Countries Visited Map & Counter

Alps to Riviera

France

Beaches, ski slopes, vineyards and Paris, all a few hours apart by train. It has been the world’s most visited country for over thirty years.

Yurts and high passes

Kyrgyzstan

Summer pastures where families still move up with the herds, and a lake the size of a small sea. Visa-free for most, and the cheapest mountains in Asia.

Coast and stone towns

Albania

Ottoman hill towns at Berat and Gjirokastër, and an Ionian coast that costs a third of the one across the strait. The Accursed Mountains in the north are still walking country.

Sun and Moorish south

Spain

Warm coasts and quiet islands, with Granada’s Alhambra and Barcelona’s Sagrada Família inland. The Canaries stay mild all winter.

Steppe and Gobi

Mongolia

Empty grassland, ger camps and a desert with dinosaur beds in it. One of the least densely populated countries on earth, and it feels like it.

Parks and road trips

United States of America

Sixty-three national parks, from Alaskan glaciers to Florida swamp. Most trips here end up being a route rather than a single place.

Monasteries on cliffs

Bhutan

A monastery glued to the rock above Paro, and valleys where the black-necked cranes winter. A daily fee keeps the numbers down on purpose.

Caucasus and wine

Georgia

Eight thousand years of winemaking, a capital of sulphur baths and carved balconies, and the high Caucasus three hours from it. Visa-free for a year on most passports.

Most World Heritage sites

Italy

More UNESCO sites than any other country. Rome, Florence and Venice in the middle, the Dolomites in the north, Sicily in the south.

The Pamir Highway

Tajikistan

One of the great road journeys, over passes above 4,000 m with the Wakhan corridor alongside. Mountain lakes, hot springs and almost nobody.

Two continents

Turkey

Istanbul stands on two continents. Beyond it lie the cave hotels of Cappadocia, ancient Ephesus and the beaches of the Turquoise Coast.

Mekong and monks

Laos

Luang Prabang’s gilded temples at dawn and waterfalls the colour of a swimming pool. Slower than its neighbours, deliberately.

Silk Road cities

Uzbekistan

Samarkand, Bukhara and Khiva sit a day apart by fast train, all tiled in the blue the Timurids invented. Getting in is finally simple after decades of paperwork.

Ruins and two coasts

Mexico

Maya and Aztec ruins between Caribbean reefs and Pacific surf. Mexican cooking was the first national cuisine on UNESCO’s heritage list.

Dunes and dark skies

Namibia

Red dunes at Sossusvlei, a skeleton coast, and some of the darkest night skies anywhere. This is self-drive country, and the gravel roads are the trip.

Cities close together

United Kingdom

London, Edinburgh and Bath are short train rides apart, and the Scottish Highlands begin where the cities stop.

Delta and elephants

Botswana

A river that ends in the Kalahari instead of the sea, poled through in a dugout. Few visitors at high prices by policy, so the camps stay small.

Petra and desert

Jordan

A city cut into rock at the end of a canyon, the sandstone of Wadi Rum, and the Dead Sea an hour from Amman. Small enough to cross in a week.

Temples and bullet trains

Japan

Fast trains, Kyoto’s temples and Tokyo’s neon. Two short seasons draw the crowds: cherry blossom in spring, red leaves in autumn.

Baobabs and lemurs

Madagascar

Nine in ten of its species live nowhere else, the lemurs and the baobabs included. An island the size of France with roads that make it feel larger.

Six thousand islands

Greece

About 200 of its 6,000 islands are inhabited, so the ferry map plans the trip. On the mainland: the Acropolis and Delphi.

Rock churches, high plateau

Ethiopia

Eleven churches cut down into the rock at Lalibela, and the Simiens above 4,000 m. Its own calendar, its own alphabet, never colonised.

Arabia without the glitter

Oman

Green mountains, mud forts and wadis that run all year, and a coast where the turtles come ashore. The Gulf as it was before the towers.

Castles and Christmas markets

Germany

Castles above the Rhine, the Alps in the south, and Berlin unlike either. From late November the Christmas markets are reason enough.

Gorillas and green hills

Rwanda

Mountain gorillas in the Virungas and a lake with islands in the west. The cleanest, safest-feeling capital in the region.

