dg comments

please empty your brain below

I'm not including Edinburgh, Cardiff, Douglas or St Peter Port.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 12:00 a.m. | #

I managed 10 as well:

London, Paris, Madrid, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Helsinki, Reykjavik, Budapest, Santiago

Arney | 04.12.20 - 7:12 a.m. | #

27
London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Vatican, Brussels, Stockholm, Berlin, Athens, Bern, Amsterdam, Zagreb, Washington DC, Tashkent, Dublin, Vienna, Prague, Budapest, Copenhagen, Lisbon, Luxembourg, Reykjavik, Bratislava, Bucharest, Wellington, Helsinki, Ljubljana.

Plus Cape Town, which is one of South Africa’s three capitals, with Pretoria and Bloemfontein...

Baldassaro | 04.12.20 - 7:20 a.m. | #

What about St Helier 😀

dg writes: If St Peter Port doesn't count, neither does St Helier.

Jon Combe | 04.12.20 - 7:27 a.m. | #

I’ve got a surprisingly high 38 since 2016:

London, Paris, Berlin, Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Madrid, Lisbon, Helsinki, Dublin, Budapest, Prague, Oslo, Vienna, Warsaw, Reykjavik, Stockholm, Bucharest, Tokyo, Seoul, Bangkok, Bandar Seri Bagawan, Beijing, Vientiane, Tehran, Cairo, Dar Es Salaam, Ankara, Addis Ababa, Abu Dhabi, Muscat, Doha, Washington DC, Ottawa, Mexico City, Santiago, San Juan, Wellington

Matthew | 04.12.20 - 7:28 a.m. | #

More than I'd realised (16):

Oslo, Rome, Paris, Seoul, Berlin, Dublin, Moscow, Lisbon, London, Prague, Zagreb, Budapest, Amsterdam, Ljubljana, Copenhagen, Vatican City

martin | 04.12.20 - 7:33 a.m. | #

35. Most have been named above. Adding: Almaty (when capital), Buenos Aires, Roseau, St. George’s, Castries, Kuala Kumpur.

David | 04.12.20 - 7:46 a.m. | #

Could we have a complete list of capitals to count from please?

I'm probably not the only one who can't count this sort of thing from memory.

dg writes: First link in the post. Last link in the post :)

Blue Witch | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 7:48 a.m. | #

Some of these might fail the Richard Osman test of being capitals of a sovereign territory that is a member of the UN in its own right but here goes:

London, Valletta, Amsterdam, Dublin, Brussels, Luxembourg City, Paris, Singapore , Bridgetown, Prague, Lisbon , Rome, Copenhagen, Helsinki , Tallin, Oslo

Plus a couple of former capitals in Toronto and St Petersburg, actually you could add Winchester if we’re counting them! Ridiculously I’ve been to Germany on eight different occasions but never to Berlin or Bonn.

Phil | 04.12.20 - 7:49 a.m. | #

HOW DARE YOU!

Scowls, slams door & stomps off.

Still Anon | 04.12.20 - 7:56 a.m. | #

London, Paris, Berlin, Washington DC, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Brussels

Gareth Winchester | 04.12.20 - 8:00 a.m. | #

London, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Lisbon, Valetta, Rome, Vatican, Madrid, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Dublin, Prague, Warsaw, Reykjavik, Berlin, Tokyo, Wellington, Bangkok, New Dehli, Kathmandu, Washington DC, Quito, Athens, Harare

26

cliffh | 04.12.20 - 8:01 a.m. | #

A modest 11 from me. But none except London since 2005.

London, Dublin, Paris, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Oslo, Helsinki, Prague, Mexico City, Tokyo

Alan S | 04.12.20 - 8:04 a.m. | #

15 - more than I thought at first!

London, Paris, Canberra, Kuala Lumpar, Singapore, Bangkok, Athens, Prague, Bratislava, Vienna, Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Monte Carlo, Islamabad

I've decided not to count Brussels, as I was changing trains and didn't have time to leave the station.

James | 04.12.20 - 8:07 a.m. | #

53 from the wikipedia page that was linked, although some of them feel like cheating (eg counting both The Hague and Amsterdam).

Alan | 04.12.20 - 8:08 a.m. | #

I've counted 36 on the list that I remember visiting.

msjs | 04.12.20 - 8:11 a.m. | #

At least 25, feel I may have missed one or two. Mostly covered above apart from Nassau, Bridgetown, Kingstown, Hanoi, male and Tallinn.

