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My husband Ivan and I have visited this WHS on a very gloomy and rainy August day in 2013. We turned it into a day trip from Moscow – we took a night train to Vologda on Friday evening and returned via night train again on Sunday morning, which gave us one long day. In terms of accomodation, if you're on the budget, this can save you money spent on hotels for two nights.

We walked from the train station to city centre, took some pictures, saw the church. Then we took a tour bus for a day tour that would take us to Ferapontov monastery and Kirillo-Belozersky monastery. It's a fair and reasonably priced option, they take you to both sites and even a lunch is included in the price. The only downside is that it's in Russian, the bus is full of Russian babushkas and the tour guides drives on an on about history of the sites in a minute detail, about the lives of saints related to these two monasteris and so on. We booked a place beforehand via phone and then paid the price at the office of the agency, which was located in the lobby of the Spasskaya hotel in Vologda.

As for the Ferapontov monastery, I enjoyed the visit very much. The white and black ensemble perched on green grass by a river is very picturesque, if you overlook the state of slight disrepair of some parts. Founded in 1389 it has survived a …

The virgin forests of Komi Republic are one of the more remote WHS of Russia. When I thought about visiting them, I was mentally preparing myself for something akin to a trip to see the Putorana Plateau which involves a week-long fishing trip out in the nature with all of your things with you and no cell signal.

Fortunately, Ivan came with a solution that turned out to be I guess the craziest WHS trip we took so far. And we did it over the weekend! Night flight from Moscow to Perm. Dmitrij, the owner of a travel agency we booked the trip with took us to his hotel where we waited until about five in the morning. When the whole group of about 14 people assembled, we took a five hour-long marshrutka trip to Nirob, the last inhabited town on the border of the National park, still in Perm oblast and a location of a well-guarded prison. The village itself has a church, a museum and a place where Mikhail Romanov was imprisoned.

From Nirob it was 1.5 hour helicopter ride to the Manpupuner mountain with its famous rock formations - parts of the former hilltop that remained after erosion. They're 30 - 40 metres high and a very impressive site, one of seven wonders of Russia. It's a breathtaking sight and a very unique experience. The stone giants are out of this world with extra bonus of our group being the only one there at that time. The …

The night before I explored Stevns Klint I arrived in Hojerup after taking 4 trains and 5 buses from Schleswig TWHS in Germany, stopping in Christiansfeld WHS on the way, all connections of which were researched well in advance.

But when I arrived at my B&B about 7 pm, exhausted, I was shocked to hear from the owner that there was absolutely no restaurant or even store in Hojerup that were open at that time. The nearest would be 4 km away. Having no car, I did not have an option to get to the nearest town, as there were also no buses after 7 pm. So, I asked the owner if I could have a half of the breakfast for dinner and the other half for breakfast, which he duly complied. The inclusion of a whole loaf of bread in the breakfast helped. Or maybe he did me a favor. 

It was raining in the next morning when I explored Stevns Klint. I went down to the beach area to take a closer look at the “fish clay.”

Stevns Klint has to do with the impact of a giant asteroid from 65 million years ago. But most of the things about Stevns Klint have been already said in the previous reviews. I would only add that this is the first WHS that made me think it should perhaps be called a Universal Heritage Site, as it involved a meteor, atmospheres, dinos, and whatnot.

My favorite …

I went to Mt. Kerinci as part of Kerinci Seblat National Park, as part of the series of rainforest and mountain range in Sumatra Island in Indonesia.

The location is quite far from the closest airport. It is 7-8 hrs drive from Minangkabau International Airport in Padang, West Sumatra.

If you are a hiker/mountaineer, it is definitely worth a visit (and hike).

There are 2 groups of settlements that is actually within the same area of 'tribe village/desa adat'. It is close to Sawah Lunto (another TWHS) so one can visit both in 1 go.

The villages consists of many traditional houses that's very well preserved. They're still in use for real. I happen to visit one of the houses and see the making of their traditional cloth. A 2 hrs visit is already OK to see all.

I remembered the first time I went to Vietnam with my friends in 2008, we had one free day, and our host asked us to choose between Ha Long Bay in the sea and Ha Long Bay on land for sightseeing. We decided to visit the celebrated Ha Long Bay in the sea as we did not know Ha Long Bay on land before. Almost a decade later the Ha Long Bay on land become a World Heritage Site under the name of Trang An. While my friend and I planned a visit to Trang An, we found out that actually it was the famous Tam Coc, but after further searching, Trang An and Tam Coc are in the same area but located on the different sides of the mountain, while Tam Coc is famous for its rice fields, Trang An is well known for its pristine environment and numerous caves. So, the question of which part of this scenic landscape we want to see, the famous Tam Coc or the less well-known Trang An, eventually we have visited both areas.

