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The "Villa" Gregoriana is actually not a villa, not even a building. Despite the naming and marketing, it is mainly the name for a hiking trail going through the valley of the river Aniene near the small town of Tivoli, which is better known for two other WHS sites, the more approriate named Villa Adriana and Villa D'Este. Although sometimes described as a park, the valley looks like a natural forest. There are some ancient remains, but they are so insignificant that they are barely worth mentioning. The river Aniene tumbles down the valley through various waterfalls, although most of the water is now redirected to avoid catastrophal floodings. The main claim to fame, however, is the connection with 18th century romanticism. The rugged stone formations, the waterfalls and the village high above it, complete with roman ruins, do indeed create a spectacular scenario. It takes around 90minutes to cross from one side of the valley to the other, and only a few more to get back to your start position. The nice walk will lead you to various vistas, waterfalls and grottos. All points of interest have fancy names, but not all detours really lead to something astonishing. The grotto of the sirens (or is it mermaids?) and of neptune are really worth it, the other sideways can be skipped if you want to conserve your energy. And that leads to the main problem with the site: It's just not in the same league as the other two WHS …

As a daytrip from Istanbul I made my way to Bursa. Bursa embedded in a lush green valley is a nice distraction from the tourist filled streets of Istanbul. It is also a more concise and homogeneous site as it focuses exclusively on the Osmanic heritage. Most notable to me where the Green Mosque and associated Mausoleum and the Khans (trading posts) found in the city center.

I would concur with Paul that Bursa is a worthwhile addition to the list and that the ICOMOS deferral due to paperwork issues seems unwarranted. All the while admitting that the site most certainly does not meet five criteria for inscription.

While You Are There

In addition to Ian in his review, my Turkish barber back home also told me to get Iskender Kebab in Bursa. I am not quite sure, though, if I picked the proper place as there were two Iskender restaurants just next to each other and I had to pick one. In addition there are even more "original" Iskender restaurants across town. It does seem they all belong to the same parent company, but who knows?

Getting There

As laid out by Ian Bursa is an easy and nice day trip from Istanbul. There are two ferry operators connecting Istanbul to Mudanya (Bursa): BUDO and IDO. I went with IDO as both Ian and another source I studied online recommended them. The IDO terminal was also within walking distance (25min) from my hotel.

As a general recommendation I …

Kerkuane is one for the true collectors. The landscape is very nice in this part of Tunisia and I even saw some flamingo colonies on the way. Nevertheless, it is a bit hard to justify the combined around 5h drive to get there and back for what you see. The highlights are the bathrooms and a rather primitive mosaic. The rest are very low-level ground walls and a nice sea view. Opening times are very limited, closing at 4pm and closed on Mondays, so plan ahead. Just follow google maps to find the site. There is not much else around and very limited accommodation offers so I would not suggest staying overnight in this area. There are no motorways in this part of the country and many trucks. You will pass several cities, which further challenge your driving skills.

Malbork Castle was the headquarters of the Teutonic Order's crusader state. The castle had both a religious and a political function: here lived the Grand Master and the daily management of the Order, and about 3,000 knights. The castle was built at the end of the 13th century and was expanded ever further. It is entirely made of brick, and according to unconfirmed sources, this is the largest area of any castle and/or the largest brick building in the world. I went to see it on a half-day trip from Gdansk.

My visit was on a sunny Saturday morning, and because I was expecting crowds I had purchased an entrance ticket online beforehand (I did so as well with all train tickets on this trip). I arrived at the Malbork train station at 8.45 a.m., and from there I had a 15-minute walk to be at the gates at the opening hour of 9 a.m. Local authorities have not bothered to sign the way to the castle, but it lies on the right side from the station and then straight ahead until you see the red towers on the horizon. From the train, you’ll already have a tantalizing view of it.

At the entrance, I picked up my pre-booked audio tour and headphones, and went ‘in’. If you want to save money or are in a hurry, you can also choose to view only the exterior: access to the complex within the walls is free, and there is …

Tunis was, compared to the Moroccan Medinas I visited, a rather enjoyable visit. It seems a bit cleaner, vendors are much less aggressive and it’s easier to navigate within the streets. The downside is that it lacks real highlights. It’s one of these places where you can aimlessly wander around for one or two hours and somehow nothing is really memorable. The government district and the Kasba are worth passing by. The main mosque was closed for non-Muslims. We walked from our hotel to the Medina. The rest of the center of Tunis is, compared to the others I saw in Tunisia, the closest to a decent city with a normal street layout and even a city train. The Avenue Habib Bourguiba is mentionable, with the Tunis Cathedral and the theatre. For most, Tunis is probably an easy pick, as it’s the main airport to enter the country and several other WHS are within reach.

