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One of the easier Mongolia sites with a bus going daily from UB and it "only" takes most of the day with lunch break. The main reason would be to visiting Karakorum's Erdene Zuu. The town is small and was the capital of the Mongol Empire for only a short time. One often thinks of the Mongol Empire as a huuuuuge place but people were scarce and if they would join the empire it's mainly because "woah this guy has a horse" and they never see him again. Well you might giggle now but this wasn't exactly Alexander the Great conquesting the area. With the monastery gone (it's an hour visit tops and right in town) you can arrange for your hotel/homestay to go visit the locals. Anything will do because you basically "ticked off" the site with the monastery but it would be nice if you go for something nice, like local yurts and their horses. The valley is large and empty so I suggest you spend a few days here. The only hotel they have is nice but quoted a huge sum (are we still in Mongolia??) so the local places are the way to go, plus they will help you visit locals more and you get to meet other travels.

Seeing the Nazca lines was the biggest thrill of my April 2024 Peru trip. I had been to Peru about 25 years prior, but back then had not been able to include Nazca and Lake Titicaca in the itinerary, so this trip was to make up for that. The Nazca lines have been such an iconic site for me since I was in grade school, so I'm feeling very satisfied to visit them. Seeing the three figures from the roadside viewing tower was nice, but I had to get the full experience with the flight. My flight was midday, and it all went off without any problems. I flew with AeroNazca, but I'd echo what others have said about the provider probably not making much difference, with taxes & all it cost about US$100. I was surprised how hard the figures were to spot from the air -- at least I had to be right on top of them before I could see them. Getting to see the whole set: spider, monkey, spaceman, plant, condor, hummingbird, etc. as well as the geometrical shapes and lines really impresses you with how much area the ancient Nazca covered with these figures.

If you're using PeruHop to get around, their standard bus itinerary would force you to overnight in Nazca in order to do the flight. However, for a slightly additional fare, you can get on a morning shuttle to Nazca from Huacachina, do the flight (and nearby aquaducts and pyramids if …

The Nasca Aqueducts are a very impressive work of hydrological engineering from the pre-Columbian Nazca culture. The Cantalloc Aqueducts are the best preserved of these, just outside the city of Nazca. The Nazca culture flourished between about 200 and 700 A.D., and these aqueducts are generally dated to around 300 A.D. Several of them still have water flowing through them and are useful today. A large part of the extensive network of water channels (many kilometers) is/was underground, which makes the work even more impressive to me, that the ancient Nazca were able to build and maintain these. At Cantalloc, the most visually striking element are the broad spiral access points. These stone-lined spiral wells provided ventilation needed to keep the water flowing as well as access points for water collection. I was told there were 14 of the spirals at the Cantalloc site remaining, although access to some of them was restricted during my visit. Not a big deal as they are mostly all the same. 

The OUV of this site was apparent to me, demonstrating the ingenuity of this ancient culture to master the handling of precious water in the desert.

What you'll see at the site

We started off at the open irrigation channel that's at the end of the aqueducts. It's a nice stone lined ditch with some shade trees, nothing special on its own. Then, as you walk upstream, you come across the spiral access points. There are several in a row, …

This complex of mosques, tombs, towers, and other structures was the first site we visited on my “revenge” trip to India in Dec 2023, having missed this back in Dec 2013. The site is located in the Mehrauli neighbourhood in southern Delhi and is adjacent to the Mehrauli Archaeological Park. This site is a pretty solid testament to early Islamic art in India and it deserves to be a part of everyone’s itinerary in Delhi.

We went mid-morning, hoping that the smog would be gone by that time. The ticket booth, shops, food stalls, and toilets are located across the site’s main entrance. We paid INR 500 for the entrance ticket (as foreign travellers) and went straight in to avoid the influx of visitors, which were mostly students. We visited all the main structures within the complex.

