All our reviews

The archaeological site of Priene in Western Turkey is the opportunity to visit a middle size Hellenistic city from the last centuries BCE. There are no outstanding monuments like in other nearby inscribed sites, but all typical buildings of a city of that time can be visited : bouleuterion (the “city council room”), agora (main square), theatre (well preserved with many architectural details), temple of Athena (a few still standing columns, and many more on the ground floor…). This feeling of walking in an everyday, human size environment makes the experience different than visiting e.g. Ephesus or Aphrodisias, enhanced by the nice location of the site on the slope of a rocky hill and the more than welcomed shadow of pine trees. 

Priene is also famous for being one of the best and oldest surviving examples of a city build according to Hyppodamus of Miletus rules: straight streets crossing at right angles, dividing the city according to a grid pattern of identical areas. Remarkably, builders strictly adhered to that plan, and when the slope was too important, they transformed the street into stairs: nowadays visitors access the site via such a “stairs street”. The city was moved and rebuilt to its current location because the former one had been totally destroyed by war. Re building the city ex nihilo was a good opportunity to implement these new principles of urbanism (note that Milet is only a few kilometres from Priene).

Another important innovation is the design of the …

The location of the site is beautiful but the site itself can be tricky as the light can make the pictographs invisible, but when you do see them you feel vindicated for having checked out the museum and for waiting for the light to change. The boards which have been placed around the site are very helpful but the light on the rocks really does impact on what you can and can't see. The valley scenery is very evocative and, as we were alone on our walk around the site you can imagine the lives of the people living in the valley and the creators of the site.  

The campsite, whilst basic, is one of the best particularly because you can swim in the river which seemed to be the reason most other people were visiting the site. If you do make the visit to the site stay in the campsite, enjoy the river ( you just float with the current) and try and see the images in different lights. 

I visited Kotor area in July of this year on a day-trip from Dubrovnik. I first drove along practically entire perimeter of the uniquely-shaped bay to the town of Kotor, spent half a day there, then crossed the bay via ferry at its narrowest point, and stopped for a short time in the town of Herceg Novi (which is not part of the WHS proper but rather of its buffer zone).

The vistas around the bay are reminiscent of Italian lakes, only the mountains are higher and less lush, and the towns on average are less picturesque. The shores of the bay are dotted with historic fortifications, modern resorts, and relatively contemporary settlements. The town of Kotor that donated its name to the whole region is tucked away in the south corner of the eastern wing of the bay. In addition to headlining this WH site, its fortifications are separately inscribed as part of the serial Venetian Works of Defense property. The historic core of Kotor is a delightful maze of narrow streets that open up to occasional wide public spaces. Commercialization is unavoidable in a popular destination such as this, but somehow even the plethora of boutiques and souvenir shops do not make Kotor any less lovely. The churches of Kotor enjoy an explicit mention on the WH inscription, and a connoisseur of religious architecture will find several interesting examples of both Catholic and Orthodox churches to explore and compare.

The next most popular destination after Kotor …

Having just passed under the aqueduct by random chance on a quick subway ride, I must say the Agua Livres Aqueduct had quite an impact. Although it's true that many impressive aqueducts were made around the same time period as it, it is uniquely majestic as being situated in and serving the heart of a world-class city like Lisbon. If not on its own merits, I'd love to see the aqueduct with World Heritage status even as part of a more comprehensive Lisbon site, and I do think that design-wise, its vast arches are really quite a unique and graceful sight to behold.

Chiribiquete NP is off limits for everyone. There are uncontacted tribes within the park and it is our modern belief to have them make the choice to contact us instead. I have a pessimistic thinking that there will be forest fires eradicating the tribe before that happens.

Even with the national park so taboo there have been some expeditions into the park to view the rock art, by experts and by the evaluation team to inscribe it. That's about it. No road leads even close to the park. Update: as of mid 2019 flyovers are permitted and I saw this 3-4 day tour that includes a flyover AND the rock art visit which is probably the way to go. Just flying over from Bogota seems possible but all you will see is tree tops?