The medieval city of Torun is a small, well-preserved trading town along the Vistula river. I really enjoyed my stay there, and have been thinking since what the attraction was. A major reason is that – despite its considerable size of 200,000 inhabitants – it lies too far off the beaten track for the weekend getaway and stag party crowd (which Gdansk and so many other cities in Central and Eastern Europe have to endure). It still is more a destination for Polish school trips than for foreign tourists.

Although it lies only 168km south of Gdansk, it takes significant time to get to Torun by public transport from there. The fastest trains take 2.5 hours, including a change halfway. These are not too frequent, however, plus it is wise to pre-book them as seats are reserved and do sell out. On the return trip, I got stranded at Torun’s railway station because of a delay of 53(!) minutes, which also caused missing my connection. In the end, it took me 5 hours to get back to Gdansk. So going only for a day trip from Gdansk is possible but it is a gamble.

Fortunately, I stayed for the night. The WHS zone comprises 3 parts: the Old Town, the New Town, and the ruins of the Teutonic Castle. On my first evening, I walked around the Old Town at ease. It does not have a real ‘medieval’ atmosphere, 80% of the buildings seem to date from the …

I visited this WHS in April 2018. Although I left this medina as Morocco's last WHS to visit, it really didn't disappoint. It is truly a top WHS on par with Marrakech even though quite different. I felt Fes is more of an all-rounder, in the sense that it has a number of superb buildings and monuments but what is truly of OUV is that it still is very much alive as a medina.

Fes is the world's largest car-free urban space and it's a maze of alleys, dead ends, archways, medersas, mosques and palaces. It is also believed to have one the oldest universities in the world, the University of Al-Karaouine. The only down side (but in a way it could perhaps be a positive thing is it helps to avoid turning the places into a mere museum) is that most religious places are only accessible to Muslims.

This doesn't mean that you'll be missing out on all of Fes' highlights and you can still have a peek through the doorways of the restricted buildings. Out of the several medersas, three really stand out for the outstanding architecture and art, namely the Al Attarine Medersa, the Sahrij Medersa and the Al Bouanania Medersa (photo). Apparently, the Sahrij Medersa will no longer be open to non-Muslim visitors as it will be used to teach Islamic calligraphy as of May this year. The Al Attarine and the Al Bouanania Medresas are truly works of art even though I would choose the …

I visited this WHS in April 2018 as a long day trip from Rabat. Getting there was very easy with straight highway roads. I left very early (around sunrise) to make the most of my time in Tetouan.

The landscape of hills and mountains with white buildings stretches well away from the medina area and is immediately visible as you exit the highway. To park your car, there are several private parking lots where you have to leave the key but now there is also a huge public underground parking lot just in front of Place El Feddan and the medina itself.

From here, entrance to the medina is only on foot through a myriad of labyrintine narrow hole-in-the-wall alleys. I really enjoyed entering from one side and getting out from a completely different area. Whenever, I got 'lost' I just opted to walk upwards and deeper in the medina where there are plenty of lookout points over the white-washed houses. After a while, you easily get used to finding your way back to the main streets where all the merchants are. The added colour-coding to the different residential areas is pleasant for photography as it adds colours to the white buildings but it doesn't help that much to finding your bearings.

Unlike the other medinas in Morocco, Tetouan doesn't have lavish medersas or iconic minarets. However, the whole ensemble of this lively medina and the contrast between the medina and the colonial buildings in the newer part of town …

Some practical info (site visited in April, 2018). The best place to start exploration of the area is a small town of Toubacouta (frequent local buses or sept-place from Kaolack, main road Kaolack - Karang - Gambian border is a basic transportation artery from Senegal to Gambia). Toubacouta has some descent number of hotels / hostels, shops, restaurants so its an ideal base for visiting the area.

