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Why?

If you enjoy spending your holidays in a club hotel in the Caribbean drinking Mai Tais, that's fine. It's your holiday and do as you please. And I personally enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, too. For me, though, spending more than a few days in the aforementioned Caribbean club hotel would be akin to purgatory. Because I like moving around, seeing new things and going to distant places.

As such I have read my fair share of guide books to figure out where to go and what to see. For instance, a few years back I visited Chile. A great place with astonishing nature to explore. Meanwhile Santiago de Chile, the capital, is fairly lackluster, having been destroyed by multiple earthquakes over the centuries. Still, any guidebook you pick up will spend a full chapter on Santiago extolling its virtues.

World Heritage Sites are different. They are as objective as it gets. They make you travel off the beaten path. I will always fondly remember my cab ride in a Czech winter landscape to Holasovice. And while Holasovice is just for the WHS connoisseurs, more often than not WHS are great sites.

Initially, I focused on quantity. And while this may seem stressful, it did give me a good picture and overview. Of late (ever since reaching the magical 300) I collect differently. Now I plan my trips on the truly great sites and pick up any site to the left and right I can visit on top.

So, should you become a WHS traveler, too? My honest recommendation is to do as you please. But if you are going to country anyhow (and be it in a club hotel), then use the map provided on this site and check out if any world heritage site is nearby. It may force to travel a bit off the beaten path, but trust me, it will be worth it.

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Germany Last Update 11.10.20 489 WHS Visited 234 Reviews 488 WHS Rated 114 TWHS Visited

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Recent Reviews Nan

Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo

Nan Germany - 08-Jun-21

In 2019, our group had a meetup. It seems pretty far away with a full year (and counting) of Covid travel limitations in the bag and the 2020 meetup having been cancelled. Anyhow.

As discussed elsewhere, we had settled on discovering the hidden jewels of Bulgaria. It was not visited much, so everyone could get their fair share of new ticks. And the assumption was that if one looks hard enough, a seasoned world heritage traveller would find a jewel among the world heritage sites; they can't all be mediocre?

Read On

Keoladeo National Park

Nan Germany - 16-May-21

When you hunt for WHS there are sites you pick up along the road, but that you didn't really plan for. Keoladeo and nearby Fatipur Sikri to a lesser extent were such sites for me.

The principal town of the area, Agra, featured high on my travel bucked list for India: As every other tourist to India, I wanted to see the Taj Mahal. With this fix point set it followed that I should also visit the sites of the area, including a national park renown for birds.

Now, I am not much of a birder, rather the opposite. And India tends to be highly settled with very little original nature left. In this case even more so, as the wetland that forms the national park is an artificial creation by the English to attract birds for... hunting. So what to make of this national park?

Read On

Urnes Stave Church

Nan Germany - 31-Mar-21

On the eastern shores of the Lusterfjord in Western Norway lies Urnes Stave Church. It's a wooden church and there are plenty of those inscribed on the list. But stave churches in general and Urnes in particular are distinctly Norwegian and clearly a world apart from the many flavors of wooden churches you find in e.g. Eastern Europe.

Urnes itself isn't a large church. It's a small church that can host maybe 20 (?) people, mostly the family of the local noble as it was a private church belong to the noble's estate

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Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine

Nan Germany - 23-Dec-20

On a day trip from Hiroshima, I visited the Iwami Ginzan silver mine. In the 18th century Iwami Ginzan was one of the largest silver mines of the world and a small town grew around it. The mine itself or the shrines for the miners aren't spectacular. The town (Omoricho), though, was nice with plenty of historic wooden houses some of which are open to visitors. In the area, you can manage everything on foot. However, to see the additional components related to the shipping of the silver, you will need some form of transport as these are on the coast.

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Primeval Beech Forests

Nan Germany - 11-Nov-20

The beech forests of Germany are a continuous running gag in my family. Both my father and my uncle pick this site when they want to point out that something is fishy about world heritage sites. Now, you need to know that neither of them knows much about world heritage sites. But they do know a bit of beech trees, having run a tree nursery specialising in German beech trees for most of their adult lives. And they aren't really impressed about this site, at least the German component. And I think I get why.

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Profile Data

Name: Nan
Country: Germany
Most Impressive: Petra, Machu Picchu, Angkor
Proposal: Seoraksan, Korea. Okefenokee, USA.