David | 04.12.20 - 8:12 a.m. | #

I have 30 which I think Pointless would allow, or 32 if we stretch the definition:

Andorra town, Beunos Aires, Vienna , Brussels, Brasilia, Bogota, Ottowa, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Paris, Berlin, Athens, Dublin, Rome, Tokyo, Vaduz, Luxembourg, Valletta, Monte Carlo, Oslo, Amsterdam, Lisbon, Bucharest, San Marino, Bratislava , Cape Town, Madrid, Stockholm, Vatican City,, London, Montevideo

Feels a bit of a cheat to include micro states like San Marino, but they're on the UN list.

Plus a couple that I'm not sure if would be allowed.
Bonn. (It was a capital when I visited, but isn't now)
Pristina. (Which wasn't a capital when I visited, but now claims to be capital of Kosovo. Many countries have independent diplomatic relations with Kosovo but it's not yet recognised by the UN)

IslandDweller | 04.12.20 - 8:12 a.m. | #

Mainly thanks to InterRail I have visited 32

Jakarta (obviously not by Interrail) I think is the only one not already covered

kerspatula | 04.12.20 - 8:14 a.m. | #

14. I had a head start by being born in a capital city (London)

Vienna, Budapest, Moscow, Prague, Paris, Amsterdam, Valetta,, Cairo, Luxembourg City, Brussels, Stockholm, Bucharest, Bratislava

timbo | 04.12.20 - 8:16 a.m. | #

Only 67 on that list (not counting stopping at the airport, or London, and only one per state).

Jimmy | 04.12.20 - 8:21 a.m. | #

I'll add the ones which I've been to that nobody has named so far: Kiev, Rabat, Riga, Manila, Sarajevo, Tirana and Tunis.

Alan | 04.12.20 - 8:23 a.m. | #

What an invitation to showboat! It's brings to mind the phrase: "He's the type of person that when you tell him you've been to Tenerife.. will insist he's been to Elevenerife"

Frank F | 04.12.20 - 8:23 a.m. | #

20. London, Washington DC, Ankara, Port of Spain, St Georges, Bridgetown, Athens, Rome, Paris, Madrid, Vatican City. Nicosia, Cairo, Algiers. Rabat, Gibraltar, Brussels. Andorra la Vella, Dublin and Luxembourg

John | 04.12.20 - 8:26 a.m. | #

13. Amsterdam, Beijing, Brussels, Cairo, Dublin, Guatemala City, Istanbul, Lima, London, Nairobi, Paris, Prague, Warsaw

Also Dar es Salaam, but I'm not sure it counts any more.

Andrew Adams | 04.12.20 - 8:32 a.m. | #

London (1983ish), Athens (1992), Cairo (1992), Jerusalem (1992), Lisbon (2005), Oslo (2005), Paris (2006), Madrid (2007), Brussels (2011), Copenhagen (2017)

Think it's 10 for me as well

Quizzical Eyebrow | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 8:37 a.m. | #

I have managed 22 capitals, all by motorcycle, from Helsinki in the north to Belgrade in the south.

Mike | 04.12.20 - 8:39 a.m. | #

I think I can add Vilnius to the cumulative list being built, but 24 is a score I'm itching to increase. Vilnius makes a very nice trip in summer, by the way.

Ben | 04.12.20 - 8:39 a.m. | #

15. London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Rome, The Vatican, Bern, Athens, Nicosia, Valletta, Jerusalem, Cairo, San Marino

Sara | 04.12.20 - 8:43 a.m. | #

21 - Haven't noticed Bern, Minsk, Tirana and Canberra in the above yet.

NickW | 04.12.20 - 8:45 a.m. | #

Note to Andrew Adams, Istanbul is not a capital city, it is Anakara

John | 04.12.20 - 8:45 a.m. | #

25, only ones not listed above are Antananarivo, Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Kathmandu, San Jose.

I wonder if among all readers we can get them all ticked.

TomH | 04.12.20 - 8:49 a.m. | #

'Only' 11. Caracas being the only one I think no one has mentioned.

