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This is iconic London: the Palace of Westminster with its distinctive Tower of Big Ben, set against the River Thames, and the nearby Gothic Westminster Abbey, site of coronations and the final resting place for not just members of the royal family, but some of the world's best and brightest. Every time I visit London, I make sure to walk past these buildings steeped in history. Unfortunately, while I have been able to visit parliaments in other parts of the world, including Canberra, Ottawa, Berlin, and even Edinburgh, I have yet to visit London at a time when I could take a tour of the Houses of Parliament in the Palace of Westminster. I hope to rectify this some day. I have made my pilgrimage to the magnificent Westminster Abbey next door, though, and it has a spectacular array of British history buried within its walls. Here lie notable royals, including James VI, Elizabeth I, Mary I, and Henry V. Here also are the graves of writers Charles Dickens, Rudyard Kipling, and Alfred, Lord Tennyson; the musician Georg Frederick Handel; the explorer David Livingstone; the abolitionist William Wilberforce; and scientists Charles Darwin, Sir Isaac Newton, and Sir John Herschel, amongst others. I have not seen the inside of Saint Margaret's Church, which is also inscribed in this World Heritage Site, but I plan to on my next visit to London. This World Heritage Site is essential London.

Logistics: The Palace of Westminster, Westminster Abbey, and Saint Margaret's Church can be …

I visited this WHS in May 2017. Out of the 40 Royal Joseon Tombs spread out in 18 locations I visited the 3 tombs in the Seollung and Jeongneung cluster (closed on Mondays), which are conveniently close to the Seollung subway station (Line 2, Exit 10).

Although being at the heart of Seoul's business district, the buffer zone is a major green zone in Seoul and the old pine trees, ginko trees and cherry trees manage to hide away the surrounding skyscrapers throughout the different trails. I visited early on a quiet morning and most of the walkways were covered with pink and white cherry blossoms. I managed to spot quite a lot of different bird species while walking from one tomb to the other, the largest of which was a male pheasant.

First I visited the double mound royal tombs of King Seongjong (the 9th Joseon monarch; photo) and Queen Jeonghyeon and later on I visited the royal tomb of King Jungjong (the 11th Joseon monarch). Each tomb had 12 faced retaining stones surrounding the burial mound with a corresponding Oriental zodiac animal. Each burial mound had a 12 angled stone railing around it and upon looking closer (mostly with my zoom lens) I could notice that each stone face around the mound had intricately carved decorations.

Each tomb has something different but the main layout components of the Royal Joseon Tombs are the following: a tomb keeper's house which is used to prepare for ancestral memorial rites; a …

I visited this WHS in April 2017. Out of the 8 locations spread out in Iksan, Gongju and Buyeo, I chose to visit the 4 different locations in Buyeo, namely the Royal Tombs of Neungsan-ri, the Naseong City Wall, the Archaeological Site of Gwanbuk-ri and Busosanseong Fortress as well as the Jeongnimsa Temple Site.

From what I had read about the Baekje inscription what struck me to be of OUV were the different stone pagodas and peculiar Buddha Statues. Gongju lacks these elements and at the moment the most interesting stone pagoda in Iksan is being restored so I opted for Buyeo, which also has an interesting fortress, an overgrown city wall and older Baekje painted royal tombs (photo).

To get to Buyeo I took the subway to Seoul's Nambu Bus Terminal and bought an intercity bus ticket to Buyeo Bus Terminal. This same bus went to Gongju which is only a few kilometres away but I had quite a lot of ground to cover in Buyeo so I never made it to Gongju. The public transport system in South Korea is really convenient and efficient and although I'm certainly not a fan of public transport usually, I was really impressed by the service given overall.

Once I arrived at the Buyeo Bus Terminal, I decided to catch a taxi (around 4 euros) instead of waiting for another bus (number 701 or 709 to Wangneung Parking Lot Bus Stop) to get to the Royal Tombs of Neunsan-ri and the Naseong …

A well-deserved WHS. Walking through its streets is like being in a fairy tale. Each of its corners is magical and charming. It is worth the 3-hours bus ride from Prague. As the historic center is small, you can visit everything in one day. I think it is one of the essentials of the Czech Republic.

I visited this WHS in April 2017. Having visited all South Korea's WHS, I believe this is one of South Korea's highlights and truly possesses OUV.

Changdeokgung Palace can be visited freely without any tours everyday except Mondays (closed). On the other hand, the Rear/Secret Garden can only be visited with a 90 minute guided tour and can either be booked online in advance (recommended about 2 weeks before visit) or try your luck booking in person on the day.

I chose an afternoon visit as there seemed to be more people booked on the morning visits. I was lucky to visit on a lovely day during Cherry Blossom season. The tour guide gave quite an interesting tour without enough time for photos or for roaming freely whenever the tour was getting a bit boring. Another worthwhile possibility worth keeping in mind are the night time visits. I bought the combined palaces ticket which also includes entry to the Jongmyo Shrine and the Rear Garden.

