Helen James
New York City, London, and Paris are among the most filmed cities in the world and have appeared in thousands of movies and TV productions. One of the most popular reality TV shows in the U.S., “The Amazing Race”, has traveled to dozens of countries since its first season in 2001, and over the years it has featured more locations than any other franchise in film or television history.
So, the team at SuperCasinoSites decided to examine past seasons of the original U.S. version of “The Amazing Race” to see which cities and countries have appeared in the show the most. We looked at the cities with the most featured locations, as well as the countries with the largest number of pit stops and finish lines.
The Cities with the Most Locations Featured in “The Amazing Race”
With the 35th installment of “The Amazing Race” currently underway, CBS promises to bring fans the biggest season yet. For the first time, 13 teams are racing for the $1 million, and every episode is 90 minutes long. And with 23,800 miles traveled in eight countries and three continents, this season is already showing a whole host of cities, historic landmarks, and breathtaking natural wonders.
Looking at past seasons, however, we see London is emerging as the most frequently featured city in “The Amazing Race”. Over the years, the series has visited 42 different locations in London including the London Eye, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. Some of these sites, such as airports or the London Underground, have even been featured multiple times.
Second on the list is Hong Kong which has also frequently been visited by contestants, and among the 35 places appearing on screen is Lan Kwai Fong, an area in the city centre bustling with restaurants, bars, and shops. Another iconic Hong Kong attraction that makes it to the series is the Avenue of Stars, the Asian version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which honors celebrities such as Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan.
Ranking third, with 26 locations shown on the reality TV show, is Rio de Janeiro. Among the most iconic sites to be featured are the Christ The Redeemer statue, and the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Berlin follows in the fourth position, with 24 locations featured in “The Amazing Race”, with the Brandenburg Gate being the most popular. Shanghai comes next at number 5, with 23 locations appearing in the series, while Moscow and Bangkok are tied in sixth place, with 22 locations each.
Rounding up the top ten cities with the most locations featured in the U.S. version of “The Amazing Race” are Beijing, St. Petersburg, and New York City, all having 21 places shown in different episodes.
Auckland, the largest city in New Zealand in terms of population, could not make it to the top ten since it has 20 locations being featured over several seasons of The Amazing Race. Los Angeles and São Paulo are also close with 19 locations each.
The Most Visited Countries and States
“The Amazing Race” is likely the most traveled TV series (whether or not we count strictly travel only shows). As of season 35, it has been recorded in 94 countries, and Antarctica is the only continent the production has yet to visit. With just a few exceptions, the planned route usually starts in one U.S. city and ends in another. Since the series has taken place in the U.S. at least once in every season, this is the most featured country with 47 pit stops and finish lines.
Aside from the U.S., which is home of the show, the most visited country, is China, with 21 pit stops in 10 different cities. Contestants have traveled to the country in 14 of the 35 seasons aired in the past 22 years. The show has visited France in 14 seasons, too, but the number of pit stops there is 20.
The most featured U.S. state, on the other hand, is California with a total of 28 seasons showing the Golden State. New York and Hawaii follow with 7 visits each.
Methodology
To find the cities with the most featured locations on the U.S. version of “The Amazing Race”, the team at SuperCasinoSites searched through data from the CBS website, the network responsible for the series. We also looked at the filming locations listed on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), but had to update them since they only included information for seasons 1 to 9. The ranking we compiled is based on data covering the aired episodes of seasons 1-35 as of October 30, 2023.
For the most featured countries and states rankings, we included the territories of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the United States. We added data from French Polynesia to France’s ranking. We also added the figures for the Special Administrative Regions of Macau and Hong Kong to the numbers counted for mainland China.