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If you like me have ever wondered what made Athens stand out among its contemporary rival Greek city states, Ancient Lavrion may provide the answer. In the hills of the Attika peninsula, roughly 50km South of Athens was a huge mining area where several ores could be mined: copper, lead and most importantly silver. The silver wealth supported the Athenians in resisting the Persian invasions. It also enabled the Athenians to mint their own coins, the Athenian Tetrhadrachmon.

The mines predate classical Greece by millenia. It seems there were mining operations already in neolithic times (3000 BCE). However, after the Peloponnesian War the mines were closed as the infrastructure had been destroyed.

I visited as a day trip from Athens. I came in the afternoon to Cape Sounion where I visited the stunning Poseidon Temple. From there, I hiked into the hills, a bit in hurry due to the scheduling of my bus connection back to Athens. When I made it to the archeological site (or one of these) it was closed. Lucky for me, the whole area is dotted with mines and ruins. So many indeed, that there are plenty of warning signs instructing you not to venture off into the countryside as you may fall into hidden mine shafts etc.

OUV

If inscribed as proposed, this would be one of the sites where plenty of visitors can set a tick without being aware that they visited. Cape Sounion with it's Poseidon Temple is …

Monaco was my penultimate country to visit in Europe (only Moldova is left now). This tiny city-state has no WHS but it does have a transboundary candidate: the Mediterranean Alps. Monaco has been heading this proposal, allowing its partners Italy and France to have another go in the same year. In 2019, the 3 countries withdrew their nomination after a negative advice by IUCN. The idea is still alive though, it has a dedicated website and news reports suggest that they are aiming for the WHC of 2021.

When I zoomed into what this site entails for Monaco, it transpired that the Principality only participates in 1 of the 8 locations that comprise this TWHS. Furthermore, its contribution is only marine and that marine zone starts way off Monaco’s coast, kilometers far into the territorial waters. Probably because otherwise the anchored yachts of a Saudi prince or Roman Abramovich would have been affected or Prince Albert’s land reclamation efforts disturbed? To consider this a Monégasque nomination is a farce in my opinion.

To get a feel anyway for location 6 of this TWHS, the territorial waters between Cap Ferrat and Canyon della Roya, I hiked from the train station of Carnolès to Monte Carlo via Cap-Martin. Here, a few "Caps" or headlands border the nominated sea area. I used the former custom officer’s path, which has been relabelled ‘Promenade le Corbusier’ as it passes his Le Cabanon.

The day before I had already noticed how hot it …

I visited Gdansk in August 2020 after a detour to Gdynia which turned out to be a wise choice as the only huge traffic jams I encountered in Poland during the COVID-19 crisis were the several lanes from Torun or Warsaw towards Gdansk and the Baltic Sea. Having driven quite early to Gdynia avoiding the main roads, I luckily skipped all the traffic and on the way back to Gdansk, the traffic flow was fine. If you travel by car, there's ample paid parking spaces next to the Gdansk shipyard area or next to the European Solidarity Centre and you can pay using a credit card if you're short of zloty coins.

With a bit of prior preparation, I opted to visit solo and follow the 13 'sites' along the Imperial Shipyard Route to learn about the rich history of the once inaccessible imperial shipyard and the unique history of the Gdansk shipyard and the strike in August 1980 which made this area famous all over Europe (so much so that the place is marked as "Europe starts here") if not worldwide. Most of the shipyard is still pretty much operative and at times it feels a bit awkward to roam around freely in somebody's active workplace, but on the whole the workers seem to have got used to it. There are permanent exhibitions on Solidarnosc as well as temporary exhibitions which are changed every now and then. I particularly liked the robot invasion exhibition made up of mechanical …

While humans have put manure of fields for millenia, it was never fully understood why that actually worked. It was in the 19th century that a German chemist, Justus von Liebig, showed the benefits of plant nutrients; he is referred to as the "father of the fertilizer industry". The initial fertilizer used in the 19th century was guano which had to be imported from South America and which had limited availability. So, plenty of researchers were looking for a way to produce fertilizers instead of mining them.

