39 Travel Facts From Around The Globe

Imagine going through the boarding and security processes to arrive at your destination in one and a half minutes. That’s the average flight duration between the islands of Westray and Papa Westray, which are a part of Scotland’s Orkney Islands. They even have a recorded fastest flight that took less than 50 seconds.

Wherever you happen to be in Disneyland, you only need to take 30 steps or less to find a trash can. Apparently, Walt Disney observed visitors and counted how many steps they would take before throwing garbage on the ground. This resulted in the very calculated and strategic placement of trash cans in any Disney park.

Jet lag is not a pleasant experience for most of us, but scientists have confirmed that it gets worse if you travel from west to east. When you travel in this direction, your day becomes shorter. However, if you travel from east to west, your day grows longer. While in both cases your sleep/wake cycle is disrupted, it is easier for the brain to adapt to the prolongation of the day.

If you are a foodie and fine dining while traveling is important for you, you definitely should travel to France. According to Fine Dining Lovers, there are 628 Michelin-starred restaurants in the country, which is the highest number in the world. Number two and three on this list go to Japan (577 restaurants) and Italy (374 restaurants), respectively.  

While 119 is the number for fire and ambulance emergencies, and 112 is for police, you can also reach a foreign traveler hotline at 1330 and report a spy at 113.

Sure, it would have to be as densely populated as New York City, and we wouldn’t have much room to move around. But then, the rest of the world would be uninhabited and open to roam in solitude. 

At any major airport, taxi services will significantly empty your pocket. According to a study by Moneycorp, the most expensive taxi ride from an airport to a city is the one that will take you from Narita Airport to the Tokyo city area. It will cost you an average of $235.

If you want something to stay in good condition for a long time, you need to maintain it. That’s why 600 Parisians go to the Eiffel Tower every morning just like other people go to offices. This makes it one of the largest job-generating businesses in the tourism industry of France.

A study conducted in 2010 revealed that anticipating your vacation can bring you more happiness than the actual trip. If you need a boost in your mood today, start planning your next vacation!

Many countries traditionally use lunar or other calendars to calculate holidays and other important events, at the same time using the universally accepted Gregorian calendar for daily life. However, Ethiopia maintains its own calendar that is seven to eight years behind the Gregorian calendar. This happens due to differences in the perceived date of the Annunciation (proclaiming the birth of Christ). Ethiopia also starts a new year on August 29th or 30th. 

Of course, we all say the UK for convenience purposes, but the real name of the country is “the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.” No other country in the world has so many words in its recognized name.

The top 10 most used languages in the world are English, Mandarin, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian, German, Korean, Russian, and Arabic. All of them were studied to reveal the happiest among them. Turns out, Spanish takes the title of the happiest language in the world. Chances are, this is the reason why Spain is among the top 5 countries by life expectancy.  

When you have such a huge coastline, it is inevitable for beaches to spring up. To visit all of the Australian beaches at least for one day, you would need over 32 years.

With 2,300 bridges, Hamburg holds first place in the world. This is almost double as many as Amsterdam, number two on the list, which has 1,281 bridges. Interestingly, Venice, the city on water, only has 391 bridges and is number five on the list.

No permanent rivers flow through the biggest country of the Arabian Peninsula. Interestingly, it is not the only country in the world with this peculiarity. There are 17 other countries with no rivers, Vatican City being one of them.

According to CNN, China has around 6,000 surnames. For a population of over 1.4 billion, this seems pretty scarce. But things are complicated (or simplified) further, because 100 of these surnames can be found among 86% of the population. To compare, the USA has 6.3 million surnames and almost 332 million people.

Most people think that Big Ben is the name of the famous London clock, but in fact, it’s the name of the 13-ton bell located on the same tower. The clock itself is simply called the Great Clock of Westminster.

Due to its sheer size, China spans five geographical time zones. This means that if you travel in the east-west direction across China, time should change five times. Yet, it will be exactly the same in the westernmost and easternmost points of the country, that is UTC+8.

One of the most accessible and safest ways to get an adrenaline rush in daily life is by taking a roller coaster ride. While some of them make you dizzy just looking at them from the ground, Saudi Arabia decided to break all records and construct not only the tallest but also the fastest roller coaster in the world. Called Falcon’s Flight, it will have a dive of 160 meters (525 feet) and travel at over 250 kilometers per hour (155 miles per hour).