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I visited Tikal in December of 2023 on a day trip from Western Belize. Echoing the past reviewers, the huge site well deserves various superlatives. The Grand Plaza is the most impressive cluster of temples and acropolises anywhere, the pyramid at El Mundo Perdido and the Temple IV are among can't-miss structures, and there are many hidden treasures found throughout the park.

A true connoisseur could probably spend several days here exploring all of the different remnants of the ancient civilization as well as the diverse natural surroundings. However, the aforementioned main highlights can be seen in the space of three to four hours, which allows for day-tripping options. There may be fairly long car queues at the National Park entrance and then lines at the visitor center. Having a guide saved us the wait times and obviously helped with both the narration and the navigation of the site. The guide also suggested that we utilize an infrequent shuttle from the visitor center to the core of the site (at $1 per person), which saved us some time and effort at the very start of the walking circuit.

The round trip from San Ignacio took about nine hours in total, including border crossings, the drives, and the lunch onsite. Having a driver with superior pothole-evading skills was highly beneficial, as the road is well-paved only inside the park and on a stretch close to the border. TikalGo offers both group and private options, and I was pleasantly surprised …

"One to two hours, my ass!" I grumbled about the young Parks Canada ranger who had told me that Thechàl Dhâl (Sheep Mountain) Route was just an hour or two additional hike from the end of the Sheep Creek Trail. I huffed and puffed as I had to stop every 20 steps or so up the mountain in order to catch my breath. "I better see some freakin' Dall sheep on this mountain," I angrily muttered to myself as I slowly made myself upward.

Getting to Kluane National Park, Yukon, Canada

Located in the vast wilderness of Yukon, Kluane is a massive 22,013 km². Its grand landscape is jaw-droppingly stunning with intimidating mountains, spectacular glaciers, raging rivers, and impressive wildlife. Parks Canada manages the park with Champagne and Aishihik First Nations. 

Most of Kluane is either inaccessible or can only be explored through backcountry adventures. Although a smaller portion, it is thankfully also possible to experience the wonders of Kluane through the "front-country", i.e., either by the Haines Road (Highway 3) or the Alaska Highway.  

I travelled to Kluane by first flying into Yukon Territory's sleepy capital Whitehorse (population 28,000). After couple of days in Whitehorse, I drove to a small village of Haines Junction (population 688), where there are a few motels. Haines Junction would be my base for exploring Kluane. During my time in Kluane, I went on three hikes: (1) Auriol Trail, (2) King's Throne Trail and Route, and (3) Sheep Creek …

By a funny coincidence, the day that I read of this new Australian site being added to the tentative list, I was already planning on visiting Parramatta (the Wistaria Gardens with their cherry blossom trees in bloom, on the edge of the Old Government House and Domain location for the existing Australian Convict Sites). Usually most new tentative sites are on the other side of the world and require a 24 hour flight, but this only required a 10 minute detour on foot (the existing convict site and this new proposed site are almost adjacent, on opposite sides of the Parramatta River, and easy to visit together).

At the moment, the Parramatta Female Factory and Institutions Precinct is not fully set up for visitors, although there are a lot of developments going on in the area (and in Parramatta in general) and I'm sure there will be more visitor options in the future. Initially I thought the focus was just on the Female Factory, which is difficult as some of the buildings have been knocked down and others repurposed over the years for a mental institution and other health facilities. The precinct is on the edge of a current day health precinct.

Wandering around the site, there's quite a few signs that explore the history of the site and show maps of the different buildings at different points in time - more than I expected. One of the most interesting parts of the site currently open to the …

I visited the La Tirana location of this tWHS as a small detour on my way to the Saltpeter Works WHS. From a quick search online, the locations can be either small adobe-like chapels/churches or much bigger wooden churches built on former old temple remains. Getting to La Tirana is quite simple as a detour from the Atacama Desert Highway, but the potholes and unpaved roads soon seem to catapult you back in time in a sort of time machine. The industrial landscape near the saltpeter works seems far away, and the laid back pampa life kicks in.