At the beginning of the 20th century a Norwegian chemist, Kristian Birkeland, developed a process, the Birkeland-Eyde Process, named after him and his business partner, Sam Eyde. The process required loads of energy and they set about to use hydropower to commercialize it. The first factory was at Notodden close to a hydropower plant. A company town grew around it. Eventually, the energy consumption exceeded what was available at Notodden and production was shifted up into the mountains to Rjukan where more hydropower was available. In the process, the whole landscape between Notodden and Rjukan was transformed. A railway including a rail ferry had to be built, several factories, a company town, hydropower plants... The scope of the business venture is mind boggling. In the end, though, the Birkeland-Eyde process fell out of use. The Bosch-Haberer process required less energy and is what is in use nowadays.

I had the pleasure to have Randi and Svein take me to …

I visited this tentative WHS in August 2020 as a slight detour from the Gdansk tentative WHS and Malbork Castle WHS. If the former two manage to get inscribed Gdansk would become a WHS hotspot.

The Modernist Centre of Gdynia is apparently trying to seek inscription on similar grounds as the Chaux-de-Fonds/Le Locle WHS in Switzerland or the Le Havre WHS in France, i.e. a uniform urban complex developed in the 1920s till present days as a result of a unique and dynamic process of city construction. Gdynia combines features of traditional urban composition (an orthogonal street grid inscribed into the fanned landscape) with buildings that incorporate progressive housing solutions (ensuring access of light and air). The port city's design was based on the idea of opening the city to the Baltic Sea with the Southern Pier serving as a promenade and with general access to open port spaces (a marina, a passenger and short sea shipping harbour). The heart of Gdynia's urban layout can be 'appreciated' mostly by modern architecture/planning enthusiasts by walking along Ludego Street from the railway station to Kosciuszko Square and the Southern Pier.

As a non-enthusiast of modern architecture in general, but judging from other similar WHS or non-WHS I've visited, after visiting Gdynia I can say that no one building stood out and even as a modern urban layout I felt there was nothing unique or any value added gained should Gdynia ever make it on the WH list. Perhaps, Poland would …

Desperate times call for desperate measures. So when Ivan and I got stuck in Russia for a progressively longer and longer time, we started not only revisiting old Russian WHSs, but thought about visiting the new ones too. Not many left, but we did what we could and Ivan planned a week-long trip along regions of Russian Far East.

Having been to Kamchatka and Lena Pillars already, it was Sikhote-Alin Natural reserve that remain to be visited. Your hub will be Vladivostok. From there, there are three ways of getting in and out of Terney, a gateway to the park. One is comfortable, another two are weatherproof. September is said to be the best weatherwise, so we chose the comfortable one - with a small De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter aircraft on a daily line between Vladivostok and Terney, operated by Aurora Airlines, a subsidiary of Aeroflot. Prices are subsidized by the government and a plane ticket (2600 rubles) is actually cheaper than 14-hour bus ride (3000 rubles). The bus to and from Vladivostok departs twice a day: in the morning and in the evening. Alternatively you can rent a car in Vladivostok and drive yourself (11 hours approx. without stops) but the roads are quite ghastly, especially between Dalnegorsk and Terney. 

We flew to Terney, but our return flight from Terney got cancelled due to bad weather - airport has a dirt-road of a landing strip and if it rains it gets muddy thus impossible to …

I visited this WHS in August 2020. Perhaps because I had too high expectations, I felt Torun was a bit of a let down in terms of its OUV, especially when compared to other Hanseatic League WHS. Torun, one of the oldest cities in Poland, in my opinion is also one of the weakest of the 'Seven Wonders of Poland'.

That said, even though none of the main sites really stand out on their own, the whole ensemble offers a very pleasant visit by the Vistula river. Torun is the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, and just in front of the 13th century Gothic Old Town Hall, you'll see a statue dedicated to the astronomer and there's also 'his' house which can be visited. Next to the entrance, there's a UNESCO WHS plaque on the wall and another one one the floor. It is also possible to climb the tower for a panoramic view of the old town.

