All our reviews

I visited the Phare de Cordouan in July 2021, just one day before the site was inscribed on the World Heritage List. The ICOMOS evaluation was clearly positive, so I had no doubt that it would be the first new WHS on my trip through the South West of France.Different from Els, I opted for a boat tour from Royan. I pre-booked a spot on the boat of La Sirène Cruises. Clyde reported some inconveniences with La Sirène in his review below, but things have obviously changed over the years. In 2021, booking online was easy and convenient with secure payment by credit card, no phone call required, you only have to give your phone number in case the tour has to be cancelled.

No matter which operator you choose, the tours are more or less the same: first with a big boat, then, split into two groups, with an amphibian vessel to the tower, and on foot across the sandbank back to the boat, wet feet guaranteed.I would recommend being in the first group, especially if you want to take photos unspoiled by other visitors. I was one of the first at the lighthouse and with only about ten visitors, one of the keepers started the first tour. The interior was a surprise. I had not expected such magnificent decorations, sculptures and marble floors. There is even a royal apartment, but no monarch has ever stayed there. In the basement you can see drawings showing how the building …

I based myself this summer 2021 for ten days in Copenhagen. Of those ten days I spent about half the time in the City with some great museums and the other half I travelled around the capital region including of course Rosilde and Helsingor, a day trip to Sweden and a evening in Dragor. The latter is a pretty small town south of Copenhagen but the old town is more like a village with a harbor. This area is well preserved with yellow simple houses and cobble lanes. The harbour is quite big filled with leisure boats. It was nice to stroll around the lanes for half an hour and I had a simple dinner at the harbor. There is not much to see of the former ship industry but a few small buildings in the harbor area. I don't think there is much to see of the "tall ships" and their production and I cannot imagine that the village is unique even for Denmark. 

The area around the mining town of Kutná Hora (Kuttenberg in German) has been important "hotspot" from at least 10th Century as documented by nice Romanesque churches in Malín (village very close to the main train station of Kutná Hora), in nearby Jakub (small but very nice church from 12th Century declared as the national monument), or even in a bit further village Záboří nad Labem (richly decorated Romanesque portal, which is a mystery for the scholars - no idea how such excellent architecture appeared in the middle of nowhere...). From gothic period, I would recommend nearby towns Kolín, Kouřim and Čáslav. From younger structures, there is a chateau in Kačina built in Empire-style, or miners village Kaňk, etc. Thus I would recommend to go not only to the very center of Kutná Hora, but explore a bit also the surrounding landscape!

The core zone of the Kutná Hora WHS consists of two parts: the town center, and the church of Assumption of Our Lady in Sedlec, which was a part of the former Cistercian monastery (now the cigarette factory...). Both sites are accessible by local train from the main train station. The very touristy Ossuary is not part of the WHS. If you travel by train, I would recommend not getting off at Kutná Hora, město, but at the next stop: Kutná Hora, předměstí. The reason is very nice views towards the Kutná Hora urban landscape above the river Vrchlice - In my opinion, this is the main …

I played in May 2014 a concert in the big modern concert hall of Hachinohe. During my stay in that city for rehearsals I had plenty of spare time and there seemed very little to see in this modern town. Public transport was only marked with Japanese letters, hardly anybody spoke any English, I felt rather trapped. Unfortunately I did not know about the Korekawa Jomon Site and missed out on that. I am not sure if it existed at that time or not. But after the concert I travelled west with my hosts to Aomori city to the same site that Els has visited, Sannai-Maruyama. 

This is a big modern museum complex: The outside area is impressive with several "reconstructed" buildings. At the few places where you can see original digs you see not much more the holes for pillars. Therefore there must be a lot of experienced guessing work involved in those reconstructions. 

The finds inside the museum are much more 'real'. In my memory the biggest part consisted of pottery. Their pottery seems to be one of the earliest in the world and their artifacts are often very creative. This raises the questions if a people can or should be inscribed for their pottery, meaning for moveable objects. If that were true then the Mexican Olmec culture, which is a bit younger but has even more impressive artifacts including the giant head sculptures should certainly be included as well. Very close to this Museum is …

A hunter-fisher-gatherer society of this size would have required a highly skilled group of people to sustain the community. During my visit, there was a Atlatl (spear-thrower) demonstration. After taking two throwing attempts myself, I could appreciate the skill needed to throw with accuracy. Located only 25 km from the Mississippi River, the people who lived here would have relied on extensive trade networks, as the "foreign" stone artifacts in the visitor center demonstrate.

