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879 of the 936 WHS have been covered by visitors of this website

Latest news reports about WHS and TWHS:
  • Royal Exhibition hall gets $20m boost (15 May)
  • Cable car plan for Drakensberg (14 May)
  • WWF to Total: Virunga "is in your hands" (14 May)
  • Hampi's Akka Tangi Gundu breaks into pieces (14 May)
  • Galle to get first ever green three-wheelers (10 May)
  • Rebels burn Timbuktu tomb (06 May)
  • Australia had tree-climbing sheep-sized marsupials - fossils found at Riversleigh (03 May)
  • Syrian heritage sites damaged (03 May)
  • Tickets update: tickets now have to be bought at Heritage Malta (02 May)
  • Camera traps spot 118 tigers in Kaziranga (01 May)

    Loire Valley & Paris (April 2012)

    I spent this holiday weekend (Queen's Day in Holland on April 30th) in Paris. I had arrived smoothly by Thalys train on Friday evening, and visited the Musee d'Orsay and Musee Guimet on Saturday. On Sunday I had a great day at the Chateau Chambord, the pearl of the Loire Valley, and the town of Blois. And finally, on Monday morning I walked along all the great sights on the Banks of the Seine.

    . Loire Valley
    . Paris, Banks of the Seine
    . Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France



    Lebanon #2: Tyre and Qadisha (April 2012)

    During the second part of my stay in Lebanon I explored some of its outlying regions. I went to the South, visiting the TWHS of Saida and the WHS of Tyre. To the North, for the TWHS of Tripoli and the WHS of the Qadisha Valley. And I enjoyed a fine day in the Chouf (TWHS too), adding its Beitedinne Palace to one of my Lebanon favourites. Summarizing this trip, I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed my 10 days in this varied and laid back country.

    . Tyre
    . Qadisha Valley



    Lebanon #1: Baalbek, Anjar, Byblos (April 2012)

    I am having a great time in Lebanon, it is so nice to have all these great sites almost to myself! There were only a handful of visitors at Baalbek, the most complete Roman site in the region. Anjar, also in the infamous Bekaa Valley, is an even more low key site. Only Byblos at the mediterranean coast attracts a small crowd, probably more because of the beaches and the good life than its Phoenician ruins.

    . Anjar
    . Baalbek
    . Byblos



    Your WHS reviews

    Jeju
    'Another day, another island on our RTW cruise – but this visit to Jeju was more critical than most as it offered the promise of a completely new WHS after a long period of “revisits” since Rapa Nui on the other side of the Pacific! With just 9 hours ashore we somewhat reluctantly decided to use a standard tour which promised to take in 2 of the 3 elements of the inscribed site, together some more of Jeju’s delights! The big worry was whether the tour would give us enough time at our priority sites and after visits to a crater, a folk village and a resort it was after lunch before we reached the Seongsan Ilchulbong tuff cone, otherwise known as “Sunrise Peak” (Our lunch by the way was served in the visually stunning “Glass House” by Tadeo Ando – well above the normal quality of restaurant used for tourist groups around the World but it was a pity we couldn’t also take in his “Genius Loci” or the interior of Botta’s “Agora” at the same Phoenix Island location!).'
    Posted by Paul Tanner, 16-05-2012    		 Ancient Nara
    'Nara was the first capital city of Japan, in the early 8th century, after the title was moved to Kyoto.'
    Posted by Thibault Magnien, 16-05-2012
     
    Ancient Kyoto
    'Kyoto has been the capital of Japan for almost 1000 years and still remains the cultural center of the country.'
    Posted by Thibault Magnien, 16-05-2012    		 Horyu-ji Area
    'On my trip to Kyoto and Nara, I spend a half day visiting Horyu ji area. This complex and the buildings it comprises are considered as the oldest wooden building in the world.'
    Posted by Thibault Magnien, 15-05-2012
     
    Wet Tropics of Queensland
    'With a day to spare in Cairns it was a toss up between a trip out to the Barrier Reef or to the Wet Tropics.'
    Posted by Paul Tanner, 15-05-2012    		 Waitangi Treaty Grounds historic precinct (T)
    'The signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840 is presented as THE significant event in the creation of the New Zealand as it exists today - that country’s “founding document”! In recent years the Treaty has undergone something of a “resurrection” in NZ after a long period of being ignored or, at best, “honoured” in theory as the moral basis for colonialisation and an example of how race relations should be conducted in colonial situations.'
    Posted by Paul Tanner, 14-05-2012