With all that out of the way, how did I "visit" the park? Well, of course I didn't. Not the core zone. There is a beautiful alternative to see the rock art north of the park. It still takes an overnight bus to San José del Guaviare, a local car to Cerro Azul by 4WD to see them, another day for nature, then another overnighter back to Bogota. This is done by a tour company from Bogota which I shall not mention in the review but gladly so in the forum on request. So the rock art is the "same" but this part is not inscribed. It probably should be, but it doesn't fit …

Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of the significance of the Scrovegni Chapel or the T-list site of Padua when I visited with my family back in April 2017. We visited the city for the sole purpose of seeing St. Anthony's grave, and I had just barely convinced my family to walk the few hundred meters to the Botanic Garden. Anyhow, the church was really interesting. I will guiltily admit that the paintings that the site is on the T-list for weren't the most memorable thing about the church, but it was interesting seeing the different architectural styles and artistic value, especially in the many side altars. Photography is not permitted, by the way, but apparently someone managed to sneak a nice picture of the whole church anyway. As with everyone else, I do believe in the undeniable OUV of the Scrovegni Chapel, which I hope to visit one day, but I also think that that Padua is a very beautiful and significant city that deserves World Heritage status other than just its lone monuments.

This serial nomination consists of 14 proprieties, assembled in six different groups. One group (The Upper Chui Valley with its three elements), is already on the WHS as part of the Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor Silk Roads.

I had the chance to visit some of those proprieties on my trip to Central Asia in June 2019

First, I headed with a rental car in the southeastern high-mountainous part of Kyrgystan, some 300 km from Bishkek, arounf the town of Naryn. It is where the first group (the nomadic monuments of Inner Tien Shan) lie. I visited two proprieties, Koshoi-Korgon and Tash-Rabat and had a quick look at a third one.

South east of Koshkor, on the way to Naryn, is the sacral mountain called Kochkor-Ata. I was not able to find any useful information about this propriety, apart from coordinate leading to the slope of a mountain. I just had a look at the mountains from the road by-passing the town of Koshkor, and try to imagine which one was sacred for the habitants with archaic beliefs later adapted for Islam.

An hour from Naryn is Koshoi-Korgon (lower picture), located at the foot of an impressive mountain range valley, at the altitude of 2500 m. It is located on the fringe of Kara-Suu village. It is a ruined square fortress 250 х 245 m long having been in function from the 9th to the 12the century. Walls are made of mud blocks, some of them …

The site focuses on the production of fertilizers by using hydro energy. At the core of this site are the Norsk Hydro production- and power plants, but also the Rjukan and Notodden company towns and the transport system between both towns (rail and ferry).

This probably isn’t a site that will appeal to many but because of mr. Kbecq’s professional interest in this industry we couldn’t visit Oslo without also visiting Rjukan and Notodden. We hired a car in Oslo and although it was winter (March) we made it to Rjukan without problems.

In Rjukan we first visited the Vemork power plant, a couple of kilometers outside Rjukan, which now houses the Industrial Workers museum. Despite the name, the museum mainly focuses on the heavy water production (for nuclear weapons) sabotage by the Norwegian resistance during WW II. The movie ‘The Heroes of Telemark’ (1965, with Kirk Douglas) is about these events and also shows the rail / ferry transports.  

Afterwards, we went to the centre of Rjukan and walked along the river where all the production facilities are located. Since most facilities are converted to office buildings, there is not that much to see but the location in the valley is nice. The building that stands out most is the Såheim power plant.

Our day ended with a ride on the Krossobanen (cable car) to the Hardangervidda plateau. From here, you have a magnificent view on Rjukan / the valley and on the Gaustatoppen mountain …

Coron is a haven. Seriously, it's got the scenic beauty, biodiversity, traditional culture, and the prices and atmosphere of a Philippine provincial town. Coron Island, the center of all the greatness of this place, can be reached by the many day tours offered by the even more numerous pumpboats at the pier of Coron town proper. Tours go to the island itself, as well as marine areas around the island and further outlying islands. Sites visited within the property include Kayangan Lake, Twin Lagoon, and Coral Garden among others. Lunch is usually done on one of the beaches of the island, nestled in the middle of walls of jagged limestone. I visited Coron back in October 2013, and I definitely want to go back. We took 3 different day tours via pumpboat to Coron Island, its surroundings, and some outlying islands like the Bulog sandbar, and each day was a day in paradise.

