If you are travelling to Spain you might want to consider zipping over to Portugal for a visit. We don’t mean using the typical transport methods though; you can literally zip down from Sanlucar de Guadiana, in Andalucia, Spain, to Alcoutim, in Algarve, Portugal via the steel cable of 720 meters in length on the only zip line in the world that will take you over an international border.

[Image Source: Limite Zero]

The zip line provides thrills and excitement as you travel across the Guadiana River doing speeds of around 70 and 80 kilometres per hour. Tourists begin their zip line journey on the departure platform, which is situated at the side of the Sanlúcar de Guadiana castle; however you better have a head for heights as you are 100 metres above the rivers surface.

After gliding over the river you reach your destination of Alcoutim, which sits at 15 meters high, which means your angle of descent is around 12.47%. Amazingly, the journey on the zip line will be over in less than one minute and when you land at the other side you are in a different time zone and will be one hour ahead, thanks to the time difference. This is something you will struggle to get your head around as the journey took just a minute, not an hour!

[Image Source: Limite Zero]

Once you have made your zip line journey over the river you can then hitch a ride back to Spain, across the river on a ferry. To prove that you were brave enough to take the zip line ride across the border, you will be given a certificate and you can purchase a photo or even rent a camera helmet to wear and record your trip down. Of course if you are screaming and shouting all the way down and you have a terrified look on your face the whole time, this may not be such a good idea.

[Image Source: Limite Zero]

The zip line was the idea of Englishman David Jarman, he funded it privately and he said “Two villages in two countries, separated by a river 150 metres wide – a zipline just seemed obvious to me.”

At its busiest period the zip line takes on average around 24 to 30 people each hour at a cost of 15 Euros each. The slide is typically open for 200 days out of the year and employs around 5 to 7 people on both of the borders sides.

It’s not something that I would like to try, but what about you?