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Site visited recently (April, 2018). It is one of those places that are easier to visit with an organised tour than alone mostly due to cost reason.

Several tour agencies in Saint Louis organise daily tours to Djoudj Reserve. Prices are around 30.000 CFA per person for the group of minimum 4 tourists. The trip usually takes half a day starting around 8.00 am and finishing aproximately at 15.00 - 16.00. To have a better understanding - CFA has mostly fixed rate to Euro (655 CFA, it was the same when being in 2014 in Burkina Faso)

If want to visit the place independently (which I did) you shoul be prepared for some huge costs. First of all is transportation - as it is around 60 km from Saint Louis town (25 km is a good asphalted road, while the rest is on dirt, local, not necessarily 4x4). The costs for this part (including waiting time in the park) is 25.000 CFA (unfortunately this amount is stated in Lonely Planet guidebook as an indicator, so it is quite difficult to negotiate the price but anyway try). At the park entrance you have official state prices for everything: guide (obligatory, although only French speaking) 6.000 CFA per group, boat trip 4.000 CFA per group, entrance fee per person 5.000 CFA, entrance fee for the car 10.000 CFA. So as you see depending on the number of people the trip may be somehow expensive. To reduce costs a little bit you can …

I took a bus from Huaraz and arrived at Barranca city's roadside around 4pm so I have to stay one night here. There are frequent collectivos at calle Berenice Davila as early as 7am for 8 soles and it will reach Puente Caral after 45 minutes. It's another 15 minutes walk after the bridge and you will reach the visitor center and the ticket booth. It's 11 soles for foreigners and you have to pay maximum 20 soles for the guided tour. I arrived early that day around 9am so I had to wait another hour for other visitors to share the guide fee. During the wait you can go through the signboards of Caral's history and facts, then you can visit the souvenir shops.

There were finally 7 of us who decided to share the guide fee, so each of us paid around 3 soles for it. The more people the less you pay. The guided tour is all in Spanish, for those who are not fluent in Spanish (like me) can look at the bilingual signboard in front of the ruins to get a picture of what's the usage and what was discovered. The whole tour is under the sun with no cover at all, so make sure to put on sunscreen or wear a hat. It's windy and chilly sometimes so a wind proof jacket will do. 

The whole tour takes around 1 hour. Make sure you go to toilet situated at the entrance before or after …

I love caves, so when a friend of mine suggested visiting Slovenia last fall, I leapt at the opportunity to explore the karst topography of the Škocjan Caves. I had read up on the caves beforehand, and had planned on taking both the official tour of the cave and the unguided walk following the Reka River (which really is a bit redundant) underground. Unfortunately, I learned the unguided river walk is unavailable in October, and the guided tours did not overlap in such a way that I could do both in one afternoon. I opted for the official Underground Canyon tour, which included beautiful limestone formations, similar to what I've seen in many other caves. The canyon itself was impressive, with the roar of the Reka rapids filling the cavern. I remain convinced a surreptitious photo could be taken at the canyon, despite the prohibition (which is ostensibly for safety). I was most impressed by the blocked off narrow stairs, walkways, and rope bridges previously used by cave explorers and early tour groups. With the extra time after the tour, my friend and I walked the trails around the Škocjan doline, enjoying the autumnal scenery. We also visited the cave museum, which included memorabilia and interesting stories from early explorers. I really enjoyed these caves.

Logistics: Škocjan Caves can be reached by private transportation or by train via the town of Divača; a shuttle runs from the Divača train station to the caves, and a hiking trail also connects the …

In November 2017, I managed to visit all the 14 locations of this WHS: twelve villas and two gardens. Only some of the villas have regular opening hours, a few others are accessible under certain conditions (eg a hotel or a winery) or by prior arrangement. When you travel by car, all locations are easily accessible, public transport seems to be quite time-consuming for the remote sites. However, the best sites are in or around Florence: the Villa della Petraia, the garden of the Villa di Castello and the Giardino di Boboli provide a good impression of this WHS. If you want to visit more, I would recommend Villa di Poggio a Caiano and (to a lesser extent) Giardino di Pratolino and Villa di Cerreto Guidi.

