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Now at first sight that's a subjective question. But I'll explain now that it's not. So please don't answer subjectively either!

Pamir Highway between Dushanbe and Khorog, Tajikistan

Pamir Highway between Dushanbe and Khorog, Tajikistan

When papers or publications release pieces about "the richest country" it's usually based on something - maybe GDP, or debt, for example.

Hitch Wiki gives each country a 'hitchability' rating, for example. But that's only one form of travel, and there's not much granularity in the rating system.

generic hitching picture

generic hitching picture

Is there a publication or source that through some moderately scientific calculation, publishes a list of the hardest (or easiest) countries to travel through?

Yungas Road or "Death Road" in Bolivia

Yungas Road or "Death Road" in Bolivia

I'm not sure myself how you would measure this - but similarly, I'm not sure how you'd compare crime stats between countries. Yet news outlets, universities etc have found a way, with many studies. I'm expecting someone's come up with a 'scientific' way to do it, and I'm looking for that.

Mark Mayo
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  • Wow! What would you measure in this metric.... – Karlson Feb 28 '12 at 02:34
  • Me? Well if it were possible, average time between wanting to leave a town and starting the actual trip - which could include getting a bus, or train, etc. Another measurement could be crime that happens specifically to travellers - say, CPT - crime per traveller? But that doesn't make it hard, just risky ;) – Mark Mayo Feb 28 '12 at 02:37
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    The hardest country to travel is probably the collapsed state of Somalia. – Jacco Feb 28 '12 at 08:55
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    I think you should add more tags according to what factors you think count for your definition of "difficult". Health? Safety? Security? For me it's difficult to travel in expensive countries for instance d-: – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 09:13
  • This one will probably end up being community wiki, which is great as I feel we need more of these on the site. – rlab Feb 28 '12 at 09:31
  • as I described, I'm not sure how you'd do it exactly, but I figure someone out there must have done it (like the GBP or crime calculations some sites do). I'd love to see how they do it. – Mark Mayo Feb 28 '12 at 09:36
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    I agree with hippietrail. Difficult with respect to what? Moreover, if you travel independently you will probably have to face more logistical difficulties than if you travel with a guide. Moreover, some countries are "difficult" if not impossible to travel on your own. However, if you are with a guide it is rather straightforward. Think e.g. about North Korea ... –  Feb 28 '12 at 12:18
  • @lejohn as I've explained twice above, I'm not sure myself - but similarly, I'm not sure how you'd compare crime stats between countries. Yet news outlets, universities etc have found a way, with many studies. I'm expecting someone's come up with a 'scientific' way to do it, and I'm looking for that. – Mark Mayo Feb 28 '12 at 19:56
  • @MarkMayo: Maybe you should make it even clearer that you're really just looking for lists already published by third parties. It's a shame we don't have any tag for resources that are not online other than guidebooks and stats... – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 20:10
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    IMHO there is no "scientific" way to do this. People or more likely magazines, websites, TV shows, etc may well compile lists just like what you're asking for. I remember a book ten or twenty years ago on the worst places to travel. I can't remember it's name and have no idea if it's been updated. But scientific??? Not by a long shot! (Still IMHO perfectly good answers to this question otherwise though) – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 21:27
  • @MarkMayo: If you want to have internationally comparable crime statistics you start by defining what a crime is and then you collect data accordingly. That's, very roughly speaking, how it works. What you do in such a case is rather objective. "Difficulties" are of a rather subjective nature. How would you define or quantify them? You could interview a representative sample of a population and ask them what they consider as "difficult to travel" countries. On the other hand, you are likely to run into severe methodological problems with this approach. –  Feb 28 '12 at 21:43
  • Closely related, some might consider duplicate: What are the LEAST visited countries by tourists? – hippietrail Mar 14 '12 at 07:44
  • Nah - Monaco may well get very few tourists, but it's decidedly easy to visit, for example. – Mark Mayo Mar 14 '12 at 10:20
  • Nice pictures. Could you describe the location of each of them? I only recognise #3 as this Andes highway. – gerrit Oct 15 '12 at 16:33
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    @gerrit - actually #3 is the Yungas road in Bolivia. I'll update. – Mark Mayo Oct 15 '12 at 16:39
  • Where is the "generic hitching picture"? – gerrit Oct 16 '12 at 14:45
  • @gerrit - if I knew, I'd tell you. It's used on many blogs, and I've linked the image to one of the sources. – Mark Mayo Oct 16 '12 at 16:20
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    I note that the OP asked about the most difficult country to travel in or through, not the most difficult country to travel to. That would seem to imply that the question is about how difficult it is to get around in that country, not how difficult it is to get into that country in the first place. – Kyralessa Jun 17 '13 at 07:24
  • @Kyralessa correct, that was the assumption I was going for. – Mark Mayo Jun 17 '13 at 11:32
  • The Bolivian Death Road was replaced years ago with a normal US style highway comparable to California-1 (Pacific Coast Hwy). The last serious traffic of note is when Ice Road Truckers made their drivers take it for the lulz, and fobbing it off as if this is what transport is in Bolivia. – Harper - Reinstate Monica Jan 13 '20 at 00:22
  • @Harper-ReinstateMonica the new road - yes you could see it from the Death Road. However many locals still prefer to use the old one as they're used to it and some consider it faster. Source: When cycling down it, there were still a ton of cars/trucks.... – Mark Mayo Jan 15 '20 at 03:24

