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This was a site that I really had no preparation for visiting and it was a split second decision at Darmstadt station that brought us here instead of Lorsch. What we didn't realise was that the fossil site is not open between November and April.

When the information centre is closed you will be able to go to the viewing platform to look across the pit (picture). There is some information here and a high tech telescope, which can give you an overview of the site. That is about all you can see in the winter, so really is not worth the effort of getting to.

Fortunately the information centre is staffed by a group of very friendly scientists, who came out and spoke to us. We described why we were there; mentioning this web site, and they invited us in. They put on a video in German explaining more about the history of the site, showed us some geological samples, gave us books and coffee, and at the end of our visit they even drove us back to the station; so Vielen Dank Susana and co.

Inside the Information centre is the UNESCO certificate, behind a model of the small horses found in the mine. There is also a model of the new Visitors Centre that will be built in the next few years; it looks like a very impressive piece of architecture.

Messel has a small railway station, no real platform though, on the Darmstadt - Aschaffenburg line. …

In our trip to Germany we have visited the stunning cathedral of Aachen, probably the most important monument of the country, and the place where for more than five centuries its kings were crowned. It was built under Charlemagne in his capital city about from 790 to 800 as his palatine chapel and the nucleus of today's cathedral. It was constructed as the first church of this type north of the Alps by architects from Metz, called by the king to repeat the structures of the churches that he had seen in Rome and Ravenna (in particular that of Saint Vitale), and consecrated by the Pope Leo III in 805. It had an octagonal ground plan, ringed by an aisle, surmounted by tribunes and roofed by a dome; only part of the original building can still be seen from the exterior on the right side of the cathedral, because a new dome was built in the 18th on the old one. After the fire in 1224 began the construction of the first additions: in 1350 was built the tower on the narthex, in 1414 completed the Gothic choir and then other Gothic chapels, some of which reconstructed in Baroque style (18th century). The main entrance to the cathedral still has the nice original door in bronze with heads of lions, melted at the time of Charlemagne under the direction of Einhard, and gives on the narthex, that keeps a Roman sculpture of a bear of the 2nd century and that …

I visited Segovia with my daughters the summer of 2007. One of my daughters was studying in Madrid and she arranged for a day trip to Segovia by Bus. She wanted us to see the Cathedral as it was her favorite of all those she had visited in Spain. We could not find words to describe how amazing it was to view the Aqueduct. Lastly, we visited the Alcazar. My daughter suggested walking down the walkway to view the Castle from Below. From there you can view the base structures of the Castle that originate from a river. Truly Spectacular! We will never forget the memories we made there.

Studenica Monastery is a huge complex including several churches, being the main one dedicated to the Presentation of the Holy Virgin. Besides this one there is another church dedicated to Saints Joachim and Anne, a small church dedicated to Saint Nicholas with beautiful frescoes inside and the foundations of another church dedicated to Saint John the Baptist.

In order to get the Monastery you should leave from Belgrade heading for the town of Nis and taking a secondary road that is crossing the towns of Kragujevac and Kraljevo. In a short distance from Studenica there are some other monasteries such as Zica and Sopocani, being this last one a World Heritage Site as well.

If you are fond of orthodox churches, as for sure I am, this is definitely a place that you will enjoy.

Peninsular Valdes offers some of the best opportunities of any continental location worldwide to view 3 iconic marine mammals – Whales (The “Southern Right” in this case), Elephant Seals and Orcas (or “Killer Whales” – though strictly these are “Ocean Dolphins” rather than “Whales”). Add to these further creatures such as penguins, sea-lions and a sample of Patagonian terrestrial animals such as Guanaco, Armadillo, Rhea and Mara (“Hare”) and anyone interested in wildlife will find plenty to see! The UNESCO site covers both the terrestrial Peninsular and the waters of the Gulfs to its north and south.

However, as always with wildlife, time is needed if you want to get those views you may have seen in National Geographic programs! You also need to choose the optimal months and these do not coincide for all 3 of the iconic species. Our most recent (and second) visit was in early November 2007. This was determined by our schedule for visiting S Georgia and the Antarctic. Our experiences were as follows

ELEPHANT SEALS. September/October might have been more optimal since most of the males, having arrived around August, had already left and their spectacular “fights” were not on view. It must also be said that, for those who are going on to S Georgia or the Antarctic, the views of Elephant Seals on Valdes are somewhat “tame” compared with what you will see later since the numbers are considerably lower and the viewing (understandably) is kept to a distance of around 200 …

What a mixture of different architectural styles there are in this one building. A mixture of Romanesque, Renaissance and Byzantine.

I was told that from 1902 the building became Australia's Federal Parliament Building, until the new capital was built at Canberra. It is sometimes used for exhibitions again now.

