows all the NPCs that offer this quest, so you can always have a nearby quick teleport.
From Jaina's Locket, a Shadowmourne reward: Creates a portal, teleporting group members that use it to Dalaran. (1 Hour Cooldown)

Location

Transportation Methods

Valiance Keep (Alliance-only)

Boat from Stormwind Harbor.

Warsong Hold (Horde-only)

Zeppelin from Orgrimmar.

Unu'pe

Boat from Moaki Harbor, Dragonblight

Lake by Amber Ledge

Wormhole Generator: Northrend--requires Engineering.

Location

Transportation Methods

Ledge on top of Utgarde Keep

Wormhole Generator: Northrend--Engineering. Requires parachute/flying mount to get down.

Valgarde (Alliance-only)

Boat from Menethil Harbor, Wetlands

Vengeance Landing (Horde-only)

Zeppelin from Undercity.

Kamagua

Boat from Moaki Harbor, Dragonblight

Location

Transportation Methods

Argent Tournament grounds

Argent Crusader's Tabard--30 Min cooldown. Cost: 0 Champion's Seal.

Northern mountainside

Via Wormhole Generator: Northrend--can survive by taking small jumps down.

Location

Transportation Methods

Ulduar

Wormhole Generator: Northrend--requires Engineering.

Loaned Gryphon Reins

This is a free loaned gryphon available from "Honest" Max at K3 if you are level 77+ and without Cold-Weather Flying--it goes at 150% flying speed but can only be used in Storm Peaks, Icecrown, and Sholazar Basin.

Location

Transportation Methods

Inner Room/Quest Hub (depending on who is in control)

A portal from Dalaran will open up for the winning team--it will close 15 minutes before the start of the next battle.

Location

Transportation Methods

Moaki Harbor

Boats from Unu'pe, Borean Tundra and Kamagua, Howling Fjord.

Location

Transportation Methods

Ledge by The Glimmering Pillar. Need flying mount or parachute to get off.

Wormhole Generator: Northrend option--Engineers.

Waygate

From Shaper's Terrace, Un'goro Crater. Quest series related to An Issue of Trust must be completed to activate portal.

Central Basin

If players hold onto Where in the World is Hemet Nesingwary?, they can continue to get an instant flight path to the Basin from Archmage Pentarus. You can even finish Into the Basin without turning this in. This cuts out a lot of travel time of flying over Wintergrasp.

Getting to: Outland

Location

Transportation Methods

Toshley's Station, Blade's Edge Mountains.

Ultrasafe Transporter: Toshley's Station: Requires Gnomish Engineering, 350. 4 hour cooldown. Has amazing teleporter malfunctions such as turning the player into a different race, soul swaps, size changes, and chickens!

Area 52, Netherstorm

Dimensional Ripper - Area 52: Requires Goblin Engineer, 350. 4 hour cooldown. Has amazing teleporter malfunctions such as turning the player into a different race, soul swaps, size changes, and chickens!

Black Temple, Shadowmoon Valley

Blessed Medallion of Karabor. 15 minute cooldown. This is the final reward from the Black Temple questline, which began with The Secret Compromised, goes onto cover Black Temple attunement, and ends with killing Illidan in The Fall of the Betrayer. It's an epic questline and one that players interested in lore should definitely do. Outland also doesn't have many transportation options, so this is an easy option for Archaeology transportation.

Stair of Destiny, Hellfire Peninsula

Players level 58+ and higher can enter Outland through The Dark Portal. It will leave them off at the Stair of Destiny, a war-torn part of Hellfire Peninsula on the other side of the portal. Lower-level players can get to Outland via summoning and mage portals.

Shattrath City

Mages: Portal: Shattrath/Teleport: Shattrath

Getting to: The Maelstrom

Location

Transportation Methods

Vashj'ir, underwater level 80-82 zone, faction hub for The Earthen Ring.

Flight Paths: From Ironforge and Undercity.
Portal opens up in Stormwind and Orgrimmar after initial quest series is complete.
Initial travel to Vash'jir: ride the mercenary boat (that crashes) in Call of Duty/Call of Duty.

Deepholm, level 82-83 zone in the Elemental Plane, faction hub for Therazane.

Portal opens up in Stormwind and Orgrimmar after initial quest series is complete.
Potion of Deepholm, made by alchemists.
Portals connect the Temple of Earth to Therazane's hub in the northeast, when the zone is complete.

Darkmoon Island, accessible one week every month for the new Darkmoon Faire.

Speak to NPCs located in major cities to be teleported to portals in Elwynn or Mulgore.