North of Florence:

Villa di Cafaggiolo: not open to the public; 30 km north of Florence, currently under scaffolding.Villa del Trebbio: no regular opening times; on a bumpy dirt road not far from Villa di Cafaggiolo. The villa is hidden behind walls and high trees. Today it is owned by a wine and olive oil producer, so a visit by special appointment may be possible.Giardino di Pratolino: regular opening times; 15 km north of Florence. The original Medici villa was demolished. The park is a landscape garden with several fishponds, statues, aquaducts. Most impressive is the ‘Colosso dell’Appeninno’ (photo), but it was also the only pond filled with water. The poor condition of the empty pools and …

Having arrived in Nizza Monferrato by bus from Alessandria I made my way into the old town to the central square. I had expected yet another of the pretty old towns that you find all over Italy, this one with a bit of wine focus. Instead I found a fairly mundane modern town with some old buildings in between and I was left wondering: Why is this on the list?

Ahead of my visit I had studied the reviews on this site and wasn't expecting much. If even Els can't find many - let alone nice - things to say you know this probably isn't one of the greats. But still, I had expected something and the "old" town of Nizza Monferrato just had very little of anything to show. If this is WHS material, every second town in Italy would deserve the honors.

To get a bit deeper into the vineyards, I decided to hike North West into the hills. As soon as I climbed the hills I got some nice views of the vineyards. The Bricco de Monferrato (picture) itself is a nice photo opportunity. As a practical recommendation, it's worthwhile to take a proper look at the 60MB large site map before visiting. It kind of messes up your data plan when you do that in the hills of Nizza Monferrato looking frantically for OUV and those fabled vineyards.

Frankly, I am hard pressed to make out anything resembling OUV. In a site like St Emilion you …

No need to additionally emphasize how worthwhile a visit to this WHS is, the rating and the previous reviews are unambiguous. So just a few short comments and recommendations:

I visited Florence several times, both as a tourist and for buisiness reasons, most recently for four days in November 2017. And that is also the best time for a visit in my opinion: still pleasant weather with good chance for sunshine and less tourists, at least in comparison to the high season (from Easter to All Saints' Day). However, there are still long queues at the most popular sights. For the Cupola of the Duomo, I would suggest to pre-book tickets and a time slot, there is only a limited amount of day tickets available. Pre-booking is also recommended for the Uffizi, unless you just want to see the highlights, then a late afternoon visit is the best choice. If your time is limited and you want to visit as much as possible, the FirenceCard might be an option, it includes priority access to all museums and sights (with the exception of the Cupola). But it is quite expensive: 72 euros for 72 hours. So rather suitable to skip the queues, not to save money.

My specific highlights:

• the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and the Michelangelo stairs at San Lorenzo
• the Cappella de Pazzi at Santa Croce
• the Fra Angelico frescoes at the San Marco convent
• the bars and restaurants around the Piazza di …

In the east of Germany and just across the border in the northwest of Czechia lies a region called the Ore Mountains (Erzgebirge/Krušnohoří in the respective local languages). Its name comes from the ores (silver, copper, tin, zinc) that have been mined here over the centuries. The Germans and Czechs have been active since 2015 to secure a shared spot for this area on the World Heritage List. 

On the German side, I checked out 3 locations in the Marienberg Mining Area: the city center of Marienberg, a reconstructed horse-driven mill in the Lauta Mining Landscape, and the Grünthal Liquation Hut Complex in Olbernhau. Marienberg’s distinguishing feature is its large city square, designed in the style of the Italian Renaissance. I noticed little of further interest in the city centre, but I did pay a visit to the regional museum which is housed in a massive former granary from the early 19th century. The employees on duty seemed a bit shocked that I wanted to visit. The exhibition unfortunately mainly focuses on the traditional crafts and daily life in the region, not so much on the mining.

I can be brief about the second location on my list: the Pferdegöpel auf dem Rudolphschacht (Lauta) cannot be visited without a tour, and I had to wait another hour for one to start. So I drove straight on to the last location: Grünthal in Olbernhau. This immediately felt a lot better: a fast-flowing river runs through the valley (always handy …

Does something like ‘Old Dubai’ still exist? Dubai only developed independently from Abu Dhabi from 1833 onwards. The origin of the city lies at Khor Dubai, the saltwater creek that flows through the city. From its small-scale port, pearl fishermen departed to dive off the coast and trade was driven with Asia and East Africa. The multicultural trading city with its skyscrapers that we now know dates from the seventies of the 20th century at the earliest.