Chang means prosperity and Deok means virtue. An inscription in the royal palace states that "Only through cultivation of virtue, should prosperity be attained" (referred to the king himself). The palace complex was the preferred palace of many kings in the Joseon dynasty. It served as the centre of administration for state affairs and as royal residence longer than any other palace in Korea.

It was built in 1405 but it was burnt down during the Japanese invasion of Korea in 1592 like all other …

I visited this WHS in April 2017. Located on Mt. Namhansan mountain, this fortress seems to be the preferred inscribed fortress among locals mostly because of the nature trails and hikes in the provincial park. I spotted a couple of interesting birds plus several common and black squirrels along the way.

In Spring, the fortress wall and pavilions are hidden well in the thick acacias. The loop hike is a medium difficulty 7.5km hike but is less photogenic and striking overall than Hwaseong and has less impressive defensive structures. Apart from the gates, the Emergency Palace is worth visiting.

My personal highlight was visiting the serene Buddhist temples of Mangwolsa and Janggyeongsa built by Buddhist monk-soldiers. These are situated 500-800 metres from the East Gate on a very steep hill. Both temples were fully decorated with colourful lanterns for Buddha's birthday when I visited. The UNESCO inscription plaque is just next to the tourist information booth near the Emergency Palace (closed on Mondays) and there is another stone marker near the East Gate.

To get to Namhansanseong it takes around 90 minutes. First you have to get to Sanseong Station by subway (exit 2) and then catch bus number 9 (all buses accept T Money Cards but you can also pay the driver directly). The afternoon return buses are very frequent so wait for one with enough free seats to go down the several hairpins!

Overall I enjoyed my visit but I'd rank it only slightly better than the Ganghwa …

I visited this WHS in April 2017. I only visited the sites in Ganghwa Island closest to Seoul but after a number of video documentaries (the best one for an overview is https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6osPwzl5OIE) and from information from the Ganghwa History Museum I visited (just opposite the dolmen park in Ganghwa), I would only visit the other sites if I were passing by the area as their only difference is the sheer amount scattered on the hill sides.

First of all let me explain how I got to the Ganghwa Dolmen Park and the other minor sites on Ganghwa island. By subway I got to Sinchon "Bus Terminal" (Exit 4). From there my suggestion would be to forget the misleading title "Bus Terminal" and without crossing the road simply look for the first lamp post with a bright red sticker showing Bus 3000. That is where you'll have to wait for the 90-minutes bus ride to the main town of Ganghwa-eup. A printscreen with the name in Korean and a picture will help the bus driver know where you want to go.

Once you get on the island from Ganghwa-eup Bus Station, head to the small tourist information booth and ask for information to the Bugeun-ri Dolmen Site (20 minute bus ride). The friendly staff will write down the bus number for you as well as the platform number and departure time. Once you get to the largest dolmen in Korea you can follow a 2km hiking trail to the minor …

For most Poles I know the bisons of Bialowieza are a symbol of their country. The core zone of the park is a fully protected nature reserve housing the last bisons of Europe as well as other rare animals that roam freely between Poland and Belarus.

Seeing that you will probably not run into a bison on your own, the park also has a small zoo with all the key animals on exhibition. The zoo is embedded in the forest and gives you a rather representative image of the wild life.

Due to a lack of preparation and in my opinion rather poor online resources I wasn’t aware of the access restrictions. While the museum and the bison reserve are part of the core zone, I could not venture into the forest itself as you need a guide and we didn’t have a reservation. This was a bit underwhelming. Indeed, I had a hard time taking a nice picture, never a good sign. At the end, I was left wondering if this wouldn’t be better served as a Unesco biodiversity hotspot. Maybe it's better on the Belarus side, though.

Of late the Polish government is reviewing the protections of the park. They would like to extend logging activities. A minister is on record saying that the site should be converted to a cultural site. I am hard pressed to see the cultural value here apart from the large imprint on Polish cultural identity. If the Poles move …

In January I took an East Coast road trip in the US to see friends I'd left when I started traveling, deal with some paperwork stuff, and go on a work trip. I was able to see three UNESCO sites: Independence Hall, Monticello, and the Statue of Liberty. Monticello was the only new one on the trip, but seeing a trio of very patriotic places back-to-back was really fun.

Monticello is the hardest place for me to see of the three though. Since it was a working plantation that housed hundreds of enslaved peoples, it was very hard to separate Jefferson the philosopher president from Jefferson the slaver.

On an organized trip to Salzburg, the tour had a surprise stop at this UNESCO site while the bus driver took a break. It was completely gorgeous-we saw a cold December mountain lake. I didn't get to spend too much time (only 30 minutes) but what I saw was really wonderful.