The site includes the Carlton Gardens, which probably look great in spring, but in the winter they looked drab

It cost $5 to go in, and you can only see inside on a tour, at set times

The City Circle trams stop at the entrance to the garden

We could visit the archaeological park on a selfguided tour only without access to the actual excarvations. History is reconstructed by replicas of huts and fences demonstrating how our ancestors may have lived and hunted here until a few thounds years ago. I strongly recommend to arrange for a guided tour as it would give you a much better value add.

This is a scattered site made up of a number of unconnected national parks.

There is a very informative Site Information office in the town of Murwillumbah, with very helpful staff. The town is served by buses travelling between Byron Bay and the Gold Coast, but trains no longer run there. We rented a car for a few days to visit the site.

The salient feature of the site is Mount Warning, named by Captain Cook over three hundred years ago. It sticks out like a thumb in the centre of a huge crater. We hiked though the bush around the base of the mountain. Because the site is sacred to the local Wollumbin people it is not recommended to climb to the top.

Great views of the whole crater can be seen from the rim of the crater. We found a great lookout up in the Springbrook National Park.

Wonderful place to be, sort of like an enchanted forest! We visited Seychelles for our honeymoon in November 2006, and soon discovered much about the different islands. We did not do much research before going there, so knew nothing about the coco de mer. We were introduced to this by the locals when we got there, and soon learned about the forest where the fruit grows naturally, at the Vallee de Mai nature reserve. going through the forest was very exciting, we loved every bit of it. Highly recommended to visit if you are ever in Praslin.

Castel del Monte is a true architectural masterpiece and one of the most famous castles in the world (it even features on the Italian 1-cent coin). Constructed by the highly educated, multilingual Emperor Frederick II, there is a definite magical atmosphere to be felt there. To be sure, the inside of the castle is slightly disappointing, since it's completely empty, but the sight of it from far away as you approach it is spectacular. It was not used for a very long time, and then only for falconry, so not much has changed since Frederick's days. The rule of the German dynasty of Hohenstaufen in southern Italy has left many traces there, especially in the form of castles in lots of cities, but none surpass Castel del Monte in sheer beauty and splendor.

A small town just around 70 km. north of Moscow is Sergiev Posad or Zagorsk during Soviet time. As the former center of Russian Orthodox Church for many centuries, the town has special position for Russian, and the town monastery also has special title called Lavra which is the highest title for monastery granted by the Tsar. The town has become famous after Saint Sergius of Radonezh has been promoted as the patron saint of all Russia then the pilgrims from every corners of the Empire made their journey to this holy town.

The town monastery, which has been established by the saint himself in 1340 hence its name Sergiev Posad - Town of Saint Sergius, is located on the hill and surrounded by huge white wall making its fortress- liked appearance similar to the Novodevichy convent in Moscow but less ornate details. For inside, as typical Russian monastery the center is the five onion domes cathedral and this one is bright blue with golden star spangled, the very beautiful Cathedral of the Assumption; however, the true center for everyone is a small and dark Trinity Cathedral where the tomb of Saint Sergius located.

I was so overwhelming by the whole day memorial service melody and a long queue of pilgrims as well as tourists in this small golden and colorful cathedral, one of the most memorable moment of my Russia trip. The European baroque bell tower is another landmark for the monastery as it is so different with other …

An hour's train ride south of Olomouc is the small Czech town with the unpronounceable name Kromeriz. The locals will probably laugh behind your back if you try an English pronunciation but the correct way of saying the towns name is something I leave you to discover for yourself when you approach the small town that was once the Achbishops own town and Chateau, between the 12th and the 19th century.

One of the Chateau's more recent claims to fame is the fact that it figured in Milos Formans film Amadeus and it is no wonder that it some of its rooms and halls was picked as background. Some are absolutely the best of best of baroque architecture and design. Next to the park is the beautiful Podzámecka Garden that unfortunately was quite a wet experience at the time of my own visit. But as the rain passed by and I had moved across town to discover the castles Flower Garden, I was blessed with the sunny side of Kromeriz parks and castle.

Kromeriz is easily accessed by train if you are in Olomouc and is a perfect excursion for a day.

Right in the middle of the town hall square stands the 35 meter high Holy Trinity Column, erected in honour of faith, God and gratitude for the ending of the plague in 1716.

If you only want to see the column it could be done in 10 minutes but the town of Olomouc has much more to offer to the few tourists that eventually end up in this brilliant place.

Filled with beautiful churches, cathedrals, castles and other prominent buildings, Olomouc is a town to linger in for a couple of days just to enjoy and celebrate the fact that all tourism in the Czech Republic seem to be stuck in Prague and so far yet not discovered the rest of this historically rich country. Olomouc is one of its true pearls and as is both a religious centre as well as a leading university town.

Once you are here, don't forget to enjoy the local culinary delicacy in Olomouc – the soft-cheese Olomoucì Tvarŭžky served with butter, red onion and paprika…mmmmm!

All of Britain's natural World Heritage sites contain coastlines, but this is perhaps the most unique and recognisable of them all. We had a lovely day trip here from Belfast and the whole of the County Antrim coast was very impressive.

