3 places to straddle 2 continents

If you collect experiences like other people collect Precious Moments figurines, maybe you’ve thought about visiting those special places where one part of the world touches (or nearly touches) another part. Specifically, the places where you can stand between continents, seeing one to your left and another to your right.

It’s do-able, for sure, and we’ve got three places you can do it, and three phenomenal itineraries to show you how it can be done.

1. A Panama Canal Cruise.

For lots of people, a Panama Canal cruise is a true bucket-list adventure. But did you know that you can sail the Panama Canal and only do a partial-transit journey? Some of our preferred cruise partners enter the canal, traverse the locks, and then turn around and come back out the way they went in!

If you’ve got the time for a longer, journey, however, we’d highly recommend doing a full transit through the Panama Canal with North America on one side of your ship, and South America on the other. Our preferred cruise lines have all sorts of Panama Canal sailings on ships of many different styles and sizes. But one of our favorites is Princess Cruise Lines, which is consistently rated among the best for the Panama Canal. When you sail on Princess, we recommend ordering the champagne balcony breakfast for the morning of your canal transit. There’s nothing like sitting on the balcony of your stateroom with a split of champagne, a gorgeous breakfast with pastries, smoked salmon, crab legs, individual quiches and more, as you slowly make your approach into the first lock of the canal!

2. The Trans-Siberian Express

Here’s another bucket list journey for you. This 15-day journey across Russia and Mongolia, from Moscow to Vladivostok, along the Trans-Siberian Railway is one you will never forget! With stops in Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk, Lake Baikal, Ulan Ude, and Ulaan Baatar, you will get to experience the vastness and grandeur of Russia’s rarely-visited interior and the very best of Mongolia. By the time your journey ends, you will have passed through eight different time zones, a third of the world’s total! You will also have traveled an incredible distance of 6,500 miles through Russia and Mongolia. This is truly the trip of a lifetime!

You’ll also visit Yekaterinburg—the capital of the Urals, known as the Great Divide. This is where the continents of Europe and Asia come together! You will embark on a city tour that includes the heartbreaking site where the Romanov, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was executed with his family by the Bolsheviks in 1918 following 78 days of imprisonment. And then, you’ll enjoy a leisurely drive to the monument marking the geographical border between Europe and Asia, where you can enjoy a glass of champagne with one foot in each continent.

3. Þingvellir National Park

Iceland is one of the only places in the world where you can actually see rifts where two tectonic plates meet (or more accurately, pull apart from) each other. You can even see where the plates come out of the ocean! Located in Þingvellir National Park one of these rifts is called Silfra. Filled with water Silfra is often known as one of the top 3 places in the world to go Scuba Diving, because of its amazing visibility and the cool fact that you are literally scuba diving between two continents.

But if you’re not a diver, you can still straddle the North American and European plates in the park. It’s an easy trip out of Reykjavik, and is included in pretty much every Golden Circle tour. So, whether you’re diving or straddling, it’s possible to be in two places at once when you’re in Iceland!

If you’re ready to book one of these trips, we’re happy to send you a quote! Just let us know!

Cover photo by Flickr User CHeitz, used pursuant to Creative Commons License.