Recently Visited WHS

Update 11.10.20: Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae

Archaeological Site of Delphi

Epidaurus

Mystras

Olympia

Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios

Mycenae and Tiryns

Visited WHS

Rating Stats

Ancient Thebes 5

Angkor 5

Florence 5

Iguazu National Park 5

Los Glaciares 5

Machu Picchu 5

Mesa Verde 5

Palenque 5

Petra 5

Pyramids (Memphis) 5

Rapa Nui 5

Rome 5

Teotihuacan 5

Vatican City 5

Venice and its Lagoon 5

Acropolis 4.5

Amsterdam Canal Ring 4.5

Chichen-Itza 4.5

Cordoba 4.5

Dubrovnik 4.5

Fatehpur Sikri 4.5

Granada 4.5

Grand Canyon 4.5

Great Wall 4.5

Loire Valley 4.5

Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor 4.5

Meteora 4.5

Paris, Banks of the Seine 4.5

Piazza del Duomo (Pisa) 4.5

Ping Yao 4.5

Pompei 4.5

Prague 4.5

Ravenna 4.5

Sceilg Mhichíl 4.5

St. Petersburg 4.5

Te Wahipounamu 4.5

Versailles 4.5

Vienna 4.5

West Norwegian Fjords 4.5

Yosemite National Park 4.5

Aachen Cathedral 4

Agrigento 4

Ancient Kyoto 4

Arab-Norman Palermo 4

Archaeological Site of Delphi 4

Berat and Gjirokastra 4

Brugge 4

Budapest 4

Castel del Monte 4

Classical Gardens of Suzhou 4

Cueva de las Manos 4

Dengfeng 4

Dolomites 4

El Escurial 4

Everglades 4

Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings 4

Giant's Causeway 4

Guanajuato 4

Ha Long Bay 4

Haeinsa Temple 4

Hal Saflieni Hypogeum 4

Himeji-jo 4

Humayun's Tomb 4

Iguacu 4

Imperial Palace 4

Istanbul 4

Itsukushima Shrine 4

Jantar Mantar 4

Keoladeo National Park 4

Kew Gardens 4

Kinderdijk 4

Kotor 4

Kremlin and Red Square 4

Laponian Area 4

Longmen Grottoes 4

Los Alerces National Park 4

Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve 4

Mont-Saint-Michel 4

Nasca Lines 4

Neolithic Orkney 4

Oaxaca and Monte Alban 4

Olympia 4

Peninsula Valdes 4

Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands 4

Rietveld Schröderhuis 4

Riga 4

Selimiye Mosque 4

Siena 4

Sintra 4

Skocjan Caves 4

South China Karst 4

Studley Royal Park 4

Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch 4

Teide National Park 4

Temple of Heaven 4

Trang An 4

Tugendhat Villa 4

Upper Middle Rhine Valley 4

Valletta 4

Vicenza 4

Wadden Sea 4

West Lake 4

Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines 4

Wooden Churches of Southern Malopolska 4

Wooden Tserkvas of the Carpathian Region 4

Works of Antoni Gaudí 4

Assisi 3.5

Auschwitz Birkenau 3.5

Bordeaux 3.5

Bryggen 3.5

Butrint 3.5

Calakmul 3.5

Caves of Yagul and Mitla 3.5

Central University City Campus of the UNAM 3.5

Cesky Krumlov 3.5

Champagne 3.5

Churches of Chiloé 3.5

Churches of Peace 3.5

Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture 3.5

Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape 3.5

Cracow 3.5

Cuenca 3.5

Danube Delta 3.5

Edinburgh 3.5

Fagus Factory 3.5

Fortified City of Carcassonne 3.5

Fujisan 3.5

Grand Place, Brussels 3.5

Gyeongju 3.5

High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago 3.5

Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis 3.5

Kii Mountain Range 3.5

L'viv 3.5

Lake District 3.5

Malbork Castle 3.5

Matera 3.5

Megalithic Temples of Malta 3.5

Mexico City and Xochimilco 3.5

Mountain Railways of India 3.5

Museumsinsel (Museum Island) 3.5

Mycenae and Tiryns 3.5

Mystras 3.5

Reims 3.5

Rhodes 3.5

Sambor Prei Kuk 3.5

Schönbrunn 3.5

Sydney Opera House 3.5

Syracuse 3.5

Tallinn 3.5

The trulli of Alberobello 3.5

Tongariro National Park 3.5

University of Coimbra 3.5

Villa Romana del Casale 3.5

Westminster 3.5

White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal 3.5

Xidi and Hongcun 3.5

Agra Fort 3

Albi 3

Amiens Cathedral 3

Ancient Nara 3

Antequera Dolmens Site 3

Aquileia 3

Archaeological Site of Aigai 3

Arequipa 3

Arles 3

Avignon 3

Avila 3

Bamberg 3

Belem 3

Bellinzone 3

Bergpark Wilhelmshöhe 3

Brú na Bóinne 3

Bursa and Cumalikizik 3

Canterbury 3

Cathedral of St. James in Sibenik 3

Changdeokgung Palace Complex 3

