From the ruins of Pompeii to the mountainous Machu Picchu
<p>It can be quite an appealing idea to break a world record, and to know that you are the only one in the world to have achieved something so far. According to Swiss travelers Cédric Waldburger and Rainer-Marc Frey, this feeling is truly monumental! On August 23, 2022, the duo broke the record for the most number of countries visited in 24 hours. Their journey was documented on Waldburger’s YouTube channel and, according to them, it is a feat that can only be done in the European continent.</p><p>Intrigued? Click through this gallery and join us as we follow the route that these record-breaking travelers took in 2022.</p>
The Swiss duo started their journey in the rural Polish village of Zwardoń, which hugs the border of Slovakia. The area is quite mountainous, with many tourists traveling through the area through three distinctive mountain passes.
The second country can be reached by car within about 10 minutes from Zwardoń. If you ever intend to follow the footsteps of these intrepid travelers, we recommend that you obtain the relevant toll tax beforehand! Otherwise, you might not make it very far.
Traveling to the third country, the Czech Republic, would take another hour of your time. If the 2022 Swiss record breakers are anything to go by, you would need to drive to Ostrava Airport and charter a private plane, which you would use to visit quite a few countries in a row!
Once you leave Ostrava, you can fly to the fourth country of this world record: Lithuania. Landing in the city of Kaunas would take you about an hour and a half, during which you would only be permitted a brief stop before you must jump back on the plane!
Barring any mechanical issues with your plane, you could ideally land in the Latvian city of Riga within 30 minutes. After another brief layover, it’s on to the next country.
In order to reach the next country by flight, you would need to travel over the Gulf of Finland and into the Finnish city of Turku—a stretch of about 112 mi (180 km). But with your chartered plane, you could achieve this in about an hour and a half.
After refueling the plane for the first time, it’s on to the next country: Sweden! In 2022, the Swiss travelers landed in Kristianstad after a 30-minute flight, but complications meant that they were unable to take off to the next destination for another 30 minutes. In this race, every minute counts!
After overcoming any potential delays, you would be able to land in the Danish city of Roskilde after about 30 minutes.
After a leisurely helicopter flight lasting about 10 minutes, you can safely say that your feet have touched German ground. More specifically, you would land in Aachen, a city that intersects beautifully with the borders of Belgium and the Netherlands.
After another quick helicopter flight, you will cross into the territory of Belgium and land in Spa, which is one of the country’s most popular tourist destinations. Alas, you won’t have time to take a tour through the city’s famous mineral springs, because it’s off to the next country.
The Swiss travelers who broke this record in 2022 landed in an empty field in Longuyon, which is in France’s northern territory. The distance they traveled was about 75 mi (120 km), which they managed to cover in 30 minutes.
The capital city of Luxembourg is the 14th destination, which can be reached in 20 minutes. Incidentally, Luxembourg is the seventh-smallest country in Europe with a maximum length of 51 mi (82 km). So it wouldn’t take long to travel through the country!
After leaving the helicopter behind in Luxembourg and chartering another airplane, you can travel to the Swiss city of St. Gallen within an hour. Once you land, you would have to quickly jump into a rented car and make your way to the next stop.
After driving for half an hour, you will find yourself in Ruggell, a beautiful municipality nestled snugly between the Austrian and Swiss borders.
Owing to Liechtenstein’s small size, you would be able to drive a mere eight minutes before setting foot in Austria, the 17th country on the list. Although you may be tempted to stop in the town of Götzis and try one of Austria’s famous schnitzel, you must resist! The next country awaits.
Another flight lasting 40 minutes will take you to Rimini, a city in the east of Italy that overlooks the gorgeous Adriatic Sea.
Before Waldburger and Frey broke the world record in 2022, the record had been set in 2014 by a trio of Norwegians when they visited 19 countries in 24 hours. But Waldburger and Frey were able to surpass this after they drove 30 minutes to the country of San Marino, the fifth-smallest country in the world.
After spending a brief moment admiring San Marino, you would hop onto another flight and head off to the famous Croatian city of Dubrovnik on the other side of the Adriatic Sea. The journey across the water will take you an hour and a half, but the city’s architecture alone would make it worthwhile.
From Dubrovnik, it would take an hour-long drive to reach the next city on the list: Ivanica, in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Interestingly, the city has an unobstructed view of the Adriatic Sea, even though Croatia lies between them.
Yet another flight lasting 30 minutes will bring you to Tirana, the capital city of Albania. This would have been a difficult place to reach once upon a time, as it is nestled in a valley and enclosed by mountains.
Once you take off from Tirana, your flight would travel inland to Kosovo, where you would land 40 minutes later in the capital city of Pristina.
Some 45 minutes and another flight later, your feet will touch the ground of Skopje in North Macedonia. This is the perfect opportunity to take a moment of relaxation while you refuel the plane. After all, it’s been almost 20 hours since the start of the journey!
The next stop in the journey is Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia, which is known for its mineral springs and humid continental climate. Reaching the city requires an hour-long flight, which means that the clock is ticking closer to the 24-hour mark.
From Belgrade, you would fly about 106 mi (170 km) in 30 minutes and land in Arad in western Romania. The city has an impressive display of architecture, but you will have to miss it as you make your way to the next and final destination on this list.
With 45 minutes to spare, you would arrive at the city in which our fellow Swiss travelers ended their record-breaking journey: Budapest! Maybe you can actually enjoy this stop to its fullest!
Sources: (Guinness World Records) (All Inclusive Outlet) (YouTube) (RecordSetter)
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Can you travel to all these places in 24 hours?
TRAVEL World records
It can be quite an appealing idea to break a world record, and to know that you are the only one in the world to have achieved something so far. According to Swiss travelers Cédric Waldburger and Rainer-Marc Frey, this feeling is truly monumental! On August 23, 2022, the duo broke the record for the most number of countries visited in 24 hours. Their journey was documented on Waldburger’s YouTube channel and, according to them, it is a feat that can only be done in the European continent.
Intrigued? Click through this gallery and join us as we follow the route that these record-breaking travelers took in 2022.