1. Qutb Minar

Qutb Minar is located at the southern end of the complex. As its name suggests, this "victory tower" seemed to have served more as a showpiece than an actual minaret where the muezzin called for prayers. It is an imposing structure made up of several stories of sandstone. Taking a closer look at the column you would see combinations of intricate Islamic geometric designs and Indian floral patterns that were reflective of the artistry at the time. It's great to see how rulers and governments have preserved this tower, given that Delhi also experiences a fair share of seismic activity. I'd call this tower the …

The Archeological Sites of the Deltaic Landscape are a series of old mosques and burial sites in Western Bangladesh. Most are well off the beaten path, and even the sites I visited in Barbobaza where not known by my guide or driver. There are 48 listed sites, and about 6 of them are located around the town of Barobaza, which was located along the road to Khulna from Rajshahi (where we were heading to go to the Sunarbans. Of the sites in the area a few are just old burial mounds that are not in very good shape. There are two old mosques in the town that are also listed: Gorar and Golkata Mosque. Gorar is in the attached picture and was quite beautiful, especially the interior. It's estimated to be from the 15th century. There is an information sign, but it doesn't say much. The place gets almost no tourists, especially foreigners. About 800 meters up the road is the Golakata mosque. This mosque sees probably even less people and it was adjacent to a family farm. The family who lived there were definitely surprised to see a visitor but didn't mind my sister and I walking around. We also tried to find the burial places in town, but the villagers told our guides they were nothing to see or had been destroyed. Not sure if this was accurate or they were located on someone's land.  

I didn't see enough of this tentative site to know if it …

I chose the nearby city of Lam Narai based on various factors including Thomas' review with transportation options as a base to explore Si Thep. It has a "Grand Hotel" (600 THB per night), a train station that is a 2 hour direct ride away from Ayutthaya and some other city advantages like restaurants, transport etc.. It turned out that a car rental with taxi driver would only work our at 2500 THB for a full day which was too much for us as we paid the same for the two national park visits in the west of Thailand which involved much more driving (around 200 km vs. 60 km to Si Thep and back). However our hotel reception arranged us a Tuk Tuk for 1000 THB for 5 hours for the next day which worked perfectly fine. We arrived as only tourists around 9 a.m. at the Khao Klang Nok site which however had many vendors waiting for tourist customers. A friendly guard of the site provided us with chairs and turned on a TV which presented us the English video about the WHS and the inscription criteria etc.. That was a good introduction. Otherwise on site one can only see the pyramid kind of builduing which was recovered from plants and soil around 20 years ago. After around 45 minutes we moved on with the Tuk Tuk to the main site- the ancient village. There we needed to pay 100 THB entrance per person and jumped on one …

I may have seen glimpses of the Grand Canal before in Beijing, Suzhou and Hangzhou, but I had never visited it consciously and thus hadn’t counted it so far. Remarkably, the Chinese have pulled off an inscription in one go (a “perfect inscription”) for such a vast serial site.

In this review, I will focus on the Hangzhou sites of interest within the Jiaxing-Hangzhou section. Most of those lie some 5km north of that other Hangzhou WHS, West Lake. Only the Fengshan Water Gate, which I did not visit, is close to the city center. The main remains lie close to Gongchen Bridge. You can reach it via the blue metro line and get off at the station aptly named ‘Grand Canal’. Hangzhou’s metro network was extended significantly in 2022 but this is not shown often in English language online resources.

Things to see in this area:

• Qiaoxi Conservation Area: this was the former merchant district, which has retained (or was it rebuilt?) its traditional streets, lanes and wooden buildings. It looks quite pretty but it is also very touristy, with ‘attractions’ such as an umbrella museum.
• Gongchen Bridge (pictured): this is a fine stone arch bridge over the Grand Canal, and the most historic bridge still standing in this section.
• Grand Canal Museum: a large hall at the ‘other’ end of the Gongchen Bridge. It does tell about what the Grand Canal meant for Hangzhou: it caused it to grow into a prosperous, …

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the one Longobard site I visited so far (Castelseprio-Torba), partly due to apprehension from reading some of the previous reviews, but also because I don't think I could have chosen a day with worse weather. One benefit of going on one of the rainiest days in May that anyone I spoke to could remember is that I was the only visitor in the park.

