How to visit the world’s largest continents

If you’ve always wanted to visit China, do a road-trip across America or see more of Africa, it can be hard to know where to start. Condensing down some of the world’s largest continents into one holiday is impossible, and yet so many people say they’re ‘visiting China’ on holiday or having a ‘tour of Europe.’ Grand adventures require plenty of planning, so here are a few tips for seeing some of the world’s largest nations.

Be specific

It’s helpful to accept the fact that it’s not possible to really visit some of the world’s biggest continents and get an in-depth experience in just one trip. Therefore, you’re far better off being specific about what you want to see and planning it that way. For example, if you’ve always wanted to see East Asia, first pick out the cities you would most like to visit and see how much a connecting flight would cost. Then, plan out what you would like to see and figure out how much time you will need to devote to seeing them. 

Package holidays

If you’ve never been to Asia but want to hop between a few countries on your holiday, then a package holiday might be the answer. These providers do the hard work for you, meaning that all you need to do is follow the itinerary. Booking Asian holidays, for example, is far easier when the flights are all planned for you. Your designations will be part of a bigger package, meaning you get a healthy variety.

Check no-go zones

Every country has no-go zones and bad neighbourhoods. The best way to check if a country is safe to visit or if a region is safe to spend a daytrip in, is to visit gov.uk travel advice. For example, you are strongly advised not to go too close to the border of Ukraine and Georgia for significant political reasons. 

Find spectacles

Sometimes the most-visited spots in a country are incredibly popular for a good reason. For example, plenty of people visit Shanghai in China partly because it’s incredibly well-known, and also because it’s one of the dramatically showy cities in China. Its nighttime light displays are well worth seeing, as is Beijing for its proximity to the Great Wall of China. There’s no shame in pin-pointing the biggest landmarks on a map and deciding which ones are worth travelling for. 

While many of us say we want to visit India, China or Russia one day, what we actually mean are its specific sites. Sometimes it’s not always possible to see these all within the same holiday, but by planning well in advance, it’s much easier to see as much as possible. Sometimes package holidays provide a helpful alternative, thanks to their ability to pre-organise connecting flights and itineraries.