Another enjoyable view is from the opposite bank of the Vistula river, especially at sunset. Quite similar to Wismar, Germany, are the red brick churches, namely the Torun Cathedral and the gem of Torun - the Church of St. James (also on the Way to Santiago de Compostela in Poland!). All entrances to the churches were free and really worth entering if only for a quick peek to see the Gothic polychrome murals and the 14th century Gothic Cross with the Tree of Life. After a full day of exploring, I …

Ribeira Sacra is the official candidate site for Spain in 2021. The name could translate into “Sacred river bank” for the high number of churches and monasteries that were built over centuries along the Sil and Minho rivers. In this area of Galicia, these two rivers run in deep valleys, which sometimes look like canyons. First Christian hermits settled there in the 6th century, looking for remote and difficult to reach places, a tradition that originates from Middle East. Monasteries were then built at different periods, in different styles, and one of them is still active today. The nomination file focuses on this aspect of continuous occupation for religious purposes and claim it was the first area to develop in such way in Europe. The nominated area covers the canyons of Minho and Sil rivers until the point where they merge, plus three additional small areas with one monastery each, a few kilometres apart.

We first visited San Pedro de Rocas monastery. This is the oldest settlement of the nomination and the church was partly dug into the rock, as the name says it. It was first mentioned as early as 573 AD. The church was closed when we visited, but you can easily look inside through the grid that closes the entrance and appreciate how walls and rocks mix ; plus you can also freely walk around the buildings and spot medieval tombs carved into the rock, take a picture of the bell tower built on top of …

Mount Karkom is one of the most mysterious and interesting sites in Israel, But also, one of the least known and most rarely visited.

Mount Karkom is a Table-Shaped mountain with an altitude of 840 meters ASL that rises very steeply, 200 meters above the surrounding landscape, and is clearly visible from afar. It is situated in a remote location in the Negev Desert in Israel and can be reached only on foot. But, reaching it on foot is not an easy task. First, you have to reach the desert town on Mitspe Ramon. From there you will need to drive an additional 80 Km. Most of the way is on rough dirt roads that can be managed only with a 4WD vehicle. From the foot of the mountain, it's a short but steep 5-10 Km hike to tour the mountain. To make it more difficult, the mount Karkom is located in the middle of an IDF training zone that is closed to the public most of the year. It is open for travelers on the Hanukah holiday (1 week in December), and on Passover (1 week in April). Given all these limitations, one can understand why even most Israeli's had never visited it.

I was lucky to visit it during a four days mountain bike journey from Mitspe Ramon to Eilat. During the 2nd day of the journey, we parked our bikes at the foot of the mountain and made a truly memorable hike to the summit …

After the first partition of Poland in 1772, L'viv (Polish Lvov, German Lemberg) became part of Austrian Empire and was the capital of the region of Galicia. It would grow to be the 4th largest city of first the Austrian, then the Austrian-Hungarian Empire. Walking around it's old town today, you clearly see the Austrian influence in the architecture: It's feels like a small Vienna, quite out of place this far east.

While the Austrians, initially tried to Germanize the region, they never succeeded. Eventually, Polish became the administrative language spoken in the city by the Polish elite, while Ruthenian (Ukrainian) was the language of the countryside and the peasant population. It's a role reversal compared to cities further west where Polish was the peasant language while German the language of the city elite.

After the 2nd World War Stalin forcibly resettled the Polish (west) and Ukrainians (East) populations. The Polish replaced the Germans of Silesia that were expelled and had to migrate further west. This is why, if you are in Wroclaw (Breslau) you will find restaurants serving Lemberg/Lvov cuisine.

Wandering the streets of L'viv you feel like you can see a glimpse of the glory of the Austrian empire. This was a vibrant, cosmopolitan city, with Jews/Jiddish, Armenians, Polish, German, and Ukrainian influences. The Armenian church is a true gem as is eating at an authentic Jewish/Jiddish restaurant. It all ended due to World War 1.

