These days a passport stamp in many countries is a frivolity- they’ll have you line up in a queue with the OAPs if you insist on collecting one, while your fellow passengers stream past with their electronic visas and robotic ticket barriers. Here’s my guide to the truly rare passport stamps of the world that are indeed worth the wait.
But, my friends, a passport stamp is also a beautiful memorial and a badge of honour. Here are my picks for those you really must grab before you end your travelling days.
Vanuatu
Forget the island beauty, this stamp is critical for travellers as the state of climate change leaves question marks over whether this location could even be visited in the future. As with Venice, get your skates on and visit now!
San Marino
The stamp of this tiny land-locked nation is coveted by travellers as it’s extremely hard to get. There are no borders between San Marino and Italy, and no way to reach the San Marinese nation without passing through Italia. Getting the stamp will require some special diplomacy.
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea)
Requiring a considerable amount of courage to obtain, but equally a major coup if you could get it. This is one country you may not wish to support, or you might feel tourism is could be a force for good in this country, I leave the decision to all travellers. Note that if you are South Korean this will never, ever find its way into your passport.
Niue
This island North East of New ZealandΒ was once known as Savage Island until its original name, NiuΔ, which translates as “behold the coconut” came into common use. Who wouldn’t want to see that?!
Sint Maarten
This island constituting part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands gifts you images of tiny local creatures in its stamp. If that weren’t reason enough to stop by, the island is legendary for the close proximity of its landing strip to the thriving Maho beach, so this is one of the most talked about passport stamps in the world.
Abkhazia
Whether Abkhazia is or is not a country depends very much upon who you ask- that would be why it’s an immensely rare passport stamp. If you can talk your way into this hard to access region, and find an official who recognises Abkhazian independence, this stamp could be your memento.
Which stamps in your passport are you most proud of? Do you have any of these rare passport stamps? Have you received the coveted Machu Picchu stamp in Peru?
Images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons- until such time as I get to visit all of these myself!
By Mr tmtc – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=50050008
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I wish I had more passport stamps. However, so many places don’t stamp passports any more. Sad really because I love to have a visible record of where I’ve been π
In my current passport I just have a mass of Kenya stamps and quite a few visas. Might have to plan my next trip based on getting a stamp!
I guess I would say St. Barth’s or Macau…..
My “oddest” is Myanmar – which is not so odd anymore, I know. I’d love to add Vanuatu to my list, though!
Really interesting! I never thought of the San Marino stamp as they have no borders…as for me, I am fine if they donΒ΄t give me a stamp when I pass the borders – at least my passport will last a bit longer π Also in my country, you must give the old passport to the police when you get the new one – otherwise you pay a fee for loosing it or whatever…how does it work elsewhere?
Yes you do need to keep old passports, and you’re right that it can look a bit suspicious if you have pages full of stamps haha! But hopefully Immigration will start to be openminded towards nomad travellers.
Loved this! I’m super sad about running out of pages in my own passport, but hoping to get some rarer stamps soon! I’ll be getting a Brunei one which is also pretty rare!
I like my Cuban and Kyrgyzstan stamps best! Annoyingly they are in separate passports… but what can you do?
I was reading about your adventures in Kyrgyzstan- very cool!
I’ve never even heard of 3 of the countries you talk about here. Got a long way to go as well as lots of places.
Me too, don’t worry- it’s certainly challenging! π
Nice post, Danni! When I was in San Marino and the possibility of getting a passport stamp didn’t even cross my mind! Next time I guess. ?
Thanks for your comment- I did the same back in 2014 as the border is so invisible. I also cooked up a plan to get onto a national newspaper front page as San Marino has a ‘technically’ national newspaper that sells front page ad space for 250 euros- not too high a readership though haha!
Would you ever go back?
Wait, so you were on the front page then??? That’s amazing! I’d love to see a copy of that. Yeah, I would definitely go back (I always enjoy seeing how place change), but before doing so there are many other places I’d like to explore further. And yourself?
Wow, this is such a cool idea! So few people actually travel to these places so what an interesting way to give them a little glimpse of what it’s like to go via their passport! I don’t think I have one rare passport now that I think of it! If I had to pick one of these places today to visit though I would totally go to Vanuatu!
What? A North Korea stamp? Now that would be a fun story to tell at any party or social gathering. This was such a unique post and I’m so glad I didn’t throw away my old passport. Going to keep it forever now π
Wow, I wish I can travel much just like you. Yes, I haven’t seen all that passport stamps and would love to have them in my passport if given a chance. Thank you so much for sharing your experiences, these will surely be something I can look up to.
If I am being honest, I haven’t even heard of half of these places. Now I need to go do some research because my geography needs to be updated. Side note, I have a friend who went to North Korea- he actually really liked it there. I was surprised given the state of the government.
This is really interesting! I haven’t been to any of these places, and while I have a full passport, I’ve not ventured to any of these rarer spots. It’s interesting to hear about these places, though! Cheers!
The only one I have is Sint Maarten. Unfortunately mt nearly 10 year old passport was stolen this past summer, so I lost some great memories. Hoping the next ten years will be just as great or maybe even better. Hopefully I can collect more unusual and rare passport stamps! Hoping to get most of the Caribbean covered.
I still enjoy seeing all the stamps in my passport. I don’t think I have any unusual ones though – will need to work on that!
Wow how did you even find these rare passport stamps to begin with? That San Marino one entices me. The North Korean one does not! Even though we have a curiosity for traveling to bizarre places, I don’t believe supporting the North Korean government in anyway! (Long story short– besides all the crap they do, they kidnapped my grandpa and aunt when they tried to wipe out Korean intelligence after the Korean war.) I think not going to N. Korea is part of being a respectable traveler!
I had my passport stolen too last year, after visiting South America including Venezuela which is a pretty rare stamp these days! I had Machu Picchu & Lake Titicaca too, I now have to fill my new passport with stamps – that’s my challenge for the next 10 years! I’d love to cross all these off my list π
Loved this post! Definitely gave me some more ideas of where to travel off the beaten path!