Lorenzo | 04.12.20 - 8:57 a.m. | #

If not counting London, Edinburgh and Cardiff (or St Peter Port or St Helier) I can only manage two, but one of them was pre-glasnost Moscow (the other was Amsterdam). But then I've only been abroad three times since 1982.

Sarah | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 9:03 a.m. | #

Amsterdam, Bangkok, Basseterre, Berlin, Bern, Bratislava, Bridgetown, Brussels, Budapest, Castries, Copenhagen, Dublin, Helsinki, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Manila, Monaco, Moscow, Oslo, Ottawa, Paris, Prague, Riga, Rome, Singapore, Stockholm, Tallinn, Tashkent, Valetta, Vienna and Vilnius.

Presumably airport stopovers don't count so I can rule out Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Muscat.
(Not sure if Tashkent counts as it was not a capital when I visited, being part of the USSR.)

For the record there are several other countries I've visited, but not the capital.

Tim | 04.12.20 - 9:06 a.m. | #

Amsterdam, Berlin, Copenhagen, Tunis, Belgrade, Ljiubiana, Budapest, Bucharest, Bratislava, Vienna, Edinburgh, London, Oslo, Stockholm, Paris, Madrid, Lisbon, Warsaw, Nicosia. So 19 in total

Paul Hamilton | 04.12.20 - 9:08 a.m. | #

I can add Alofi, Avarua, Kingston, Apia, La Paz, Papeete, Torshavn, Port Vila, which I don't think have been mentioned yet.
And Yangon (though no longer a capital).

Betterbee | 04.12.20 - 9:08 a.m. | #

Alan - I did include Kiev on my list, but DG disqualified it as it wasn't a capital city in the Soviet era, when I was there.

timbo | 04.12.20 - 9:10 a.m. | #

Am I the first to claim Sophia?
Also London, Dublin, Paris, The Hague/Amsterdam, Brussels, Bonn (was then), Lisbon, Rome, Vatican, Valletta, Bangkok. Could be 11, 12 or 13.

kev | 04.12.20 - 9:14 a.m. | #

I was surprised by the total when I added it up - 14 or 15
Amsterdam/ The Hague (can you count both?), Quito, Bogota, Luxembourg, Brussels, Paris, London, Rome, Copenhagen, Washington DC, Kuala Lumpur, Rabat, Jerusalem and Cairo.

Martin | 04.12.20 - 9:14 a.m. | #

I reckon on 36, though there's some debate about what's a capital and what counts as visiting. If we're sharing additional ones then I can count Havana and La Paz (which I think counts). Both are interesting to visit.

Eric | 04.12.20 - 9:19 a.m. | #

Hmm. I count 17: Washington DC, London, Paris, Bern, Rome, Vatican, Berlin, Vienna, Bratislava, Prague, Athens, Moscow, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, Colombo (it was a capital when I went at least!), Singapore, Tokyo.

anon | 04.12.20 - 9:23 a.m. | #

35 including Stanley and King Edward Point

scrumpy | 04.12.20 - 9:24 a.m. | #

20 I think:

London, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Madrid, Berlin, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Tallinn, Rome, Vatican City, Vienna, Prague, Moscow, Yerevan, Tehran, Tokyo, Washington DC

(I’m pleased to see nobody is claiming Cardiff and Edinburgh)

Hergtoz Bashbah | 04.12.20 - 9:35 a.m. | #

48.
Ones I can't see above -
Amman, Havana, Phnom Penh, Sofia, Vaduz.

PeterB | 04.12.20 - 9:38 a.m. | #

10 here as well: London, Paris, Bern, Berlin, Washington DC, Brussels, Budapest, Vienna, Stockholm, Lisbon

the wub | 04.12.20 - 9:44 a.m. | #

28 or 27 if Gibraltar doesn't count for the same reason as St Peter Port, Douglas, St Helier

Jon Combe | 04.12.20 - 9:49 a.m. | #

39, including Ulaan Baatar, which I don't see above. This is using the Wikipedia list but excluding Douglas as per DG rules.

Malcolm of Kent | 04.12.20 - 9:55 a.m. | #

21 (sorry, can't provide dates of first visit):
Belgrade, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin, Kiev, London, Ljubljana, Madrid, Moscow, Paris, Port Louis, Riga, Rome, Sarajevo, Tallinn, Tbilisi, Valletta, Vatican City, Vienna, Zagreb.
Plus airports at Abu Dhabi, Athens and Helsinki.