The town lies in an oasis in the middle of the Pampa del Tamarugal, about 72 km inland from the port of Iquique (another tWHS). The town is quite notable for its religious feast in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which is celebrated on the 16th of July each year, and apparently is the most important religious feast of the Norte Grande.

The area around La Tirana was deforested in the 19th century largely as a result of high demand for firewood driven by the paradas method used to process saltpeter, so for this reason I felt it was a fine complementary visit to the Saltpeter Works WHS. After checking my tyres were still inflated, I parked my rental car in front of the main square of La Tirana to see the Altiplano Church. Apparently the current church is the third temple built in the same place. The …

The Western Ghats are one of those intimidating natural WHSs to visit. With 39 locations scattered across a huge area of India, it's difficult enough to determine the geographical location of each location, let along whether it is accessible to visitors. After earlier considering Eravikulam National Park near the popular tourist spot of Munnar in Kerala, but then ruling it out as it's closed in January and February due to calving season, we decided to go with Silent Valley National Park, based on Nan's review.

There's actually a decent amount of information about Silent Valley NP online, thanks to its website and various reviews. However, when we tried to make a booking for a safari by email, we were told to call up! Of course it's a landline phone number that's not on WhatsApp, so a phone call was required. We also received no response when trying to book a driver through our Coimbatore Hotel - a common occurrence in southern India. 

Luckily, despite our misgivings, everything worked out. We visited as a day trip from Coimbatore, about 2 hours each way (even less early in the morning), only booking our 6am pick-up when we arrived at our hotel about 8pm the night before. We were told our safari departed at 8am, although it looked like some safaris departed later, and I'm not sure a booking was essential. Foreigners are pushed onto the safari jeep option, which is not too much more expensive for multiple people (2954 rupees …

I’d like to describe what a DIY day trip to Torres del Paine National Park on public transport involves. Starting from the hub of Puerto Natales, there are two things you have to book beforehand: the bus tickets (both ways) and the park entrance ticket. The latter is not available at the park gate anymore, you need to acquire it beforehand via the park website. This seems to be part of the digitalization wave that has hit Chile (customs has one as well when you enter the country), not a way to limit visitors.

For my bus rides, I choose BusSur leaving for Torres del Paine at 7.15 am and returning at 2.30 pm. It’s important to make a choice about which part of the park you want to see: the bus makes 4 stops and the travel times (and costs) of the bus tickets to each of those vary. The first, Lake Amarga a.k.a. the Park Administration, is where most people get off to start the W-trek, but the later stops are better for day trippers as they bring you deeper into the park. I went for Pudeto, which lies some 120km from Puerto Natales. The park provides a downloadable map that shows which trails can be done in which area.

When walking to the bus station early morning I encountered many other travellers with heavy backpacks going in the same direction. We all ended up at the busy terminal, where buses to the park leave every …

I visited this WHS in 2023 visiting all 3 locations. Arica in Northern Chile is a dusty town, very close to the Peruvian border (it also experiences the infamous "Garua" overcast weather at times!). Apart from the pretty Cathedral of St. Mark designed by Gustave Eiffel and built in the 1870s, the highlight in town for WH travellers lies in the vicinity of the Morro de Arica Natural Monument.

As a WH traveller I was more keen on exploring its cultural and prehistoric importance rather than its natural importance or its more recent military importance. Half way up the Morro de Arica Natural Monument, you'll be able to spot the fenced off archaeological site of the Faldeo Norte del Morro de Arica, the first location I visited. There isn't much to see at the moment, apart from orange flags and plots marking ongoing digs. At the bottom, at street level, there is the UNESCO WHS inscription plaque.

