Visit All 196 Countries
Still to do
Every border, every visa, every flag on the map, a quest so hard that only a few hundred people have finished it.
The adventure
Paris and Bangkok are the easy part. The real journey begins where the package holidays run out: chasing an agency-only visa for Turkmenistan, waiting years for a closed country to reopen its borders, or flying for days to reach Tuvalu, a Pacific atoll where locals play football and sleep in the cool evening air on the airport runway.
Along the way you eat in places that see a handful of tourists a year, cross land borders most people never knew existed, and fill passports so fast they need replacing early. Every traveller's last country is different, but it is usually somewhere remote and rarely visited, and it comes with a strange, quiet realisation that there is nowhere left on the map you haven't stood.
Why it’s epic
- Far fewer people have visited every country than have stood on the summit of Everest.
- Remote Pacific nations such as Nauru and Tuvalu receive only a few thousand visitors a year between them.
- Some of the hardest entry rules anywhere, from Turkmenistan's agency-only tourist visa to tightly controlled tours of North Korea.
- Clubs such as the Travelers' Century Club, founded in 1954, and NomadMania verify and rank how far members have gone.
What it is
Visiting every country in the world has been done by only a few hundred people.
How to do it
It takes long-term planning, flexibility on visas and timing, and patience for countries with conflict or tight entry rules. Many completers join the Travelers' Century Club or Nomad Mania to compare notes.
Top tip
Always check UK Foreign Office advice before visiting higher-risk countries.
Need to know
- The 196 usually means the 193 UN members plus Vatican City, Palestine and either Taiwan or Kosovo, so decide early which list you are counting against.
- Some countries carry UK Foreign Office advice against all travel, which normally invalidates standard travel insurance, so patience and timing matter.
- Several destinations only issue tourist visas through approved agencies or guided tours, with lead times of weeks or months.
- Frequent travellers can apply for a second UK passport, which lets you send one away for a visa while travelling on the other.
Why it’s on my list
The ULTIMATE aim. 196 countries. Every country in the world.
From initially wanting to visit 50 countries, to then aiming for 100, 150, the final aim of all of them will be the most tricky.
Its an exclusive list of people that have been everywhere, I am going to join that list.
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