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Following on from the places you've been to thread, which international borders have you crossed by land?
For me:
Switzerland to France by both train and tram
Germany to Austria by train
Croatia to Montenegro by coach
Croatia to Bosnia & Herzgovina by coach
UK (Northern Ireland) to (Republic of) Ireland by coach
UK (Gibraltar) to Spain by foot
Italy to Vatican City by foot
Coach trip to Italy as a youth, crossed the borders of France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland. We also went to San Marino so thats another border.
A later coach trip to Spain meant crossing the Franco-Spanish border.
Went to Germany too and crossed the Dutch border and as we went to West Berlin does that count as crossing the border when travelling through the GDR?
I've crossed the border from HK into Shenzhen too.
I don't get to do this very often, so it's always very exciting. Have done these all both ways unless specified.
"Proper" land borders I have crossed:
Spain into Gibraltar by coach (plane was diverted to Malaga so only done this in one direction).
Brazil into Argentina by foot (had a driver drop me off and pick me up on either side).
Brazil into Paraguay by foot.
Other border crossings with no border control:
UK into Republic of Ireland by train (in this direction only).
Denmark into Sweden by train.
France to Belgium by car as a passenger
France to Monaco by train.
Switzerland to Liechtenstein by bus.
Luxembourg to Germany by foot, returning by train.
Sweden to Norway and Finland (and the link to Denmark).
Germany to Denmark, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria and Czechoslovakia.
Austria to Czechoslovakia and Hungary.
Italy to Switzerland and Austria.
France to Belgium, Luxembourg and Switzerland.
UK to Ireland.
UK-Ireland by road
France-Belgium by both road and train
Belgium-Netherlands by both road and train (and on foot, considering the multiple borders in Baarle-Herzog/Baarle-Nassau)
Belgium-Luxembourg by road
Luxembourg-Germany by road
Belgium-Gemany by both road and train
Italy-Vatican City on foot
Italy-San Marino by road
Italy-Slovenia by train
Italy-Austria by train
Czechia-Slovakia by train
Austria-Slovakia by train
Hungary-Slovakia by train
Hungary-Austria by train
Bosnia & Herzegovina-Croatia by road
Lithuania-Latvia by road
Latvia-Estonia by road
Georgia-Armenia by road
potentially Georgia-Azerbaijan on foot, in an area where the border is disputed and uncertain but I had no aim (or legal right) to be in Azerbaijan....
I think that's the lot
I excluded UK to France by train from mine (and presumably others have done the same). As Øresund is part bridge, part tunnel maybe it also shouldn't count? Although, I'd certainly like to cross the Sweden/Denmark border using it!
On foot
France / Belgium
Belgium / Netherlands
Netherlands / Germany
Belgium / Germany
Luxemburg / Germany
France / Germany
France / Switzerland
Germany / Switzerland
Switzerland / Italy
Germany / Czechia
Germany / Poland
Czechia / Poland
On foot oddities
Netherlands / Belgium at Baarle-Hertog / Baarle-Nassau (the greatest example of border lunacy in Europe, if not the world)
Netherlands / Germany at Kaltenkirchen / Venlo by falling off my bike from one into the other!
To be really pedantic, as embassies are sovereign territory: UK / Germany!
As there is a small part of the esplanade of Edinburgh Castle which was gifted to Nova Scotia can I count UK / Canada?
By train
France / Belgium
France / Germany
France / Switzerland
Switzerland / Italy
Switzerland / Liechtenstein
Switzerland / Austria
Belgium / Luxembourg
Belgium / Netherlands
Belgium / Germany
Germany / Switzerland
Germany / Austria
Germany / Czechia
Germany / Poland
Germany / Denmark (my first ever passport stamp - although that was on a train ferry!)
Denmark / Sweden (on train ferry if that counts)
Sweden / Norway
Austria / Italy
Austria / Slovakia
Austria / Hungary
Austria / Czechia
Austria / Slovenia
Czechia / Poland
Czechia / Slovakia
Slovakia / Hungary
Hungary / Romania
Hungary / Serbia
Slovenia / Croatia
Croatia / Serbia
Serbia / Montenegro
UK / Ireland
West Germany / East Germany
train oddities
the lines from Cheb (CZ) - Bad Brambach (D) and Zittau (D) to Görlitz (D) criss-cross the D / CZ or D / PL borders several times in quick succession
By Road
France / Belgium
Belgium / Netherlands
Netherlands / Germany
Belgium / Germany
Czechia / Poland
== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: ==
I excluded UK to France by train from mine (and presumably others have done the same). As Øresund is part bridge, part tunnel maybe it also shouldn't count? Although, I'd certainly like to cross the Sweden/Denmark border using it!
The difficulty of not counting bridges is the fact that many "land borders" are in fact delineated by watercourses - even if you can step across them in places and if travelling by train not notice that they're there at all. I also didn't count the Channel Tunnel as you can't really tell, so it feels like cheating!
Which seems to exclude the channel tunnel, since it is neither at the surface, and is under water.