In 1821 when Prussia started putting high tariffs on Polish goods shipped via Prussian harbours Poland started to look for alternatives. They built a canal to connect to Lithuania and Russia and circumvent the Prussian tariffs: the Augustow Canal.

As is often the case with these types of actions, they quickly become obsolete. Prussia eventually relaxed the tariffs so that Polish goods could again be shipped via Prussian ports and the canal was not needed anymore.

In hindsight the Prussian decision seems unwise on multiple levels. You can question it economically. How was Prussia to profit from preventing trade? Having goods shipped via your ports is normally good for your economy as you get to pocket some of the profits for yourself. And looking at the Versailles Treaty after World War 1 you have to wonder if this experience wasn’t one driver for the Polish demand for direct access to the sea, the consequence being Danzig becoming a Free City.

Today the canal is used for recreational purposes only. You can rent boats and travel through lush forests and lakes. Together with neighbouring Masury (Masuren) this is a prime holiday region for Poles.

OUV

The Augustow canal landscape is nice. I greatly enjoyed my time hiking around the lakes and through the woods and it’s easy to understand why Poles enjoy coming here.

Less clear to me is the justification of OUV for the canal itself. I did read the Unesco description and spotted …

Some basic information and hints how to visit the site - possible inscription of 2017.

Whatever the final inscription will be the most impressing sites are the Historic Silver Mine (Zabytkowa Kopalnia Srebra) and Black Trout Adit (Sztolnia Czarnego Pstrąga) both located south of Tarnowskie Góry town in Silesia Voivodship (Southern Poland).

Due to working hours it is better to start visit form Historic Silver Mine (there are guided tours in English, German, Russian or Czech - at least in theory) ask at the main office. The whole trip takes around 1,5 - 2 hours. After visiting the mine you can also visit the nearby open-air museum of old mining machinery.

The trip to Black Trout Adi requires some kind of transportation as it is located around 5 km from the Mine (there is a good marked bicycle trail). There is an underground water tunnel with boat service (separate ticket is required, unfortunately there are no combined tickets). You can start your boat trip from any of two mining shafts (szyb Sylwester or szyb Ewa) - if the boats are not there you can walk in the park to the other side or wait until the boats arrive. The whole trip takes around 40 minutes including walking down and out the mine.

More info on website http://www.kopalniasrebra.pl/EN/kopalnia/zwiedzanie.htm

Depending on what finally will be inscribed there are many other places in Tarnowskie Góry connected with mining - the whole Old Town (with many old houses - some of them belonging to …

I am always happy to visit a site that featured prominently in one of my high school history books. Malbork Castle (or the Marienburg in German) is one of them. The seat of the Teutonic Order it was a key driver for Germans migrating eastwards. It’s also closely tied to Prussian history and as such as part of the Gerrman nation state origin myth. The first king of Prussia (technically King in Prussia) was a high master of the Teutonic Order. Blessed by Luther he converted to Lutheranism and became a worldly ruler. In the process he also took possession of all church possessions. Finding faith seems to have its advantages.

The site itself is surprisingly large. I think you can easily spend multiple hours exploring all the ins and outs of the castle. But you will hardly be on your own. This is very popular with tourist groups and the amenities of a medieval castle (even a very large one) get strained quite quickly. Still, this certainly features with the best castles on the list.

Getting There

There are more or less hourly trains connecting Malbork to Gdansk and the rest of Poland. From the train station it’s a 15min walk to get to the castle.

I came in from Gdansk where I had spend too much time at the ticket booth of the train station and missed a train. I continued to Elblag which is a nice contrast to Gdansk. From Elblag I ventured …

Gdansk (or Danzig as it’s named in German) is your typical Baltic Sea hanseatic trading town in the mould of Wismar, Lübeck or Riga. The unfortunate distinction Gdansk has is that it suffered heavily at the end of World War 2. The Poles made great efforts rebuilding the city, but as soon as you venture a bit off the city core the gaps are noticeable and the quality of the buildings deteriorates.

The town is quite popular with tourists. Baltic Sea cruises will stop here for day trips. Even on a rainy and cold April evening the town was rather crowded. As pointed out by Bojana getting a restaurant table can be quite a challenge.

A bit North of the city center are the shipyards where the Solidarnosc movement started and the first cracks in the communist system started to show. You can visit a few of the historical places and a museum to get a grasp of what simple workers were able to achieve by means of peaceful protest and strikes.

OUV

Looking at the history of the site with Unesco it feels like Poland already decided to make it a former tentative site, but never handed in the paperwork. If you get a negative review the first time and then ask not to be examined the second time, inscription chances look very slim.