The ICOMOS evaluation of Poverty Point ended with deferral, not because of lack of OUV, but because of Highway 577, which dissects the property and insufficient boundaries. ICOMOS wanted a buffer zone and preferred further research toward expanding the boundaries to include additional associated sites. Viewing the current National Park Service Map, the boundary of Poverty Point includes a Northern component that centers around Motley Mound, which is 2km North of the inscribed area. According to the Advisory Body Evaluation, this area was recommended for land acquisition. Perhaps there will be a minor boundary modification evaluated by ICOMOS in the near future. Regarding Highway 577, the road "visibility" is minor and the speed limit has been reduced. This is (in my view) an example where ICOMOS was probably too scrupulous in their evaluation, but ultimately I am pleased to learn the United States took steps to meet the recommendations after inscription.

The imagining of Poverty Point is perhaps more rewarding then simply standing in front of Mound A. When you see the satellite …

Although I get the feeling that even Italy is reaching the limits of its WH potential, its Tentative List still holds 39 prospects. Among them are numerous examples of the typical medieval-Renaissance cityscape, such as Lucca, Pavia, and Bergamo. And Parma: a city with Etruscan origins, and self-rule as a Free Commune and Duchy for a long time afterward. Especially the rulers of the latter two periods have left their imprint on how the city still looks now.

I visited Parma on a day trip from Bologna. Frequent trains take just under an hour. My first impression was that of a pleasant, liveable city. Certainly compared to Bologna and its porticoes that block the daylight, Parma feels more spacious and inviting with green areas and many benches to sit on.

I started my explorations by crossing a bridge to Oltretorrente, the quarter at the “other” side of the river. Here is where the Garden Palace of the Dukes of Parma was built. It lies in a large French garden, with a lot of chestnut trees already turning to their autumn color.

Back in the town center, I made my way to the Piazza Duomo – the square with the Cathedral, the Baptistery, and other important buildings. It has superficial similarities with the WH designated square in Modena. The cities are only 60km apart, so it is not strange that they both used pink Verona marble to construct their most important buildings. Both cathedrals are …

While touring the 16th Street Baptist Church, the docent shared stories of segregated Birmingham and the challenges of integration. One of the docents was part of the "Children's Crusade" demonstrations which gathered around 16th Street Baptist Church. Under Alabama law, demonstrators who protested racial segregation were arrested. Police dogs, high-pressure firehouses were used to disrupt these protests, which should be noted were often occurring in or around the 'Black Business District'. My spouse, who only recently became a US citizen was astonished by the extent of the racially segregated architecture, town-planning, and landscape design in Birmingham. She is not unfamiliar with American History, but the racially-based system generally is understood at the surface level (restrooms, schools, restaurants, public pools, drinking fountains). In fact, the boundary of the 'Black Business District' in Birmingham abuts the 16th Street Baptist Church. The grid of Black Birmingham is not hard to trace. In January 2017, Barack Obama designated 15th-17th streets a National Monument, which includes the 16th Street Baptist Church, Kelly Ingram Park, Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, A.G. Gaston Hotel (newly restored), the Masonic Temple, and Bethel Baptist Church (the later component is 3 miles away). Today, the 16th Street Baptist Church is most associated with and known domestically for the KKK domestic terrorist bombing that killed 4 young girls as they put on their choir robes for Sunday School. The church itself looks "fortress-like" and it is a marvel that it withstood 19 sticks of dynamite fully intact. The docents go …

As I was starting to review I noticed the tentative site already has two thumbs up, but I didn't really think it's worth seeing so I took a bit longer to think about if I'm wrong about it, re-read the document and in the end - one big problem with it that stops me from recommending it.

So first off, Rijal (Rojal) Almaa has a rich history. A natural trade center between many destinations settled right here in the mountains. Second, military reasons with a long list of armies stationed here, what battles were fought, not my kind of thing but ok so it's historically important. However, that's still not what made me dislike it.

When you arrive at the village the first thing you will notice is how clean everything is, how museum-like the setup is. It's all "too" perfect. I have this strong feeling that, welp, it's been rebuilt? Restored too well? There is no way this village is ancient in the state it is now. Plus they ARE some modern houses thrown into the mix here and there, you can easily spot them in my picture at the back row. Have you ever visited a mine and they put these puppets or wooden mannequins around, well I was sort of expecting that for a real theme park experience but I got spared that.