Thankfully, much has seemingly improved since Els's visit with regard to signage and navigation, as I began to see signage for the archeological park for several kilometers. I drove, and Google Maps had the correct location and a parking lot available next to the info point. In addition to pamphlets and booklets explaining the site in multiple language, there were several staffers at the info office that were happy to provide assistance in multiple languages. Also, entrance is free.

This is where I come to what made my visit so much better than I expected. Not only did the staff direct me on where to visit, but two of the English speaking guides took me on a tour of the archeological park and to the small but well laid out museum (antiquarium) as well. I started with one of the guides taking me to the church of Santa Maria Foris Portas (despite signs indicating the church was closed at the time of my visit, my guide unlocked it for me) and explaining the history of …

While from the outside the cathedral is not as impressive as the one in Cologne (even though I reached it from the more impressive perspective), the interior is beautiful! I definitely recommend this WHS to all people who love visiting the old churches. I've only seen the main side, didn't go for the tour or anything, but even the short visit was enough to impress me.

On a map, the Kazakh WHS of Tanbaly (not to be confused with Tamgaly Tas!) doesn’t look to be too far from Almaty, but it takes quite some time to cover the 170km between the two places (we did it in 2h45). I went with a car & driver which I’d hired for the day via Indyguide, and we first had to navigate the busy and chaotic traffic to get out of Almaty. Then there’s a good stretch of highway west and, after the turnoff to the north which is signposted to the Site of Tanbaly, what remains is a B-road with some potholes but little traffic. The only thing you see by the side of the road are large farms, and they keep sheep and horses as livestock. As so often with rock art sites, Tanbaly lies in a remote river canyon that once had special meaning for people living in or passing through the region but lost its significance later on. It’s also the only piece of exposed rock in an area of steppes and offers protection against the sun and wind.

Our first stop was at the museum, which was given a proper building in 2021 and even comes with a museum shop. They show a few findings from the site, such as pottery found in the graves. Otherwise, it is mostly large photographs of the rock art on display. They also explain how they cleared the rocks of graffiti, which has been a …

We explored the Charolais-Brionnais area (a “pays”, in French) during a sunny week-end in May 2024. Charolaises cows (together with Bazadaises, from the South-West of France) are very well known in France for being the paramount of beef meat. What makes the proposed area for WHS special is that is it totally dedicated to the breeding of these cows, and the landscape was completely transformed and adapted to that activity some 250 years ago : fields were replaced by meadows, bordered by hedges or lines of trees. The result is a green, hilly “bocage” landscape, dotted with white cows here and there.

Although other areas (such as Normandy) show similar features, Charolais-Brionnais area stands for its authenticity and great unity – no modern buildings in the small villages, no highways. No real highlights either : the best thing to do is just to stroll (actually, drive) through the area and enjoy the landscape – we went from Paray-le-Monial to Semur-en-Brionnais (two strong candidates for the yet-to-come “Cluny sites” TWHS !) then to Charolles, making different stops on the way to visit old churches (many of them in that area!) or picture cows – which turned out to be a not-so-easy task : having the animals close enough, a good light, a nice back-ground is a difficult combination to achieve.

We stayed for two nights in a farm. The guests rooms were located in the oldest, historical building : a typical one that farmers of the area built when …

Unlike some of the other reviewers here, I thought the required bus tour around Robben Island was a pretty good way to get an overview of the site. I also very much enjoyed the former inmate guide we had for the tour of the cell block. He wasn't the most dynamic speaker, but it was still a good experience overall. I learned a few things on my tour and appreciate the visit and got to see Mandela's cell, but it isn't the most interesting WHS.

The whole experience does take a very long time. I understand the need for a boat, but I don't really understand the reason for asking everyone to line up in the building by the dock for so long before the boat departs. This seemed a huge waste of about 45 minutes. There are a few interesting panels and a video playing, but it got old very fast. Then we had to wait an extra half hour for the return boat because one set of passengers was apparently way behind all the rest of us.

My bus guide said this was the only place you could see one UNESCO WHS from another (looking at Table Mountain). But I read in a recent review here of at least one other place where it's possible (Agra Fort to Taj Mahal).