Churches and Convents of Goa 3

Cilento and Vallo di Diano 3

City of Bath 3

Cologne Cathedral 3

Costiera Amalfitana 3

Cuzco 3

Derwent Valley Mills 3

Dorset and East Devon Coast 3

El Fuerte de Samaipata 3

Falun Great Copper Mountain 3

Flemish Béguinages 3

Fontainebleau 3

Forth Bridge 3

Fortifications of Vauban 3

Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz 3

Grand Canal 3

Great Smoky Mountains 3

Greater Blue Mountains 3

Gwynedd Castles 3

Hill Forts of Rajasthan 3

Hiraizumi 3

Hoi An 3

Horyu-ji Area 3

Hué 3

Hwaseong Fortress 3

Imperial Tombs 3

Isole Eolie 3

Jaipur City, Rajasthan 3

Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus 3

Jongmyo Shrine 3

Kaiping Diaolou 3

Kutna Hora 3

Kyiv 3

Liverpool 3

Luang Prabang 3

Luis Barragán House and Studio 3

Lyon 3

Macao 3

Maritime Greenwich 3

Maulbronn Monastery 3

Mostar 3

Mount Athos 3

Nikko 3

Old Rauma 3

Oporto 3

Plain of Jars 3

Plitvice Lakes 3

Poblet Monastery 3

Pont du Gard 3

Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal 3

Potosi 3

Potsdam 3

Preah Vihear Temple 3

Qhapaq Ñan 3

Quedlinburg 3

Rammelsberg and Goslar 3

Rjukan / Notodden 3

Rock Carvings in Tanum 3

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica 3

Royal Joseon Tombs 3

Røros 3

Salamanca 3

San Miguel de Allende 3

Santiago de Compostela 3

Segovia 3

Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple 3

Seville 3

Shirakawa-go and Gokayama 3

Southern Öland 3

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District 3

Split 3

Statue of Liberty 3

Stevns Klint 3

Stonehenge 3

Strasbourg 3

Sucre 3

Summer Palace 3

Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona 3

Taj Mahal 3

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier 3

Tower of London 3

Trebic 3

Trinity Sergius Lavra 3

Urbino 3

Urnes Stave Church 3

Uxmal 3

Valparaiso 3

Vegaøyan 3

Villa d'Este 3

Vilnius 3

Visby 3

Völklingen Ironworks 3

Warsaw 3

Wartburg Castle 3

Würzburg Residence 3

Xochicalco 3

Yaroslavl 3

Zollverein 3

Abbey of St Gall 2.5

Australian Convict Sites 2.5

Banska Stiavnica 2.5

Bauhaus Sites 2.5

Belfries 2.5

Belovezhskaya Pushcha / Bialowieza Forest 2.5

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates 2.5

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape 2.5

Blenheim Palace 2.5

Boyana Church 2.5

Burgundy 2.5

Caceres 2.5

Camino Real 2.5

Chartres Cathedral 2.5

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay 2.5

Convent of Christ in Tomar 2.5

Corfu 2.5

Decorated Farmhouses of Hälsingland 2.5

Durham Castle and Cathedral 2.5

Elvas 2.5

Engelsberg Ironworks 2.5

Euphrasian Basilica in Porec 2.5

Evora 2.5

Fortress of Suomenlinna 2.5

Fray Bentos 2.5

Gammelstad 2.5

Genbaku Dome 2.5

Gorham's Cave Complex 2.5

Graz 2.5

Grimeton Radio Station 2.5

Hallstatt-Dachstein 2.5

Heritage of Mercury 2.5

Independence Hall 2.5

Ironbridge Gorge 2.5

Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos 2.5

Jodrell Bank Observatory 2.5

Kalwaria Zebrzydowska 2.5

Le Havre 2.5

Liangzhu Archaeological Site 2.5

Longobards in Italy 2.5

Lübeck 2.5

Mantua and Sabbioneta 2.5

Margravial Opera House 2.5

Medici Villas and Gardens 2.5

Medina of Tétouan 2.5

Melaka and George Town 2.5

Monastery of Alcobaça 2.5

Monastery of Batalha 2.5

Muskauer Park 2.5

Nancy 2.5

Naples 2.5

Nesvizh 2.5

New Lanark 2.5

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai 2.5

Orange 2.5

Palau de la Musica Catalana & Hospital de Sant Pau 2.5

Palmeral of Elche 2.5

Panamá 2.5

Petäjävesi Old Church 2.5

Pilgrimage Church of St. John of Nepomuk 2.5

Plantin-Moretus Museum 2.5

Popocatepetl monasteries 2.5

Provins 2.5

Puebla 2.5

Qutb Minar 2.5

Red Fort 2.5

Rhaetian Railway 2.5

Rila Monastery 2.5

Rock Art of Alta 2.5

Route of Santiago de Compostela 2.5

Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans 2.5

Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy 2.5

Saltaire 2.5

San Gimignano 2.5

Santa Maria delle Grazie 2.5

Sian Ka'an 2.5