After Ho Citadel, our group traveled to Trang An and reached our hotel, Hang Mua Ecolodge which was located inside the Core Zone of World Heritage. After checked-in, we climbed almost 500 steps to the famous Mua Cave, a viewpoint on the mountain, to see great view of Tam Coc at sunset. The view of karstic mountain, rice fields and lake reflecting sunset sky in pink and …

The City of Sawah Lunto, around 3-4 hrs from Padang, the capital of West Sumatra, is actually quite a small town. It is an easy day trip starting from Bukittinggi and ending it in Padang (with a close detour to another TWHS, Nagari Sijunjung).

Visited the Goedang Ransum (mass kitchen for the labourer) Museum and one of the Coal Mine. It's really worth to see how the city was alive because of the coal mining exploitation from the Dutch period, how a big deal it was during that time. I must say it is cool experience.

Highly recommended.

I should say that the culture of the tribe in Tana Toraja is really amazing. And that includes the outstanding story and value on their burial sites.

I was amazed that this settlement is not inscribed yet.

It is a 7 hrs trip by night bus from Makassar, South Sulawesi (nearest airport), but really worth it.

Highly recommended and a must.

I have visited Belize and its barrier Reef a few times for scuba trips, and its definitely worth a visit. It is less touristy then nearby Mexico, yet has some amazing diving. During the right season you can see whale sharks in the south, and I saw a few white tip sharks in the Blue Hole as well. You have to be careful what dive center you go with, as many in Belize have a bad reputation for being too lax with the rules or dive safety. 

Another fun thing to do with your dive operator is the now popular lion fish hunts. They give you little Hawaiian style spear guns, and you get to shoot this invasive species all day. Pretty fun and helps the environment.

I just did the Falls in September and love it. I actually found that although the best views are on the Zimbabwe side, the Zambia side has some spectacular views as well. Plus the hike is more intense and much better.

Seeing the Falls from the bottom and spotting Devil's Pool from the Zimbabwe side is also good to see.

Nigaloo has some of the best scuba diving in the world, along with the nearby Navy pier. I actually prefer it to the Great Barrier Reef, as you don't need long boat rides, and can dive right off shore if you want. Its really common to take road trips up the coast from Perth with a camper van, and you can camp anywhere on great beaches near the road. Besides diving, they also offer whale shark tours where a small plane flies over head searching for the sharks so that you don't have to search all day by boat. Awesome place.

Visited Stevns Klint in September 2017. The place is very popular among locals, who seemingly spent the whole day there walking along the coastline and some attraction points like COld War Museum.

Also spent around 30 minutes trying to find any fossil on the beach below Stevns Klint but without success.

Information leaflets provide indication of where very thin K/T layer is located.

For ordinary person it's difficult to fully understand the scientific importance of this layer, but this is an integral part of WH sites, which cover so many different aspects of history, nature and culture, that they can't all be stunning lookers. You'd never know more details and information about extinction event and mysterious disappearance of the dinosaurs from the Earth. In overall, the place is quite a fun to explore and the sea views are good.

As suggested by Clyde, next time will go to quarry Holtug Kridtbrud in order to find fossil.

Visited Christiansfeld during weekend tour from Copenhagen in September 2017. I liked this quit unusual city and the whole story behind Moravian church.

The most imppressive site for me was also cemetery with the funeral plates that haven't changed in the last 200 years.

Also central church with minimum decorations and white benches looks like discussion hall rather then ritual place.

It's not a stunning place, but I certainly felt something special about this community. The core is quite small and it would take an hour to explore everyting. I also visited Christinero, a small park within several kilometers from Christiansfeld. This is romantic getaway place for the wife of the chamberlain Christina Frederica von Holstein (1741-1812). Several original buildings, uncluding Chapel and Pavilion are preserved in the park.

I'm not sure what I can say you you wouldn't already know about Rome. It's an incredible city full of history and heritage. The struggle here, I imagine, was choosing what to leave out of the WHS listing.

I have been to Rome a few times but on my most recent trip, made the effort to see parts of the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill that I hadn't seen before. I found it really interesting to go deeper into the history and concentrate on just one or two of the important sites in the city. I think if you rush through Rome then you don't do it justice.

I was really lucky I could enter, as the site was already closed when I arrived on a Saturday at 12:30. The friendly keeper let me in, so I could have a look at what is unfortunately a very underwhelming WHS. The area itself is tiny. You can see it in about 5 minutes. The only decent building is reconstructed. From the rest, only a few walls or even less is left. It has very limited opening times. Mon-Fri 9-4. Sat 9-12, Sun closed. Fun fact is that it’s basically signposted from the airport on the other end of the island.

Le Morne is easily visible from all around the area, especially the fancy hotels at the beach. To enter the core zone however you have to drive to the only entrance. It’s marked on the main road as “access to mountain”. It’s from either side a 1.5km bumpy unpaved road. The door is open from 7am to 4pm. Entrance is free. The first part is a rather easy uphill stroll. The second part is protected by an iron fence and door that can only be opened by official guides. There is no official close to the fence and climbing it seems to be a very popular option for both locals and tourists.