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Comment by loopnotdefinedI was going to mention there's a portal straight from Silithus to Blasted Lands, but I just found out that it's only usable once. :(Comment by TraynwreckUnder Getting to: Outland ..... why isn't the Dark Portal included?Comment by AdamsmNice guide Pec, and we finally have something to link to people who make those threads 'How do I get *insert name here*?'.Comment by MikulaI would hope nobody needs to be told about The Dark Portal...Comment by ZamusanThanks! =)
Btw, @ Getting to Northrend: Warsong Hold (Horde-only) - Zeppelin from Undercity,
Shouldnt be Orgrimmar instead of UC? =)
/cheerComment by TraynwreckNo more then they should need to be told about boats, zeppelins, trams, and etc. But since those are included I assumed this to be a complete guide and as such one would think the Dark Portal might be of slight import at least. ^_~Comment by perculiaIt was sort-of covered in Blasted Lands, I'll make it clearer and cross-reference.

I'm also one of those players who still thinks Menethil Harbor has a boat that goes to Auberdine so it was very illuminating actually sitting down and writing out which boat goes where :)Comment by 937332This post was from a user who has deleted their account.Comment by TheeObserverThere's also a Zepplin from UC to Warsong Hold and Ice Versa if I'm not mistaken in addition to the one in OrgrimmarComment by TheeObserverTo People who say Dark Portal wasn't/should be mentioned :the Stair of Destiny (if you read it) says that you take the Dark Portal to get there, so the Dark Portal was mentioned in the guide.Comment by 910895The Alliance portal back from the Darkmoon Faire goes to Goldshire, not Stormwind.Comment by PopeGreat guide.

I'd like to add: There's a portal from Booty Bay to Andorhal for a Breadcrumb-quest. If you don't turn in the quest, you have unlimited access to the portal.Comment by lordlundarI'm also one of those players who still thinks Menethil Harbor has a boat that goes to Auberdine so it was very illuminating actually sitting down and writing out which boat goes where :)Shamans get Astral Recall, which is an additional hearth on a 15 minute cooldown--7.5 when glyphed with . This spell is affected by haste and can be cast with Spiritwalker's Grace--meaning a mobile hearth!Comment by perculiaHaha, kind of the reverse on the Alliance bit--all of my toons are night elves and I liked traveling to Kalimdor when nothing else was going on just to see the scenery and chill out. The Auberdine docks were pretty :) Between Wrath raiding in Northrend and all the new summoning things now, the new system never stuck out as much in my head.

I'll add in the bit about Andorhal and change the Faire info. Thanks!Comment by rodalphoYou're missing a bunch of important ones.

The Stormwind Shuffle - Every Alliance Capital City
Teleport to the Blasted Lands, fly through the portal to Outlands, then take the portal on your left to Stormwind. VERY useful!

The Ogrimmar Swing - Every Horde Capital City
Teleport to the Blasted Lands, fly through the portal to Outlands, then take the portal on your right to Orgrimmar.

Kalimdor
Portal to Hyjal (north) or Uldum (south) from Stormwind/Orgrimmar, then fly from there.

Kalimdor North - Druids
Portal to Moonglade.

Caverns of Time
Portal from Dalaran. This is newly relevant as of 4.3. You can also get there quickly from Uldum or teleport from Shattrath (if you have faction).

Eastern Kingdoms North - DKs
Death Gate.

Eastern Kingdoms Middle
Portal to Twilight Highlands from Stormwind/Orgrimmar.

Stormwind to Theramore
Never turn in this quest.

Edit: I see other posters mentioned the blasted lands teleports back to stormwind/orgrimmar, sorry for redundancy. They should definitely be made more obvious in the guide as these are VERY useful!Comment by perculiaI think you may have overlooked some tabs--they are all there except for the Theramore quest (which is a cool one, I'll add that in).

http://www.wowheadnews.com/#kalimdor-both-factions for example has entries for "Caverns of Time, Tanaris, in Southern Kalimdor," "Nighthaven, Moonglade--home of the Cenarion Circle, in Northern Kalimdor," "Ramkahen, Uldum, in Southern Kalimdor," and "Nordrassil, Mount Hyjal, in Northern Kalimdor."

They're sorted by teleport destination, not starting point, if that helps you sort through things. But I promise they were all there!Comment by rodalphoAhh so they were. Well, happy I could help with the Theramore quest!Comment by perculiaNp :) I added in a sentence to SW/Org and the Blasted Lands shuffle too.Comment by GumballsPretty sure that you missed one thing: Veteran's Hearthstone from the quest Make Haste to Orgrimmar! from the command board in Dalaran.

It is a one time use, free portal to Orgrimmar that doesn't share a cooldown with your hearth. Just a nifty item, even if it is only temporary.

Also another suggestion: for the 'hearth stone' section, maybe put in the descriptions whether or not they share a cooldown with your regular hearthstone? Unless they are all separate, in which case please disregard my ignorance. :)Comment by 624084One comment I'd like to add regarding The Last Relic of Argus (and this was mentioned by commenter Samin in its comment section as well) is that while it's a random hearth, it's a five second cast, usable in combat, and effected by haste, making it extremely useful in tight situations. Sometimes you don't care where you go, just that you go. I will sometimes take a shot using it doing archaeology as well when I don't care where I end up: I just want to be around some new dig sites.

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