On my last day in the Gulf region I spent a few hot hours looking for the old core of Dubai. A WHS proposal for this zone has already been met with a ‘Rejection’ advice twice, leaving the international advisors in despair. The course of the creek through Dubai has often artificially been changed, extra land has been won and old neighbourhoods have been demolished. Getting it registered is a hopeless mission according to the advising committee, but hopes have been kept alive by the WHC which overruled ICOMOS to Deferral (2014) and Referral (2017) respectively. And the Emirates will not give up.

I made a list of the named locations in both evaluation documents, and tried to find them on the ground using google maps and maps.me. This mission ended in a lot of searching for the remnants of old neighbourhoods like Al Fahidi and Bastakia, and the Souk al Kabeer. The 'largest Hindu temple of Dubai' must be in this area as well - but where? I did not manage to …

I visited this WHS in April 2018. I used it as my base to cover another 2 WHS along the Atlantic Coast together with Casablanca tWHS before heading towards Tetouan.

I felt that unlike the other medina WHS in Morocco, Rabat's OUV lies more in a series of separate outstanding buildings which help to understand the evolution of Rabat from "historic times" to nowadays. My hotel was situated right next to the Oudaias Kasbah which is best enjoyed at sunset. Sunrise over the neverending hills of tombs leading down to the coast, just behind the kasbah, is very worthwhile if you have time. After sunrise another view worth your time is the view of the kasbah and medina from the right bank of the Bou Regreg river in Salé.

Apart from the medina itself, the true highlights during my visit were the unfinished Hassan Tower juxtaposed with the modern Mausoleum of Mohammad V with its splendid fountains and the interesting Chellah. Sunset is the best time to visit both sites. The Chellah is quite far away from the medina so its best to visit on your way in or out of Rabat. It is a medieval fortified Muslim necropolis with Phoenician, Roman and Muslim elements. The recently restored entrance gate to the Chellah necropolis is already an impressive sight to behold from outside the remparts. Inside the walled necropolis, the ruins of the Chellah sanctuary stand side by side with the Roman ruins of a basilica, walls, traces of mosaics …

This small church is located in the centre of Kiti village, a ten minute drive from Larnaka international airport. Access is free, providing the church is open – so it was when we visited it the day before Palm Sunday in 2018.

The inside is richly adorned, and the masterpiece is an old mosaic with gold background, depicting the Virgin Mary. It is said to be from the same period as the one in Ravenna (Italy) and Sinai (Egypt), however, it is much smaller, so do not expect too much. The mosaic can only be seen through the gate of the iconostasis: beware of not missing it! In fifteen minutes you have seen it all.

As for most of the places we visited during our trip in Cyprus, building is very well maintained, the place is easy to find and park. A small restaurant nearby also offers toilets, and green area with trees around the church provides shadow during the hot days. We enjoyed that visit, however, it is difficult to imagine that this church could be one day inscribed on the WHS list.

Salt Lake of Larnaka is located immediately at the south of the city, and even closer to the international airport, with the mosque on its shore. According to tradition, the aunt of prophet Mohammed died here, falling from her mule during an Arabic raid on the Cyprus island in seventh century. It has been since then a sacred place for Muslim people, but the mosque that can be visited nowadays was built later on, when Ottoman people ruled the island.

One enters the complex through an old gate, which gives access to a nice courtyard with flowers, with the mosque entrance on the right side. The tomb (tekke) of the aunt can be seen in a backroom accessible from the prayer room. Remains of an old cemetery can be seen at the back of the mosque. The building is nice and well maintained, the place is quiet, but the building itself has no special features and there are many like this one in countries that were rules by Ottomans.

The lake is easily accessible from the car park of the mosque. It was quite disappointing. Most birds had already flown away (we visited end of March), in particular the flamingos that our children would have enjoyed to watch. (Flamingos where still in North Cyprus during our trip but had gone from South Cyprus). Many such salt lakes can be seen on the shores of the Mediterranean see, and we found nothing special to that one. The road from Larnaka city …

Peristerona village is approximately 40 minutes west of Nicosia, on one of the roads to Trodoos mountains. The church of the Saints Barnabas and Ilarion was built at the tenth century with a Greek cross layout, each of the five sections being covered with a dome – from there the “five-domed church”. Front of the building was rebuilt in a much more recent period, and a bell tower was added then. The five domes can best be seen from nearby road bridge.

