In determining the Top 200 among WHS , we are constantly reassessing a certain site’s uniqueness on a global scale. The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh became a WHS because of juxtapositional Urban Planning: the organically grown medieval Old Town versus the planned 18th/19th century New Town. “The dramatic topography of the Old Town combined with the planned alignments of key buildings in both the Old and the New Town, results in spectacular views and panoramas and an iconic skyline .”

View on the Old Town from Calton Hill

So if the Skyline is what makes it different, Edinburgh should particularly be enjoyed from a high viewpoint. On a crisp Sunday morning in December I walked the short and easy trail to the top of Calton Hill. This is a setting very typical of Edinburgh: it’s one of several hills surrounding the city center, dotted with monuments and memorials to historic Scotsmen. I wasn’t the only one enjoying the morning here: especially young Asian tourists (or are they students?) know about the place too. This spot allows unobstructed views on both the Old and New Towns. You supposedly …

Before the year 2015 ends, I needed to go on ‘mileage run’ to secure KLM Elite Status for next year. So I went on the lookout for a cheap return ticket to a nearby destination, including opportunities for an unvisited WHS of course. The choice fell upon Edinburgh – although I had visited the city before in 2001, I had at the time not been to the Forth Bridge . This 2015 addition to the List has many superlatives attached to it in its nomination file, such as “icon of Scotland”, “potent symbol of the Railway Age” and “unique milestone in the evolution of bridge and other steel Construction”.

The Bridge lies just a few km from Edinburgh Airport, and already good views of it can be had from the air. I had especially chosen a window seat, and though it was a bit hazy early morning the three big arches were clearly recognizable on the approach. December is not a particularly good month to plan a visit to the Forth Bridge: the Firth of Forth ‘cruises’, where you can admire the construction from the water, aren’t running past November. …

Montenegro made a sudden appearance on the international political scene this week as it was asked to become a member of the NATO . The move steers it away from the Russian sphere of influence, which it was a part of essentially until independence from Serbia in 2006. So far this small Balkan country holds 2 WHS, both 'inherited' from former Yugoslavia. At the WHC session of 2016 it hopes to double this number with the transboundary site of the Stecci Medieval Tombstones and on its own steam with the old capital Cetinje .

Kids celebrating Independence Day

Cetinje was the Royal Capital of Montenegro from the 15th century until Montenegro's incorporation in Yugoslavia after WWII. In the early 20th century it was the world's smallest capital, registering only 5,895 inhabitants. It is considered both a cradle of Montenegrin culture and a Serbian Orthodox religious center. The official residence of the Montenegrin President is still located here. I visited Cetinje in 2013, on my way between Podgorica and Kotor . Buses between the two cities will make a stop in Cetinje, so it's an easy break. It's also within …

Publishers seem to believe that the weeks leading up to Christmas are a great period to publish coffee table books and what I call ‘list books’. The latter in the travel book genre often mean Top 100 or Best 500 of sights around the world. An Amazon search will reveal a pretty long selection of these. Both Lonely Planet and National Geographic recently came up with a Travel List book that may be of interest to World Heritage Travellers.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet’s The World’s Great Wonders covers 30 man-made sites and 20 natural wonders. The book is a smallish hardcover. It aims “to inform, to inspire and to encourage its readers to travel”. It covers a lot about the selected World Wonders in 4 to 6 pages per Wonder. It does so by including ‘How did they do that?’ and ‘Getting there’ sections. The selection was made by Jheni Osman . She managed to include recent world wonders such as the Panama Canal, Maracana Stadium, Palm Jumeirah and the Larga Hadron Collider. With a background in scientific journalism, Osman happily includes the Lark Quarry (site of …

De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam lies just outside the core zone of the Amsterdam Canal Ring WHS , but is a monumental building in its own right. It's a former church dating from the 15th century and a bit of a national burial site with tombs of Dutch historical figures such as Michiel de Ruijter , Nicolaes Tulp (surgeon of Rembrandt fame) and Joost van den Vondel . It currently hosts artifacts on loan from several Vatican Museums concerning the period that Rome transformed into a papal center dominated by Churches with crosses. This exhibition will run til 7 February 2016.

De Nieuwe Kerk Amsterdam

Rome. Emperor Constantine’s dream shines a light on Constantine the Great, Roman Emperor from 306 to 337. He allegedly was the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity. He stopped Christian persecutions and legalised Christianity along with all other religions and cults in the Roman Empire. Until today we can see the results of his policies in the many basilicas of Rome, and also abroad. His most famous building projects include the (original) Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Old Saint Peter's …

Turkey has nominated Ani Cultural Landscape as one of its two candidates for the 2016 WHC session, which it will host in Istanbul next July. Ani comprises the ruins of a medieval Armenian city. It lies in the far east of Turkey, right at the border with Armenia. Between 961 and 1045, it was the capital of the Bagratid Armenian kingdom that covered much of present-day Armenia and eastern Turkey.

