Sanchi is a pleasant site to visit and going there is convenient too from Bhopal. I went to this WHS via train, and came back on a bus, both took less than an hour. The Great Stupa is surprisingly the most well-preserved structure there and it could, in my opinion, easily have been a WHS on its own as a single monument for its history and high level or artistry. The elevated site is relatively large with various ruins of other Buddhist temples and shrines. I enjoyed some good 2 hours on site, absorbing all the details, of which some date back to 300BC -- it is after all the oldest standing stone structure in the subcontinent. The museum at the base is also interesting, most especially the stone pillars with erotic scenes displayed in the garden.

The Sanchi stupa is similar to other great stupas in a way that it was built on top of a hill. It might even have been the precedent for such planning and layout, which was applied to the much younger Borobudur, Wat Mahathat in southern Thailand, and even Dambulla.