By the time I took in the view from the top and explored the first location, the next location I wanted to visit, Colón 10, had opened and I was the first to enter (and the only one for that matter till the end of my visit). A kind old lady indicated the QR code available for interesting information and videos on the site. This central archaeological dig is practically hidden in what would easily seem like any other house along the steep street. Clean glass floors make it easy to …

I visited this WHS in 2023 as a day trip from Rancagua. I reserved a spot with Fundacion Sewell and communicated with them via whatsapp to make sure I had an English guide and I opted for lunch to be included. I drove to Rancagua from Valparaiso very early in the morning to avoid the rush hour. The ride was very smooth and easy, apart from the thick morning fog in certain stretches. I parked my rental car inside the fence of Fundacion Sewell's Rancagua office and departure point and joined several other visitors (mostly Chilean) on one of the coaches heading toward the Sewell Mining Town. The English speaking group is usually much smaller than the Spanish speaking one and the tour guides are well organised and start the tours from opposite ends. Lunch is a canteen like experience, but the highlight there is not the food but the fact that you literally share the canteen table with some of the workers who still work there and most have family members who have worked there in the past. So it really is a positive experience and personally an unexpected highlight of the tour. I opted for the day tour; the night tour is geared mostly at teenagers and children with a special focus on a Halloween themed experience rather than a cultural tour.

On the coach, I stayed in the front seat with the guide, close to the driver and window, to take photos from the front tintedless …

After booking cheap flights to the southern India city of Tiruchirappali (or Trichy for short), we were disappointed that we didn't have quite enough time to visit Kochi. However, I realised that with our spare day, we could visit one of the temples comprising the recently inscribed Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysala, just outside of Mysore.

Keshava Temple is located in the village of Somanathapura, a 45 minute drive outside of Mysore. It was quite easy to get there - we asked at the taxi stand opposite the main bus station and close to our hotel, and were immediately offered 1500 rupees for the afternoon trip (only slightly more than the 1200 rupees listed in the 2023 Lonely Planet). Lonely Planet also lists the option of taking a bus to Bannur and then a tuktuk to the temple. 

Arriving at the temple, the hardest part of our visit was buying a ticket. Only online tickets are available, requiring a local SIM for the OTP (one-time pin). The security guards help out, but of course my credit card wanted to send me a security SMS, which was delayed by 5 minutes. Luckily an expat visitor helped us out and we gave him cash for our tickets, then entered the site through the well-maintained garden. 

After having just visited the Chola Temple in Thanjavur and and the carvings at Mahabalipuram, we weren't expecting to be impressed by this small temple. But be prepared to be overwhelmed by the exquisite …

I spent about four days in Seville. Its WHS may be seen within a day but the city has a lot to offer beyond the splendid Alcazar and the cathedral and the less interesting Archive of the Americas. One morning I took the bus to look at this tentative site. I missed the bus at Plaza de Armas since the bus stop is a bit hard to find among the many bus stops in the very north of the square and hidden around the block. I took the next bus half an hour later. Since you are leaving the city all day tickets for the city are not valid on the bus to Saltiponce but the fare is cheap. 

In short: the site is worth a visit but no must and certainly no WHS material. The site offers a very small museum, I assume most objects are in the Archeological Museum in Seville (closed for renovation) and in the splendid Archeological Museum in Madrid. The site offers mainly two things: the pop-culture-famous amphitheatre which is an impressive ruin but certainly no match to already inscribed and much better preserved amphitheaters in Rome, Arles and the not inscribed Nîmes theatre. The second attraction is a series of nice mosaics as part of excavated roman villas. There is one with clearly identifiable birds, one with the seven days of the week and their gods. You can spend an hour or so walking around the ruins. If this was the only Roman …

I visited this WHS in 2023 as a full day trip between Sofia and Pirin. Since I was convinced to leave my car outside the monastery overnight, I decided against sleeping at the monastery, so I drove out of Sofia very early on purpose and I arrived at the monastery before the parking officials on duty (after around an hour and a half of exploring the place practically on my own, I went back outside to pay for a parking ticket when they arrived) and well before the improvised security officials who make sure tourists don't climb upstairs in the monastery or take photos inside) - well I obeyed them since I had already took more than enough photos from every angle possible. A cleaning volunteer was quite impressed to see my interest and invited me to visit the interesting kitchen area and tower for free. Towards the rear entrance, we found a relaxing spot by the water and tried out the freshly baked Rila bread.

The Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is over 1,000 years old and is the most important spiritual center of the country, housing around 60 monks. The frescoes, finished in 1846, are the work of many masters from Bansko, Samokov and Razlog, including the famous Zograf brothers, and the church is also home to many valuable icons, dating from the 14th to the 19th century. Porticos in the courtyard have Mamluk influence with the striped …

Memories are fickle beasts. When I look at my photos from my 2019 trip to Lijiang, I see that it was a beautiful city with intriguing narrow water channels and narrower streets. However, what I remember - at least on an emotional level - is that Lijiang was an old town that once had a soul, but it is now a fiction, a mere pretty setting for a sanitized version of Chinese history. Lijiang is not a city; it is a souvenir shop.  

There are other cities in the world that long ago pushed out their residents and now exist almost exclusively for tourists. Venice and Cesky Krumlov being just two examples of cities that are no longer alive. However, even if Venice and Cesky Krumlov have no real residents left, they still have something authentic about them, e.g., the buildings. And their shops are not so bizarrely identical. I am convinced that I got lost in Lijiang, less due to its winding maze of streets, but more due to the fact that the shops seem to repeat itself on a loop: Jade store, scarf store, drum store, dongba paper store, tea store, jade store, scarf store, drum store, dongba paper store, tea store.  

What is heartbreaking about Lijiang is that the death of its authenticity was not inevitable but engineered. In his informative article "Why Lijiang deserved its World Heritage status — and what happened next", Jim Goodman explains that after the 1996 earthquake …

The Tentative Site description for San Pedro de Atacama tries to paint a picture of the history of the region from 10,000 BC til the 18th century AD. The focus of a future WHS may however lay in its Pre-Columbian sites, maybe even narrowed down to the Pre-Incan sites, as the Incan site of Catarpe is already part of the Qhapaq Nan WHS. The people who lived in this high desert region settled down to breed llamas and cultivate maize. They were also part of a wider trade route.

The main archaeological site of the area is Tulor, known in Spanish as Aldea de Tulor (meaning: Village of Tulor). I went there on a bicycle, which is easy to rent in the center of San Pedro. It’s a ride of 11km and the terrain is mostly flat, however at a temperature of 32 degrees Celsius and scorching sun it is exhausting. I stopped twice along the way (at a bus stop and a truck weighing station) to get some shade and drink water. When I finally arrived at the archaeological site, I found a cute bike parking but the entrance to the site was closed. Fortunately, a woman came out and told me they were having a lunch break so I needn’t wait long.

The entrance fee is 5.000 pesos and can be paid by card. From the reception area, it then is another 600-meter walk in the heat through the sand to reach the remains. I can …

I visited what can be described as Moldova's best tWHS (much better than its sole WHS Struve location for sure!) in 2023. The Archaeological Landscape of Old Orhei or Orheiul Vechi in Romanian is a perfect half day trip from Moldova's capital Chisinau, approximately 60 kilometres away.

The ancient city of Orheiul Vechi is a natural and historical complex located on a narrow bend of the Raut River. It is best visited by car as the different components are quite far from each other on foot. The natural landscape of limestone rock, eroded by the river, is combined with archaeological vestiges of the ancient Trypillian civilization. As a result of archaeological excavations, cultural layers were discovered from different epochs, such as the Paleolithic, Eneolithic, and Iron Age, so it really has potential as a Cultural Landscape. In theory, a ticket must be paid once you approach Orheiul Vechi, but this is only applied for its main component, the Orthodox monastery and the several caves with inscriptions. Upon getting close to the area at the base of the valley, you'll be asked to park your car, pay the entrance ticket and walk quite uphill for a couple of hundred metres. I visited all the other components at leisure without having paid any ticket, namely the remains of the Tatar Baths, the remains of the Governor's Palace and Medieval Fortress, the Medieval and Geto-Dacian Walls, and the remains of a mosque and a church.