The church of St Gregory of Tigran Honents in Ani, in the year 1992

Considering the history between Turkey and Armenia, this is a controversial nomination. I won’t go into detail here about the current Turkish political scene and its complicated opinions on what happened in 1915 (you can have a look at Erdogan’s shifting points of view here ). But behind the scenes the acceptance of Ani as an important part of the heritage of this region has been in the making for almost 20 years. The site finally entered Turkey’s Tentative List in 2012. In their study US Cultural Diplomacy and Archaeology: Soft Power, Hard Heritage , Christina Luke and Morag M. Kersel argue that the placement …

The Sonian Forest near Brussels is proposed as an extension to the Primeval Beech Forests of The Carpathians and ancient beech forests of Germany . If all goes well, this is scheduled to materialize in 2017. The extension proposal is a trans-border series consisting of 33 components, located in 11 State Parties: Albania, Slovenia, Romania, Italy, Poland, Austria (in the lead), Croatia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Spain and Belgium. This in addition to the current WHS that already covers 15 beech forests in Slovakia, Ukraine and Germany.

Creative welcome at Hoeilaart

The listed Primeval Beech Forests represent pure and mixed stands of European Beech in various environmental conditions. One wonders if so many more examples are really necessary. The nominating countries are serious about it though, and have developed a classification system defining Beech Forests of Regions (BFR) in Europe. Each BFR is characterized by specific climatic conditions and flora, and demonstrates an individual piece of history of the beech forests.

The Sonian Forest is the only remaining beech forest in the Atlantic climate zone. It marks the western limit of the species range in Europe. …

In September and October I spent 2 weeks travelling around Myanmar. This destination was a last minute decision, as the group tour to Azerbaijan & Iran that I had planned for that time frame was cancelled. Somehow I had never been that interested in going to Myanmar: with only one WHS so far, the ‘return on investment’ didn’t seem worth it. Also finding the right season was always a puzzle: too many tourists during the high season (November-February), too hot or too wet outside that period. In the end it was a rewarding trip. Weather-wise it was fine, only maybe a bit too cloudy for excellent photos. Find below my Top Tips for Travelling to Myanmar as a World Heritage Traveller.

Slow train to Hsipaw

1. Allow as much time as you can

Myanmar isn’t a small country: it is larger than Italy & Germany combined (or for readers from the US: slightly smaller than Texas). Most roads aren’t in a great condition and you’ll have to share them with motorbikes, oxcarts and pedestrians. So any travel will be slow. The e-Visa …

The impressively titled TWHS Ancient cities of Upper Myanmar comprises the former royal residences of Innwa, Amarapura, Sagaing, Mingun and Mandalay. They're located near Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city. Except for Mingun, the cities served also as state capitals for periods between the 14th and 19th century after the demise of Bagan . The Burmese seem to be especially fond of switching their capitals , using over 20 of them since the year 849. The current one (since 2005) is the greenfield site of Naypyidaw .

Reconstruction of Mandalay Royal Palace

I stayed in Mandalay for 4 nights, and - though admittedly I edged out a day for visiting the Pyu City of Halin - that was even not enough to see these 'Ancient cities' properly. I spent one day cycling around Mandalay proper. It’s a bit of a mystery what would be included in a future nomination here. The Royal Palace is the major landmark of the city, but it is (a) a complete reconstruction and (b) used as a military base. The army probably is still convinced of the strategic value of the fortress walls and moat surrounding …

Bagan was a powerful kingdom from the 11th to the late 13th century: the empire stretched over almost all of what now is Myanmar. The remains of its ancient capital city comprise over 2,000 temples, monasteries and pagodas. They were constructed in a religious construction frenzy by Bagan’s rulers and wealthy subjects. Bagan at this time also became a center for religious study, attracting devotees from afar. Although it lost its prominence in the 14th century, the site was never abandoned and has stayed a pilgrimage destination throughout.

View from Dhamma-ya-za-ka Zedi

Nowadays Bagan is Myanmar’s tourist central, and it delivers proof that even the gentle Burmese can turn into annoying souvenir sellers & touts given a steady influx of wealthy tourists. I stayed in Bagan for 4 nights, using it also as a base for a side-trip to the wooden monasteries of Pakhangyi and Pakhannge . It was the end of the rainy season, and I experienced mostly partly cloudy weather during the day and a daily heavy downpour around 3.30 p.m.. I ‘did’ two longer trips of exploration among the monuments, once by mountainbike and the other …