The second part far more challenging. I would only recommend it to those who are not afraid of basic climbing. Don’t even try when it rains. The views make up for the effort and it’s a good feeling to reach the iron cross. I was not able to find anything connected to the escaped slaves living there, except maybe the trail itself, but I guess that’s hard if “not leaving traces” is part of the nomination. Me as a Swiss mountain goat did the whole trip in 2.5 hours. But I assume 4 hours is more realistic. Bring water and get up as early as possible. Especially on a Sunday it’s a popular destination. All in all a really enjoyable and picturesque WHS.

Out of all three national parks composing this WHS, perhaps the easiest one to visit is Gunung Leuser on the border of Aceh and North Sumatra Province. Visitors center is in Bohorok, which is located around 3.5 hours by car from Medan airport (from the city of Medan it should take around 3 hours). There are no rental cars available in Medan airport so you either get a taxi or go to the city of Medan and rent a car there. I took a taxi and for a whole day I paid 1.2m INR (around 65-70 EUR). The road is very bad and leads through very populated areas, so drivers must be very careful.

I had only 4 hours to stay in Bohorok, so I had to arrange my visit quickly. It is not a problem at all as foreign visitors (quite many for this part of Indonesia) are immediately surrounded by guides. I was offered with 3-hour trekking which costs 35 EUR per person, 3 people minimum. We agreed for 50 EUR for just me, park fee included.

Of course I desired to see the main attraction of Gunung Leuser – Sumatran orangutans, but the guide realistically told me that the chances to see them during 3-hour trekking are not higher than 30%. Usually people stay there at least overnight or for a couple of days to maximize the chance to see these apes. The park offers long trekkings with a few nights in the jungle, so the participants …

Some man involved in nominating this site for Germany came over to speak in my class during Winter Semester 2015-16 when I was still enrolled in the master's degree program "World Heritage Studies" in Germany and said that they had given up nominating this site as a transnational serial site with 4 other state parties and had decided to go alone at it; thus another nomination called "Hedeby and Danevirke, an archaeological border landscape."

I took a Flix bus from Hamburg, which dropped me off at some gas station in Schleswig about 3 km away from the outdoor museum area. But luckily within a few minutes I found an elderly woman who lives in Busdorf near the museum and who gave me a ride to the museum area.

I had seen this kind of reconstructed Viking houses in Lofoten Islands in Norway, Birka in Sweden and Trelleborg in Denmark.

So I guess it may be a good idea to distinguish itself by presenting this area with such a different view point as archaeological border landscape with the remains of the earthwork.

When we planned our trip through Wales and Central England in May and June 2017 we were not aware of the fact that the Jodrell Bank Observatory would be the next UK nomination, aiming for inscription in 2019. In hindsight, it was a good idea when we spontaneously decided to make a detour to the Cheshire East district, a few miles south of Manchester.

Although I have a soft spot for technical and scientific sites, I did not know much about the observatory prior to our visit. Except of the entry on the tentative list, I knew Jodrell Bank only because it is mentioned in the novel "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams (the telescope is also shown in the film adaption).

Jodrell Bank is home of the Lovell Telescope, a steerable radio telescope with a diameter of 76 metres. When it was built in 1957, it was the largest of its kind in the world. Today, it is the third largest steerable radio telescope. The Lovell Telescope is the main sight at Jodrell Bank. There is a semicircular path around the telescope, close to the outer rail on which the telescope is moved, so the mechanics of the structure and the supporting towers are well visible. Information panels explain how the telescope works and what it is used for. On our visit the parabolic antenna was aligned towards the zenith, so we could only see the outside of the bowl (photo).

More information …

Belgium is currently preparing the 2019 nomination for Hoge Kempen Rural - Industrial Transition Landscape. This is going to be proposed as a mixed site ánd evolutionary cultural landscape. It covers the Hoge Kempen National Park plus .. more. To me it’s unclear which locations will comprise the core zone, but additionally to the park the garden cities of Winterslag, Waterschei, Zwartberg and Eisden seem to be included.

The core zone will be centred around Maasmechelen, a municipality of 37,000 inhabitants known for its coalmining history. Maasmechelen nowadays also is well-known even across the border in the Netherlands for its Outlet Shopping Center (attracting over 2 million people a year): ‘Maasmechelen Village’ was constructed on the grounds of the former mine of Eisden.

I did not come to shop obviously, but to get a grasp of this potential WHS. For its natural values I prepared a visit to Hoge Kempen National Park. The park only exists since 2006, and commercial exploitation seems to be a big issue here too. There are 6 designated access points to the park, but most have been spiced up to include attractions such as dog parks, miniature golf courts or a planetarium. I eventually choose the ‘Mechelse Heide’. This is mostly heathland, where a few easy hiking trails have been laid out. I walked the 5.5km long blue route, which has distant views on a former sand and gravel quarry.

The site’s natural value is geological: here you can find river sediments of the last …