Where did you visit for its geographical significance?

[bPeteb]

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

And that I have done

 

[Miksmith]

I drove a 4WD from Anchorage Alaska through Fairbanks, visited the Artic Circle and then drove on the Lost World Highway (a dirt road) through Chicken, across the US Canadian border (only open in summer and they have their own airstrip for staff change over) into Dawson in the Yukon using the free car ferry across the Yukon River. I finish up at Whitehorse and caught a plane to Calgary for the Stampede.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

About 15 years ago one of my first stops is in Belgium was to head to the Dutch border to visit the enclave of Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau. One of about 60 enclaves in the world. The border crosses through houses, shops, etc. I remember being told of stories where if the taxation regime changed, overnight a door and a window would be swapped under the cover of darkness and the problem for the householder was solved.

DW wrote a great article on this with some interesting insights on what happened during Covid.

I had a great time and really recommend it for an off the beaten track adventure.

 

[Scash]

Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures.

Sarajevo Meeting Of Cultures

“Sarajevo Meeting of Cultures” is the message of an inlaid marker on Ferhadija St., near Gazi Husrev Bey’s Bezistan. This...

sarajevo.travel

 

[Melburnian1]

Wick and Thurso in Scotland as well as Penzance in England, all by train including the excellent 'Night Riviera' sleeping car train (also has a sitting car, but not recommended) as these were respectively the "far north" of 'mainland' Scotland if that's not a nonsensical description, and the far southwest of England, the latter not too far from Lands End, the most southwesterly point in Britain.

Have also been to two of three countries' Iguazu Falls' borders.

 

[OZDUCK]

Our visit to the marker and ornamental gardens for the Tropic of Cancer on the east coast of Taiwan.



Compared to my daughters partner and their kids at the Tropic of Capricorn marker in W.A.

 

[AIRwin]

Our visit to the marker and ornamental gardens for the Tropic of Cancer on the east coast of Taiwan.

View attachment 497293

Compared to my daughters partner and their kids at the Tropic of Capricorn marker in W.A.

View attachment 497292

Same day same time?

 

[Scarlett]

I mountaineered my way to the top of the highest mountain in Australia!
(along with about a thousand others one Australia Day)

Have also climbed to the top of the highest mountain in the Maldives!

well it’s more of a hill…

would you believe a hillock?

Okay it’s a teeing mound on a golf course!


(it is genuinely the highest natural feature in the Maldives at 5.1m amsl - obviously some buildings in Male city are higher)

 

[OZDUCK]

Same day same time?

Not quite - about 4 years difference.

 

[SydneySwan]

Does political significance count? I drove down to the newly created Zimbabwe from Zambia on 18 April 1980 which was Zimbabwe's Independence Day. My passport of the time has stamps from the 3 different names of the country - Rhodesia, Zimbabwe-Rhodesia and Zimbabwe, all collected over a period of a few months.

 

[JohnM]

Start of the Mississippi.

 

[Wanderlust_tim]

Start of the Mississippi.

View attachment 497322

Seeing this makes me wonder, how is the start of a river defined geographically?

 

[SydneySwan]

Start of the Mississippi.

View attachment 497322

Sign not yet updated to reflect the most recent name change!

 

[kelvedon]

Seeing this makes me wonder, how is the start of a river defined geographically?

“Computer says “ …. “the furthest point of the watercourse from its mouth or confluence with another river. ”

 

[Joolz49]

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.

I spent my 70th birthday in Ecuador, standing with one foot either side of the equator. I liked the sink of water trick too! Then followed up with a memorable trip to the Galapagos Islands. In my youth, backpacked from Lands End to John o' Groats, just because I could. Wouldn't do it now!

 

[claytw]

I've been fortunate to have an inbuilt "quirky" slant on life. My two biggest quirks were Christmas Island for Christmas (the one in the Indian Ocean and watched the end of the red crab migration) and Easter Island for Easter.

I've stood on the Artic Circle in Rovaniemi, watched the northern lights from there as well as seeing them in Tromso, and Whitehorse.

At the Matterhorn you can see the mountains of Italy, France and Switzerland.

I've been to Machu Picchu albeit on a very foggy rainy day so missed the postcard experience.

Less quirky, however a more powerful memory, is the sheer volume of water at Iguazu and Niagara Falls. For a South Australian who is used to creeks not rivers there can't possibly be that much water anywhere.

 

[bPeteb]

Walked on all seven continents.
Stood across the equator in Kenya, and the tropic of Capricorn in Namibia (and a few places in Oz).
Stayed in the mega wetlands of the Pantanal and the Okavango Delta.
Walked Kata Tjuṯa just before they stopped access due to heat.
Swam/snorkelled the impossibly blue waters of Aitutaki.
Drove across the base of Cape York from Cairns to the gulf.
My favourite geographical destination of all has been the amazing Lencois Maranhenses in northern Brazil. Just amazing.

 

[drron]

Sorry to be boring but all my trips are done for the geographical significance of my trip.

 

[bPeteb]

Sorry to be boring but all my trips are done for the geographical significance of my trip.

Ha! I was thinking the same, but then thought actually some are for history, some are for nothing but relaxation, some to see wildlife, some are for entertainment. The geography just happens to be where those things all are.

 

[SYD]

Sorry to be boring but all my trips are done for the geographical significance of my trip.

The geography just happens to be where those things all are.

Yes, hopefully we all want or do go to places with impressive, interesting, <insert superlative> places, but my interpretation of @Mattg OP was those more specific locations that in themselves may not be the most spectacular but unique because they’re one of kind (as have some examples been listed).

Another one we did years ago (at SYD+1s insistence) was going to the “Meeting of the waters” where the Amazon River and the Rio Negro meet. There were visions of blue water meeting black water….

There is indeed a noticeable colour difference and even a specific point where they meet, but it’s basically light poo coloured water meeting really dark poo coloured watered…. Possibly one of the most underwhelming experiences, but we “Ticked” that one of the list….