My next though? Hang on, did I get the wrong village? Nope... a search online gave me the same pictures, and …

Starting our tour at the "Moravian Museum of Bethlehem - 1741 Gemeinhaus" we learned about the industrious and comparatively forward-thinking Moravian Community at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Our tour guide was a practicing Moravian since moving to Bethlehem in the 1970's and was happy to answer all of our questions. At the Moravian Blacksmith Shop (which is a reconstruction) a blacksmith demonstrated for visitors the process and skills of the trade during the 18th century. As we visited on Saturday, July 3rd, 2021 the town was really bustling with activity, though not overly busy.

The early years of the Moravians in Bethlehem were defined by communal living. The primary purpose of the community was their missionary work. Their progressive educational system and medicinal practices became well-known and were even put to use to treat an injured Marquis de Lafayette in September 1777, who recuperated at the Sun Inn, located on Main Street just North of the Moravian Bethlehem Welcome Center. We enjoyed walking Church Street, the Moravian College grounds, God's Acre, Main Street, and the Colonial Industrial Quarter adjacent to the Monocacy Creek. We spent about 3 hours and then visited the nearby SteelStacks. 

As a transnational site, I feel the original WHS is greatly enhanced. The Historic Moravian Bethlehem District in Pennsylvania is the first historic district inscribed in the United States.

This site is used everywhere around Rheinland Pfalz to promote tourism. While the Jewish communities in those towns may have been of great importance for the European Jews the main story that sticks in your mind after your visit is the horrible and repeated persecutions those communities had to suffer. Even the buildings you see now are all reconstructions after destructions in different periods what makes you feel embarrassed as a European of christian background and you cannot help but be reminded of the Third Reich. The fact is that there was horrible Antisemitism in the 19th C. (just remember Dreyfuss as one example) and that today synagogues in most European countries need protection from military or paramilitary staff.

Therefore the age of the buildings varies greatly and some parts are reconstructions from the 20th century since the Nazis didn't spare any jewish sites. My first and best visit was in Speyer. After visiting the magnificent cathedral and the wonderful Trinity church I went to the Jewish museum: I remember a small exhibition, the ruined but still impressive remains of the synagogue and mainly the wonderful mikweh, the best preserved I have visited. It leads you quite deep to the small pool and is embellished with romanesque arches. This is for me the best element of the this WHS. 

The visit to Worms was last year and more difficult. I was amazed how badly organized and signed the site was considering the big hopes and efforts they made …

While visiting Poplar Forest, I was struck by the absurdity of an extension called "Thomas Jefferson Buildings", this is not to hold judgement on the components themselves. I would be deeply disappointed to see Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville be renamed to "Thomas Jefferson Buildings". Its true that Jefferson is the master architect, creating detailed and meticulous blueprints of virtually everything at the Academic Village, Monticello, and Poplar Forest. It is equally true that the Master Building and Woodworking was done by James Dismore and John Hemings with most communication/instructions from the architect done via letter. Mr. Hemings was a slave with 75% European ancestry and the half-brother of Sally Hemings, the mother of at least 6 of Jefferson's mixed-race children.

"He (John Hemings) was principal assistant to James Dinsmore, the Irish joiner responsible for most of the elegant woodwork in the Monticello house. Hemings succeeded Dinsmore as head joiner in 1809, making fine furniture for Jefferson, including cabinets, chairs, and tables. He alone crafted much of the interior woodwork of Jefferson's house at Poplar Forest in Bedford County, Virginia." - Thomas Jefferson Encyclopedia

"Poplar Forest is a rural retreat designed by Jefferson, the finishing details of which were largely executed for him by his slave John Hemings beginning before Jefferson retired from the U.S. presidency in 1809." - UNESCO Description

Simply calling these components "Thomas Jefferson Buildings" in commonality with "The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright" or "The Architectural Work of Le …

I know Telč very well and since childhood I have visited it at least once a year. Surprisingly, I realized only recently that Telč is one of the best WHS in Czechia, because I took it as a standard small Czech town and overlooked its outstanding values.

The town houses around the triangular square maybe do not stand out by themselves, but their qualities lay in their compactness, or how to call it. They are only seemingly uniform, but in fact they have been constructed and changed throughout several centuries. The same is true for the castle. It has been founded in middle ages, but the most significant is its Renaissance reconstruction in 16th Century. It resulted in the masterpiece comparable to Italian originals. The castle is under extensive reconstruction till Summer 2022, and I am looking forwards to visiting it after its re-opening. Besides the beautiful renaissance castle chapel, there are three churches in the Telč town center: late gothic St. Jacob close to the castle (PHOTO - top/left), nearby Church of the Name of Jesus built in baroque style for Jesuits order with adjacent college (PHOTO - top/right), and the oldest structure in Telč - Holy Spirit Church. Its tower has Romanesque windows from the first half of 13th Century (PHOTO - bottom).

