Find Your Next Destination

The explore page currently covers 35 countries across Europe, the Americas, Asia, and Oceania: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and United States.

Coverage expands regularly as new country guides are added to Countries Been.

Each country is tagged only with styles it is genuinely known for among international travellers — not every category applies to every country. The 16 styles are:

• Cultural — museums, heritage sites, and living local culture
• Historical — ancient ruins, battlefields, and UNESCO World Heritage Sites
• Nature — national parks, wildlife, and dramatic natural landscapes
• Adventure — hiking, mountaineering, white-water rafting, and extreme sports
• Beach — internationally recognised coastal and beach destinations
• Surfing — surf breaks that attract visiting surfers from around the world
• Winter Sports — ski resorts and winter activities with international appeal
• Northern Lights — destinations where aurora borealis viewing is a primary draw
• Urban — world-class city destinations worth visiting in their own right
• Art & Design — renowned art museums, galleries, and design-forward cities
• Cycling — established cycling culture or famous long-distance routes
• Spiritual — major pilgrimage routes, sacred sites, and spiritual retreats
• Road Trip — countries with famous self-drive routes (Route 66, Ring Road, Great Ocean Road…)
• Gastronomy — food culture that is itself a primary reason people travel there
• Wine Country — internationally recognised wine regions and appellations
• Scuba Diving — reefs, wrecks, or dive sites that attract visiting divers

Yes — and every filter you add narrows the list, never expands it. All active filters use AND logic: if you select Cultural and then Winter Sports, only countries tagged with both appear.

Within the Budget and Safety rows, selecting multiple values shows countries matching any of those values (e.g. Budget + Mid-Range together shows all affordable destinations). The date range filter shows countries whose recommended visit window overlaps your selected months — year-wrap ranges like December–March are handled correctly.

The 3D globe highlights all 35 countries in the database. Green countries match your currently active filters. Grey countries are in the database but don't match the current selection — they're still there, just filtered out for now.

When no filters are active, every country shows in the same neutral colour because all 28 are available. Apply any filter and the globe updates within about 150 milliseconds.

The four tiers reflect typical daily costs for an independent international traveller, covering accommodation, food, local transport, and activities:

• Budget — comfortable travel under roughly $60/day (e.g. Czechia, Hungary, India, Mexico, Poland…)
• Mid-Range — typically $60–150/day (e.g. Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Germany…)
• Expensive — generally $150–250/day (e.g. Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark…)
• Luxury — typically above $250/day for equivalent comfort (e.g. Switzerland)

The Tap Safe filter shows countries where tap water is considered safe to drink by international health standards throughout the country. The Not Safe filter shows countries where bottled or filtered water is generally recommended for visitors — this includes destinations like Brazil, China, India, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey. The full country guide for each destination includes a specific note on tap water standards.

Travel styles, budget tiers, safety ratings, tap water data, and best-visit months are reviewed and updated periodically to reflect current conditions and traveller feedback. New country guides are added regularly, expanding the number of destinations available in the explore filter.

Countries Been is a travel tracking app that lets you mark every country — and every state or province within countries you've visited — as visited, lived in, or on your wish list. Your personal map updates in real time and can be shared with friends. The explore page is a companion discovery tool for finding where to go next based on your travel style, budget, and time of year.