How far is 20 kilometres?

Compare anything from 1 metre to the diameter of the observable universe.

Manhattan20 km

The north-to-south extent of the long, narrow island.

Explore the scale20 km

The references just below and above

Nearby references are selected by logarithmic distance, not linear spacing.

How long would this journey take?

Calculated as uninterrupted travel at representative average cruising speeds.

Real travel time varies with route, stops, weather and operating conditions.

Objects move along logarithmic spacing, while size is compressed from the real ratio to remain legible.

Artwork and diagram notes

Object, landmark, planet and cosmic-scale artwork is original AI-generated imagery made for ScaleTrip. Maps use public-domain Natural Earth boundaries. Illustrations stay recognizable through logarithmic visual compression; they are not literal scale drawings.

Natural Earth — public domain

Direct answer

How far is 20 kilometres?

Twenty kilometres is close to a half-marathon but still 1.0975 kilometres short of the official race distance. It often represents a long commute across a metropolitan area.

km20

m20,000

mi12.4274

Closest ScaleTrip references

Manhattan21.6 km · 0.93×
The north-to-south extent of the long, narrow island.
Strait of Gibraltar14 km · 1.43×
The narrowest span between Europe and Africa.
English Channel crossing34 km · 0.59×
The narrow Dover Strait between England and France.

Travel time at constant speed

Mode	Representative speed	Calculated time
Walking	5 km/h	4 hr
Car	100 km/h	12 min
High-speed train	300 km/h	4 min
Airliner	900 km/h	1 min
Spacecraft	28,000 km/h	3 sec

Real travel time varies with route, stops, weather and operating conditions.