L'viv rivals other central and eastern …

My impression of this site was personally 5-star, but I'm also relatively new to UNESCO sites and may not have a great standard for comparison.

I had just quit a job in Saudi Arabia and asked that my visa remain open a bit longer (since I'd never get one again), and immediately set my sights on Madain Saleh (the actual Nabatean part of the site). Getting there was not easy, especially since you need to somehow first get a Saudi visa - good luck if you're not on Hajj or an oil/diplomatic worker. A site visit permit was also required back in 2010.

From Riyadh, I flew to Medina, rented a car - carefully avoiding the Haram area where non-Muslims can't enter - and headed north. Or, that was the intent, since a white guy driving alone is uncommon enough that the National Guard stopped me while they figured out what to do. After a confusing phone call with one guardsman's brother, I learned I'd need a police escort to continue driving to Al-Ula, where the site is located. One hour and a lunch break later, I was following a rotating cast of police cars for the next four hours.

Once in Al-Ula, things were still weird: I couldn't leave my hotel "for my safety". At least the tour itself was wonderful: a personal guide met me at the hotel and we drove off to the site. Got to visit all the high points throughout the largely …

I visited several sites along the Southwest Coast and Vicentina Route in Algarve and Alentejo in July 2020, ranging from Sao Torpes, the northernmost point, to Sagres, the southernmost point, and from Cabo do Sao Vicente, the westernmost point, to Burgau, the easternmost point.

I haven't been to the US Pacific Coast Highway like Kyle Magnuson, but I have been to the Great Ocean Road in Australia and even though the drive per se is not comparable, the geological aspects and rugged coastline and formations certainly are. The pristine condition and the scale of (most of) this Atlantic coastline in Europe, mostly devoid of urban sprawls or eyesores is definitely unique in Europe. It represents about 362 million years of the Earth's history, showcasing the development stages of sedimentary basins with vast preserved fossil records, dinosaur trackways (at Salema beach) and associated magmatism corresponding to the Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic eras.

I recommend checking out some of the highlight hiking or cycling routes on https://rotavicentina.com/en/. So as to cover as much ground as possible over a number of days, we drove to several key points of interest and did some short hiking loops or stretches and/or beach hopping combined with panoramic viewpoints.

Of the many we visited, I'll describe with to us were highlights for different reasons. For a good mix of culture and nature, the best area for us was the stretch near Aljezur and its castle. The Circuito de Praia de Odeceixe hike from the …

I arrived from France by car via the Col des Roches pass, after having visited Besançon and the Royal Saltworks. Given the limited time I had and due to the Covid-19 crisis, I decided to skip any museums or other indoor exhibitions (apart from a short elevator ride in the Espacité building) and to take advantage of the sunny weather to focus on architecture and urban planning. Thus, all places described as follows had free entry.

I drove to La Chaux-de-Fonds first (in case you don't have a Swiss motorway vignette and plan to just see the two listed towns and return to France afterwards, you may want to avoid the 1,000 meters of motorway between the towns by exiting the A20 in Le Crêt du Locle). Parking is mostly free in both communities but requires a parking disc. I started my tour at Le Crématoire, a fine example of local Art Nouveau. It is not located within the core zone. After having seen the Cure catholique romaine du Sacré-Coeur, I followed the recommendation of several other WHS community members and took the elevator up to the top of the Espacité building for a bird's eye view of this planned city. After a short walk to the Grand Temple, I continued with the Villa Jeanneret-Perret, also known as Maison Blanche, one of Le Corbusier's earlier works but not included in the "Le Corbusier WHS" (he was born in La Chaux-de-Fonds as Charles-Edouard Jeanneret). I liked the fact that one …

I visited this WHS in July 2020. It is actually made up of 4 components, the Tapada hunting grounds some 7km away from the Mafra Palace-Convent, the Cerco garden and the Basilica which are next to each other.