Singapore Botanic Gardens 2.5

Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution 2.5

Skogskyrkogarden 2.5

Speyer Cathedral 2.5

Spissky Hrad and Levoca 2.5

Stari Grad Plain 2.5

Stralsund and Wismar 2.5

Tarraco 2.5

Telc 2.5

The Four Lifts 2.5

Thessalonika 2.5

Tiwanaku 2.5

Toledo 2.5

Tomioka Silk Mill 2.5

Trier 2.5

Trogir 2.5

Val d'Orcia 2.5

Val di Noto 2.5

Van Nellefabriek 2.5

Vat Phou 2.5

Villa Adriana (Tivoli) 2.5

Vlkolinec 2.5

Wachau Cultural Landscape 2.5

Western Ghats 2.5

Wooden Churches of the Slovak Carpathians 2.5

Alcala de Henares 2

Archaeological site of Philippi 2

Benedictine Convent of St. John 2

Canal du Midi 2

Castles of Augustusburg and Falkenlust 2

Centennial Hall 2

China Danxia 2

Christiansfeld 2

City of Luxembourg 2

Curonian Spit 2

Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios 2

Epidaurus 2

Etruscan Necropolises 2

Ferrara 2

Gardens and Castle at Kromeríz 2

Gochang, Hwasun, and Ganghwa Dolmen 2

Holy Trinity Column 2

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine 2

Jelling 2

Karlskrona 2

Kernavë 2

Kronborg Castle 2

La Lonja de la Seda 2

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces 2

Lednice-Valtice Cultural Landscape 2

Lima 2

Litomysl Castle 2

Major Town Houses 2

Mining Sites of Wallonia 2

Modena 2

Monte San Giorgio 2

Morelia 2

Mudejar Architecture of Aragon 2

Mérida 2

Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes 2

Nessebar 2

Novgorod 2

Novodevichy Convent 2

Peking Man Site 2

Pienza 2

Pilgrimage Church of Wies 2

Prehistoric Pile Dwellings 2

Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo 2

Roskilde Cathedral 2

Royal Palace at Caserta 2

Saint-Emilion 2

Salzburg 2

Sammallahdenmäki 2

San Marino and Mount Titano 2

Santa Maria de Guadelupe 2

Struve Geodetic Arc 2

Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae 2

Thracian tomb of Sveshtari 2

Town Hall and Roland, Bremen 2

Venetian Works of Defence 2

Verona 2

Zamosc 2

Aranjuez 1.5

Beemster Polder 1.5

Birka and Hovgarden 1.5

Botanical Garden, Padua 1.5

Campeche 1.5

Caves and Ice Age Art 1.5

Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye 1.5

Classical Weimar 1.5

Colonia del Sacramento 1.5

Crespi d'Adda 1.5

Donana National Park 1.5

Drottningholm 1.5

Fertö/Neusiedlersee 1.5

Frontiers of the Roman Empire 1.5

Genoa 1.5

Hedeby and Danevirke 1.5

Holasovice 1.5

Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal 1.5

Ivrea 1.5

La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle 1.5

Luther Memorials 1.5

Madara Rider 1.5

Mining Cultural Landscape Erzgebirge 1.5

Mount Etna 1.5

Naumburg Cathedral 1.5

Par force hunting landscape 1.5

Pirin National Park 1.5

Portobelo-San Lorenzo 1.5

Primeval Beech Forests 1.5

Querétaro 1.5

Regensburg 1.5

Reichenau 1.5

Residences of the Royal House of Savoy 1.5

Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France 1.5

Semmering Railway 1.5

Torun 1.5

Verla Groundwood and Board Mill 1.5

Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch 1

Corvey 1

Defence Line of Amsterdam 1

Hildesheim Cathedral and Church 1

Mafra Palace, Convent and Royal Hunting Park 1

Messel Pit 1

Mir Castle 1

Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin 1

Old City of Berne 1

Schokland 1

Stoclet House 1

Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver Mine 1

Thang Long 1

Water Management System of Augsburg 1

Srebarna Nature Reserve 0.5

The Prosecco Hills 0.5

Tlacotalpan 0.5

Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont 0.5

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Why?

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Visited Sites Nan

Legend

Recent Reviews Nan

Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo

Keoladeo National Park

Urnes Stave Church

Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine

Primeval Beech Forests

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Reviewed WHS

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