Display on the door indicates the building is open on mornings and afternoons, but it was open all day long for prayers when we visited on Good Friday. We were the only visitors, all other people were coming to pray, and it gave a special atmosphere to the place.

A few hundred meters from the church lay the remains of and old mosque – or better said a minaret in Ottoman style and ruins of a building. This area is fenced and cannot be visited.

As for the other TWHS we visited in Cyprus, we enjoyed our visit at this very well preserved place, but we do not really think it will make it to the list of inscribed sites.

Iriomote is usually a day trip from Ishigaki by ferry. Whereas it is possible to stay longer it is not easy to figure out accomodation. Best and easiest way to see the forest is the boat tiur to the waterfalls. Along the way is a Japanese guide and you can try to follow with English notes but most people got lost really quickly. It is still beautiful on the way. Once you arrive the tour continues as a hike for about 2h which is rather muddy and steep at points. That is why you got boots at the start of the tour. You will be rewarded with great views at the lookout points where you can have a rest. Some people only walked to the first stop and back. The time is a little tight to see both anyway. The guides also did not accompany you as they go back and forth with other guests.

The most sought after sight on the island are the endemic Iriomote cats, a subspecies of leopards only found here. They say the chance to see one is really low. They are protected and the numbers have plummeted before protection but they are still really shy animals.

Highly recommend.

I visited this WHS in March 2018. I spent more than half a day in this imperial city and really enjoyed entering the medina from one place and ending up in another while passing through several different passages, roads and alleys and sometimes getting lost.

I'm glad I hadn't visited Fes or Rabat before my visit to Meknes as my expectations would have been higher. The heart of Meknes is El Hedim (Lahdim) Square which in a way is a minor version of Marrakech's Jemaa el Fna. Tajines, lamps, craftware, clothes, toys, food, orange juice, etc. is sold in this square. Not only will you find sellers but also snake charmers, monkey trainers, acrobats, people with peacocks, camels, ostriches, reptiles or bird of prey to entertain locals and tourists alike for photo opportunities, horse-drawn carraiges, petit taxis, touts inviting people to eat or drink at their stalls, etc. The square is definitely not on the scale of Jemaa el Fna but nonetheless it is very enjoyable and very alive. The views of the square from the cafes with a terrace are mostly worth it for people-watching rather than the food itself.

The absolute highlight here is Bab Mansour which is best viewed in the late afternoon when the sun shines on the bright coloured zellij tiles. Directly opposite is the famous Dar Jamai Museum with its splendid exterior fountains. Even though it is worth visiting, don't expect too much if you've already visited other medersas or museums in the other …

Visited April 2018. After one year and a half the site is open now to the public. The new visitors centre, ticket booth and a parking guard booth have been built (not without a controversy), as well as a road/path leading to the site itself which was covered with a some kind of roof. When I was there, no entry or parking fee was collected. The site is pretty small – just four circle temples one next to the other. You can walk around them and look from above – it won’t take more than one hour. Recently they started new research close by but not open to the public yet and won’t be open for a longer while. Probably you will meet Mahmut Yildiz, who “discovered” the temple 23 years ago together with his father. He was helping prof. Schmidt and now works there as a security guard. For now there is no local guide there who can explain you what you’re looking at. To better experience the site you should read Schmidt’s book and what videos available in internet (suggested by Solivagant). Or you can hire a guide from new Archaeology Museum in Sanliurfa – the visit to the museum is a must, because most artefacts found in Gobekli Tepe are displayed there; admit at least two hours to see museum exhibitions.

The site is very well signposted while coming from Sanliurfa (on Tentative list). No public transportation.

The Margravial Opera House in Bayreuth reopened in April 2018 after six years of restoration. A business trip gave me the opportunity for a detour to visit the Opera House a second time. It was the second day after the reopening, but when I arrived only four other people were waiting for the next time slot. Things have changed a bit, there are no guided tours. Every 45 minutes a short multimedia show starts (a screen is lowered on the stage), then you can visit the interior on your own for the rest of the time slot. But there is no access to the boxes. Taking photos is possible, there is no guide, "we can not prevent it" was the answer to my question on photo permission.

I was really delighted, even more than at the first visit. The restorers have done a good job: the interior looks brighter, darker shades of an earlier restoration and oily insect repellents have been removed. The aim was conservation, not a reconstruction, traces of usage are visible, you can see that it is old. But that only increases the charm of the theatre, it's really a little gem.

