Nan Profile

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 09.07.20 478 WHS Visited 199 Reviews 477 WHS Rated 92 TWHS Visited

Visited Sites Nan

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Recent Reviews Nan

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay

Nan Germany - 28-Jun-20

Fontenay is probably the best preserved Cistercian abbey I have visited. As is customary for Cistercian abbeys, it's located along a river valley and you will recognize the usual structures with refractory, chapel and fish ponds. What is missing, are any interior decorations. The abbey was closed during the French revolution and turned into a paper factory for a century thereafter. At the beginning of the 20th century, a rich French banker bought the estate and began the restoration of the site. The family to this day owns the property.

Read On

Sydney Opera House

Nan Germany - 21-May-20

The Sydney Opera is one of the youngest inscribed WHS. It was officially opened in 1973 and inscribed as WHS in 2007 (less than 50 years later). As a basic rule, I feel WHS should be timeless. And timelessness can be better judged with adequate temporal distance. For the Sydney Opera House, though, I feel confident that this is a timeless building. On the one hand side, I enjoy the timeless, organic architecture, combing imagery of sails and sea shells. On the other hand side, it's influence on modern urban development cannot be overstated. Wherever a city tries to reinvent itself or create a new landmark, you find a Sydney Opera, e.g. the Opera in Copenhagen (mhew) or the Elbphilharmonie in my home town Hamburg.

Read On

Greater Blue Mountains

Nan Germany - 21-May-20

To get this out of the way first: I think Jay is the only one who visited the same Blue Mountains I visited back in late December 2019. Everyone else must have been somewhere else. Where is the fog/smoke on your pictures, Clyde, Ian, Els?! ...

When I planned my big trip to Australia and New Zealand, the bad news kept rushing in. New Zealand had plenty of rainfall and mudslides with roads breaking down. Australia on the other hand endured a catastrophic dry spell with large parts of the country being eaten up by wildfires as a consequence. Doing only a short stop over of three nights in Sydney, my time was limited and I did not want to miss the opportunity to tick the site off.

Read On

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Nan Germany - 21-May-20

The Singapore Botanic Gardens are one of a number a botanic gardens the British constructed across their empire. The main claim to fame of the Singapore one is that it was here that rubber was first cultivated outside South America. They also contributed significantly to the research of orchids.

During my visit, the nicest parts were the jungle portions of the park. You are still well in the city, but they managed to recreate a small accessible wilderness in the park including animal wildlife. So many cute lizards and snakes. The other highlight is the orchid garden, but as I understand the core zone borders this is not part of the core site. Update: Jay pointed out that I was mistaken. The orchids are included. And after consulting the map, I have to concur.

Read On

Tongariro National Park

Nan Germany - 16-Mar-20

We were sitting in Wellington having (probably) another pricey NZ beer. It was Friday afternoon and we were planning to drive to Tongariro the next day (Saturday) with the Transalpine Crossing, New Zealand's most famous hike, planned for Sunday. It was then that we decided to check the national park website again to take a look at the trail. But instead we found a big info box stating that a Rahui had been put in place and all trails were closed. Rahui wtf?

You need to know that Tongariro is still a holy site for the local Maori. That's also why it's a mixed site

Read On

Profile Data

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

Recently Visited WHS

Update 09.07.20: Tongariro National Park

Te Wahipounamu

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

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

Acropolis 4

Agrigento 4

Ancient Kyoto 4

Arab-Norman Palermo 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

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

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

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

Rock Carvings in Tanum 3

Rock Drawings in Valcamonica 3

Royal Joseon Tombs 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

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

Isole Eolie 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

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

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

Primeval Beech Forests 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

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

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

Srebarna Nature Reserve 1

Stoclet House 1

Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver Mine 1

Thang Long 1

Water Management System of Augsburg 1

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

Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay

Sydney Opera House

Greater Blue Mountains

Singapore Botanic Gardens

Tongariro National Park

Profile Data

Recently Visited WHS

Visited WHS

Reviewed WHS

Visited TWHS

Reviewed TWHS

Top 50 Missing Sites

Top 200 WHS