Six countries that are surprisingly easy to visit

Dec 7 2016

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Nauru was never going to make this list. Neither was Saudi Arabia. Even Russia was always going to struggle to get a guernsey.

All of those countries have reputations as being difficult for travellers to access, as being places with restrictive visa laws and almost unbreakable bureaucracy, and that's absolutely true. Nauru – not that you'd be too keen to go there anyway – imposes strict visa requirements on Australians, including a non-refundable $8000 application fee for media. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is almost impossible for non-Muslim tourists to enter. And Russia is a nightmare of forms and personal information.

There are some countries, however, whose reputations are unfounded; some places that you'd think would be almost impossible to visit as a tourist, and yet for Australians are actually quite easy. If you've ever wanted to holiday in a brutal dictatorship (or somewhere a little more misunderstood), we've got good news…

North Korea

This probably seems like the most insular and difficult-to-access country in the world. But it's not. There's a drive to increase tourism to North Korea, and the process of gaining a visa is surprisingly simple: you just book a tour through an approved agency, fill out a form, send off the application, and collect it when it's ready. Done. Of course heavy restrictions are placed on tourists once they're in the country, including having to travel with government-approved minders at all times, but the challenge of actually getting into North Korea is surprisingly achievable.

Two Aussies who recently embarked on a golfing trip in North Korea.

Israel

Given the sky-high level of security in Israel, including the fingers-on-triggers nature of the border control guards at the country's main airport, you would assume that you'd have to jump through several hoops to be able to enter this place, even as a tourist. And yet, that's not true. Australians don't even require a visa. Simply roll up at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport and hand over your passport – it won't be stamped, as travellers are now supplied with small slips of paper to confirm entry instead. And in you go. It's a far more arduous process to leave Israel than it is to enter.

A mud bath at the Dead Sea is supposed to be great for your skin. Photo: iStock

Iran

Again, this is the sort of country you would assume would make it difficult for westerners to gain entry, given all of the political tension. So it's a pleasant surprise to find that Australians wishing to visit Iran don't even need to organise a visa beforehand. You can simply apply for a permit on arrival, which will allow 30 days of glorious, hassle-free exploration of this fine country. Women travelling with a male companion won't even have to fill out their own form at the airport – though, admittedly, that blessing could also be taken as something of an insult.

Smoking a water pipe at a teahouse in Iran. Photo: Alamy

Cuba

Australians wishing to visit Cuba via the proper channels will absolutely have to apply for a tourist visa before they enter. However, there are ways around the Cuban system – you only have to chat to some of the Americans travelling there to realise this. Though it's not technically legal, plenty of tourists seem to jump aboard flights in Mexican ports such as Cancun and Mexico City sans visa, and sort out an "appropriate" payment to Cuban border control staff once they arrive on the island. That's probably a pointless risk for Australians, but sadly necessary for any Americans who hope to visit.

Tourists in a perfume shop in Havana. Photo: Alamy

Kazakhstan

To make it into Russia, or any of the former Soviet states, as a tourist you need a visa, right? You need to wade through a fairly convoluted process that involves fake letters of invitation and dummied-up itineraries that make it look as if you've got your entire holiday planned and booked. Correct? Not in Kazakhstan. The infamous supposed home of Borat allows Australians to enter for up to 15 days without a visa, making this one of the easiest parts of the former USSR for curious travellers to call into.

Orthodox church in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Photo: iStock

China

It used to be that all Australian travellers hoping to visit China would be required to apply for a visa and go through a fairly laborious process to secure it. Now, however, things have changed. There are a series of visa-free options for tourists planning to only spend a short time in certain parts of the country, ranging from 72-hour visa-free stays in cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu and Guangzhou, to six-day visa-free access in Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, to 21 days visa-free in the Hainan province for those who've booked with an approved agency.