All our reviews

Lalibela is a small and quite poor mountain town. It is also the most prominent pilgrimage spot in Ethiopia, and it houses one of the most amazing manmade constructions in the world.

With a knowledgeable guide, I visited the 11 rock-hewn churches. Only when you go down the size and the outside carvings of the churches become clear. The fact that the places are still religiously important, also adds a lot of atmosphere: pilgrims, priests, and other clergy are abundant.

To fully enjoy the Simien Mountains, I did a day trek here. From the town of Debark, they bring you deep inside the park, and in the company of a guide and a scout (with a gun), you can go hiking. The narrow paths circle around the mountain ridges, through grasslands.

In the park, several species of wild animals can be found. Most appealing are the baboons. They can be seen in groups, on cliffs and ridges. It took me almost the whole day to see some of them close up, but on my way back (around 6 pm) groups finally became active and in full view.

The best parts of the Simien mountains to me were the views and the canyons. And also its quietness: it is unusual for Ethiopia, not many people live here.

The largest standing stele in Aksum I rate definitely as a world-class sight. In a way so simple and so pure. But also so mysterious: how is it possible that a civilization existed here 2000 years ago that was capable of constructing such great monuments?

In and around the center of Aksum, many more remains of the Axumite Empire can be found. It's a bit like walking around in Greece - ruins scattered here and there. There is the Queen of Sheba's Bath, King Ezana's stone, and King Kalebs Palace.

Another interesting thing to see in Aksum is the old St. Mary of Zion Church. Though not open to women, you can sit in the adjoining park and watch daily religious life go by.

My first view of Gondar's heydays fell upon Fasiladas Baths. This pool lies in a rustic setting somewhat out of town. Sitting on the steps leading to the water, you can only imagine what it looks like during a major religious festival.

In the center of town, you find the Royal Enclosure. Here four castles and several other buildings from the 17th century remain. Still, the most prominent one is that of King Fasilades himself. Round-shaped towers characterize this European / Moghul-looking castle.

The whole historic area is amazing, and a pleasure to be in. Gondar's modern town is also a nice place to spend a few days.

I was so surprised this one got in, I did not even prepare for it. I had to search old photo albums and digital collections for some pictures. In the process, I even retrieved a long-lost copy of my Bangladesh photos, so at least something good has come out of it! Finding Bridgetown photos proved to be hard ("Is this Bridgetown, or Speightstown?"). I never had gotten to paste the pics into the photo album and write captions. So I just guessed from the order they were in and double-checked them with photos of Bridgetown on the internet.

I went to Barbados for a week in the autumn of 2003. It's a tiny island, very built-up and touristy in some places. I did not enjoy my stay here, and even "fled" for a couple of days to the paradisiacal neighbouring island of Dominica.

But of course (and fortunately now) I did go to visit the capital Bridgetown. I went on a Sunday, and it was completely deserted. A bit rundown and spooky too. The only memorable part was visiting the Barbados Museum - located in the former prison of the Garrison. It shows the island's history, from the slaves to the cricket players.

Vergina is situated near Veroia, some 75 kilometers east of Thessaloniki. The easiest way to get there is by car. Not for the first time in my world heritage hunting life, I had some trouble finding the site. It actually is very easy: the tumulus is like a small hill in the center of the town, with lots of souvenir shops nearby. The palace and the theatre are about 2 kilometers uphill.

The burial mound doesn't look inspiring from the outside, but when you go down inside you enter a magic scene. The place has a diameter of 110 meters and is 12 meters high. Currently, there is a fascinating combination to be seen of on-site remains (tombs, columns) and museum pieces taken from the site. A lot of sublime silverware was found (enough to equip a huge kitchen), but the golden crowns made of leaves are my favourite items.

The palace is just outside town, and more like a classic Greek sight. Unfortunately, the supposedly great mosaics were covered during my visit. However, this area and the theatre below are worth strolling around.

Thessaloniki is a typical large Greek city. This means four lane roads across the city center, creative parking and so on.

The city's most prominent landmarks are the White Tower (lovely posted near the sea) and the Ayia Sofia. This church has an imposing front, and quite distinguished interior. The main colours inside are a kind of dark green, black and bordeaux. Somewhat mystique, especially in combination with the scarce glimpses of sunlight that manage to get in.

There are also innumerable small Byzantine churches scattered around the city. Quite often they are hidden behind apartment blocks, or blocked from the view by parked cars. If you've got some stamina and good walking shoes you can visit several of them, and also enjoy their frescoes.

Despite its fair number of inhabitants, Berne is an easy town to explore. Actually, there is one long road that crosses the old town. There you can walk under the covered promenade and admire the unique fountains.

During my stay, I enjoyed the tour to the interior of the Clock Tower the most. On this one-hour excursion, you get the chance to view the clock's medieval machinery in action.

Another rather strange place to visit in Berne is the Bear Pit. For ages, Berne has displayed live bears to remember where the city's name originated. Nowadays it's more like a zoo, but nevertheless, an interesting idea when you know that bears have been kept here for so long.

On my first night in Dominica I stayed in the village of Laudat, at the foot of the Morne Trois Pitons National Park. In the evening I enjoyed sitting on the veranda of my hotel, gazing at the green around me and enjoying the silence.

The next day, after a visit to Dominica's colourful capital Roseau, I visited Emerald Pool. This is also part of the world heritage site: it's a basin at the bottom of a waterfall in the jungle, with swimming pool quality.

I found it a bit spooky to walk here on my own on a quiet Sunday morning. The complex is huge, with multistorey buildings, bridges, railway lines, and towers. All in the same dark red colour.

Since the mining here stopped, nature is beginning to win back its territory. Most of the railway tracks and the smaller industrial leftovers are now covered with moss, grass, and weeds. This adds a special atmosphere to the place - a good location for a film director to shoot a thriller.