Slopes and concert halls

Austria

Some of the best-served ski areas in the Alps in winter; Vienna’s palaces, museums and concert halls for the rest of the year.

Cliffs and sea fog

Faroe Islands

Eighteen islands of grass-roofed villages, sheer cliffs and weather that turns by the hour. Two hours from Copenhagen and like nowhere near it.

Caribbean and coffee

Colombia

Cartagena’s walled city on one coast, wax palms and coffee farms in the hills, Andes and Amazon in the same country. The security story stopped being the story.

Islands and street food

Thailand

Limestone islands, warm sea from November to March, and Bangkok’s temples inland. The food alone is worth the flight.

Icebergs and light

Greenland

The ice fjord at Ilulissat calves bergs the size of buildings, and there are no roads between towns. Summer is midnight sun, winter is aurora.

Atlantic edge

Portugal

Lisbon and Porto are small enough to walk. The Douro valley makes port, the Algarve gets the sun and the west coast gets the surf.

Lake and old town

North Macedonia

Ohrid is one of Europe’s oldest lakes with a Byzantine town on its shore, at the prices of thirty years ago. Matka’s canyon is forty minutes from the capital.

Inca and Amazon

Peru

Machu Picchu is the reason people come and the Sacred Valley is why they stay. Lima’s kitchens are the best on the continent.

Newly open

Saudi Arabia

Tourist visas only began in 2019. The reason to go is AlUla, where Nabataean tombs are cut into rock much like Petra, but with far fewer people.

Cellars and quiet

Moldova

Wine cellars measured in kilometres, a cave monastery above the Răut, and the least-visited country in Europe. That last part is the appeal.

Rainforest and hawker food

Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur and Penang’s food stalls on the peninsula; on Borneo, ancient rainforest with wild orangutans still in it.

Bridges and mountains

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Mostar’s rebuilt bridge, Sarajevo’s bazaar, and rivers the colour of glass between them. Cheap, green and closer than it feels.

Tea, temples, surf

Sri Lanka

A fortress on a rock, eight World Heritage sites and hill country under tea, on an island you can cross in a day. The train through the highlands is the journey.

Bikes, canals, tulips

Netherlands

Flat, small and built around the bicycle. Amsterdam’s canals and museums come first; in April and May, the tulip fields.

Salt flat and altiplano

Bolivia

The largest salt flat on earth, a mirror when it floods, and a capital at 3,600 m. The cheapest country in South America and the most dramatic.

Old towns, low prices

Poland

Kraków’s medieval square survived the war and Gdańsk was rebuilt to match. The Tatra mountains take care of the south.

Volcanoes and colonial streets

Nicaragua

Granada’s painted streets, a freshwater lake with two volcanoes in it, and surf on the Pacific side. Quieter and cheaper than Costa Rica next door.

Fire and ice

Iceland

Waterfalls, glaciers and black sand within a day’s drive of the airport, and the aurora from September. Go before or after the summer, which is now packed.

Karst bays and lanterns

Vietnam

The fastest riser on this list. Ha Long Bay’s limestone islands, lantern-lit Hoi An, and a north-to-south route that changes climate twice.

Atlantic islands

Cabo Verde

Ten volcanic islands with a music of their own, trade winds all year and walking on Santo Antão. Six hours from Lisbon.

Medinas and desert

Morocco

Three hours from Europe and nothing like it. Walled old towns in Marrakech and Fes, the High Atlas behind them, Sahara dunes beyond.

Falls and walking safari

Zambia

Victoria Falls from the quiet side of the gorge, and South Luangwa, where the walking safari was invented. The neighbours get the crowds; the wildlife is the same.

Alps in miniature

Slovenia

A lake with an island church, the limestone of Triglav, and the Adriatic ninety minutes away. The whole country is smaller than Wales.

Adriatic sailing

Croatia

A thousand islands along one narrow coast, so much of the country is seen by boat. Inland, the lakes and waterfalls of Plitvice.

Reefs and rock islands

Palau

Limestone islands scattered across a lagoon, a lake full of stingless jellyfish, and some of the best diving in the Pacific. The first country to ban reef-toxic sunscreen.