I visited the Judenhof in Speyer in autumn 2020, when the ShUM cities were still part of the Tentative List. I found it very impressive and it actually fascinated me more than Speyer Cathedral, which is right next door and which I was actually there for.

On a trip through western Germany in May 2024, I also visited the Heiliger Sand cemetery in Worms. I was extremely impressed by it and have even upgraded my already positive rating on this website.The cemetery is very small, after half an hour you have seen everything (unless you are able to read the Hebrew writing on the gravestones...). The cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery preserved in situ in Europe with graves dating back to the 11th century. The grounds are also very beautiful with old trees and flowers.

Important information: The cemetery can now be visited during normal opening hours without a tour, except on Saturdays and on Jewish holidays. There is no entrance fee, but male visitors must wear a head covering!The Cathedral of Worms is only a 5 minute walk away and is also worth a visit.

Basically I did the same visit as Els did, so I will not repeat most of it. However I took a different transport approach and had a different experience on site. That´s what I will describe below. I chose also the Huai Khai Khaeng wildlife sanctuary as Els´ review was very helpful and also on the website thailnationalparks.com you get good information on many of the countries parks including this one. I wanted to visit the site without rental car (self-drive) so I chose the closest city to the headquarters where the visitor area can be found. The website has a detailed map of the different trails and watch towers available there. My decision was the city of Nakhon Sawan which I reached after a 5 hour train ride from Bangkok- Bang Sue Junction station (46 THB). From the train station outside the 100k people city there are small pick-ups transporting passengers into the city center (12 THB). I stayed in the P A Hotel (450 THB per night) and the reception helped me arrange a taxi for the next day for a full day trip. First she was very pessimistic that anyone would drive that far, but then she found someone. The cost was at 2200 THB for the full day. It took us 2 hours to get to the headquarters (15.608595138194318, 99.320538667944) by car. Because we told our driver that we want to go to the memorial for the environmentalist Sueb Nakasatian he drove past the first control …

On my first visit to Portugal two decades ago, Bom Jesus do Monte was one of the destinations I planned to see, but I had to cut Bragas from the plan as the Guimares – Bragas bus did not show up as per schedule. When my friend asked me to join their wine trip in Portugal, Bom Jesus do Monte was add as a condition of my participation. As a result, on one Sunday afternoon, we drove from Porto to Bragas to fulfil my old itinerary. When we reach the carpark area, my unhappy and reluctant friends who wanted this visit to be short suggested that we should not use funicular and better to drive up to the top of the hill, but I as a driver had a different idea. I knew that there is a small parking lot at the base of the famous staircases which make the visit easy and free of charge. Lucky to us when we reached that small area, one space was free to park, and with very short walk, the magnificent famous stairs were in front of us. 

This kind of architecture I have seen before in old Portuguese colony of Goa at Panaji to be exact, but the size of zigzagging stairs Bom Jesus do Monte was indeed much bigger and more impressive. My friends were in state of awe, the same with me. It was not just the stairs, but the baroque statues, decorations, motifs, fountains were indeed the whole …

I visited this site in the summer (Dec 2015) as part of an organised tour to Etosha Pan (Etosha NP) and Sossusvlei (Namib-Naukluft NP). This was one of the best travel experiences I've had, despite the oppressive summer heat (this was supposed to happen in winter, Jul 2015, with a friend who made this trip possible). While this trip was a decade ago, I hope readers will pick something useful from this review of my 2-night trip to Sossusvlei. 

Day 1 - Flying to Kulala

I flew from Hosea Kutako (Windhoek) Airport to Kulala Desert Lodge, which is located within the boundary of the national park. The late-morning flight gave a great introduction to the arid Martian-like landscape. Upon arrival, we went straight to the lodge to take shelter from the heat. There was a small pool outside of the dining area to cool off, though I spent the early afternoon eating and just enjoying the breezy thatch-roofed accommodation. Our first activity went on late in the afternoon, which involved driving around the desert, walking around rocky hills, and having a wee picnic while watching the sunset. One advantage of travelling during summer was the longer days, so if organised tours have fixed timings for activities throughout the year, you'd get extra hours of sunshine. Anyway, the sunset was pure magic! It was accompanied by the changing colours of the dunes and sky, from bright yellow to orange to pink and then purple until the stars came out. 