However, none of the churches as well as the town houses are exceptional by themselves (in contrast to the castle chapel, arcades and interiors, which are outstanding). The outstanding quality of Telč can …

I visited Hopewell Culture National Historical Park - Mound City (early evening) and Newark Earthworks - Great Circle (just after sunrise). Besides what I explored, Seip Earthworks is considered and often recommended as the other key remnant of "Hopewell Culture". The other components, while important archaeological sites are perhaps more for completists.

As Mound City is managed by the National Park Service the interpretation is quite good and as I arrived just before a major storm, I had a personal guide for a full hour before the downpour began. We began at the short nature trail, highlighting the native plants, including what would and would not have been present a millenia ago. As you approach the Scioto River, there are interpretive panels worth reading. An exceptional fact of "Hopewell" is that in Ancient North America, the rivers were the "highways" of their time. Scioto River connects to the Ohio River, the Ohio River connects to the Mississippi River, the Mississippi River connects to the Missouri River, and the Missouri River connects to Yellowstone River. There is a place called "Obsidian Cliff" in Yellowstone National Park (a National Historic Landmark), which includes panels about its importance to indigenous people (most visitors drive right by which is understandable). Obsidian from this cliff in Yellowstone has been found in archeological digs at Hopewell. The "Great Circle" at Newark is impressive, yet doesn't have the same amount of interpretation as the National Historic Park, which these sites really benefit from. Arriving just after …

This is not a review about what you see, but about how to do it without a car. Since I don't drive, I knew from the beginning that I would need to hitchhike. This was August 2020 and although not all the sites were open or they were already fully booked (as was Cap Blanc when I called, several days before going), I assumed that fully booked meant tourists, hence people I should be able to convince to take me, in spite of the mask. I based myself in Bordeaux and the initial idea was easy: take morning train to Les Eyzies via Périgueux, visit the museum + Cro-Magnon, reach Rouffignac and Lascaux (I had booked a few days before a tour in French for Lascaux II at 5 pm), then evening train Sarlat to Bordeaux. 

However, I only managed to get 4 hours of sleep the night before (I was coming from Lyon) and wasted time packing in the morning, so when I checked the timetable board at St Jean, I saw my train had left 3 minutes before. I was so drowsy that I couldn't even panic. Luckily, the next train to Périgueux was coming soon and I used the same ticket. From there, the first stop was at the tourist office, who told me I couldn't make it ('watch me'), then to the cathedral (which is a WHS as parts of Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France) and lastly I crossed Pont Saint-Georges and started …

Frankly, I am a sucker for wooden churches, so much so that I see myself as biased and would implore you to not take my judgements at face value. For instance, I generally loath serial sites. And yet with wooden churches, I am delighted that Eastern Europe is full of them and I get to see even more in the future.

I have spent some time reflecting why I like wooden churches so much. Visits tend to be brief (30min tends to be a lot), the artistry rather simple ... And still I enjoy these visits more than the big run of the mill, awe inspiring cathedral. Or the absolutist Baroque palace. Or...

What I like about Wooden Churches is that these rarely are the buildings of the elite. These are village churches built by the local population with the limited means they had at their disposal. And yet they vary and each has an individual story to tell. While the artistry may be simple, it tends to be sincere and personal.

With this in mind I set out to visit the Wooden Churches of Maramures. Maramures is the Northwestern most region of Romania. Historically, it used to span into what is now Southwestern Ukraine. Nowadays, it's somewhat of a backwater.

Coming as a day trip from Cluj I visited the two easiest to reach churches: Plopis and Surdesti. Both are a 20min drive from Baia Mara and in viewing distance of each other. The Plopis …

I visited the Flow Country by train in July of 2021, taking the 07:00 ScotRail service from Inverness to Wick. It took 3.5 hours to cover the distance to Forsinard, which is only 100 kilometres or so as the crow flies but the railway twists and turns mostly following the coast with a few long detours inland. There are some great views of the sea on one side and hills on the other along with a brief glimpse of Dunrobin Castle through the trees and barrels upon barrels of whisky stacked high at Glen Morangie to tick off some Scottish stereotypes. A day return ticket from Inverness to Forsinard cost £24.60, which is surprisingly cheap for a train journey of this distance in the UK but this is hardly a busy commuter service. Indeed, most of the Far North Line is single track and many of the stations are stops by request only. However, all trains stop at Forsinard as a rare section of double track here allows trains to pass each other. The step-down from the train to the platform here is the largest I have seen, more of a jump than a step.