I do agree with Ian that the subject of Baltic Sea hanseatic trading town is already well covered by sites …

On the occasion of World Heritage Day 2017 I decided to visit my home town’s world heritage site: the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel. Leaving my office at Gänsemarkt I crossed Jungfernstieg and the Rathausplatz and headed for the Chilehaus. From there I went on into the Speicherstadt and ended up at Landungsbrücken. Had the weather been better I would have hopped onto a harbour ferry to Övelgönne. To me this is a great walk and comes highly recommended if you are ever in the area.

Both the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel signify a major change in urban planning for Hamburg. The island the Speicherstadt was built on used to be a residential area for poor families working in the harbour. All of them were evicted from the inner city to make room for progress. If you want to see how it looked like before, there is a tiny row of houses near the Michel (Krämergasse) that should give you a bit of an impression.

The Kontorhausviertel buildings, too, are pure office building separating work from living. The development continued over the decades and nowadays the inner city of Hamburg is mostly devoid of people at night, a bit frightening if you ask me.

As such I am not sure the change these buildings heralded was a change for the better. Indeed, if you are in the Speicherstadt you can cross into the neighboring Hafencity and see how city planning has changed. The Hafencity houses both apartments and …

During my quick dash into South Czechia last week (3 WHS in 2 days) I stayed overnight in Cesky Krumlov. It’s perfect for that, as everyone seems to rent out rooms and there are restaurants to every taste. I arrived around 1 pm on Friday afternoon and left again at 10 am on Saturday morning. By that time I had seen most of the small historic center.

As it was raining on Friday, I decided to go to the town’s museums first. The Egon Schiele Art Centrum is an exhibition centre dedicated to modern art, named after the expressionist Egon Schiele who lived in Cesky Krumlov at the beginning of the 20th century. I knew of Schiele from my Art History study at the Open University, where his distorted portraits adorn the "Expressionism" handbook (a course that I failed twice, and gave up on).

Schiele was eventually chased out of Cesky Krumlov because he would let young girls pose naked for him. There is not much of his work on display here (it has very high value), most of it is in the Leopold Museum in Vienna. Nevertheless, it is a beautiful art exhibition centre. I enjoyed the current exhibition of the works of the Czech Pavel Brazda especially.

Due to the still pouring rain, I hurried on to the castle, where I bought a ticket for the first available guided tour. Unfortunately, I did not really pay attention: there are several kinds of tickets for sale, …

My visit to Quseir Amra was a crazy, adrenaline-fueled getaway after a lovely independent tour from the tour guide.

Quseir Amra is a beautiful Ummayad hunting lodge and pleasure palace in the desert in northern Jordan, near Azraq. The frescoes inside are beautiful.

Getting there I had an option of an organized tour, but I went in a private taxi on my way down to Petra.

Holašovice Historic Village is a tiny WHS in the south of Czechia. Six previous reviewers on this website have already tried to capture its Outstanding Universal Value - often in vain. Its value lies in its architecture (the fusion of two vernacular building traditions into "South Bohemian Folk Baroque") and being an authentic representation of a Central European rural settlement. It also has been considered as a continuing cultural landscape, but that part seems to have been disregarded at inscription.

Less than a week after I was in Egypt, with temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius in Abu Simbel, I found myself in a completely different scene. Holašovice lies in a hilly area full of farm villages. There was still snow on the ground. The closer I got to Holašovice the snow cover got thicker and it started raining as well. I had some trouble finding the town actually – I had to navigate via my smartphone, as there is no signposting. On the way, I passed at least two village centers similar to Holašovice, with a pond and a row of colourful houses.

Despite its unassuming surroundings, Holašovice is ready to receive tourists. At the edge of town, there’s a parking lot large enough for a tour bus or 2. They also have an information center and a museum. And a monument celebrating the inscription on the World Heritage List. A minibus with some Asian tourists was just leaving when I arrived – the last passengers were running …

This was the most satisfying UNESCO site to date, which seems crazy to me.

Getting there from Chisinau was pretty easy. A driver took me (about 3hrs each way). Cost about 50 euros total for the taxi. We also stopped at the Rudy Monastery nearby.

The monument is in the middle of an Apple Orchard. No one at my hotel in Chisinau, my taxi driver, or anyone at the monastery knew about the Struve point or where it was. However, a local farmer knew how to get to the point. There's actually a sign off the highway, but it's not clearly visible. Using the gps points didn't work.

Like other Struve points, there's not much to see. However, I felt euphoric afterwards.

Read more about my Unesco World Heritage travels on my website.

Must see! I visited Ananuri fortress while travelling on the Georgian Military Highway. It's a very nice and beautiful place! There are many tourists who come here in cars and huge buses and groups. That's why in the season you should be prepared to stand in a small queue to the best spots for photos. Under the fortress there is a small beach, you can swim in the reservoir.