Coron is one of the most spectacular coastal/insular limestone areas in the world. While Ha Long may have more numerous islets and caves, Coron has lakes, lagoons, and rich pristine marine and land ecosystems. Kayangan Lake is definitely the highlight of the beauty of Coron. Climbing up from the shore, one would come across the best, most iconic view of the trip, looking back down towards the lagoons and sheer limestone cliffs of the island. After a steep trek down through the forest, we came to the beautiful green-tinged lake itself, surrounded by more limestone cliffs. …

Visit: April 2018. Sousse was certainly less touristy than I expected it to be, considering its position right in the all inclusive holiday zone of Tunisia. I assume it gets its fair share of tourists during high season, but mostly in form of tour groups. As individual travellers me and my son were the only western tourists during our morning visit. The highlights were the town wall and the fort (Riba) where you can climb all the towers to get a good view. I also enjoyed the Archaeological Museum (Kasbah) with a vast display of mosaics and the rather clean narrow streets of the old town. No hassling was going on, but this might have been caused by our (too) early arrival. I certainly liked Sousse more than the nearby boring Kairouan. Depending on how much you are interested in Arab cities, allow 3-5 hours to get a good overview.

I parked for free, close to the town walls. Parking anyway never turned out to be a a big problem in Tunisia, you just have to be a bit creative and leave you car where others do the same.

The town is close to the A1, so it’s easy accessed from Tunis. You might consider the area as a hub anyway as there are loads of hotels and 2 other WHS within easy reach.

I visited this WHS in July 2019. Seeing that our trip to St Kilda got cancelled on both days, I was determined to at least make up for it partially with a visit to Neolithic Orkney. So the day before my visit, I bought car ferry tickets for Jacob Choi and myself through the Northlink Ferry website. Even though on their website Northlink state that you have to be there 90 minutes before departure, in reality 45mins to 1hr should be enough especially on the way to Stromness from Scrabster.

That said, I didn't want to risk missing the ferry so at around 2am I was already driving from Stein in Skye to Scrabster via Portree. After the cattle grid areas full of sheep since it was lambing season, the roads were in a very good state and I only had to be careful of the occasional HUGE stags drinking near the waterstreams by the roadside and obviously stay awake. Jacob religiously followed Nan's and others' advice to make sure I remainied awake and after 5.5hrs of driving we made it to the Scrabster ferry point. The weather was gorgeous and after having a quick breakfast we saw the sun rise opposite the Holburn Head Lighthouse just a short walk from the ferry.

The car ferry from Scrabster took around 90 minutes to get to Stromness. Apart from being the only option if you want to travel by rental car, compared to the other ferries departing from John …

I visited this WHS in July 2019. Right from the start I must say that Allan did a fantastic job showing us around this beautiful city (as an experience it would definitely merit 5 stars!). Even though I had already visited the Royal Mile closes and alleys, Calton Hill at sunset (photo), St Giles Cathedral, the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the old and new towns including Dean Village, Allan's attention to detail and perseverance in typical Scottish (wet) weather, together with the great company of WH travellers, made this WHS truly memorable.

The most popular and in my opinion the best views of Edinburgh are undoubtedly from Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat at sunset. Even though very crowded, I was lucky with the weather upon arrival and the sunset views were so beautiful that there was an awkward silence as tourists gazed at the sun going down almost behind the Forth Bridge in the distance. Formed by violent volcanic activity around 340 million years ago and gouged by glaciers during the Ice Age, Calton Hill has a long and fascinating history. In 1724, the Town Council of Edinburgh purchased Calton Hill, establishing it as one of Britain's first public parks.