There will also be opera performances again (stage technology, fire protection and air conditioning have also been modernized), but for conservational reasons only a few events in the summer. Would be a reason for a third visit.

Bayreuth is a bit off the beaten track, but a visit is worthwhile and the WHS can be …

As the coastal Montenegro and Kotor become more popular destinations, thanks partly to Kotor's status as a double WHS, I thought I would add my memorable experience there from back in April, 2010. 

From the castle I made a detour to the only house on the slope of the mountain (to get the free water springing out at the entrance) and headed up from there on the zigzag Old Kotor Trail all the way to the point called "Top of the Old Kotor Trail." The altitude of the castle is 200 m, but that of the Top is 500 m, so you can perhaps imagine the even more dramatic view over the Kotor Bay from the Top.  

The hike from the castle to the Top took probably about 2 hours and another 1.5 hours to come back down to the town of Kotor. To be sure, all of this is within the core zone of the WHS. 

When I mentioned my plan to hike up to the Top at the tourist kiosk in Kotor, they did not recommend it, as the trail is not designed for tourists and was not in the good shape at least at that time in 2010. But the fact was that the Old Kotor Trail between Kotor and Cetinje located on the other side of Lovcen National Park has been used over a millenium to transport goods on the back of donkeys! In fact I saw a local with two donkeys on …

I visited Altamira as part of my mad dash across souther France and northern Spain in April 2018. I was intrigued by the opportunity, that Altamira museum has been practising for the past couple of years, to visit the original Altamira cave.

I stayed at nearby town Santillana del Mar, which in itself is very picturesque sight and boasts church Collegiale de Santa Juliana from 12th century which is part of the inscribed routes of Santiago de Compostela WHS.

In the morning I drove to the museum of Altamira (2 km away) at the opening time 09:30, where a decent crowd was already stepping anxiously in front of the gate. It was the day of the Lottery.

The Lottery works like this: Every Friday everyone above the age of 16, who bought a ticket to the museum between 09:30 and 10:30 is eligible to participate. You need to read and agree to the conditions (for example that you will change into special protective clothing, will not touch anything or take pictures of anything, etc.), fill in a short form with your name, passport/national ID number and telephone and toss it into good old fashioned draw box. Five lucky winners then get to visit the original cave.

If you have arrived at 09:30 you have plenty of time to view the replica of the cave and visit the rest of the museum. 

At approximately 10:40 the draw begins and the suspense is intense. It reminded me of times at university when …

Visited February 2018. To get to Decembarco del Grama National Park we took a taxi from Santiago de Cuba and followed the costal road which sometimes did not look like a road – seemed pretty dangerous but our driver made it! After 4 hours and a half and some stops on the way, we reached the village of Las Coloradas where the park visitors centre is located. There are many accommodation options in Las Coloradas, but you may also go and find a place to sleep in Cabo Cruz, fishermen’s village at the southern tip of Cuba. We stayed in Las Coloradas for two nights. The first, lazy day – some hours on the beach and a visit to the small museum of Decembarco del Grama… It is located in the NP so visit it you must pay the entry fee to the park – good news is that you pay once (10 CUC) and you can stay in the park or visit the park as many days as you wish. Then the long walk along the coast towards south – this part is already inscribed on the list.

The second day we rented bicycles (just ask locals) to reach Cabo Cruz. It is around 13 km from where we stayed. First we stopped at the visitors centre to get some info about the park and its trails. An English-speaking lady who works as a ranger and a guide, showed us around and recommended what to do. Following her advice …

I decided to do a one day trip to Sintra from Lisbon. I think this is the minimum amount of time you should spend there. In retrospect, I wish I had done two days there - either staying overnight in Sintra town or catching the train back again from Lisbon.

It's a beautiful landscape with so much to see. I found it fascinating to see the evolution of the site from the period of the Moors, through the Medieval years, up to the Romantic 19th century and even into the way Sintra is used today.

There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of (if not the number one) best WHS in Portugal. So it's no surprise that it is incredibly busy. The other advantage of going for a second day is that you can visit some of the areas that are less crowded because the day-trippers focus on the highlights.

Having said that, if you want to see the highlights, I would suggest seeing the National Palace, then Quinta da Regaleira, then the Moorish Castle and then Pena Palace. That gives you a real variety of what's on offer and shows the different historical periods.