Jonathan Wadman | 04.12.20 - 9:58 a.m. | #

45 I think, only counting places which I actually visited (as opposed to changing trains or planes)

Mikey C | 04.12.20 - 10:01 a.m. | #

Scrumpy - how was King Edward Point? Jealous of any trip that far south!

TomH | 04.12.20 - 10:02 a.m. | #

By my reckoning that's 104 countries from the list ticked off by someone.

Africa is the poorest coverage, but capitals I'm surprised are still missing are Accra (Ghana), Lebanon (Beirut) and Dhaka (Bangladesh).

TomH | 04.12.20 - 10:06 a.m. | #

London, Amsterdam & Den Haag, Paris, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Moscow, Tbilisi, Baku, Tashkent, Alma-Ata, Kiev, Yerevan, Nicosia, Bogota, Athens, Vienna, Zurich.

Mark | 04.12.20 - 10:08 a.m. | #

A paltry 9 from me (in order: London, Oslo, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Rome, Vatican City, Monaco, Stockholm) which given my fascination with geography & travel writing is a surprise to people who know me. Having only recently made it to the capital of the country in which I was born (Sweden) and then visited friends in Germany I was getting a taste for travelling more widely and so was starting to make grander plans and then, well, the obvious happened

Anders | 04.12.20 - 10:14 a.m. | #

23 in total, and I can add Windhoek to the list :)

I'm also surprised Riga was only mentioned halfway the list as it stands, it's a wonderful city :)

Thorum | 04.12.20 - 10:27 a.m. | #

15, I think. I don't know how people keep track over that number.

Chz | 04.12.20 - 10:27 a.m. | #

13- unlucky for some?
Accra, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Brasília, Kuala Lumpur, Lisbon, London, Maputo, Paris, Rome, Singapore, Vatican City, Wellington

cau1khead | 04.12.20 - 10:29 a.m. | #

DG, judging by the cities you've enjoyed, I'd suggest any of Stockholm, Riga, Prague, Budapest, Vienna or Valletta for your next trips.

Ed S | 04.12.20 - 10:30 a.m. | #

19 current capitals that were the capital when I visited and are still the capital.

+1 that was the capital when I visited, but isn't now
+3 that were capitals at some stage in the 20th century (but weren't when I visited)
+6 where I didn't leave the airport
+A handful that were capitals in the 20 century at times of crisis only

But let's face it... I'm old, there may be a couple more

Simon | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 10:55 a.m. | #

For some visa applications you need detailed lists of countries visited and dates.

Personally, once you have to make a backwards list once it makes sense to start recording every trip as it happens. For my son this list will cover from 6 weeks old, even if he hasn't managed any capital cities yet!

TomH | 04.12.20 - 10:56 a.m. | #

24 - I didn't realise it was that many.
We're a well travelled lot aren't we. Doubt our parents got around so much.

Caz | 04.12.20 - 11:02 a.m. | #

Washington DC, Berlin, Prague, Vienna, London, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Budapest, Madrid, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Warsaw, Dublin, Vaduz, Havana, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Port Louis, Tokyo and…Jamestown-but would that count?

HoosierSands | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 11:05 a.m. | #

68 (that does include London) - so same as Jimmy.

When counting countries I use the ISO-3166 list which gives Jersey/Guernsey/IoM separate entries (which would get me up to 71 capitals). But your blog, your rules!

ADS | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 11:13 a.m. | #

Amazing number of replies to this post! I was in Kathmandu in ‘76, the year i did the overland hippie trail. London remains my favourite capital because, I guess, it’s so familiar.

But my favourite place in the bits of the world I’ve seen is the Seven Sisters cliffs & Cuckmere meanders in Sussex. Not as dramatic as the Khyber pass, or as awe-inspiring as Dharamsala with the Himalayas just behind, or as evocative as Jerusalem or as tolerant as Amsterdam. It’s just peaceful, beautiful, varied & feels local. Kinda like the difference between seeing a magpie close up as opposed to some rare bird through a telescope.