My favourite closes and alleys along the Royal Mile were Advocate's Close at night time with a sort of eerie view of Scott Monument, the old fishery close, the bakery close where the World Heritage Trust of Scotland is situated, and Wardrop's Court with its peculiar blue dragons. …

In April 2018, my trip to the Holy Land brought me to many T-list sites, but only one was truly a highlight for me. I still don't understand how this place isn't already a WHS as it's one of the finest Roman cities left in the world today. Of course, I'm talking about Jerash.

Jerash is an outstanding site in the Middle East. From the entrance to the North Theatre, it's around 2 kilometers' walk. And that's not the true end of the Roman city yet. The modern city of Jerash surrounds the archaeological complex on all sides, and it's still normal for its inhabitants to find artifacts and remains under their houses. The archaeological complex itself, though, is big enough and fascinating enough that I simply forgot about the modern city around. Either way, it doesn't take much imagination to bring back the Roman times when the ruins of Jerash were a center of trade and culture.

From the parking lot, I passed through a slightly annoying little tourist bazaar befire finally coming to the first landmark of Jerash: Hadrian's Arch. It towered high over all the visitors it welcomed to the great city. Its design is impressively intricate, especially the windows and the pediment. Going through the arch, I went on to the Hippodrome, which still has its chambers around it well-preserved. Across the trail is a Byzantine church with its mosaic floor still intact. I continue to the South Gate, the gate to what would …

The Primosten vineyards are apparently special because they manually removed rocks to cultivate the land. I doubt this will ever be a WHS. Croatia already has its fair share of boring agricultural landscape WHS with the Stari Grad Plain. What you will see is some vineyards that are not only indifferent from the other vineyards in this region, but also inaccessible. The hills where you can see the transformation are private property and you can only “admire” them from a certain distance. Not that you would miss much from getting closer.

When driving from Trogir to Sibenik, you will automatically pass by the vineyards. They are visible from the street. Primosten (the town) is a worthy stopover. It’s one of these Venetian island towns like Zadar or Trogir. I suggest you stop at the vineyards for 5 minutes and spend the rest in the old town. 

Here we go again, trying to inscribe more routes to Santiago de Compostela. I'm not a big fan of these inscriptions, especially when they're separated by national borders because although they definitely are significant in history and culture, it's strange to see all these minor sites inscribed on the basis of simply being in the right place for pilgrims to pass by throughout the centuries and nothing else. I'd prefer a shorter compilation of representative sites and sections of the route that show significance and good preservation of such significance to the route and to human history.

Funnily enough, as of the time of writing this review, I have only been through the French and Portuguese sites on the route, but not the Spanish. Anyway, I visited the Cathedral of Lisbon and Jeronimos Monastery back in May 2017. The cathedral was quite interesting with its Romanesque interior and 'Castelo São Jorge-esque' exterior, but I saw no signs of the route. The monastery, of course being a World Heritage Site in its own right, was truly remarkable, but that's a review for another day. Anyhow, neither visit, just like my visit to the French sites, really gave me the essence of the pilgrimage route to Santiago, as it seemed they were more of pilgrimage centers in their own right.

What else can you do in Iquique in early spring when the beach is still cold? Once you have visited Humberstone I asked the taxi to drop me off at Paseo Baquedano. It was already dark but it doesn't matter because I think the lights make it nicer than it really is. The northern side has many fancy restaurants (but overpriced), the clock tower/fountain combo (Torre de Reloj) which attracts a large group of Pokemon Go players for some reason, the pagoda and the teatro Tetro Municipal. They look recently polished. The further south you go the emptier it gets. There are still a few bars, one especially popular, but the building facades are also more run down. A few stand out as extravagant with balcony and columns but there are many generic ones.

It's a fancy pedestrian hangout but in no way wordly unique and I can't even see this being attached to the saltpeter WHS outside of town. Was definitely nice and worth a visit though.

