Thanks Nan for the interesting questions and ideas. I hope to be able to make it also for next year's meetup. For me, establishing the days/period well in advance is critical so that I can plan my annual leave.

Even if we aim for 'special sites' during a meetup, we should always plan an accessible and safe bet as the official meetup place, for example this year Edinburgh would have been a safer bet than St Kilda, or next year Thinvellir NP in Iceland NOT Surtsey. I personally prefer meeting up with more wh travellers first and than going solo or pairing up with others for more WHS (quantity) or more ambitious WHS.

I don't mind a longer meetup but ideally the weekend would be an important part of the trip, while the rest would be for getting to the site and back home.

All options mentioned would be fine by me, but safety/security for group travel should not be neglected if going for non-European WHS.

My preferences, also keeping in mind Nan's valid points and Russia for 2021 would be: Rhodes, Nemrut Dag, Iceland/Greenland, Thessaloniki with non-landing boat trip to Mt Athos, Gran Canaria or Mallorca (although not so special), Vega (although perhaps a bit risky), other Greek Islands, Kiev + other Ukraine WHS, etc

Anything that makes your heart jump? Padova most of us have done by now. Cordouan would require a much maligned boat trip.


Agreed.


Randy and Svein said it also has a mainland component. But rating is fairly low and little to do apart from the meeting. Hosts would be clear ;)


Would rather opt for Lviv and chasing down some more of these wooden churches.

We could do Frankfurt area (Bad Homburg, Darmstadt - 2 potential WHS) - been there already but would give me access to Augsburg as well and even this Czech stud farm

Or Madrid (Prado), just don't know if it would get inscribed.

From the others mentioned in this post I'd like Rhodes the most.
Iceland needs more time to explore.

For me, it would have to be a (long) weekend trip as I don't have much ground left to cover in Europe so want to spend my holidays elsewhere.

I understand that it is not a part of Great Spa nomination, did I miss something?

I am cautious about potentially disputing with nationals on such a matter but I think not. If they read this then perhaps they could comment!!
As I understand it NO PART of the Norwegian Mainland is included within the Vegaoyan inscription (whether originally in 2004 or its slightly revised boundaries in 2017). Nor is it practicable to enter the core area as or more easily from a mainland Norwegian location than from Vega Island itself.
Although I haven't visited, I investigated the site in some detail when planning a possible trip there for earlier this year (We didn't go as I concluded that the likely "return" wouldn't repay the significant "cost"!!)
I wonder if there has been a misunderstanding or whether Randy/Svein were referring to the island of Vega as "mainland" (As in the Orkneys in UK where the main island is called "Mainland").
In fact less than one third even of the island of Vega itself is inscribed - this is primarily a Marine site with only 6881 ha of land within a total area of 107294 ha. The main towns/ports and even the e-huset museum are not inside the boundary. I understand that a new "World Heritage centre" opened this year (Vega Verdensarvsenter. "The World Heritage Center was officially opened on June 13, 2019 with, among others, HKH Crown Prince Haakon present.") - but, even this seems to be situated just OUTSIDE the core boundary when its Google Maps location is compared with the UNESCO map core boundary line. Indeed, I do not definitely know if entry INTO the core area is possible at any of the terrestrial locations on Vega island. A significant visit within the WHS would seem to require a further boat trip out to the skerries

ELS - 4 extra Connections for Vegaoyen
Marine Site - 6881 ha of land within a total area of 107294 ha.
Archipelago - Official title!
Inselberg - "A notable and valuable feature of the Vega Archipelago is the wedge-shaped mountains or "monadnocks". There are two of them on the main island of Vega and a third one forms the Island of Sola" (IUCN eval)
Purpose built Visitor Centre - See https://www.ekberglous.com/UNESCO-Verdensarvsenter-Vega

It might also be worth adding to the Connection
Cultural sites taking up a complete Island that this applies to the second biggest island of Sola plus the many smaller islands and skerries rather than to Vega itself.

