Visit Every Country In Europe
Ticked off in November 2019
Forty-five countries packed so tightly that you can wake in one, lunch in another and fall asleep in a third.
The adventure
Europe is where most country counters start, and the one continent you can realistically finish. Distances are short, trains are fast and budget flights connect almost everywhere, so a long weekend can bag three or four new flags. The fun is in the contrasts: fjords and midnight sun in Norway, the medieval walls of Dubrovnik, Balkan mountain villages and the Baltic old towns.
Then there are the microstates, each a small adventure of its own. You can walk across the Vatican in a few minutes, drive up to San Marino's clifftop towers, cross Liechtenstein by bus and browse the duty-free shops of Andorra high in the Pyrenees. Ticking off the final country, often somewhere like Moldova, Belarus or Kosovo, comes with a real sense of having seen a whole continent.
Why it’s epic
- Vatican City, the smallest country in the world at under half a square kilometre.
- An Interrail Global Pass covers rail travel in more than 30 countries.
- Iceland's geysers, glaciers and, in winter, the northern lights.
- Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008 and is one of Europe's newest countries.
What it is
Europe has 45 countries on my list: the 43 UN members the UN puts in Europe, plus the Vatican and Kosovo.
How to do it
Budget airlines, trains and road trips make Europe the easiest continent to complete. Interrail is a great way to tick off lots of countries on one trip.
Top tip
Group the microstates together: San Marino with Italy, Liechtenstein with Switzerland, Monaco with the south of France and Andorra with Barcelona.
Need to know
- UK passport holders can only spend 90 days in any 180 in the Schengen area, so plan long trips carefully.
- The EU's Entry/Exit System now records non-EU visitors with fingerprints and a photo at the border, so allow extra time at the first crossing.
- Check FCDO advice for Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, which has advised against travel in recent years.
My experience
Belarus, in November 2019, was the last of the 45 countries in Europe on my list. See them all on my Europe page.
Progress in Europe
45 of 45 countries visited
Every one of them visited. See them all on the Europe page.
Comments