Where did you visit for its geographical significance?

[Mattg]

Most landmarks exist because there's something to see there - usually some kind of natural phenomena or impressive man-made structure. But have you ever visited a particular landmark or location that was special purely because of some kind of geographical quirk? And do you do anything special while there?

I'm thinking of places like the exact line of the equator, Tropic of Capricorn or Arctic Circle, a shared border between three or more countries, the international date line, etc.

For example, I once visited the line of the equator in Ecuador. There was a museum there with a guided tour, and the guide drained a sink of water on both sides of the line - as well as right on the line - to demonstrate the different directions that the water flowed. In hindsight, I think they might have used some trickery but it was interesting at the time.

 

[Aeryn]

Well like Im sure a lot of fellow AFFers I have been to the obvious one being the Prime Meridien at the Royal Observatory in London.

Ive also stood on the boarder between Canada and USA walking across the bridge at Niagara falls (again very common).

A bit quirkier is on my first visit to USA and Canada on a cruise of the Thousand Islands on the Saint Lawrence river we stopped to view the worlds shortest international bridge. The Zavikon Island bridge, is a 9.8-meter wooden footbridge between Ontario, Canada, and New York, USA. It connects a larger Canadian island to a smaller one in the USA (although some say both are in Canada) but I have a photo somewhere of it with a USA flag flying on one island and the Canadian flag on the other.

 

[Montien]

I have the 180th Meridian in the Aleutian Islands (Alaska) on my 2027 bucket list. It’s one of the few places on Earth where the meridian crosses land, allowing you to technically stand in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres simultaneously outside of Greenwich.

 

[Human]

There are places in Iceland where you can stand with one foot in Europe and the other in North America.

 

[flyingfan]

The Korean DMZ which probably doesn't really count, it's more a political than a geographic border. Would love to visit some of the places already mentioned. I've been to the tri borders near Victoria Falls and Iguazu Falls, although they were already part of the tours rather than a dedicated trip I made on my own.

For the hardcore (and again political) I recall YouTubers going to Bir Tawil.

 

[Hvr]

I've been to Greenwich and the Korean DMZ, and one not mentioned yet; the Golden Triangle in Thailand where Laos and Myanmar come together. The heroi_ museum was quite interesting.

 

[Pushka]

Not deliberate but it happened. Sitting on a cruise ship in the northern tip of the Red Sea where we could see Jordan, Israel and Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the distance.

 

[craven morehead]

Another one to have visited Greenwich The prime meridian is the line of 0° longitude, the starting point for measuring distance both east and west around Earth.

February 2024

 

[SYD]

Last year we found the G Spot* on the map of Tassie…

*The Geographical centre of the island.

 

[Tiki]

I've been to the equator monuments in Ecuador and Kenya. We also had an equator crossing party on a cruise I did many years ago an Amazon cruise going through Manaus to the Caribbean. I've been to Greenwich and hopped across the DMZ line a few times so I could say I have been in North Korea a few times. I've also been to the Cape of Good Hope which had some kind of "most southern point in Africa" monument but apparently it isn't, it should be Cape Agulhas.

 

[ayebee]

Also went to Cape of Good Hope. I previously thought it was the southern point, but was also educated about Cape Agulhas, about 150km to the east.
To be fair, the sign at COGH says "most south-western point ..."

 

[AIRwin]

Point Danger and Cape Byron

 

[icestation]

Have visited Norway twice and both times we crossed the Arctic Circle which sits at 66° 34' N and participated in the Arctic crossing ceremony. Norway's scenery is gobsmacking, the fjords are really spine chilling beautiful, so so quiet and just something wonderous to see. The small islands, specifically Lofoten is so beautiful.

Also visited North Cape (Norway) – which, at 71°10′21′′, is the northernmost point on the European mainland.

Visited Hammerfest (Norway), which is the northernmost town in the world.

We watched the reindeer grazing who are on an island as part of their yearly migration to the mainland, and yes they swim about 2km's to get there.

The food is wonderful too. I mean I could go on forever about the place but I will stop there.

Been to Grossglockner (Austria) which is the highest mountain in Austria at 3,798m (12,461 feet) above the Adriatic.

Mont Blanc in France ((4,809m) and the Matterhorn in Switzerland (4,478 m)

Have also been to Greenwich.

 

[RooFlyer]

Þingvellir (Thingvellir) in Iceland where you can stand astride the mid Atlantic Ridge.

Lake Baikal in Siberia, the deepest lake in the world (you could submerge Mount Everest in it)

Cape Spear in Newfoundland, most easterly point of the North American continent, Cape Byron for Australia.

Google Maps often tells me that I’m at this spot 00:00N, 00:00E (I think it is the default when the GPS is confused) thank you Craven for the map


We sat and admired the equator showing on a bridge display just off the Galapagos Islands.