Many of the buildings nowadays are used for art exhibitions. The Red Dot Design Museum is worth a visit both for its collection of contemporary design and to take a look inside one of the industrial halls.

By car, I drove on the left side of the Rhine from Koblenz to Bingen. There I took a ferry and drove the same 55 km back. This is a really great way to enjoy all the wonderful views in this area.

The funny thing is that you get the best views of the monuments on the opposite side of the Rhine. So when you see a really nice castle, the Rhine is always between the castle and yourself.

However, I did enter some of the most interesting ones. The Marksburg Castle is surely not to be missed. It still is quite intact, and there are guided tours that take you into the Middle Ages (at least for an hour or so).

The Four Lifts can be found in the Canal du Centre between La Louvière and Mons. The road to the lifts (ascenseurs in French) is well-signposted from the E19 highway coming from Brussels.

First I visited Lift no. 3. That one is situated in a small town that has seen better days. I was amazed to see the old buildings that surround the lift: it looked as if I had arrived in Northern England! The Industrial Revolution has left a large mark on Wallonia, and certainly in this region.

A few kilometers away you can take a look at Lift no. 1. You can walk around this one and take a closer look. Unfortunately, there were no ships in the canal, so I haven't seen the huge construction in action.

Kutna Hora presented itself to me as a charming and quiet town. I stayed there for 4 days (in Hotel Garni Na Havlicku, recommended). Quite a lot of restaurants there have garden terraces, and the food is good and cheap. Actually, everything is.

My sightseeing in and around town brought me to the Italian Court. During Kutna Hora's silver rush this functioned as the Royal Mint. The interior is palace-like. Also worth mentioning is the Ossuary in Sedlec. This freak sight dates from 1870 - when Frantisek Rint decided to become creative with the bones of the 40.000 people buried here.

And I didn't even get to see what is reported to be the highlight of Kutna Hora: an underground tour through the silver mine shafts. At this time of year (and on weekends) you really have to pre-book this guided tour. Unfortunately, I wasn't aware of that. But Kutna Hora was really worth visiting anyway.

The most well-known part of this WHS - Koyasan - I visited on my second trip to Japan. This temple town has the usual Japanese abundance of souvenir shops and restaurants: don't expect it to be very serene.

Most of the temples are grouped in the western part of town. Their designs are all very different. Okuno-In, the temple that houses the body of Kobo-Daishi, is on the other side of town. Going there you have to cross a large cemetery, covered in moss and hidden under huge dark trees.

An experience not to be missed here is staying overnight in one of the temples. The local Tourist Information can arrange this. The Fudo-In was my accommodation: very quiet (only 2 young monks seemed to be living there), with great food and a fine traditional bath.

After two visits I still only have seen a fraction of all the temples in Kyoto. Most remarkable are the big differences between them (probably caused by the fact that they were built during several periods within the long heydays of Kyoto).

For a first-time visitor I would recommend Ginkaku-ji (the Silver Pavillion), Ryoan-ji (to sample a fine Zen garden) and Daitoku-ji (no worldheritage status, but a lovely complex to walk around).

Trier is a small city in southwest Germany, very close to Luxemburg. It has an excellent location along the Moselle River. At first sight, it looks like a 'normal' German town, but you don't have to walk far to come eye to eye with Trier's Roman heritage. There's even so much of it that you get the impression that by accident you've been stranded in a German town in Italy.

There's a lot to see here, so I'll name some of the highlights. The large Dome of course, and the baths. And, somewhat out of the center of town, the huge Amphitheatre.

Really interesting also is the regional museum. One room there exhibits large mosaics in good condition that have been found in Trier. At the heart of the museum, an ornamented light blue grave monument is the centerpiece of the attraction. How beautiful the streets of Trier must have looked in Roman Times!

One has to pre-book a visit to this site, as only 80 people are allowed inside daily. Also, photographing is forbidden, so I can't show more here than its entrance and the ticket.

Is it worth all the fuss beforehand? Yes - besides being one of the highlights of Malta (together with Mdina, which still only is on the Tentative List), it's a unique construction dating from a very early age. Especially the "doors" are carefully carved out of stone, by people that didn't have metal tools in use.

There are a lot of mysteries surrounding the Hypogeum, adding some extra flavour to a visit. A trip here starts with a video that links this underground site with the many megalithic temples above ground elsewhere in Malta.

This must be the largest disappointment of my Portugal trip. The town's beauty is sung by many guidebooks, and it has become very touristy.

Even around Christmas, quite a number of tourists occupied the streets of this Spanish-looking town. The historic centre is confined within city walls, but unfortunately, cars (and buses) are allowed there too.

One sight I did enjoy was the "Bone Chapel". I found it really strange to stand in a room that is built totally with cemented human bones, and a skull here and there. And then those two bodies hanging in a corner ...

I almost missed this one! Really, I could tell some stories about world heritages that I didn't see because I couldn't find them. Not a good sense of direction I'm afraid.

The Escorial actually is situated at the heart of the city San Lorenzo de El Escorial, where I expected it to be in a park somewhat out of town. But a first glance at the huge building was enough to guide me in the right direction.

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of fellow visitors were around at its premises. On my tour inside the monastery, I was most impressed by the Pantheon de Los Reyes, the mausoleum for Spain's royal family.

One of my Portuguese favourites, this site is. Two hours by public bus from Lisbon, through continuous rain, took me there.

But the sun started to shine when I arrived in the town of Alcobaça. The Monastery is in the heart of it, so locals are confronted by it every day when they go to the post office or shopping.

While the outside looks massive, the inside is very pretty. I especially lingered in the huge kitchen. This is completely covered with white and blue tiles and has a strangely scaped chimney (see picture above).