The Jardim do Cerco is a Baroque garden just next to Mafra Palace and is open everyday. There is an aviary containing a variety of birds, a fountain, a herb garden and a children’s playground but nothing really special or world heritage material. It is a pleasant garden to keep in mind just after visiting the Mafra Palace and going back to the paid parking area.

The Basilica and the Mafra Palace-Convent are open every day except Tuesdays. The basilica is free to visit while a visit inside the palace and convent will cost you 6 euros (with the possibility of paying 5 euros to only visit the courtyard terrace which really doesn't make any sense). Since I slept over in Mafra, I was the first and only visitor at 9am and had the enormous place to myself (apart from the huge amount of cleaners needed to keep this huge palace spotless).

After passing through the infirmary, the kitchens and the convent cells, I went through a never ending list of rooms. Unlike other palaces on the WH list such as Caserta or Versailles, this one is more like a less opulent huge mansion than a proper palace. The throne room or audience room is one of the most …

Thanks to plentiful cod in the sea around the Lofoten, the Lofoten saw a huge influx of fishers each winter. From January to March each year is cod season and fishers would come past the polar circle for catching them. They would then be hung up to dry and sold South.

On the Lofoten, small fishing villages developed where fishers could land and sleep (rorbuer). Nowadays, you can rent their huts for staying yourself. These fishing villages are tucked against the mountains that form the backbone of the Lofoten. It's this combination of fishing villages and nature that marks the magic of the Lofoten.

OUV

The Lofoten would easily be Norway's second best WHS (after the fjords). OUV would be gorgeous nature combined with the fishing activities. The villages and huts are just iconic. And the views... I would probably rate it 4-4.5 stars. Similar sites I have seen so far would be Fjordland in New Zealand and Los Glaciares in Argentina, both of which I would rate higher. Fjordland is more unspoiled nature and covers a wider range of ecosystems. Los Glaciares has Perito Moreno, Fitz Roy, ...

When it comes to the question what precisely will be inscribed, the current nomination site doesn't hold much information. I would guess the bird areas on the outer islands, the National Park and the traditional fishing villages should be part of the core zone. With Ryten and Nusfjord I covered two of three of these.

Getting …

La Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) is a very (if not the most) important university in Latin America, and its campus is gigantic. I honestly had not realised how big it was before exiting the train at the Universidad metro station. Because it is tremendously HUGE! I was expecting some clear paths leading to the center of the campus from the metro station. I only stumbled on a confusing maze of street vendors and food stands before only hitting fences. After some walk, I found a map of the campus and though: Great! I'll be able to find my way around it. Mistake. It was only the map of the Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia UNAM (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine UNAM), that alone has more than 20 buildings!

Nevertheless, I still made my way to main sights of the core zone. Despite the peaceful ambiance and the blooming Jacaranda, I was disappointed. As important as this university is, it did not appear special or unique to me. La Biblioteca Central, even though it might look like a giant owl or an oversized ghetto blaster, is an amazing piece of art and a valuable WHS. It is very beautiful and the murals made of thousands of colored tiles represent an extraordinary construction effort and a highly creative and innovative feat by Juan O'Gorman. Sadly, nothing else on the campus really stands out. Some buildings are worth mentioning: el Auditorio Alfonso Caso is notably beautiful. Unfortunately, the mural …

Visit august 2020

On the last day of our 10 day roadtrip on Iceland, we decided to visit this nature reserve, even though the weather forecast wasn’t too good. From Selfoss it’s a two hour drive to Landmannalaugur. The last stretch(30 km) is F208 (a gravel road) from the north. This is the easiest road for small 4x4 cars with no river crossings. If you have a car with small wheels you leave it at the parking lot about 0,5 km from Landmannalaugur as the last river crossing might be too tough. Lonely planet describes the area as mind-blowing with multicoloured, mountains, southing hot springs, rambling lava flows and clear blue lakes as one of Iceland’s most unique destinations and we agree. Part of Fjallabaki reserve includes the largest geothermal fields outside Vatnajökul. The place is great for hiking. We opted for a circular route, clearly marked with white colors. It was nice route through a canyon, crossing lava fields and past some geothermal areas. Great views of the colorful mountains. The hike was 5 km/1,5 h, not very strenuous. If you are into hiking, you might try the 5 days hike from Landmannalaugur to Þórsmörk , called Laugavegurinn.