Dead Sea, Death Valley for low points

Cape York, Cape of Good Hope (no one has educated me on the other one - oh, damn )

Prime Meridian

 

[Denali]

I know there are more, because we like weird stuff, but

Mr Denali in Iceland, scuba diving between the north american and eurasian tectonic plates


Centre of Scotland




Center of Tassie



Hadrians Wall



This for the novelty, as not many people have visited, but the CDC in Atlanta back in 2017

 

[RooFlyer]

Mr Denali in Iceland, scuba diving between the north american and eurasian tectonic plates

Sensational pic!

 

[AuSammy]

Not 100% sure if these all fit Matt’s definition. But some of the places I’ve been that were significant to me, and might fit the definition.

Equator
- Stood astride it Ecuador and Kenya
- Crossed it by sea near Singapore and Galapagos Islands
- By air too many times to count

Low points on land
- Dead sea
- Death Valley

Marvels of nature forming boundaries of countries
- Iquazu falls
- Victoria Falls
- Niagara Falls
- Lake Titicaca (sailing Peru to Bolivia)
- Golden triangle
- Bosphorus Straight
- Mountain pass & lakes on journey from Puerto Montt to Bariloche
- Nabib Desert
- Rhine/ Danube river systems with manmade Rhine -Main -Danube canal

Manmade dividers
- Panama canal
- Suez canal
- Korean DMZ
- Hadrian’s Wall
- Great Wall of China

Extremities
- Cape Byron

[cape of good hope - but doesn’t count ]

 

[Scarlett]

I do like crossing land borders, probably because we don’t have any in Australia.
England-Scotland in a number of places.
Austria-Germany.
Crossing the Rhine from Liechtenstein to Switzerland.
…that sort of stuff.

Also visited Khatulistiwa (equator) park in Pontianak, Indonesia.
Greenwich.
Cape Byron Light.
Cape of Good Hope.

 

[ayebee]

Good thread. Never itemised, but thinking back I have a few that come to mind.
Mentioned above already, we went to Cape of Good hope to discover it is not the southern tip of Africa, but the “most south western”.

Like many others, went to Greenwich but not just for the prime meridian but to see Harrison’s clocks. They were central to the story of “Longitude”, but are also stunning works of engineering (& artistic) brilliance.

Probably another significant UK location was Iron Bridge, Shropshire UK.
It was specifically to see the first cast iron bridge heralding the industrial revolution, which is geographical location on the Severn River.

Of course there was Lands End, but I more fondly remember the clotted cream ice cream at St Ives, and locals talking like pirates in Penzance.

Also visited the Iceland sites where the tectonic plates “meet”, at Thingvellir and again out at the “bridge between continents” on the Reykjanes peninsula south of Keflavik.

Does hiking to Wilson’s Promontory count? Reckon it does.

In 1986 I went to Arapahoe Basin Ski area (hardly a resort) in Colorado which had the highest lifted point in North America at the time of 12500ft / 3810m. You could hike up to 13050 ft, if so inclined. It has since been surpassed but I am not chasing it.

Speaking of high places, the Jungfraujoch I believe is the highest railway station in Europe. Was there in 1984 when you still got multiple Swiss francs to 1 AUD.

The equator in Ecuador. A guy educated us about the Coriolis force with tubs of water a couple of metres either side. All very interesting but of course it was faked as the force is not quite that influential compared to a subtle “turbulence” in the tub.

 

[VPS]

Good thread. Never itemised, but thinking back I have a few that come to mind.
Mentioned above already, we went to Cape of Good hope to discover it is not the southern tip of Africa, but the “most south western”.

Like many others, went to Greenwich but not just for the prime meridian but to see Harrison’s clocks. They were central to the story of “Longitude”, but are also stunning works of engineering (& artistic) brilliance.

Probably another significant UK location was Iron Bridge, Shropshire UK.
It was specifically to see the first cast iron bridge heralding the industrial revolution, which is geographical location on the Severn River.

Of course there was Lands End, but I more fondly remember the clotted cream ice cream at St Ives, and locals talking like pirates in Penzance.

Also visited the Iceland sites where the tectonic plates “meet”, at Thingvellir and again out at the “bridge between continents” on the Reykjanes peninsula south of Keflavik.

Does hiking to Wilson’s Promontory count? Reckon it does.

In 1986 I went to Arapahoe Basin Ski area (hardly a resort) in Colorado which had the highest lifted point in North America at the time of 12500ft / 3810m. You could hike up to 13050 ft, if so inclined. It has since been surpassed but I am not chasing it.

Speaking of high places, the Jungfraujoch I believe is the highest railway station in Europe. Was there in 1984 when you still got multiple Swiss francs to 1 AUD.

The equator in Ecuador. A guy educated us about the Coriolis force with tubs of water a couple of metres either side. All very interesting but of course it was faked as the force is not quite that influential compared to a subtle “turbulence” in the tub.

Longitude was a great book and also visited Greenwich for Harrison's clocks