During my visit to Wurzburg, I couldn't miss the Residence. It is definitely impressive, especially from the inside. What's even more impressive than the building itself, is the fact that it was almost completely destroyed as a result of the British bombing during the World War Two and rebuilt after that. The building used to be the residence of Wurzburg bishops and now is open for the public and it is one of the best example of the Baroque palaces in Europe. The gardens also look great, but after seeing the interior, they don't impress that much, but they are worth visiting anyway.

Considering the fame and rave reviews of Petra, this review will focus on the lesser known aspects of visiting this magnificent ancient city, rather than convincing the reader to visit it. 

Alternative Entrance via Little Petra

Although back entrance/trail to Petra has existed for a while now, it has only been very recently that it has become more conveniently accessible. If you are visiting Petra for two or more days, I strongly recommend using the back trail on one of those days. 

First, a short overview of Petra's layout may be necessary to properly describe why a visitor should consider the back trail. The Monastery (Ad-Deir) is one of the highlights of Petra, probably second only to the Treasury (Al-Khazneh). In order to get to the Monastery from the main entrance/Petra Visitor Centre, you must first walk the 8 kms long main trail, which passes through the famous As Siq, the Treasury, the Street of Façades, the Theatre, the Colonnaded Street, and Qasr al-Bint. Once you reach the end of the main trail, you then have the choice of climbing further 2.5 kms (involving 800 steps) to reach the Monastery. You will then have to return via the same 10.5 kms to exit Petra through the main entrance.  

Rather than try to cram the many sights on the main trail and the Monastery on the same day, I recommend that you visit the Monastery on another day through the back trail via Little Petra (Siq al-Barid), …

My visit to Liangzhu started at the museum, located in a building designed by David Chipperfield architects - it seems that companies like these thrive on the construction booms of China and the Gulf states. This building too must have cost a small fortune. It lies within a pretty landscaped garden setting with a manmade lake, probably referencing the Liangzhu civilization's wetland origins.

The exhibition experience wasn't so pleasant due to the large school groups roaming around. Overall the building comprises more empty space than original exhibits, but it holds the jade grave objects that were taken from the site and some interesting pottery displaying primitive written characters (the Liangzhu culture had no script but they were getting there!). The best thing I found was the 3d video performance, which much more clearly than the nomination file explains the nature of Liangzhu: how its people ‘tamed’ the wetlands by buildings dams and turned it into a liveable city with stilt houses and people navigating around by wooden boats. It reminded me a bit of Xochimilco, but that may have been blurred by the Native American feel of how the ritual acts (by people with feathered headdresses) are displayed.

The archeological site also starts with a wetland theme - you can clearly see the natural state of this area when you enter the area on foot. As others have noted it’s quite a hike to the main historical area (the palace area) and it’s all unshaded. I walked for …

The ancient buildings of Caral-Supe really impressed me. This most ancient city in the Americas has a good collection of major structures that are at least partially restored. The site includes several pyramids, and the biggest of these is quite a sprawling construction with a signature sunken circular plaza in front of it. The Amphitheater (photo) was a unique building, so named because the archaeologists found remains of musical instruments (flutes) in the arena area. Due to their 5000 year age, you aren't allowed to climb on any of the structures, or enter the amphitheater. There is a nice trail that leads through all the main structures, and there are good signs (English and Spanish) for each major structure. There are also nice signs explaining the culture's origins and spread at the visitor's center.

An impressive feature here is that there are 20+ other smaller sites along the Caral river valley. You can see one of them across the river from near Caral's main pyramid -- the site is Allpacoto, I believe. You can catch glimpses of a couple others from the road in along the valley. View the area with Google maps satellite view and search for "Arqueologico". Zooming in can show some outlines of the ruins.

I came as a day trip from Lima (rather expensive for Peru at $160) as I was on my own and not otherwise going north of Lima. The tour included a guide at Caral who wasn't that enthusiastic and seemed …