The only way to reach Saloum Delta is to take a boat. There are usual two types of trips offered by local people: southbound trip from Toubacouta to Sipo village (typical Delta village located on artificial mounds made of millions of shells). In the village - around 30 huts you can visit any place as well as buy local products (honey, souvenirs). Trip include visiting some canals with mangrove vegetation as well as local birds.

Another trip is a northbound one to the place called "Ile au coquillages diorum". It is also an artificial island made of shells but much higher that Sipo. It also looks much older as there are baobabs trees that seems to be several hundred years old. The island is currently uninhabited. There are some hiking paths (unmarked)

Both trips costs 15.000 CFA each and takes 3-4 hours depending on the time spent in the village / island. During the trips you should have your own protection against the sun (boats are uncovered). Take also plenty of water and some food with you.

Comparing to other places in Senegal …

I'm very torn on the monastery in La Rábida as it is after all the place Columbus planned and discussed his journey that would lead to the discovery of the Americas; however, it is padded with modern paintings from the last decade rather than show what it really was like.

Your best bet is to get the audio guide (I think it was included in the price) unless you are with a tour. I've listened to a tour going through and they pretty much got the same info fed as the earphones. It will take you around 45min to get through everything.

As mentioned the new stuff doesn't interest me even if the frescos are nice, but there are original documents on display, dirt from all the American countries (I don't quite get this as they were not established back then) and you get a little bit feeling of the origins of Columbus' journey including miniatures of the ships, again they are not ancient but more there for completing the understanding.

I will try not to repeat observations made by Stanislaw in his review but there are some additional aspects which, I think, are worth covering. In summary - the impression you should gather is that Apollonia is a “significant” classical Greco-Roman archaeological site with a fine “central area” of excavated structures in “good” condition - Bouleterion, Libaries, Odeon etc etc and well worth visiting. Albania has opted for the “Archaeological Park” model for a number of its major sites including this one. The country’s lack of development presumably made it easier to designate quite large areas of countryside for this purpose and, as at Butrint, there is value and pleasure to be gained from simply exploring the sites in a natural setting. The low numbers of tourists compared with many Mediterranean sites is another bonus!

I get the feeling that UNESCO could have this site “pencilled” in for inscription once all the necessary work on protection etc has been done - though how long that might take is another matter! There are a number of notice boards around the site indicating that development money has been provided by various countries and by organisations including UNESCO. The latter’s "Millenium Development Goals Achievement Fund" (MDG-F) has supported both the restoration of Apollonia's museum and the production of a nice little brochure about the site (if you are visiting then you might like to download it from that link as we were not offered it!).

The Museum , situated in Byzantine monastery buildings …

Žatec – the Hops Town is up for inclusion in the World Heritage List in 2018. I’ve not been able to find any information online yet whether the ICOMOS advice has come out positive or negative. I put the Bohemian town on my itinerary of a long weekend trip to the German/Czech border region anyway. Žatec lies only about an hour’s drive away from Marienberg in the Ore Mountains, where I was staying.

I visited on a Saturday afternoon, and already on the way to it I was surprised that ‘everything’ was closed: shops had their doors firmly shut, and I was happy that I had filled up the tank of my car in Germany as even gas stations looked doubtful. Arriving at the central square of Žatec, it was easy to park there as no one was around as well! I had expected terraces full of beer drinking locals and tourists (the weather was very sunny and warm for late April), just as in most Czech towns that I had visited before. Only after some effort I found a pizzeria open for a late lunch.

Žatec advertises itself as ‘The Hops Town’, which isn’t the same as ‘The Beer Town’: the word “beer” does not even feature in the official T list description. What you will learn from a visit is how hops actually looks like (I had not seen it before) and what they do with it before it ends up in the beer. The industry of hop …

Ichkeul is easy to reach from Tunis. Take the motorway to El Alia and then drive below Lake Bizerte on a 4 lane street almost till the park entrance. The entrance is marked on google maps as “l’entrée de park national de l’ichkeul”. From there it’s about 15mins on a semi paved road to reach the parking lot. There was a lot of construction work going on at the time of my visit (Mai 2018).

