Great Western Coffee Shop

I'm conscious when I set quizzes that international topics get far fewer answers than UK ones, though we have some remarkable overseas knowledge with a handful of members.

This came up on my social media feed last night.

(https://www.wellho.info/pix/whichof25.jpg)

Now - I am very conscious that this was "clickbate" encouraging people to add their names, so had a very low suggestion encouraging people to boast, as I suppose I am doing here.   I also suspect that the major target is to reach people in the USA who have fewer countries visited, on the basis that if they travel 1000 kms they may still be in the same country, whereas if we travel 1000 kms we go through several.

Anyway - how many have you visited?  And how many of those have your travelled within on a train?  Personal answer - 17 and 12; bit of a boast, bit of an interest, bit because I've been around for many years!

My personal answer would be 10 and 9. The ten would be:

UK, Portugal, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, Germany.

The only one I haven't travelled by train in isn't the one that might seem to be the most obvious.  :)

Had I answered this before our Interrail trip last year, the second answer would have been 5.

My personal answer would be 15 and 9.

I've included countries that I've visited for a day from a cruise ship, and I've excluded countries where I've changed planes but stayed airside and not passed through immigration.

14. UK, Portugal, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, USA, Greece, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Russia. Germany
8. UK, France, Canada, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Germany
I will be adding Spain to the rail list later this year

5 and 1.  (Unless I can also claim Wales and Scotland as 'other countries')  ;)

5: South Africa, France, Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar (although that's also a bit tenuous).  ::)

1: France.

I did have a very vague memory that we may have travelled on a train in South Africa, back in 2003, but my wife has just mopped my heated brow and assured me that we didn't.  :-[

If I include the UK it's 9 visited and 7 which have included rail travel.
There's a few more not on the list but only one of those included rail travel and that was Belgium.

Some interesting answers ... I answered the original question in the graphic - "of the most popular 25 countries in the world" but then I fuzzed the question in the subject line - there are 193 member states in the UN.   Some of you have answered from the 193 / as I was writing this johnneyw - thank you - has noticed the discrepancy and answered the graphic

I could probably double my original numbers with places from Vatican (no train used) to South Africa (where, yes, I did take a train journey).  Trips around the Baltic and incursions into Eastern Europe soon add to numbers!

Of the 25 countries listed - I've visited 16, and travelled by rail in 9, but of that 9, 4 were underground or similar services (5 if you include the Hong Kong MTR), and two trips to Madeira have counted towards Portugal. I have also use trains in three countries not listed (Belgium, Denmark & Sweden).

Still plenty to go.....!

Of the 25 listed - 24 with, perhaps surprisingly, Canada as the only escapee. Trains used in 11 of them.

Several years back the Russian visa application form had a section which said something along the lines of, 'List all countries ever visited'. That was a memory-stretching challenge to complete. I must have satisfied them as they let me in on various occasions.  8)

12 countries for me and of those I have used the train in at least 4 of them.

Visited 13, used the train in 5 (8 if the Singapore, New York / San Francisco and Montreal metros count)

18 on the list I used a train in. Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong I have only changed planes.

Being a semi retired geologist, I have enjoyed many countries on Earth; some good - some definitely not so good. In many of the good countries I have sought out their railed transport without having actually travelled on it - being the rail nerd that I am in my spare time :) . I have sat down this afternoon and written them all down, and can see that I have entered 43 different countries in my time and travelled by rail in 15 of them. There are at least 10 others where I have only transited the airport (airside) and may have taken a railed airport inter terminal shuttle at some of them.

Having asked the question in 2 ways, I thought I better list my own out.

12 with trains and 5 without on the original list in the graphic PLUS
16 with trains and 7 without that are not on the original graphic

So a total of 40 countries - used the railway in 28 but not in the other 12.

11 visited, only used trains in 5.

Will be adding Poland and Slovakia to the list next week

On the original list: 18 visits and 15 with train usage. I can add quite a few more countries where prompted.

17 & 13

Eight countries and one crown dependency.

England
Wales
Scotland
Republic of Ireland
France
Germany
Belgium
Italy

Isle of Man

Not taken from the opening list, but just brainstorming...... (* denotes travel by train)

England *
Scotland *
Wales *
France *
Germany *
Switzerland *
Austria
Italy
Belgium
Holland
Spain
Norway
Iceland
Luxemburg
Canada *
United States *
Australia *
New Zealand *
Russia *
Mongolia *
China *

Isle of Man *
Alderney *
Jersey

So, 21 countries and 3 Crown Dependencies visited, with train travel in 13 countries and 2 Crown Dependencies

Visited 8:              United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Netherlands, Germany
Travelled by rail 7: United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Austria, Netherlands, Germany

21of those listed visited, 15, travelled by train which rises to 18 if you include metro systems.

And if you go back to the period 1995 to 2010 when I retired, I visited a further 32 countries ( I think, and excluding Scotland, Wales, NI and dependencies). The smallest and most remote being Niue, ( No wonder that I retired with three million BA miles, and still have a couple of hundred thousand, which I doubt I will use now.)

Following up my previous post with more detail.

England *
Wales *
France
Germany
Belgium
Luxembourg
Spain *
Greece
Italy *
Hungary *

I’ve used the * to indicate having used a train in those places.

In the next 5 weeks I will visit the following all with rail travel planned
Poland
Slovakia
Switzerland.

To start another set of comparison lists - how many countries have you been to where you cannot travel on a train? I think I have "done" three - Iceland, Cyprus and Vatican City.

In the Merchant Navy for a few years only, but on product carriers, so in and out of many countries and ports.
Only travelled by train in France and Switzerland.
My claim to fame was train from Penzance to London, and London to Wick (and return six weeks later).
Subsequently flew to Scotland thereafter.
Plus the long since discontinued non sleeper overnight Newcastle to Penzance.

I too have visited three trainless countries: Iceland, Cyprus and Greenland.  And I can recommend visiting Greenland on a cruise - the scenery is outstanding.