Guide and practice

Bollards in GeoGuessr: how to read them, then practise

The short posts at the edge of the road. Shape, colour and reflector change by country.

clues: 357
countries: 71
decks: 6

1 of 10

In which country do you see this bollard?

Keys 1–4 to answer, Enter to continue.

Turn on JavaScript to practise here, or open the deck in the web app. Study the deck with spaced repetition

What to look at

A bollard is the short post that marks the edge of the road, almost always with a reflector so it shows up at night. Every country, and sometimes every region, uses its own model. Since the Google car films them on almost every secondary road, they are among the most rewarding clues in the game.

Shape and cross-sectionRound, square, triangular or flat; straight or with a slanted top.
Body colourWhite is the most common; a black, yellow, red or grey bollard narrows things down a lot.
Band or capWhether there is a band of another colour at the top, what colour it is and whether it is straight or slanted.
ReflectorIts shape (rectangle, circle, vertical strip, several dots) and its colour. In some countries it changes with the side of the road.
Where it standsOn its own on the verge, fixed to the guardrail (as in Quebec) or painted on another structure.

Start with these

Six clues from the starter deck, with the explanation of why they give the country away.

bollard — New Zealand — **🇳🇿 New Zealand**New Zealand has a distinctive white bollard with a red reflective strip that wraps all the way around the back and continues onto part of the front.

bollard — Iceland — **🇮🇸 Iceland**Iceland's rural roads are lined with slim yellow bollards topped by a white reflector, found on almost every stretch of countryside road.

bollard — Mexico — **🇲🇽 Mexico**These short, cylindrical white bollards with a black base are unique to Mexico. A yellow reflector band is sometimes present, and there is also a flatter, rounder variant.

bollard — Lithuania — **🇱🇹 Lithuania**Lithuanian bollards are wedge-shaped posts with a rectangular reflector on each face: orange facing traffic, white facing away. This two-tone reflector combination is distinctive within the Baltics.

bollard — Italy — **🇮🇹 Italy**Italian bollards are triangular, white with a black top, a red front reflector and a white rear reflector.

bollard — Turkey — **🇹🇷 Turkey**Turkish bollards are white, rectangular and thin from the side, with a single red reflector on the front face. Romania has similar bollards but they are rare, and Australian bollards usually place the reflector on the back with a slightly different shape.

Where it helps: 71 countries

Countries with clues from this family in MetaSpotter. The stronger the colour, the more clues.

World map of the 71 countries with bollards clues in MetaSpotter — Fewer cluesMore clues

Europe37

🇦🇱 Albania
🇦🇩 Andorra
🇦🇹 Austria
🇧🇪 Belgium
🇧🇬 Bulgaria
🇭🇷 Croatia
🇨🇿 Czechia
🇩🇰 Denmark
🇪🇪 Estonia
🇫🇴 Faroe Islands
🇫🇮 Finland
🇫🇷 France
🇩🇪 Germany
🇬🇷 Greece
🇭🇺 Hungary
🇮🇸 Iceland
🇮🇪 Ireland
🇮🇹 Italy
🇱🇻 Latvia
🇱🇹 Lithuania
🇱🇺 Luxembourg
🇲🇪 Montenegro
🇳🇱 Netherlands
🇲🇰 North Macedonia
🇳🇴 Norway
🇵🇱 Poland
🇵🇹 Portugal
🇷🇴 Romania
🇷🇺 Russia
🇷🇸 Serbia
🇸🇰 Slovakia
🇸🇮 Slovenia
🇪🇸 Spain
🇸🇪 Sweden
🇨🇭 Switzerland
🇺🇦 Ukraine
🇬🇧 United Kingdom

Asia17

🇧🇩 Bangladesh
🇰🇭 Cambodia
🇬🇪 Georgia
🇮🇳 India
🇮🇩 Indonesia
🇯🇵 Japan
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
🇰🇬 Kyrgyzstan
🇲🇾 Malaysia
🇲🇳 Mongolia
🇶🇦 Qatar
🇰🇷 South Korea
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka
🇹🇼 Taiwan
🇹🇭 Thailand
🇹🇷 Turkey
🇻🇳 Vietnam

Africa4

🇱🇸 Lesotho
🇳🇦 Namibia
🇷🇼 Rwanda
🇸🇳 Senegal

North America4

🇨🇦 Canada
🇬🇹 Guatemala
🇲🇽 Mexico
🇺🇸 United States

South America7

🇧🇴 Bolivia
🇧🇷 Brazil
🇨🇱 Chile
🇨🇴 Colombia
🇪🇨 Ecuador
🇵🇪 Peru
🇺🇾 Uruguay

Oceania2

🇦🇺 Australia
🇳🇿 New Zealand

When the clue is not enough

Here the same clue shows up in several countries, so on its own it does not decide: combine it with another one. In MetaSpotter these countries are never offered as wrong answers.

Czechia · Slovakiabollard
Hungary · Slovakiabollard
Andorra · Spainbollard
Andorra · Greecebollard
Albania · Italybollard
Bulgaria · Croatia · Hungarybollard
Bolivia · Brazil · Perubollard
Switzerland · Liechtensteinbollard

How to learn them and keep them

They are learned like any meta: a few every day, reviewed right before you forget them. Start with World · Bollards (34 cards, about 2 days at 20 new a day) and move on to World · Bollards (all). MetaSpotter keeps one progress per clue: what you learn in one deck counts in every deck that holds it.

Study World · Bollards

Decks in this family

  
      World · Bollards
      Level 234 cards
    
      World · Bollards (all)
      Level 382 cards
    
      Europe · Bollards
      Level 333 cards
    
      Asia · Bollards
      Level 322 cards
    
      Americas · Bollards
      Level 322 cards
    
    🇺🇸
    
      United States · Bollards
      Level 424 cards