It is a bit risky to select a 2020 TWHS too early as some of them could be incomplete and won't be evaluated. But in general I like the idea. Madrid and Padova are probably visited by too many already. And I guess all of us have the spa tick from at least Bath. But Cordouan would work and Darmstadt too. Slovenia would be nice too. At least it seems we already have one for 2021. Russia here we come.

Checking my travelpan for 2020 and meetup "block period". I have checked some profiles and realized that we more or less all miss the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. You don´t go there for 1 WHS but maybe this is the spot to meet ? We can clear the map from "ugly" dots and have a great time together. I have been to Corsica and I know that it is really a nice island. Sardinia I have never been to, but I still think it is worth a visit.
Could be combined with other sites in Italy, Sicily, France before or after the meetup.

My thought with my previous post was to find a new "angle" to the Meetup 2020. No focus on numbers but still a great place to meet not long distance for us Europeans. Corsica and Sardinia is still "off" on the map and we more or less all miss those sights. See this as a "transfer" point for further exploration, before or after the Meetup 2020. Maybe it is time to "kill" both of those ugly dots on the map. I think we can have a great time with good food and surroundings and also have time to talk about the future. Everything is getting into a new higher level as I see it.....
Els and Nan is doing a fantastic work with our homepage, that IS the best WH homepage in the World, but in the long run I don´t feel comfortable with them spending so much time on this with all the increasing numbers in members and sights.
Actually this ended in 2 questions, but maybe it is 1. Can we go to a "remote" island for 2 days and have a great time together and discuss how to continue this great journey together so we all feel comfortable with workload and support. I feel that I can support more but I feel a lack of roles and responsibilities that I am used to. Maybe it is time to do this ? I really don´t want anyone to be offended, but I really wanted to raise the question.

I still feel comfortable, don't be bothered about that.

Personally, I am not really a fan of this conference-type meetings. You all may already have noticed that I don't like longer/bigger group meetings at all, happier to roam around on my own (being around lots of people all day wears me down). If there is need for such a conference, just to gather ideas or see if someone would like to contribute in some way, we could also do it by an online chat sometime.

I would be in favour of Corsica or Sardinia however for a next meetup location.

Rhodes seems to tick most points put forward by Nan and is also convenient for further travels in Greece or Turkey. What do you think about Rhodes, Els?

Wouldn't mind Corsica either although it would involve another boat trip

I'd be good with Rhodes as well. Actually I was to go there later this year, but exchanged it for Mt Etna so as to leave it open as an option for the 2020 meet.

Just checked: Rhodes has a great WHS plus an active TWHS. Ferries run to Fethiye where a WHS and another TWHS can be done. So we can add another continent to the meetup list!

Downside is that all other WHS are in Turkey or require a plane as Rhodes is a bit too far east. And I have already been, but that is bound to happen. Rhodes so far was the only place I liked in Greece so dont mind going again.

Corsica and Sardinia, though, offer zero connections as most of as have done Italy (apart from Sardinia). And SE France is a standard hotspot, too. There would really be nothing for me to connect to.

Thanks for the compliment. Still. I have to agree with Els. There really is no immediate need here. Website is humming along, The programming I do right now is limited and serves also some training purpose for me.


See above. Agreed. Not even sure what we would conference about.


I think that is mostly true of all of us. We are individual travelers and the meetup should accommodate for that.

I would totally recommend a group trip to Asinara. There are land-based tours for those who are not into snorkeling. Add Maddalena, the WHS site, it's a nice long weekend on Sardiniana.
Unless you guys do the meetup outside of Europe I don't think I can even consider joining. In fact, Macquarie Island boat trip in January, anyone? :) *tumbleweed*

Rhodes is fine by me, but why not to start from Turkish side if majority of other sites are there anyway, or to start from Samos where are significantly better connections to the other Greek islands (Patmos, Delos, Chios) and Turkey?