# where can you see four countries at once? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 21, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454 "2003-06-21T19:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/1 "2003-06-21T19:17:55Z")
I noticed that from the southern Israeli city of Eilat, you can see four countries from one place - Israel, Egypt, Jordan and Saudia Arabia. Is there anywhere else like that on earth? Any places where you can even see more than 4 places? (All of this is with the naked eye, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/2 "2003-06-21T19:19:45Z")
The International Space Station :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/3 "2003-06-21T19:25:19Z")
I would speculate that in Luxemburg you can see from certain parts Holland, France, Belgium and Germany… I stress that this is only speculation… ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/4 "2003-06-21T19:57:54Z")
I don’t think there is any place in Luxemburg that is high enough to see the Netherlands (although you would not need to get very high in a plane to see all four countries). There is a tiny strip of Afghanistan that reaches out to touch China in the Karakoram Range of mountains, separating Pakistan from Tajikistan by only about 30 miles. The Oqsu River runs out of Afghanistan to the north and the Mintaka Pass permits access between Pakistan and China to the south, so it is _possible_, provided the mountains do not obstruct the view, that there may be a point in that area from which to view all four countries. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/5 "2003-06-21T20:01:29Z")
Well, presumably you can also see Luxembourg from Luxembourg, so I wouldn’t discount it just yet. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/6 "2003-06-21T20:13:57Z")
How about from the Golan? Are you able to see Israel, Jordan, Syria, and Western Syria (aka Lebanon)? ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/7 "2003-06-21T20:24:45Z")
Switzerland? ---
**Author:** ![raisinbread](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8491ac/32.png) [@raisinbread](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raisinbread)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/8 "2003-06-21T20:57:50Z")
An atlas. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/9 "2003-06-21T21:02:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by klockwerk \* > \*\*The International Space Station :rolleyes: \*\* The ISS is not on Earth. It’s orbiting Earth. Bit of a difference there. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/10 "2003-06-21T21:38:03Z")
How about Monserrat? The high point is 914 m in the Soufriere Hills. You might be able to see Antigua and Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis, and Guadaloupe from there. The furthest of these is Guadaloupe at some 65 Km away. Switzerland is a probably a good answer. I expect there’s some mountain there and/or in Austria that you can see both Germany and Liechtenstein as well as Switzerland and Austria from. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/11 "2003-06-21T21:40:40Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, presumably you can also see Luxembourg from Luxembourg, so I wouldn’t discount it just yet. True, and I should have been more clear: although there is a lot of hilly ground in the region, the hills are low and of even heights. I do not believe there is any place in or around Luxemburg from which one can see Belgium, Germany, and France simultaneously. (If someone has built some scenic view towers, they could probably see all four countries, but there is no place at ground level to permit that view.) There is also the region of the Altai Mountains where Russia and China meet in a narrow strip between Mongolia and Khazakstan. Nayramdalïn Peak, (14,350 feet, 4,374 m), at the western point of Mongolia towers over the area where the two larger nations meet, making it possible to view them and Khazakstan across the divide. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/12 "2003-06-21T21:57:36Z")
And then there’s the area at the eastern end of the Caprivi Strip where Namibia comes within about 15 Km of Zimbabwe. It shouldn’t take too high a hill for someone to be able to see Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. Not 100% sure what the terrain is in that area, but I think it’s fairly flat so there may not be a suitable hill. ---
**Author:** ![Antonius\_Block](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/51bf81/32.png) [@Antonius\_Block](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antonius_Block)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/13 "2003-06-21T22:17:41Z")
There’s [Snaefell](http://www.sftpwtg.com/data/ism/ism130.htm) on the Isle of Man, > [@](#): > > the island’s highest point, from which the four countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can be seen on a clear day. In Germany, [Zugspitze](http://www.ricksteves.com/videos/munichscr.htm) is > [@](#): > > standing alone with a view of over 400 peaks in four countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and even Italy. At the Jungfraujoch in Switzerland, there is [The Sphinx restaurant and observation platform at 11,300ft, with views of four countries and glaciers all year round.](http://www.chaletwengen.com/) The four countries in this case would be Italy, France, Switzerland and Germany. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2003, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/14 "2003-06-21T23:52:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Antonius Block \* > \*\*There’s [Snaefell](http://www.sftpwtg.com/data/ism/ism130.htm) on the Isle of Man, > > > [@](#): > > > > the island’s highest point, from which the four countries of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland can be seen on a clear day. One page I found claimed you could also see Ireland from that hill, thus making it 5 countries, albeit only two independent ones. I plugged “see five countries” into Google and found a handful of sites that claim one can see 5 countries from this or that point. Frustratingly, none of them (except the above) actually said what the five countries are. For instance, a newspaper article from the New Zealand Sunday Star Times says you can see 5 countries from the summit of Mt Everest. Now two of those will be Nepal and China, of course and you might be able to see mountain peaks in India and Bhutan, but I’m not sure what the other one is. Unless they are counting Sikkim, which is technically not independent. Or is it possible to see Bangladesh from Mt Everest? Another one talks about seeing five countries from a Crusader castle on an island somewhere in the eastern Med. Again, no indication of which countries. ---
**Author:** ![klockwerk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/klockwerk/32/6475_2.png) [@klockwerk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/klockwerk)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/15 "2003-06-22T01:18:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by asterion \* > \*\*The ISS is not on Earth. It’s orbiting Earth. Bit of a difference there. \*\* :smack: ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/16 "2003-06-22T04:10:06Z")
OK, try this one. There’s several places on the net that claim that from Mt. Säntis in Swizerland, you can see no fewer than six countries: Switzerland, German, Liechtenstein, Italy, Austria and France. Mt. Säntis is 2500 m high in eastern Switzerland, so Germany, Leichtenstein, and Austria are no problem. And it’s only about 80 Km to a 3000 m mountain in Italy. But I’m not sure what part of France you can see from there. ---
**Author:** ![Dragon\_Phoenix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@Dragon\_Phoenix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragon_Phoenix)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/17 "2003-06-22T07:13:06Z")
The Mont Blanc presumably. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/18 "2003-06-22T10:45:11Z")
[Embassy Row](http://www.embassy.org/embassies/) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GKW](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/d9b06d/32.png) [@GKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GKW)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/19 "2003-06-22T17:05:12Z")
You can stay in a lodge there- [http://www.classicsafaris.com/Camps%20&%20Lodges/impalilaisland.htm](http://www.classicsafaris.com/Camps%20&%20Lodges/impalilaisland.htm) ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2003, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454/20 "2003-06-22T19:55:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Dragon Phoenix \* > The Mont Blanc presumably. Probably so, but since it’s some 250 Km away it might require binoculars to see. Plus there’s a different mountain range directly between the two, which is why I wasn’t sure it could be seen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-you-see-four-countries-at-once/183454.md?page=2)