I’m in the fortunate position of having the ability to travel to international destinations with relative ease. As such, I’m hoping to compile a list of destinations that I can take a trip to for the purpose of activating SOTA summits. I was hoping to see if anyone here had any ideas, or even if your area might be a good one to consider!
Ideally these destinations would be accessible via some sort of transit from a major international airport, or one that is easily connected to by one. Having the ability to get to the summits without a car is even better. Also ideal is that the country is a member of CEPT or otherwise has a reciprocal agreement with the US so that I can operate with relative ease using my US license, but I’ll investigate that as part of researching each possible location.
So far I’m planning to investigate Wales and Switzerland as areas that may be ideal. Where else should I look, and have you done any trips like this that I could consider?
is the site to visit and find summits in areas. You can use the filter for popular summits (like more then 30 activations or so to get a feeling what is easily accesible)
Thanks, Joe. I use SOTLAS pretty regularly and that’s what I’ve been using to start investigating but it quickly becomes overwhelming when you are searching basically the entire world. That’s why I was hoping to hear from someone who might have knowledge of areas that are more suited for this kind of travel. I appreciate the tip though!
I managed to get Maps to give me a transit to the area around Snowdonia from the London area that only took half a day or so! Maybe a bit unrealistic? I actually found Wales summits from other threads here discussing activating via train.
I think Switzerland should be very viable as there is really good public transport in the country and 2 very big international airports (Geneva and Zurich) and 1 large international airport at Basel/Mulhouse. If you contact the HB9SOTA group you’ll receive lots of good advice and help.
Just look north of the border! The Canadian Rockies have the most beautiful mountains in the world. In VE6 land we could show you wilderness that would surprise you and summit views that will leave you speechless. You could take a bus from the Calgary airport to Banff or you could ask one our active SOTA members to accompany you. We would love to show you around.
If you pop a message on here for a specific locality you are pretty likely to find a local SOTA activator who would be happy to have a day out with you.
In 2017 my wife and I travelled to Australia and New Zealand.
I was treated extremely kindly by 4 amateurs who either picked me up or met me near to summits. Due to the nature of the trip I couldn’t travel with radio gear, so I used theirs.
I’ve also had the great pleasure of meeting up with other local activators across several countries in Europe where I have been treated very hospitably.
If you come to North Wales I’d certainly come out for a day as long as I was free. Pick you up from a hotel or a train station.
If you were to base yourself in Basel and happy to rent a car there are 10 point summits nearby in both Germany and France, some of which you can drive to the top of.
I think Poland would be a good choice. You could reach easily the whole Beskid and Tatra region from Kraków airport, and you’d also get a chance to visit Cracow, Auschwitz and the surrounding area (you’d need to rent a car though). Moreover, there is a strong SOTA group here and you would easily get in touch with local activators. Last but not least, it’s quite inexpensive.