Toni | 04.12.20 - 11:15 a.m. | #

Disappointingly, only 29:
Amsterdam; Bangkok; Berlin; Bratislava; Brussels; Budapest; Canberra; Copenhagen; Dublin; Helsinki; Lisbon; Ljubljana; London; Luxembourg; Madrid; Monaco; Oslo; Paris; Prague; Rome; Seoul; Singapore; Stockholm; Suva; Tokyo; Vatican City; Vienna; Washington D.C.; Wellington;

M | 04.12.20 - 11:16 a.m. | #

I’ll add San Jose, Costa Rica to the list of not previously mentioned. Someone beat me to Caracas.

Jim | 04.12.20 - 11:24 a.m. | #

31 - London, Dublin, Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, The Hague/Amsterdam (*), Berlin, Bern, Vaduz, Rome, Vatican City, Valletta, Nicosia, Prague, Bratislava, Zagreb, Ljubljana, Copenhagen, Oslo, Budapest, Moscow, Abu Dhabi, Singapore, Male, Bangkok, Sydney, Bridgetown, Santo Domingo, Harare

(*) Do I get to count 2 for The Hague and Amsterdam?

The countries I've been to, but not their capital cities are USA, Canada, Sweden, Austria, Poland, Bulgaria, Greece, India, Zambia & Turkey (though I was in Istanbul, but that's not been the capital for 100 years or so :-) )

Mark Woolley | 04.12.20 - 11:31 a.m. | #

19.33 or 21
Santiago, Washington DC, Dublin, London, Paris, Rome, Berlin, Amsterdam, Helsinki, Cairo, Jerusalem, Amman, Athens, Podgorica, Skopje, Tirana, Jakarta, Vatican City, Vienna
Plus Cape Town which is 1 of 3
Plus Ramallah which is the de facto Palestinian capital.

Simple Simon | 04.12.20 - 11:46 a.m. | #

I can add Damascus to the collective list. In fact my best trip for ticking off capital cities started at Qadam station in Damascus on the train for Tehran, on a roundabout trip back to western Europe that also took in Yerevan, Tbilisi, Sofia, Belgrade and Budapest.

BWB | 04.12.20 - 11:46 a.m. | #

3, Beijing, Taipei and London.

4 if Bavaria stayed independent beyond 1871.

Patrickov | 04.12.20 - 11:51 a.m. | #

In the rush to enumerate capitals few seem to have noticed that there is a substantial post with some good pictures. I can't quite understand why DG would have liked the Little Mermaid to be bigger, but there's no accounting for taste.

I find it quite fascinating that an apparently simple question "how many capitals have you visited?" requires so many supplementary rules. It depends what you mean by capitals, and what you mean by visited. And "how many countries have you visited the capitals of?" is quite different again.

Malcolm of Kent | 04.12.20 - 11:56 a.m. | #

23 for me:
Amsterdam, Berlin, Bern, Cape Town, Brussels, Dar es Salaam (can't remember if we went to Dodoma too), Gabarone, Georgetown (Guyana), Havana, Helsinki, Lilongwe, Ljubljana, London, Lusaka, Nairobi, Paris, Port Louis, Port of Spain, Prague, Tbilisi, Vienna, Washington DC, Windhoek

A trip through southern Africa in 2006 provided some of the more unusual ones there!

Had it not been for Covid stopping a planned trip to Cyprus, I would have had Nicosia to add too - and possibly more!

James Matcham | 04.12.20 - 12:25 p.m. | #

Yes MW, this has made me realise that I have travelled extensively in most of the countries listed below, but have not visited the capital (other than maybe changing trains/planes)! Belgium (perhaps 35-40 times!), Spain, Portugal, Poland, Italy, Iceland, Croatia, Romania, Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, India, Morocco. Um.

Only 15 capitals visited.
Shall not include London as born here and always lived here.

Dave | 04.12.20 - 12:33 p.m. | #

14

London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Paris, Nicosia, Sydney, Phnom Phen, Hanoi, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Washington DC

Benji | 04.12.20 - 12:43 p.m. | #

Sorry Benji, Syd ain't the capital, Camberra is.

Dave | 04.12.20 - 12:50 p.m. | #

I think i have been to 20 capitals and 18 have already been mentioned, but happy to add Tegucigalpa and Belmopan to the list

Michael | 04.12.20 - 1:19 p.m. | #

Without going all obsessive-compulsive on this, I think I am at 90 on the rules above. Unless I missed them in the list so far (quite likely at this stage), I am adding only Ashgabat, Asmara, Baku, Beirut, Hanoi, Kampala, Mbabane, Manama, Maputo, Mariehamn, Ouagadougou, Thimpu and (while I am surprised to see it expressed as capital) Valparaiso.