What was once the station building is now a free-of-charge visitor centre but, the pandemic being as it is, I did not venture inside. Instead, just south of the station, a boardwalk led out across the peatlands. Following the boards offered a sighting of a couple of lizards basking in the sun along with …

Once a mighty force, the Tangut Empire... wait, who?! If you have heard of the Tangut Empire before you must have either been to the tombs before, be a Chinese History major or maaaaybe just picked up tiny bit of info on it in some museum or wikipedia. Well, so the Tanguts had an empire from 1038 to 1227 in northwestern China (this according to Wikipedia). The empire got totally destroyed by the Mongols and traces of it vanished until the 20th century when the imperial tombs where discovered near Yinchuan, Ningxia, which was the empire's former capital.

The tombs are a quick 30min cab ride from the city center (rail station). Upon arrival you are greeted by a massive visitor center/museum that makes any city's town hall look small. The museum isn't actually that big and only has a few halls. The ceilings are just so massive and want to seem imposing, perhaps because the tombs stand tall too (or maybe the cinema takes up so much space, I didn't go inside)? Yinchuan is super hot in summer so staying in the cool museum is very welcoming. You also get a great introduction to the Western Xia (Xī Xià), see many artifacts, get you ready to see the real thing later. Well, let's be fair, the imperial tombs are a not the greatest to see from the outside.

After having seen everything in the museum you can trek through an underpass to the opposite side …

Following in Hubert's footsteps and not withstanding his two merciless reviews of the two eastern Hungarian world heritage sites, I combined a visit of Tokaj with a visit of the Puszta, i.e. Hortobagy. Now, in German comparing a place to the Puszta is never a compliment. It evokes flatness and dullness and general boredom. So, even discounting Hubert's review, I wasn't hoping for much.

Interestingly, the Hungarians have marketed the Puszta quite strongly to tourists. Hungary was already a tourist destination for western tourists before the Iron Curtain came down. Visits to the mystical Puszta were then (and still are) popular day trips for visitors to Lake Balaton or Budapest. Just google Puszta Day Trip. You get to see the traditional Hungarians living authentic traditional lives, riding traditional horses, sitting in traditional carriages... A true authentic experience.

To make sense of the Puszta, I think it's worth to go back a bit in history to the founding of Hungary. Hungary forms the western most part of the Eurasian steppe: the Hungarian Plain. The Eurasian steppe was for millennia ruled by horse nomads with wave upon wave entering Europe. There were the Scythians, the Huns, the Goths, the Avars, the Bulgars, the Mongols and many more.

These horse nomads would run into two problems over time. First and immediate, the mountains of central Europe (Carpathians, Alps) were not suited to horse archer warfare. Second, they would lose their edge over time and either the settled people such as …

I climbed Fujisan back in 2014, and it was the absolute highlight of my Tokyo stay.

I came vastly unprepared and didn't find the hike that difficult, although it should be noted that we had some perfect weather that day. We climbed from the 5th until the 8th station, where we had dinner and a quick sleep.

In the middle of the night, we woke up and climbed the rest until the summit. That's actually one of my fondest travel memories ever, seeing the Tokyo city lights in the distance and the stars above, almost becoming one, and the silent procession moving upwards. It was mystical, magical.

The much-awaited sunrise at the top was also nice, although it was freezing up there. The descent through long ash paths was easier, but I did take my time due to a bit of vertigo.

We picked our way through the low dunes to a suitable spot on the sand where we could spread out our picnic blanket. Keeping a wary eye on the ever-circling gulls we unwrapped our fish and chips, an impulse purchase after a long sunny day. The heat had died down slightly and the Conwy river flowed swiftly out through its wide estuary before us, sailboats straining at their anchor ropes. Thickly wooded hills rose beyond the estuary and the sun danced off water, mast and tower. For the walls and towers of Conwy stood opposite, the very picture of a classic movie castle. The view before me was deeply romantic – and yet also a symbol of oppression.

When imagining the high middle ages I find it helps to view the period through the lens of gangster movies. There is inevitably a complex web of family alliances and feuds, sealed by marriage or just temporary expediency, punctuated by sudden outbursts of bloody conflict, with just a handful of literal kingpins at the top striving for supremacy. For the purposes of this metaphor King Edward I of England is the Don. He came to the throne in 1272 aged 33 having lived through the chaos of a major baronial uprising against his father’s rule. His first acts as king were devoted to reforming the administration of his kingdom. Wales was not a priority for him. Much of the south and east of what is now Wales was ruled by …