Nan Profile
It's up to you how you want to spend your holiday, whether that's lazing on the beach at a Caribbean club hotel sipping Mai Tais. Or tending to the garden.
While I do enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, I prefer to see new things and travel to faraway places. I've read my fair share of travel guides to find out where to go and what to see. And I was often disappointed.
While many guidebooks spend an entire chapter extolling the virtues of a particular destination (e.g. a capital city), World Heritage Sites are different. They're as objective as it gets, and often take you off the beaten track. For example, I have fond memories of my taxi ride through a Czech winter landscape to visit Holasovice, a site that only World Heritage connoisseurs would appreciate. More often than not, WHS are great places.
Initially, I concentrated on visiting as many WHS as possible, which gave me a good overview. However, since I've reached the magic 300 (almost 600 now), I've shifted my focus to visiting the really great sites: quality over quantity.
Ultimately, I recommend that you travel as you please. However, if you find yourself in a country (even if it's just for a beach holiday), take a look at the map of World Heritage Sites on this site to see if any are nearby. You may have to travel a little off the beaten track, but I assure you it will be worth it.
Recent Reviews Nan
Bukhara
Nan Germany - 28-Dec-23
In the trifecta of great Uzbek Islamic silk road cities (Xiva, Bukhara, Samarkand), I think there are arguments for either city being the greatest. Samarkand is the biggest city and has the largest sites, but the historic sites are dispersed across a modern city. Xiva has a real old town, enclosed by historic walls, but doesn't have the one stellar site to shine. Bukhara's appeal is that it still has a charming old town feeling (but way less than Xiva) and undoubtedly plenty of stellar sites, most notably the square around Kalon minaret.
Read OnAncient Jericho
Nan Germany - 28-Dec-23
Jericho supposedly is the world's oldest and/or longest and/or fortified inhabited city. Or one of them. In the pre-Neolithic things get a bit fuzzy.
While Els general comment holds (oldest till they find something older), I think there can be little doubt that Jericho belongs on the list, offering ample historical and archaeological remains ranging from pre-Neolithic times to 500 BCE. Humans settled here permanently after the Ice Age had ended, somewhere between 10.000-9.000 BCE. The location had two things going for it. There is a spring, Ein as-Sultan. And the low altitude (at -250m Jericho is the lowest city in the world) meant it was a bit warmer.
Read OnSinharaja Forest
Nan Germany - 27-Dec-23
When showing my Sri Lanka pictures to friends & family, Sinharaja tends to impress the most, especially for kids. While we didn't venture too deep into the jungle, we still saw plenty of amazing wildlife. A chameleon, flesh eating fish, a poisonous snake, a centipede, ... Sinharaja, even on its outskirts, is full of life.
We entered from the South (Lankagama) and hiked up a set of cascades. After a few meters, the trail turned pretty rough. We were happy to have a ranger accompany us to show us the wildlife and help with the hike.
Read OnUpper Svaneti
Nan Germany - 08-Aug-23
Upper Svaneti... For a long time, I had a hard time recalling what a WHS this is and where it's located. Then I read Els' review and wanted to go myself.
As pointed out by Els, the Svan are a people, Svaneti is the region in Georgia's Northwest where they settle and Upper Svaneti refers to the most mountainous part thereof. The access to Upper Svaneti is limited to a river valley and well protected, both naturally as well as with the renowned tower houses. As such the Svan were able to protect their distinct identity for centuries against many invaders.
Read OnColchic Rainforests and Wetlands
Nan Germany - 18-Jul-23
Travelling in Georgia you get used to checking the daily weather forecast. Georgia in summer is hot and humid from the Black Sea and has high mountains: All the ingredients you need for subtropical (= heavy) rains and heavy thunderstorms, specifically at the coast. In Batumi it rains roughly 2.100mm each year. This has created a unique subtropical landscape along the coast, breaking down into two types of location as the site's name suggests:
Flat wetlands around Poti. Subtropical rainforests in the mountains north-east of Batumi
Read OnProfile Data
- Name
- Nan
- Country
- Germany
- Most Impressive
- Petra, Machu Picchu, Angkor
- Proposal
- Seoraksan, Korea. Okefenokee, USA.