There are dozens of ways to ‘do’ Lake Baikal. Previous reviewers already have highlighted the views from the Transsiberian Railway, its winter attractions and Olkhon Island. On my first day in the area, I did the touristy thing by taking a ‘Raketa’ ferry from Irkutsk via the Angara River to Listvyanka, walking on the boulevard along the lake, eating fried omul in the recommended Proshly Vek restaurant and visiting the Baikal museum. I actually had wanted to take the ferry all the way to Bolshie Koty (an isolated village only accessible on foot or via the lake), but that would have meant another 5 hours of entertaining myself without access to food or obvious attractions, something I did not look forward to after just finishing a 49-hour train ride with the same characteristics.

For the main part of my visit though, I focused on 1 of the 5 nature reserves that surround the lake and are part of the huge core zone as well. I had booked a tour to the Baikalsky Nature Reserve near Tankhoy, which meant a drive along the south side of the lake for some 250km. The lake is fully surrounded by mountains, so our first look at it was after crossing a mountain pass. From a vantage point near a restaurant, we did not only see the lake but also two railway tracks: one of them was the historic route around the lake and the other (the one higher up) the modern one. The …

I visited this WHS in July 2019 on several occasions before and after the 2019 WH meetup in Scotland. I visited from both sides of the Firth of Forth as well as from different vantage points such as the Forth Bridges Viewpoint (nothing special) and the view from the Forth Road Bridge.

For the latter, you have to sign in as a pedestrian or a cyclist and you can cross the road bridge with great views of the inscribed Forth Bridge. The true reason I visited the Forth Road Bridge was that I had read on the internet that a new UNESCO world heritage inscription plaque had been unveiled here. However, to my dismay, at the visitor centre I was informed that apparently UNESCO was against the plaque being put there and it was removed. Now there is another small UNESCO WHS plaque just behind the North Queensferry South Bay bus stop next to the inscribed bridge.

Designed by Sir John Fowler and Sir Benjamin Baker, construction of the Forth Bridge began in 1882 and it was officially opened in 1890. Creating the bridge consumed 55,000 tonnes of steel, 6.5 million rivets and 640,000 cubic feet of granite. There was also a human cost with at least 73 people known to have died while constructing the bridge and its approaches. When completed, Forth Bridge was the longest single cantilever railway bridge in the world. In 1963 the Forth Road Bridge was opened and it was the longest span …

As a Filipino, I must say I'm proud to have the Mayon Volcano in my country. It's just the most perfectly cone-shaped mountain in the world, I believe. In a land filled to the brim with active volcanoes, this is the standout, just by the sheer beauty of it, not to mention it's one of the tallest (2400+ meters) stand-alone mountains in the archipelago. It has been quite active in the past few years, but when I visited back in 2012, the only things covering the perfect cone were the constant clouds.

The main viewpoints are from the Cagsawa Ruins and the Daraga Church, both of which are worth a visit for the sites themselves, by the way. Even in Cagsawa, the vast deposits of volcanic rock already tell the geological story of the volcano. However, as the listing follows the Natural Park itself, I claim a visit to the site through a visit to the Mayon Planetarium, 800 meters above sea level up the slopes of Mayon. I cannot however provide a picture of this, as it was stormy, and the peak was still surrounded by the clouds, so we did not take any pictures of the mountain itself. The planetarium visit personally didn't add much of relevance to the volcano, but on a clear day, would give an amazing view of the peak, which looks perfect from any direction and angle. If this alone doesn't justify inscription, surely its geological value as an important aspect of the …

When we visited Malta in 2017, we really didn’t know what to expect. We stumbled on the temple complexes of Hagar Qim and Mnajdra, we were extremely surprised.

The megalithic temples in Malta are the oldest free-standing structures in the world, dating from 3000 B.C. We’ve been to old structures before: The Pyramids, Stonehenge, and even Ireland’s passage tomb. The megalithic temples of Malta are much, much older and were one of the most impressive things about Malta.

While impressive, the structures confused us. So much is unknown: who built them and what they were for. For us, the uncertainty took away from the impressiveness of these prehistoric structures.