Imagine taking a nice stroll over a bridge and ending up in a totally different country – with no need to flash your passport.
Well, that’s precisely what you can do when you take a walk over the incredible The Countries Bridge.
Costing around £8.6m, the arch bridge crosses the Rhine between the commune of Huningue in France and Weil am Rhein in Germany and is located within the Basel metropolitan area in Switzerland.
It is the world’s longest single-span bridge – which means it doesn’t have any central piers in the water for support – and is dedicated exclusively to carrying pedestrians and cyclists.
Its overall length is 248 metres (813 ft 8 in) and its main span is 229.4 metres (752 ft 7 in).
It was designed by the Franco-Austrian architect Dietmar Feichtinger and opened in 2007.
Those who have made the trip across have been writing about their experience on travel review sites including Tripadvisor.
One said: “The bridge itself is amazing. That such a large and expensive bridge was built solely for pedestrians and bicycles is enlightened.
“The German side is very industrial, being a large port area. There is a very large, multicultural area that is bedecked with colour.
They added: “All the way back along the river we could look back and see the bridge.”
Another said: “Great opportunity to walk to Germany, France and Switzerland in one day.”
They added: “Beautiful view, and easy to do without needing a passport to cross.”
“What an amazing experience to be in three countries within minutes!” enthused another fan.
They added: “Such a fantastic construction, and a really interesting place to visit if you want to see the immediate difference between the countries – particularly the German vs French sides, which are VERY different in their vibe – also great to confuse your mobile network, I was receiving ‘welcome to France’ ‘welcome to Germany’ messages every few minutes.
“A very cool thing if you’re nostalgic about a world without borders, and the French side has a very pretty village with some historical buildings and churches, whereas the German side has a huge mall – something for everyone!”
