# What Are The LEAST Visisted Countries, Places? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 16, 2008, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213 "2008-08-16T12:28:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/41 "2008-08-19T11:42:31Z")
I feel compelled to mention it again: North Dakota I’ve been there twice to get away from it all. It was spectacular, especially the million acre Little Missouri National Grassland. And the ranch girls are nice to look at. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/42 "2008-08-19T12:53:42Z")
[QUOTE=beowulff] But, you can walk out of your room onto the Tarmac of the Airport… [/QUOTE] . . . and they provide “Ice.” Tripler As opposed to the real stuff, ‘_ice_.’ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Risha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5fc32e/32.png) [@Risha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Risha)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/43 "2008-08-19T13:16:45Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] Hmm. Not sure I’m seeing that – many/most Caribbean cruises dock there, plus there’s pretty heavy travel back from emigres. > **[Tourism in Puerto Rico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Puerto_Rico)** > > Tourism in Puerto Rico attracts millions of visitors each year, with more than 5.1 million passengers arriving at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in 2022, a 6.5% increase from 2021, the main point of arrival into the island of Puerto Rico. With a $8.9 billion revenue in 2022 (a 39% increase over the previous high in 2019), tourism has been a very important source of revenue for Puerto Rico for a number of decades given its favorable warm climate, beach destinations and its divers In... [/QUOTE] Yes, I know at least five or six people who have specifically gone there on vacation, including my step-mother, and my brother and his fiance. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/44 "2008-08-19T13:24:03Z")
A friend of mine has been to Belize several times, and loves it. It’s becoming more popular but still isn’t exactly infested with tourists. My eldest sister and her then-boyfriend, now-husband spent a lot of time in Nicaragua in the 1980s with Witness for Peace. It doesn’t sound any more pleasant nowadays. Isn’t Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, a U.S./British military base closed to all visitors? Not a big tourism hotspot. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/45 "2008-08-19T13:38:14Z")
[Ironworld](http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/s503059.shtml?cat=1) in Minnesota’s Iron Range which the state gives 2.2 million a year to keep open yet gets about 42 visitors per day. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/46 "2008-08-19T15:28:02Z")
Why does this make me think of… > [@](#): > > Finland, Finland, Finland, > You’re so often ignored > A far second to Belgium > When going abroad. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/47 "2008-08-19T15:34:02Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Isn’t Diego Garcia, in the Indian Ocean, a U.S./British military base closed to all visitors? Not a big tourism hotspot. [/QUOTE] Yes. Tristan de Cunha does indeed require special approval for would be visitors. It’s also a bit tricky booking passage on one of the few ships that go there: > **[Tristan da Cunha Shipping Schedules](https://www.tristandc.com/shipping.php)** > > Schedules and fares for the few ships that regularly travel between Cape Town and Tristan da Cunha. Winchester’s book is indeed interesting, though he seemed to spend a ton of time on Hong Kong (it’s an older book), Bermuda, and Tristan, and then lost interest and pretty much glossed over Pitcairn and the latter isolated islands he covered. ---
**Author:** ![ntcrawler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/34f0e0/32.png) [@ntcrawler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ntcrawler)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/48 "2008-08-19T15:56:25Z")
how about Howland Island? Visiting without a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is illegal. that’s one way to keep the tourists at bay, unless your plane is in trouble and you need a place to land. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/49 "2008-08-19T21:32:54Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] [Ironworld](http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/s503059.shtml?cat=1) in Minnesota’s Iron Range which the state gives 2.2 million a year to keep open yet gets about 42 visitors per day. [/QUOTE] This Canadian would like to thank you for subsidizing my visit to the tune of $220. Actually, the Hull Rust Mahoning Mine overlook, the Lake Superior Railroad Museum, the S.S. William A. Irvin Ore Boat Museum, and the Geyhound Bus Museum collectively made for a great tour of the iron range (unfortunately, I couldn’t get inside Hibbing High’s auditorium), and gave me a better understanding of how the USA became an economic powerhouse. I was tremenously impressed by what your region economically accomplished. Ironworld, while well intentioned, really didn’t convey to me that feeling of “Holy crap, Batman, we’re on to something really big!” ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/50 "2008-08-19T23:27:28Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] Winchester’s book is indeed interesting, though he seemed to spend a ton of time on Hong Kong (it’s an older book), Bermuda, and Tristan, and then lost interest and pretty much glossed over Pitcairn and the latter isolated islands he covered. [/QUOTE] I got the impression this was more because he was starting to run into trouble with the Colonial Office (or whatever they’re called nowadays) after his brief, unscheduled visit to Diego Garcia, and there probably wasn’t a lot to actually say about some of the places he was visiting… ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2008, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/51 "2008-08-19T23:40:18Z")
[QUOTE=Risha] While Tuvalu itself looks not half bad, the [Vaiaku Lagi Hotel](http://www.timelesstuvalu.com/tuvalu/cms/Accommodation/) doesn’t look to be 5-star. [/QUOTE] I concur. I’d be weary of any place that puts the word “ice” in quotations as they did under activities as if it’s some novel thing. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/52 "2008-08-20T00:02:26Z")
[QUOTE=Huerta88] Hmm. Not sure I’m seeing that – many/most Caribbean cruises dock there, plus there’s pretty heavy travel back from emigres. > **[Tourism in Puerto Rico](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_Puerto_Rico)** > > Tourism in Puerto Rico attracts millions of visitors each year, with more than 5.1 million passengers arriving at the Luis Muñoz Marín International Airport in 2022, a 6.5% increase from 2021, the main point of arrival into the island of Puerto Rico. With a $8.9 billion revenue in 2022 (a 39% increase over the previous high in 2019), tourism has been a very important source of revenue for Puerto Rico for a number of decades given its favorable warm climate, beach destinations and its divers In... [/QUOTE] It’s a damn big island. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/53 "2008-08-20T04:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] A friend of mine has been to Belize several times, and loves it. It’s becoming more popular but still isn’t exactly infested with tourists. [/QUOTE] I recall Belize City making it into the top 10 of some list of desirable foreign places for Americans to retire to a few years ago. Our city of Nong Khai, on the Mekong River across from Laos, also made the list; it’s a nice town, but no one here was sure why how it managed to make the cut. ---
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/54 "2008-08-20T11:33:28Z")
Any prospective Kerguelen visitor might like to read this series of articles by a UK columnist who actually went there: [Times article](http://www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/features/parris/story9.html) The adventure really starts with the 2nd column but it’s probably best to start at the beginning… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213/55 "2008-08-20T14:30:17Z")
[QUOTE=Meurglys] Any prospective Kerguelen visitor might like to read this series of articles by a UK columnist who actually went there: [Times article](http://www.times-archive.co.uk/onlinespecials/features/parris/story9.html) The adventure really starts with the 2nd column but it’s probably best to start at the beginning… [/QUOTE] Wow… that is really good. I read all of the columns and am very glad I did. Matthew Parris can _write_. I felt each of his moods keenly: wanderlust, curiosity, self-doubt, joy, grief, loneliness, exhaustion, bemusement, thoughtfulness. What a wonderful series. Thank you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-least-visisted-countries-places/460213.md?page=2)