The park itself will not take your breath away. There is a nice road to walk around a small peninsula with a tiny and free eco museum on the top of the hill and a wooden bird observatory closer to the lake. I saw some ducks far away but not much else. Even if you are lucky enough to see some birds, for all Europeans this would be rather boring. Despite the flamingoes, the birds there are exactly those you can probably spot in your nearest lake all summer long. The landscape itself is also nothing special, but still nice enough to enjoy a little hiking and nature.

To my surprise, there were many other visitors, including a bus full of scholars and other locals.

This is where one can see the oldest work of art in the Philippines done 3000 years ago using stone tools. 

I visited this site on May 1, 2018 and what normally is a 2 to 3 hour ride from Manila to Angono-Binangonan in Rizal Province took me less than an hour, being a Labor Day holiday. The Waze app I used was very accurate and I suggest using this because only 5% of the locals have knowledge of this place. Ninety five percent of the visitors are out-of-townees. 

The site is on an elevated area, hilly, and located inside a subdivision which is privately owned. There are no public transportation inside so one has to walk a few minutes from the entrance to the site. If you have a private car, there is a parking area beside the tunnel entrance to the petroglyph. 

Its a 5-10 minute walk from the man-made tunnel entrance which was a little dark but cool. There is a mini museum which use to house the artifacts like flake stone tools and obsidian flakes, but has been transferred to the National Museum in Manila. There are 127 figures consisting of stylized human figures and several animals like lizards and turtles.  

Since President Rodrigo Duterte became president, he abolished the entrance fee, so everybody can enter free of charge. The site is well maintained with guards 24/7. My only suggestion is that the actual petroglyph should be covered or housed because weather …

This serial nomination consists of eight elements of defense built on the narrow costal plain between the eastermost peaks of the Caucasus mountains and the Caspian sea. Four elements are on the Absheron peninsula, and can easily be reached by bus from Baku, four are in the north, about an hour fom Baku, with very limited public transportation.

This narrow coastal plain is on average 11 km wide, with a narrow 2 km passage. Human trade route and bird migration use this corridor (called Besh Barmag bottleneck by ornithologists). It was on the northern border of the Sasanian empire and it successors. Derbent WHS (in Russia) and The great Wall of Gorgan TL (in Iran) are part of the same defense works.

Besh narmag peak, at 382 meter above the sea, overlooks the narrowest part of the corridor. This is a famous mountain in Azerbaidjan, as a mythical and sacred moutains, regularly visited by pilgrims. There is a dirt road going in the hills (passable with regular car, take the highway exit to Siyezen, and turn left after 2 km) and reaching a small setllement with shops and picnic restarant (all closed on the day of my visit). Steps then laders climb up to the peak, where a small mosque is built in the cliff. Entrance is free, but donations box are everywhere. Near the top of the peak lies wall of a fort, from which the corridor was totally controlled. At the bottom of the peak, a barrier was …

We visited “Les Tombes de la Basse Selca” in April 2018 following our decision to try to “fill in” all of Albania’s current T List, as well as its inscribed, sites. You will find it more normally titled “Royal Tombs of Selca e Poshtme”. It consists of a series of rock-cut tombs situated on a rocky “acropolis” in empty country behind Pogradec which date to c4th -3rd Century BC and belonged to the Illyrian royalty.

No, we didn’t know much about the Illyrians either and our “knowledge” of “Illyria” was limited to its occasional use as regional name across many historical periods in various areas of the Western Balkans!  Wiki gives a quick overview. It is worth noting that the period of the tombs is contemporaneous with that of Philip II and Alexander the Great of Macedonia - Indeed in 358BC Philip II defeated the king of Illyria. A few searches will also identify that the ability to claim ancestry from the “Illyrians” is important to many “Albanians” and, to this day, plays a part in the relationships between Albania, Macedonia/FYROM, Serbia, Kosovo and Greece. The history and territory of these early Balkan tribes is not a “dead” issue! Have a read of “Who are the Illyrians? The Use and Abuse of Archaeology in the Construction of National and Trans-National Identities in the Southwestern Balkans” by Maja Gori if you want to know more!

Our trip there in our little rentacar was “problematic” mainly because the …

When I reached the small town of Maulbronn around 11 AM, the sky was dark and cloudy with shower rain, and I heard the sound of roaring thunder nearby, a bad day for sightseeing and no surprising I was the only visitor to this World Heritage Site of Maulbronn Monastery. I really impressed with the complex when I first saw it, it was almost like a small walled separate village inside the town of Maulbronn with rows of beautiful half-timbered buildings that normally located in German historic town center. The monastery itself was the largest building with interesting mix of Romanesque and Gothic. After I bought the ticket from visitor center, I walked pass the square with fountain to the entrance of the monastery.