5 Answers5

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I'd stump up Saudi Arabia as number one for a simple reason: it's the only country I know of which does not offer tourist visas, full stop. (They used to, with tight controls and for groups only, but apparently do not any more.) And unlike eg. Russia, you can't just ring up a hotel and get them to "invite" you into the country. Even getting a legitimate business visa can be a pain: I was invited by a well-connected, major company and I'm informed that it still took cough facilitation payments cough on the order of 500 euros to get the necessary Chamber of Commerce approval in a reasonable amount of time.

Once you're in Saudi Arabia, though, getting around is pretty painless, although some sites require special permits and the entire area around Mecca is off-limits unless you're a Muslim. On the other hand, physically crossing the Empty Quarter off-road would be a pretty epic challenge!

Update: In regard to mouviciel's comment, Hajj/Umrah visas aren't a realistic option for traveling to Saudi Arabia for three reasons.

  1. They're only issued to Muslims, and converting to Islam is not that easy, especially if you prefer your dangly bits uncircumcised. (Women must, of course, be accompanied by a Muslim male guardian.)
  2. Even if you are Muslim, you have to apply for a visa in the Hajj lottery, and the odds are pretty steep. Egypt has 80 million people, and gets a quota of ~80,000 visas a year: that's 0.1%. Umrah visas, however, are handed out a little more generously.
  3. Last but not least, a Hajj/Umrah visa allows you to visit only Jeddah, Mecca and Medina, and that for a limited period of time; you're not allowed to leave and explore the rest of the country!
lambshaanxy
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    You find hard to get to Saudi Arabia but what about the millions people pilgrimming each year from all over the world? Saudi Arabia is as easy as converting to Islam. – mouviciel Feb 28 '12 at 10:24
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    Damn info that good deserves to be in the answer to a question of its own about SA! – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 20:14
  • Would seem that there are some tour companies that offer visas - unless you're from Israel, or have been there... – Mark Mayo Aug 28 '12 at 17:04
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    As it says on the same page, the issuance of tourist visas was "suspended" in 2010. – lambshaanxy Sep 03 '12 at 01:33
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    how do they check if someone is a muslim? – Midhat Oct 28 '12 at 23:32
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    Unless you have a Muslim name in your passport, you will be required to present a certificate from your local mosque when applying for the visa. – lambshaanxy Oct 28 '12 at 23:43
  • @lambshaanxy I assume it might be difficult if you're a generic looking white male to even get to Mecca? I've seen or read somewhere that if you're obviously not Muslim looking can get turned around on the way to Mecca. Not to mention if you get the, as a generic looking white male who is a Muslim, would probably stand out from the crowd and not sure if that's in that's person's favour? I just feel like one would have to glue or staple the certificate from the mosque to their forehead to be able to get anywhere near of getting the Mecca experience. – kiradotee Jan 27 '20 at 01:53
  • @kiradotee If you're in ihram (pilgrim garb), you'll be assumed to be Muslim by everyone you meet. One of the points of the pilgrimage is that everybody is treated alike, regardless of race, wealth or status. – lambshaanxy Jan 27 '20 at 02:12
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For establishing such a list, one needs to identify the possible barriers that would make travel difficult. I can think of:

  • Natural barriers, like in Antartica or Sahara.
  • Political barriers, like in North Korea or Tibet.
  • Cultural/Religious barriers, like in Amish communities or in Mecca.
  • Financial barriers, like in Bhutan or Switzerland.

Of course these barriers are different for different people, most of the time they are interleaved, and they change with time.