So for me:
Italy-Vatican City (once each way by foot)
And if we count internal UK
England-Wales (at least 8 times, by car for 5, train for 2 (Class 158), rail replacement (Coach) for 1)
England-Scotland (once each way by Avanti Class 390)
By train
France / Belgium
France / Germany
France / Switzerland
France/Spain
France/Monaco
Switzerland / Italy
Switzerland / Liechtenstein
Switzerland / Austria
Switzerland/Germany
Belgium / Netherlands
Netherlands/Germany
Germany / Austria
Germany / Poland
Germany / Denmark
Sweden / Norway
Austria / Italy
Austria / Slovakia
Austria / Hungary
Austria / Slovenia
Slovakia / Hungary
Hungary / Romania
Romania/Bulgaria
Slovenia / Croatia
Luxembourg/Germany
Poland/Lithuania
Serbia / Montenegro
UK / Ireland
Bulgaria/Turkey
Portugal/Spain
Canada/USA
Lichenstein/Austria
By road
St Martin/Sint Maarten
Belgium/France
Latvia/Lithuania
Finland/Switzerland
Austria/Slovenia
Belgium/Luxembourg
Austria/Hungary
Austria/Czechoslavkia
Germany/France
By foot
Spain/Gibraltar
Italy/Vatican City
Cyprus/North Cyprus
I've done one uncontroversial one which has not yet been mentioned:
Albania/N.Macedonia
Missed out on being the first to say Cyprus by 15 minutes
A few more interesting ones I have done are:
CH/IT @ Campione d'Italia
CH/DE @ Büsingen am Hochrhein 5(?) times within an hour on Schaffhausen bus route 25
Basel - customs border at the airport + various buses and trams which go in and out of France and Germany
Also Hong Kong/Macau (bridge), which technically involves going through Chinese mainland territory but remaining outside of immigration
France/Belgium
Belgium/Germany
Germany/Switzerland
Switzerland/France
Sweden/Norway
Denmark/Sweden don't count as it's The Bridge
Germany/Denmark don't count as that was the train ferry!
I find crossing borders absolutely fascinating, even when it has no border checks such as in the Schengen zone. Actually, I find that more interesting, probably because I’m used to entering/exiting the UK with its strict security. The fact you can walk across a border into an entirely new country without anyone seeing. Walking by foot is probably the most satisfying.
Austria-Italy at the Brenner Pass
Austria-Liechtenstein (at Feldkirch) by local bus
Belgium-Netherlands when travelling from Antwerp to Rotterdam, and also when using the Eurostar to Amsterdam.
Czechia-Germany, by train at both Cheb and on the EuroCity north of Usti nad Labem
Czechia-Slovakia by train from Brno to Bratislava.
France-Belgium on local train when travelling from Lille to Kortrijk. Aswell as the various times on Eurostar.
Germany-Austria when on train from Munich to Salzburg
Germany-Belgium (Aachen/Kelmis) by local bus. Aswell as when using the ICE train.
Germany-Netherlands (Aachen/Vaals) by foot.
Germany-Poland (Frankfurt-Oder/Słubice) by foot, and back by local bus.
Liechtenstein-Switzerland (at Buchs) by local bus (the only time I’ve visited Switzerland, for a grand total of 15 minutes)
Luxembourg-France on the slightly odd branch line to Audun-le-Tiche.
Luxembourg-Germany when on a train to Trier.
Slovakia-Austria (Bratislava/Wolfsthal) by local bus. Have also crossed this border at another place when using the train from Bratislava to Vienna.
Spain-France when on train from Barcelona to Paris.
Although, thinking about it, many of these crossings are over a river, not land!
The difficulty of not counting bridges is the fact that many "land borders" are in fact delineated by watercourses - even if you can step across them in places and if travelling by train not notice that they're there at all. I also didn't count the Channel Tunnel as you can't really tell, so it feels like cheating!
The Sweden/Denmark one is very long, part tunnel and a joint rail and road system. That's why I thought we can't really exclude The Channel Tunnel but include that one.
While rivers often form borders, it's rare for a country sign or passport control to be on the bridge crossing it. Plus, rivers can be a lot more noticeable in places than others. How often do people notice themselves crossing the River Mersey when they are inside Primark in Stockport?
1) Norway - Sweden - Denmark - Germany without once leaving railway property
2) Czech Republic - Germany - Netherlands - Belgium - France - UK in the car in a day.
Presumbaly the land border crossings count even if you didnt actually set foot on to the country concerned!
Maybe we could distinguish between “on land” - which excludes crossing over or under water - and “by land”-based transport - which would then be taken to exclude crossing by boat or plane
If we’re talking crossing borders on foot, I’ve got a couple of threefers. I’ve walked Austria-Liechtenstein-Switzerland in one go, about 5-6 hours, and then Netherlands-Belgium-Germany in about 5 seconds at the triple border point/Dreiländerpunkt/Drielandenpunt near to Aachen.
Honourable mention also to the international tram Strasbourg-Kehl, where there were loads of tobacconists as duties are less in Germany than France!
I've walked along and across frontiers on 'tourist' paths between Germany, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland in pre-Schengen days. Met the odd border guard. Also visited the PL/SK/UA and PL/SK/CZ tripoints, if that counts.
Also an organised walking holiday in 1996 took me by bus through four of the Stans - Uzbeki-Tajiki-Uzbeki-Kyrgyz-Kazakh-Uzbeki. No border controls.
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