The first thing I saw inside was the cloister with big beautiful blooming magnolia tree, such a beautiful sight, the magnolia enhanced the whole cloister to be very dreamy especially around the fountain house. The fainted pink wall paintings on the ceiling of fountain house resonated the blooming pink flowers. Maulbronn welcomed me with a striking view. Then I went inside the Romanesque church, it was very dark, I hardly saw the details of beautiful ceiling and choir. Maybe I misunderstood in something, I initially thought that the Cistercian monastery should be plain and austere, but at Maulbronn there were many walls and ceiling painting and colorful brick which really made the complex lively than I expected. Most of the other parts of the complex …

In case that you read and looked previous reviews and their attached photos like I did before I went to this World Heritage Site, you would immediately have noticed that a lot have changed when you saw the famous Gatehouse of Lorsch Abbey. This is something remarkable especially for World Heritage Sites that well known for their preservation status. Since 2014 the whole complex has been transformed into opened stylish modern lawn park, no wall and no tree to obscure the view of the old Romanesque Church behind the Gatehouse. The Germans transformed the whole landscape and made the church to be the main focus of the whole park and forming the nice straight vista between the Gatehouse and the Church.

The Gatehouse was indeed really nice, I really loved the bricks alignments making at least three different patterns creating “levels” to the building, something simple but really beautiful. I hardly believed its old age as the Gatehouse was in perfect condition, new and shiny. I walked to the church and really surprised to find that there was no wall. It was simply become an open hall, maybe when they restored the church, they decided to take out all thing that was not originally from Carolingian time. Because the wall was out, I was amazed how strong of the structure to still standing despite its Early Middle Age origin. Well apart from the Gatehouse and the church hall, there was nothing much to see, since I did not plan to …

This Website currently suggests that Zagorochoria - North Pindos National Park (NP) will be nominated at the 2020 WHC. I can find no evidence for this, and the announcement in Dec 2014 of the intention to go for nomination made no mention of a possible date. However, that uncertainty should not reduce anyone’s interest in visiting it, nor be taken as an indication that it would be any less “worthy” a WHS than many other Cultural Landscapes (CLs) which have gained inscription! We visited in April 2018 and were impressed with what we saw - wishing indeed that we could have given it more time than the half day we had allocated. We travelled by car and targeted 3 aspects - Gorges, Bridges and Villages - but with more time and different interests there is so much more, with fine walking country, flora and fauna, monasteries/churches….

The scenic “star” of the area is the Vikos Gorge. According to the Guinness Book of Records, it is the deepest canyon in the world in proportion to its width - though this is disputed! There is a trek route though it but, travelling by car, 2 good locations we discovered for viewing it were in the village of Vikos in the North (Photo. 39.951248, 20.708274 ) and the Oxya Viewpoint in the south ( 39.906705, 20.751794 ). The latter possesses a rather fine lookout along a 1 to 2 metre wide path in the cliffside past a sign stating “You pass at your …

I visited this WHS in April 2018. Just as Essaouira was formerly known as Mogador, El Jadida was known as Mazagan. Both fortified towns are along the Atlantic coast and both have their own charm even though El Jadida is definitely smaller and lacks the medina atmosphere.

Apart from wandering in the few streets with bilingual names and alphabets in Portuguese and Arabic, the only three things to do here are walking on the fortified walls with a very picturesque view (photo - best time is in the morning), visiting the underground cistern and visiting the Manueline Church of the Assumption.

El Jadida in a way is quite similar to the Three Cities or Mdina in Malta and the Cittadella in Victoria/Rabat, Gozo. Next to the entrance gate is a tower-like monument with the UNESCO WHS inscription plaque. As a little trivia, the UNESCO symbol on the plaque is upside down!

All in all El Jadida is a worthwhile half day trip from Rabat and you can easily stop half way to take in Casablanca too. La Capitainerie is a hidden gem of a restaurant within a former church/chapel and their hummus, calamari dish and/or seafood tajine alone are worth the visit!