Martin | 04.12.20 - 1:31 p.m. | #

Sitting in Douglas, looking at the bay and feeling rather left out.

MO | 04.12.20 - 1:31 p.m. | #

23-ish for me: London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, The Hague, Berlin, Prague, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Andorra, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Valletta, Nicosia, Athens, Cape Town, Tokyo, Canberra.

Drove through Luxembourg and Washington DC. Changed planes in Singapore, Bangkok, Helsinki.

Gerry | 04.12.20 - 1:49 p.m. | #

Disappointingly, only 11

London, Paris, Rome, Vatican, Berlin, Valetta, Vienna, Bern, Jerusalem, Washington DC, Ottawa,

Cornish Cockney | 04.12.20 - 1:53 p.m. | #

Only Amsterdam, Andorra la Vella, Athens, Bonn (when it was a capital), Brussels, Lisbon, London, Paris. I should get out more.

Bob L-S | 04.12.20 - 1:56 p.m. | #

A rather pathetic 4. Not even got Andorra yet and it is only an hour away. Done quite a lot of countries but I seem to avoid the capitals.

Dave Sheriton | 04.12.20 - 2:25 p.m. | #

Looks like I'm first with Tripoli.

Freddie | 04.12.20 - 3:05 p.m. | #

31

London, Paris, Bucharest, Moscow, Helsinki, Warsaw, Berlin, Rome, Vatican City, Madrid, Ljubljana, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Sarajevo, Kyiv, Dublin, Brussels, Amsterdam, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Istanbul, Budapest, Prague, Tashkent, Reykjavik, Valletta, San Marino, Skopje, Manila, Bratislava

Dominic H | 04.12.20 - 3:22 p.m. | #

Based on the Wikipedia link I can add Georgetown and Jamestown to the list despite the fact that Ascension Island and St Helena are British Overseas Territories rather than sovereign countries

kerspatula | 04.12.20 - 3:37 p.m. | #

I was going to add visits to Bandar Seri Begawan (although my wife was born in Malaysia, she spent much of her childhood in Brunei), but spotted just in time that someone had already mentioned it. In the 50 years since meeting my future wife, I've rarely known anyone whose heard of BSB let alone visited.

JohnC | 04.12.20 - 3:41 p.m. | #

14: Koebenhavn - Berlin (East) in 1986 - Amsterdam - Paris - Dublin - London; Berlin as BRD's capital in 1993 and ever since 2003 almost every day ;) - Riga - Prague - Vienna - Warzawa - Rome and Vatican City - Brussels

Youbee | 04.12.20 - 3:54 p.m. | #

I make it 33. And I can add two that no-one else has mentioned - Cockburn Town (Turks and Caicos) and St John's (Antigua and Barbuda).

I've flown over Plymouth (Montserrat) in a helicopter, but we couldn't land because it's covered in volcanic dust.

Dave Cross | Homepage | 04.12.20 - 4:51 p.m. | #

Unless I've missed it, can't see Tunis.

dg writes: you've missed it.

Also been to Funchal and Ajaccio, unless they come under the umbrellas of Portugal and France respectively.

Richard | 04.12.20 - 4:55 p.m. | #

Looks like I'm first with Victoria, Seychelles.

Freddie | 04.12.20 - 5:11 p.m. | #

Only 13 for me including Riyadh (I'm the first to claim that one)

I did not including airport stopovers or I could have claimed Bogota amongst others.

MO | 04.12.20 - 5:34 p.m. | #

London, Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Berlin (also Bonn & East Berlin when the country was divided), Berne, Vaduz, Vienna, Prague, Rome, Vatican City, Monaco, Madrid, Lisbon, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, Bangkok, Tokyo, Seoul.

David | 04.12.20 - 6:11 p.m. | #

Are you sure Pointless allows Vatican City as a capital? Vatican City – a sovereign state, but not a member of the UN.

dg writes: No.

SJM | 04.12.20 - 7:18 p.m. | #

London, Dublin, Paris, Brussels, Luxembourg, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm, Rome, Madrid, Vienna, Bratislava, Budapest, Bucharest, Pretoria. Gaborone, Rabat, Manila, Tokyo, Singapore, Ottawa, Mexico City, Washington, Brasilia, Bridgetown, St John's (Antigua), Plymouth (Montserrat), Belmopan, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, Manama. I think that's 32.