Recently Visited WHS
- Update 02.03.24
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Visited WHS
Rating StatsAngkor 5Florence 5Palenque 5Petra 5Rapa Nui 5Rome 5Acropolis 4.5Bukhara 4.5Chichen-Itza 4.5Cordoba 4.5Dubrovnik 4.5Fatehpur Sikri 4.5Granada 4.5Grand Canyon 4.5Great Wall 4.5Göreme NP 4.5Loire Valley 4.5Meteora 4.5Nubian Monuments 4.5Ping Yao 4.5Pompei 4.5Prague 4.5Ravenna 4.5Samarkand 4.5Sceilg Mhichíl 4.5St. Petersburg 4.5Te Wahipounamu 4.5Versailles 4.5Vienna 4.5Brugge 4Budapest 4Dengfeng 4Ephesus 4Iguacu 4Istanbul 4Kotor 4Olympia 4Riga 4Siena 4Sintra 4Surtsey 4Trang An 4Valletta 4Altamira Cave 3.5Anuradhapura 3.5Assisi 3.5Bethlehem 3.5Bordeaux 3.5Bryggen 3.5Brú na Bóinne 3.5Calakmul 3.5Cesky Krumlov 3.5Champagne 3.5Cuenca 3.5Danube Delta 3.5Edinburgh 3.5Fagus Factory 3.5Fujisan 3.5Gyeongju 3.5Göbekli Tepe 3.5Huangshan 3.5Kraków 3.5L'viv 3.5Lake District 3.5Las Medulas 3.5Malbork Castle 3.5Masada 3.5Matera 3.5Mystras 3.5Old City of Acre 3.5Pergamon 3.5Reims 3.5Rhodes 3.5Sambor Prei Kuk 3.5Schönbrunn 3.5Syracuse 3.5Tallinn 3.5Visby 3.5Westminster 3.5Xidi and Hongcun 3.5Çatalhöyük 3.5Albi 3Aquileia 3Arequipa 3Arles 3Avignon 3Avila 3Bamberg 3Belem 3Cuzco 3Genoa 3Hoi An 3Hué 3Lyon 3Macao 3Mostar 3Nikko 3Oporto 3Potosi 3Potsdam 3Røros 3Segovia 3Seville 3Split 3Sucre 3Trebic 3Urbino 3Uxmal 3Vegaøyan 3Vilnius 3Warsaw 3Abbey of St Gall 2.5Ancient Jericho 2.5Banska Stiavnica 2.5Bardejov Town 2.5Bauhaus Sites 2.5Belfries 2.5Biblical Tells 2.5Blenheim Palace 2.5Boyana Church 2.5Burgos Cathedral 2.5Burgundy 2.5Butrint 2.5Caceres 2.5Camino Real 2.5Corfu 2.5Elvas 2.5Evora 2.5Fray Bentos 2.5Gammelstad 2.5Genbaku Dome 2.5Graz 2.5Hollókö 2.5Ironbridge Gorge 2.5Kandy 2.5Koh Ker 2.5Le Havre 2.5Lübeck 2.5Modernist Kaunas 2.5Mtskheta 2.5Muskauer Park 2.5Nancy 2.5Naples 2.5Nesvizh 2.5New Lanark 2.5Orange 2.5Panamá 2.5Provins 2.5Puebla 2.5Qutb Minar 2.5Red Fort 2.5Rhaetian Railway 2.5Rila Monastery 2.5Rock Art of Alta 2.5Roșia Montană 2.5Saltaire 2.5San Gimignano 2.5Sarazm 2.5Sian Ka'an 2.5Sighisoara 2.5Skogskyrkogarden 2.5Speyer Cathedral 2.5Tarraco 2.5Telc 2.5The Four Lifts 2.5Thessalonika 2.5Tiwanaku 2.5Toledo 2.5Trier 2.5Trogir 2.5Troy 2.5Val d'Orcia 2.5Val di Noto 2.5Van Nellefabriek 2.5Vat Phou 2.5Vizcaya Bridge 2.5Vlkolinec 2.5Western Ghats 2.5Ferrara 2Jelling 2Kernavė 2Lima 2Modena 2Morelia 2Mérida 2Nessebar 2Nice 2Novgorod 2Pienza 2Salzburg 2Sigiriya 2Stećci 2Verona 2Zamość 2Aranjuez 1.5Beemster Polder 1.5Campeche 1.5Classical Weimar 1.5Crespi d'Adda 1.5Drottningholm 1.5Holasovice 1.5Ivrea 1.5Luther Memorials 1.5Madara Rider 1.5Medina Azahara 1.5Mount Etna 1.5Querétaro 1.5Regensburg 1.5Reichenau 1.5Thingvellir 1.5Torun 1.5Xanthos-Letoon 1.5Battir 1Corvey 1Alto Douro 0.5Hortobágy 0.5Mafra 0.5Tlacotalpan 0.5Reviewed WHS
- Bukhara
- Ancient Jericho
- Sinharaja Forest
- Upper Svaneti
- Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands
- Haghpat and Sanahin
- Sarazm
- Shakhrisyabz
- Masada
- Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town
- Pergamon
- Samarkand
- Itchan Kala
- Silk Roads: Zarafshan-Karakum Corridor
- Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
- Surtsey
- Wadden Sea
- Wadi Al-Hitan
- Studenica Monastery
- Nubian Monuments
- Portovenere, Cinque Terre, and the Islands
- Genoa
- Aphrodisias
- L'viv
- Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevsel Gardens
- Çatalhöyük
- Monastery of Horezu
- Arslantepe Mound
- Asturian Monuments
- Las Medulas
- Villages with Fortified Churches
- Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
- Krzemionki prehistoric flint mines
- Residence of Bukovinian & Dalmatian Metropolitans
- ShUM Sites
- Wooden Churches of Maramures
- Hortobágy
- Tokaji Wine Region
- Kladruby nad Labem
- Roșia Montană
- Great Spa Towns of Europe
- Žatec – Landscape of Hops
- Prague
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
- Rock-hewn Churches of Ivanovo
- Keoladeo National Park
- Urnes Stave Church
- Iwami Ginzan Silver Mine