A definitive list seems an unreachable goal.

hippietrail
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mouviciel
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    I think the same as you, which to me shows this question is subjective no matter how you slice it. – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 09:14
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    Another factor would be how difficult it is to get a visa/invitation/permit. This of course varies depending on where the applicant is from, which also makes it subjective. Then because the question asks about "countries" some countries like India are easy to travel to but many of the western and especially the north-western states are very difficult to get permits for. – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 09:16
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    @mouviciel - could you please explain why you think Bhutan is difficult to travel in because of financial barriers? – rlab Feb 28 '12 at 09:54
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    you could argue the same for 'what's the most expensive country', or 'most crime-ridden', but do you measure by GDP, murders, graffiti, crime-per-person or what? Yet there are official 'measures' of this all the time, where they claim a valid scientific reason for using those measurements. That's all I'm after, and if it's scientific, it's not just a 'gut feel'. – Mark Mayo Feb 28 '12 at 09:54
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    Problem for some of the most difficult countries is that statistical data is hard to come by, or non-existent. – Jacco Feb 28 '12 at 09:59
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    @rlesko - Because Bhutan Authorities charge around $200 per night per traveller. – mouviciel Feb 28 '12 at 10:17
  • Brunei was not difficult at all when I spent about 24 hours there ten years ago. There's even a fairly trashed hostel at an affordable price. – hippietrail Feb 28 '12 at 20:12
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    Small note: it is very easy to travel in the Amish communities I've known in Ohio and Pennsylvania. People will even talk to you politely if you have a reason to talk with them. It will just always be obvious that you represent a way of life the Amish reject. – Colin McLarty Jun 02 '15 at 21:24
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    There are political barriers to Antarctica too. Because of treaty restrictions, countries with a presence there are required to tightly control who they bring onto the continent. Mostly restricted to technical and support staff for their research operations. – Phil Miller Dec 01 '16 at 03:07
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I think there is a (maybe too) simple index of countries to rank the "ease" of travelling. It's not very scientific but for what it's worth : Countries ranked by number of tourists

Its main problem is that it gives a very vague overview. I mean the fact that a lot of people go to one country doesn't mean every tourist can, see @jpatokal answer stating that a basic condition to travel as a tourist to Saudi Arabia is to be Muslim. So this index shows how accessible a country is based on a very vague overview. It is maybe too synthetic.

Another problem is about distinguishing the passive and active ease. This ranking actually mostly represents the active efforts of a country to attract people : if facilities are made for tourism, people speak English, it is affordable, ... But it doesn't mean the fifth will be way harder to visit than the first.

On the other hand, in countries at the top of the index, everything is made for tourists not to be lost (well at least speaking English and a lot of signs, information, documentation about the most random monument).

And overall, all the criteria @mouviciel listed are totally represented in this index. For example, when Tunisia was politically unstable, the tourists stopped going, it was a pretty big deal in a country that needs tourism for its economy. And if you take the top 10, all the countries are politically stable (not for parts of China but I suppose few tourists go there), and all other barriers are not a big deal in these top countries.

What could be interesting is the bottom of the index, but unfortunately they did not compute it.

Vince
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Well of course the question is Difficult with respect to what? Having said that, the source I personally use is the website of the french diplomaty.

The French embassy provides very detailed information for travellers on every country (in the French version only). It is updated daily and contains information about security, transportation, leaving/entering the country, Healthcare and even cultural issues - See their website.

Of course it does not "rank" countries, but usually provides, on the first page, a general description of few lines describing the important facts and difficulties you can get to.

Your country probably provide something similar. I encourage you to take a look at your Diplomaty/Embassy/Foreign minister website.

Ugo
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  • Aren't there a lot of other embassies that do exactly the same? – RoflcoptrException Oct 11 '12 at 06:24
  • @RoflcoptrException Yes I suppose. Did you read the last sentence? – Ugo Oct 11 '12 at 09:08
  • Yes I did. I was just wondering why your embassy is the best one. But never mind. – RoflcoptrException Oct 11 '12 at 09:21
  • @RoflcoptrException I never said that. I said that it is the best source of information I know. – Ugo Oct 11 '12 at 09:56
  • it's actually not a site from an embassy but the French foreign ministery :) Checking the site, I find no travel related information, only rough outlines of the levels of diplomatic relations between countries and France. – jwenting Oct 12 '12 at 06:13
  • @jwenting This is the website of the 'diplomatie' which is the french diplomatic corps (ambassadors and consuls). The French version only contains travel advice as they are specifically targeted to french people. – Ugo Oct 12 '12 at 07:29
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I'd just like to add from personal experience that regarding countries in South East Asia, Myanmar (Burma) can be a very difficult country to travel in due to the fact that English just isn't that widely spoken. Regardless, the people are generally very kind so you're never without help, but the communication breakdown can make it frustrating at times.

bryceadams
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  • I traveled in Burma for a week and many people spoke English that I met... – Clayton Mar 09 '13 at 21:21
  • Spent two weeks travelling around Burma, without much difficulty (except for restricted Shan area). Language is rarely a barrier for me in most countries (I only speak English) – Ken Apr 03 '17 at 17:25