The Causeway itself is fairly small, consisting of three small peninsulas of the incredible polygonal columns, these are really impressive and the most accessible and concentrated group of its kind. Everyone that visits seems to climb all over them, and I must admit I had great fun clambering up and down, using the columns as steppingstones.

One interesting aspect about the inscription is that ICOMOS recommended that the site should also be included as a cultural heritage site, due to its role in Irish Legend and also the influence it had on the European Romantic movement. This was never acted on, I guess it is a political decision as it would have meant extending the site to include similar rock formations in Scotland, thus removing the one solely Northern Irish site on the list.

As I said we visited on a day trip from Belfast (a really interesting city oozing with contemporary history), which was a nice easy way to get there. However there are plenty of ways to get to the Causeway from many different locations. The east Antrim coast was especially nice with lots of small fishing villages, which would provide great places to stay for a few nights of rest. Just around the coast from the …

It wasn’t easy to get to Swidnica but with some assistance from a few Polish bus companies I eventually found the small town at the foot of the Sudeten Mountains. My guidebook told me that in medieval times, Swidnica was one of the wealthiest towns in Silesia and a commercial centre well known for its beer, sold as far away as Prague. To me it looked like a small copy of neighbouring Wroclaw but with a certain charm of its own.

Just a few minutes walk from the city centre is the unique wooden Church of Peace, erected in 1656-57. Together with its “cousin” in the nearby village Jawor, it’s the largest wooden church in the world, seating over 3500 people if necessary. The 17th-century baroque interior decoration is absolutely brilliant, covering walls and ceilings and given that it’s all built in wood a small prayer that it will last for many years to come, might be in place…

The name Litomyšl goes back to the year 981 when a hill fort was first mentioned in a Bohemian Chronicle. Today’s Litomyšl is a friendly little Czech town just waiting to be explored by tourists and with a brilliant Renaissance arcade-castle.

Vratislav of Pernštejn was the nobleman who took over the castle in 1567 and started its transformation into a large-scale palace with courtyards and porticoes covered with “s-graffiti”, a technique of wall decoration, where layers of plaster in contrasting colours is applied on to a moistened surface, and then scratched to produce a drawing. The interior of the Litomyšl Castle offers well-kept rooms and richly decorated salons and can also boast one of Europe’s three surviving 18th century castle theatres.

Below the castle hill lies the small town with the same name, a beautiful little town with one of the largest squares in the Czech Republic flanked by Renaissance and Baroque houses and arcades to keep you out of the rain or burning sun.

Absolutely marvelous and magnificent. Just be sure you are there early in the morning or you will "fight" with other tourists. Don't miss the main attractions and Gardens and local Eggenberg brewery!

Great thing is to rent a raft above the town and raft through the town to Zlata Koruna.

Holasovice is a small vilage in Southern Bohemia. The site itself is very small so your visit won't take long. Architecture is very nice and it is visible that the locals are taking care about their visit. I am just not sure if there would be any visitor if this village is not an WH site.

I recommend to enjoy local food in one of the restaurants and local czech (!!!) beer called Budvar. Southern Bohemia is one of the nices part of Czech republic so there are many other locations for visit, so take your time. Another WH site is 20 km south - Cesky Krumlov.

Southern Laos is famous for its cultural diversity and natural beauty especially many beautiful waterfalls, but traveling in this region can not be completed if not visited the 1,500 years old Khmer ruin, Vat Phou, the second Khmer heritage in the World Heritage list.

Vat Phou is very important as it is one of the first stone buildings built by ancient Khmer and served as the main temple of the early capital of Chenla Kingdom which is the predecessor of Angkor Empire in present-day Cambodia, but that was not the main reason made Vat Phou to be accepted by UNESCO. Vat Phou is a part of Champasak Cultural Landscape; the center of the landscape is a lingam-liked mountain. Since ancient Khmer were Hinduism, the lingam-liked mountain had to be regarded as the symbol of god deserved to be worship by constructing the temple for. Moreover behind the temple has spring, the holy water from Lingam Mountain!, with the clever ancient engineering, Champasak people built waterway to let the spring flow pass the small man-made lingam in the main temple building before the spring flow down to the reservoir in front of the temple complex. For ancient pilgrims, Vat Phou was the place where they could receive the blessing from God via the double passed lingam spring (double holy).

I have to admit that after read UNESCO evaluation and other study reports, my imagination on this place go far beyond the reality. Right now, Vat Phou is a ruined complex with …

Having arrived in el jem by train and being the only tourists in town at that time i was rather apprehensive and then made more so by being refused a cup of coffee in a cafe full of tunisian men .But all my reservations were forgotten upon first sight of the coloseum ,what a magnificent example of roman architecture and to see it on the edge of the desert even more amazing.ElJem itself is a fascinating place,real Tunisia if you get away from the tourists you,ll still find the camels head outside the butchers shop and the cages of rabbits waiting to be picked for someones dinner ,but thats what we go to see how different cultures are ,a brilliant place can,t wait to go back.