James Webber | 04.12.20 - 7:36 p.m. | #

I think I can add Havana, others beat me to Tripoli and Tehran.
28 in total.

ChrisMitch | 04.12.20 - 7:48 p.m. | #

17 for me.
Mainly in Europe, but also Washington DC, Bangkok and Jerusalem.

Best for me was Ljubljana. Small central area but charming and unspoilt.

MikeK | 04.12.20 - 8:14 p.m. | #

Quite a few. Lima, Bogotá, Quito, Santiago de Chile, Mexico City, Tegucigalpa, Freetown, Nouakchott, Kampala (in passing), Nairobi, Dakar (airport), Wellington, Bangkok, Jerusalem,(and Tel Aviv), Ankara, Rabat, Berne, Madrid, Paris, Rome, Bucharest, Budapest, Sofia, Warsaw, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Dublin, Vatican City, Vienna, Prague, Luxembourg, Ramallah. I think that’s 39, but a few are just in passing.

Didn’t see Tegucigalpa, Nouakchott, Freetown on anyone else’s list via a cursory glance.

(and East Berlin when it was capital of the DDR)

ROBERT Butlin | 04.12.20 - 8:28 p.m. | #

Wellington, Suva, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Bangkok, Phnom Penh, Washington, Tokyo, London, Berlin, Ljubljana, Rome, Vatican City, Athens, Paris, Brussels, Amsterdam, Oslo, Moscow, Vienna, Rabat, Cape Town, Taipei, Copenhagen, Madrid, San Jose, Lima
27 that I can remember

M | 04.12.20 - 9:51 p.m. | #

My score is 39, 40 if you count East Berlin.

I am late to this and was assuming BSB in Brunei would not be mentioned. Wrong! And Taipei has to have been mentioned somewhere.

I haven't seen Vientiane (Laos), Skopje (North Macedonia) or Manama (Bahrain) mentioned but I've just finished work and am knackered so apologies if they are there. I went to Skopje when it was not a capital though.

Chris | 04.12.20 - 10:08 p.m. | #

As we hit 100 comments, I'm pleased to report that 64 of you have been to more capital cities than me.

The maximum number visited is 90 (if you've been to Ashgabat, Mbabane, Ouagadougou and Thimpu you were always very likely to win this) so well done Martin!

The minimum number visited was 3 and the average 23 (although I suspect a lot of minimal travellers never commented).

diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.12.20 - 12:00 a.m. | #

Countries whose capitals you haven't collectively been to

» Greenland, Moldova, Montenegro
» Iraq, Yemen
» Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
» Bangladesh, Myanmar, North Korea, Papua New Guinea
» Angola, Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé, Senegal, Somaliland, South Sudan, Gabon, Togo, Somalia
» El Salvador, Guyana, Nicaragua, Haiti, Panama, Paraguay
» American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cape Verde, Christmas I, Cocos Islands, Comoros, East Timor, Kiribati, Guam, Marshall I, Micronesia, Nauru, Norfolk I, New Caledonia, Pitcairn I, Saint Martin, Sint Maarten, Solomon I, St Pierre, Tonga, Tuvalu

diamond geezer | Homepage | 05.12.20 - 12:00 a.m. | #

11 (13 including flight changes)

London, Dublin, Vienna, Paris, Brussels, Kathmandu, Berlin, Prague, Budapest, Ljubljana, Zagreb, (Muscat, Istanbul)

FC | 05.12.20 - 3:38 a.m. | #

London, Paris, Berlin, Helsinki, Stockholm, Brussels, Amsterdam, Vienna, Rome, Athens, Warsaw, Prague, Sofia, Vatican City, Luxembourg, Moscow, Mexico City, Lima, Cape Town, Nairobi, Kampala, Islamabad, Tehran, Beijing

That makes 24 if Luxembourg, Vatican City and Cape Town count as capital cities

Andrew | 05.12.20 - 6:24 a.m. | #

Eleven here, and I can add St Pierre (capital of St Pierre and Miquelon) to the communal list.

Amanda | 05.12.20 - 6:59 a.m. | #

Oops. In my slightly quick-and-dirty count, I missed out Port Moresby. Been there.