- Primeval Beech Forests
- Crespi d'Adda
- Nessebar
- Paris, Banks of the Seine
- Isole Eolie
- Yaroslavl
- Olympia
- Archaeological Site of Delphi
- Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios
- Epidaurus
- Acropolis
- Mycenae and Tiryns
- Mystras
- Temple of Apollo Epicurius at Bassae
- Rjukan / Notodden
- L'viv
- Rock Art of Alta
- Vegaøyan
- Røros
- Australian Convict Sites
- Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay
- Sydney Opera House
- Greater Blue Mountains
- Singapore Botanic Gardens
- Tongariro National Park
- Te Wahipounamu
- Ping Yao
- West Lake
- Classical Gardens of Suzhou
- Huangshan
- Xidi and Hongcun
- Dengfeng
- Longmen Grottoes
- Liangzhu Archaeological Site
- Le Havre
- Loire Valley
- Mont-Saint-Michel
- Fujisan
- Western Ghats
- Mount Etna
- Modernist Kaunas
- Cilento and Vallo di Diano
- Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
- Neolithic Orkney
- St. Kilda
- Megalithic Temples of Malta
- Hal Saflieni Hypogeum
- Jantar Mantar
- Antequera Dolmens Site
- Val di Noto
- Old Rauma
- Sammallahdenmäki
- Petäjävesi Old Church
- Verla Groundwood and Board Mill
- Villa Romana del Casale
- Corfu
- Berat and Gjirokastra
- Butrint
- High Coast / Kvarken Archipelago
- Gammelstad
- Laponian Area
- Arab-Norman Palermo
- Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve
- Popocatepetl monasteries
- Kii Mountain Range
- Zamość
- Reims
- Champagne
- Funerary and memory sites of the First World War
- Burgundy
- Jaipur City, Rajasthan
- Palenque
- Churches of the Pskov School of Architecture
- Koh Ker
- The Prosecco Hills
- Angkor
- Tomioka Silk Mill
- Curonian Spit
- Nesvizh
- Hill Forts of Rajasthan
- Potosi
- Preah Vihear Temple
- Sambor Prei Kuk
- Vat Phou
- Luang Prabang
- Plain of Jars
- La Chaux-de-Fonds / Le Locle
- Thang Long
- Dolomites
- Kaiping Diaolou
- South China Karst
- Water Management System of Augsburg
- China Danxia
- Danube Delta
- Macao
- Plečnik's Ljubljana
- Plitvice Lakes
- Hiraizumi
- Srebarna Nature Reserve
- Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis
- Aachen Cathedral
- Benedictine Convent of St. John
- Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces
- Swiss Tectonic Arena Sardona
- Rhaetian Railway
- Hedeby and Danevirke
- Engelsberg Ironworks
- Residences of the Royal House of Savoy
- Istanbul
- Selimiye Mosque
- Bursa and Cumalikizik
- Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont
- Ivrea
- San Gimignano
- Longobards in Italy
- Val d'Orcia
- Siena
- Etruscan Necropolises
- Jesuit Missions of the Chiquitos
- El Fuerte de Samaipata
- Mir Castle
- Tiwanaku
- Qhapaq Ñan
- Sucre
- Machu Picchu
- Cuzco
- Nasca Lines
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch
- Bellinzone
- Neolithic Flint Mines at Spiennes
- Old City of Berne
- Gwynedd Castles
- Sceilg Mhichíl
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal
- Ironbridge Gorge
- Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin
- Belfries
- Tarnowskie Góry Lead-Silver-Zinc Mine
- Białowieża Forest
- Malbork Castle
- Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District
- Boyana Church
- Thessalonika
- Rila Monastery
- Pirin National Park
- Archaeological site of Philippi
- Meteora
- Mount Athos
- Archaeological Site of Aigai
- Peking Man Site
- Rock Carvings in Tanum
- Grimeton Radio Station
- Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus
- The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
- Fray Bentos
- Peninsula Valdes
- Los Alerces National Park
- Cueva de las Manos
- Los Glaciares
- Churches of Chiloé
- Valparaiso
- Rapa Nui
- White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal
- Mafra
- Fagus Factory
- Par force hunting landscape
- Holasovice
- Xochicalco
- Tlacotalpan
- Caves of Yagul and Mitla
- Taj Mahal
- Medina of Tétouan
- Gorham's Cave Complex
- Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt
- Caves and Ice Age Art
Visited TWHS
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