The cave hermitages and/or chapels, and …

The Gunung Lauser National Park is special as it is one of the few places on earth where you can see the Orang Utan (ind. for Man of the Forest) live wild. However due to the rehabilitation program the Orang Utans seen very adapted to humans and because tourist groups leave their fruit snacks along the hiking paths there is a natural attraction for the apes to come close. We saw eleven in total incl. male with typical face and many mother/ child duos. On day 2 and 3 of our hike we were also alone with two orang utans each which was amazing. Of course it's not all about Orang Utan in this tropical rainforest, but it surely is the highlight. We also saw black gibbons, white gibbons, long tail makakes, Thomas Leaf monkeys (endemic to Sumatra) and pigtail makakes. We didn't see any birds despite watching for them. We heard a few though. You can also walk in 7 or 8 days through the forest from Bukit Lawang until Kutacane and go back by Bus in about 15 hours via Medan or in about 20 days until Gunung Lauser mountain and raft back to Bukit Lawang. With at least 7 days there is the option to see wild elephants. Also our guide has seen a tiger once in his career of 7 years and about 7 times a python. He had never seen rhinos or nocturnal leopards. As all the other tourists we went to Bukit Lawang however …

Most of the previous reviewers visited Corfu as a day trip from Albania or arrived directly by plane. This is reasonable, as the Old Town of Corfu is a remote site for WHS travelers in Greece. For a long time, it was the only WHS in the northwest, the sites in Albania are much closer. But since Zagori Cultural Landscape was inscribed on the list in 2023, more visitors may be heading to Corfu from mainland Greece.

I visited Corfu as a day trip from Ioannina. I left Ioannina early in the morning by rental car to catch the first ferry from Igoumenitsa at 7am. The drive to Igoumenitsa takes an hour, the ferry to Corfu takes about an hour and twenty minutes. I left my car at the large free parking lot right next to the ferry port, very convenient. It seemed that I was the only day tourist on this first ferry in the morning, otherwise only a few campers and some backpackers. The majority of the vehicles were vans and trucks.

The visit to the Corfu WHS actually begins on the ferry ride as soon as the eastern tip of the peninsula with the Old Fortress comes into view. The ferry sails towards the Old Fortress (photo) and then along the north side of the core zone to the landing stage.I enjoyed my first walk through the old town early in the morning. There were only a few people around, the shops on Nikiforou Theotki …

I visited this tWHS in 2023. It is made up of 3 fine locations quite close to each other, each with its own modern museum setting, information panels and ongoing research labs attached: the Domus Eirene, the Small Basilica and the Bishop's Basilica of Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv).

Situated on three hills by the Maritsa River, Philippopolis had already existed for millenia when the Romans included it into their empire in 45 AD. Under the Romans, the city quickly transformed itself. Settlers, imperial administrators and investments flocked into it. Its population reach up to 100,000 people, including Thracians, Greeks, Jews, Roman army veterans, craftsmen from Asia Minor and merchants from the Middle East. In the 4th century, when Christianity became the official religion, Philippopolis turned into a major religious centre, with its own bishop. New churches were built to cater for the increasing number of Christians. However, these churches, along with the rest of the city in the flatlands, were abandoned by the end of the 6th century, when different incursions forced the citizens of Philippopolis to seek safety and security on the three hills.