Some people have been noting airport stop-overs - in which case I would also add to the collective list Benin, Rwanda and Kazakhstan. But I won't.

Martin | 05.12.20 - 7:20 a.m. | #

I can cross off Sint Maartin and St Martin having spent a week working there many years ago with a colleague whose claim to fame was refereeing an international football match between two islands in the region

kerspatula | 05.12.20 - 8:35 a.m. | #

Can tick Hamilton, Bermuda. 1979

scrumpy | 05.12.20 - 9:07 a.m. | #

Amsterdam, Budapest, Copenhagen, Jerusalem, Lisbon, London, Oslo, Paris, Stockholm, Tallinn, Vilnius (11)

Not that many compared to most comments, but the only three that pre-date 2017 are London, Paris and Budapest so working to increase once we can travel more freely again

Jack S | 05.12.20 - 9:16 a.m. | #

Not that many

London. Belfast. Paris and Brussels

Rachel | 05.12.20 - 9:25 a.m. | #

Back in the seventies, I worked in Dhaka, Bangladesh for ten weeks and a few years ago was on a cruise in the Caribbean that made a port call in BVI. Overall, my tally is just 30 but my biggest surprise was to realise that I've never been to Brussels, so near yet curiously missed out. Have to remedy that when times normalise again.

On other news, somewhat tormented by the thought of what would be in the harbour at Copenhagen had Hans Christian written 'The Enormous Mermaid' 'cos I don't think DG would have liked it. Maybe 'The not that little Mermaid' would have produced a better result all round?

Brightside | 05.12.20 - 9:26 a.m. | #

Great article, made me think about it. 27 so far (from more than 27 countries, alas Canada and Brasil have obscure capitals and although visited Germany dozens of times, never Berlin). In chronological order:

New Delhi, London, Washington DC, Amsterdam, Zurich, Paris, Brussels, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Madrid, Athens, Rome, Dublin, Prague, Tokyo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki, Bratislava, Mexico City, Santiago, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Quito, Zagreb

Jag Minhas | Homepage | 05.12.20 - 11:47 a.m. | #

I haven't counted how many in total that I've been to (I've been lucky to travel quite allot) but from DGs list of those not visited so far, I've been to Chisinau, Podgorica, Almaty (when capital), Astana (after it changed, but not been back since it's been renamed Nur-Sultan), Bishkek, Dushanbe, Kigali, Bujumbura and Juba (but before South Sudan was independent)

Rich (no not that one, the other one) | 05.12.20 - 7:16 p.m. | #

From being born in 1975....

London (1988), Dublin (2003), Paris (2005), San Jose (2007), Brussels (2007), Stockholm (2007), Oslo (2008), Copenhagen (2009), Singapore (2009), Amsterdam (2010), Kyiv (2011), Prague (2011), Berlin (2015)

(I've changed planes in Washington DC and Madrid)

Phil J | Homepage | 05.12.20 - 8:25 p.m. | #

Avarua (not a city but it's the capital of the Cook Islands), London, Panama City, Paris, Oslo, Singapore, Sydney, Wellington.

Great Aunt Annie | 06.12.20 - 12:09 a.m. | #

Ten:
London, Paris, Berlin, Lisbon, Rome, Vatican City, Athens, Jerusalem, Prague, Budapest

Twelve if you count Cardiff and Edinburgh.

Alex | 06.12.20 - 8:11 a.m. | #

I can add Dili (East Timor), San Salvador (El Salvador) & Managua (Nicaragua) to the list, as well as Sucre, Bolivia's constitutional capital (as well as La Paz, the administrative one but that's already been claimed)

lockedintheattic | 06.12.20 - 9:26 a.m. | #

Ontario, Mexico City, Washington DC, Santiago, London, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Beijing, Tokyo, Singapore, New Dehli, Hong Kong*, Bonn*, Brussels, Luxembourg

18 if you count the places that were capitals when I was there but aren't anymore. Double asterisk on Hong Kong because I never left the airport.

Miles Archer | 06.12.20 - 4:11 p.m. | #

If you're still crossing them off - you can grey out Yemen.

I visited friends there in 2006, when it was still reasonably safe - although they did leave their jeeps just inside their compound gates, in case anybody tried to ram them open!

ADS | Homepage | 07.12.20 - 7:47 p.m. | #

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