On the way we made a stop at Hnausapollur Crater. You can drive up to edge of the crater, it is about 200 meters up the hill from the road. It is small sign, easy to miss. It’s a clear bluish lake in the crater, very photogenic! It seems …

Iceland isn’t a country to visit for its rich cultural heritage. It has Thingvellir as a cultural WHS, but that’s a cultural landscape with mostly intangible features. The capital Reykjavik has some modernist constructions of interest (the Hallgrímskirkja, several art museums and sculptures), but the rest of the country was quite poor and isolated until the beginning of the 20th century. A reminder of those times lies in the Turf House Tradition, a series of 14 locations on the Tentative List.

Most of those 14 properties lie close to the Ring Road. During my first attempt I was confronted with a closed gate at Keldur after driving 4 km on an unpaved road, so I decided to be more picky with the others as not all are welcoming tourists.

The first satisfying one lies 15 kilometers east of Skaftafell: the turf church Hofskirkja (pictured). It is the village church of the hamlet of Hof. This turf-roofed church, which is still in use, was built at the end of the 19th century. It is set in the middle of a contemporary cemetery, which is perhaps even more interesting than the church itself. Each grave lies beneath a small grassy mound.

My other visits are from the north of Iceland. The peat church Víðimýrarkirkja for example: its black-and-red exterior is the most beautiful of the series. It is accessible for most of the day, the caretaker seems to live next to it and he opened the church when he …

Alta has the second highest rating of all Norwegian sites. For me, it's a nice site, but not a truly great one. The great thing is to see how far early humans went and in what remote corners of the world we settled. But that doesn't really relate to the quality of the rock art. Personally, I enjoyed the rock art in Tanum or in Valcamonica better.

Speaking of Tanum, the use of paint to highlight the rock carvings has come under scrutiny. At least, in Alta they have decided to reduce paint, so only a limited set of rock art is painted nowadays.

Getting There

Alta itself is easiest reached by plane. There are several international connections, especially in winter to see the northern lights. I flew in from Tromso and flew out the same day to Oslo. Unfortunately, there are no left luggage facilities at the airport, so I ended up carrying it all day.

Alternatively, there is a almost daily 6h bus ride to Tromso. Under normal (pre Corona circumstances) I would assume you can also continue to Sweden and Finland.

From Alta airport, you can catch an hourly bus to the Alta Museum. Near Alta airport is also another location, but you would be well served to contact our resident rock art aficionado Samuel for details.

While You Are There

If you have some time to kill, you can hike Lille Raipas, a Struve site. Key problem is that …

Like everyone else here, I visited this site as part of a day trip from Mexico City coupled with Teotihuacán. I solely visited the 66 (or 68 as the information board next to the arches states) arches of la Archería Monumental de Tepeyahualco. This construction is highly impressive, but it still makes a short visit. I spent about 30 minutes walking around and under the arches. There is little to do once you've reach the site other than gazing at it. As most interesting facts about its history and significance have already been mentioned by previous reviewers, I will tell you more about the journey to get there which is also part of the fun.

I reached Teotihuacán by public transport and arrived just after opening. I highly advise anyone to do the same as we were only two tourists atop the Pyramid of the Sun. With such an early start, I was done with the ruins in early afternoon. I thought it would be easy to find a taxi at such a popular site (how wrong I was!). All taxis in the parking lot were waiting for customers and could not take me in. I thus left the parking lot and then walked north from the roundabout on the road linking all entrances to the ruins. Interestingly, the sidewalk on the left side of this street is lined with interpretive panels about the World Heritage. I hailed many taxis driving by, but all refused to take me to …