The House of Eirene is an ancient Roman peristyle house with lavish mosaic floors, built in the middle of the 3rd century AD in the provincial capital of Thracia. It got its name after the image of the Greek goddess Eirene depicted in the central mosaic. The excavated area of the residential complex is 668 m2, of which 160 m2 are colourful mosaics. The …

In 1907, John F. Herbin, a jeweller from the nearby town of Wolfville, bought 5.5 hectare (13.6 acres) of land on which the original Grand Pré community had stood. Herbin's mother was Acadian, and he knew the importance of the land to the Acadian diaspora, who treated it as a pilgrimage site. When Herbin sold the property to the Dominion Atlantic Railway in 1917, he did so under two conditions: (1) that the site be developed as a memorial park to the deported Acadians, and (2) that a parcel of land be deeded to the Acadian people on which a memorial would be built. After keeping its promise, the Railway sold the land to the Canadian government in 1957. Great-great-grandchild of Herbin (fifth generation) still operates the Herbin Jewellers in Wolfville.

Unfortunately, Grand Pré has nothing left from the days of the Acadian Exodus but for its peaceful landscape. The best (and non-symbolic) tangible connection to history is the dykes, which can be visited by driving to the end of the Grand Pré Road and then turning either right or left to the Long Island Road. I took right (east) and at the end of this road, there was a trail on top of the dykes, interpretative boards, and views of the Minas Basin (photo). Grand Pré has no grand views, however, and you can find more remarkable landscapes elsewhere in Nova Scotia.

Speaking of this small Canadian province, Nova Scotia boasts two other UNESCO World Heritage Sites, …

As mentioned in my previous review of the tWHS of Plovdiv's Roman mosaics, that tWHS combined to this tWHS in my opinion would make more sense and would stand a better chance at getting inscribed as a positive cultural representation of a city with 8,000 years of history. I covered the Roman mosaics quite extensively in the review of Plovdiv's other tWHS. Instead, in this review I'll focus on the various Ottoman houses worth visiting and on the Church of St. Constantine and Helena and the Metropolitan Church of St. Marina.

The area around the remains of Nebet Tepe is very similar to Safranbolu, Turkey or Berat/Gyirokaster, Albania. I wasn't impressed so much by the restored exterior of the Ottoman houses but the interior of the Houses of Klianti, Hindlian, Balabanov, Nedkovich, Kuyumdhiev and Georgiadi in my opinion are worth their entrance tickets. The Nedokovich House is a Renaissance palazzo. The Georgiadi House houses the Museum of the Bulgarian National Revival. On each of its three floors, there are typical wood carved ceilings and closets, a-la-franca recesses and different colour designs in each room. Its exterior and its location were among my favourites in Plovdiv and warranted repeat visits at different times of the day.

In fact, the area surrounding the ancient gate to the fortress of Hisar Kapia is one of the most picturesque sites in Historic Plovdiv. Apart from the Georgiadi House, the other highlight of this ensemble is the Kuyumdzhiev House which houses the Etnographic …

Lixus is claimed one of the oldest settlements of the western Mediterranean antique world – although just “off” the Gibraltar straight, facing the Atlantic Ocean. It was first a Phoenician trade city and was later occupied by Romans and then successive civilisations until Middle-Age. Though as often with this kind of sites, the remains you get to see are mainly from the Roman period. The archaeological site lays on a hillside and top above one of the last meanders of the Loukkos river, overlooking both the plain and the Atlantic Ocean, which makes an enjoyable and strategic location. For those interested in Greek mythology, and Herakles’ twelve works in particular, this would have been the legendary land of the Hesperides garden – the glittering and meandering river acting as the snake, keeper of the garden, and the golden apples being oranges. Who knows?

A visit to the site would start at the recently (2019) opened site museum, providing a good and necessary introduction (there is very few information on the site itself). Lixus was important as a Phoenician trading post, then at the Roman times, as an “industrial” centre for production of salted fish (then exported in amphoras) and “garum”, a highly praised condiment at that time. It was as well a production centre for red dye, extracted from murex sea shells. The original artefacts are to be seen at the Rabat archaeological museum, and the mosaics at the Tetouan archaeological museum (we visited the two of them during …