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So I am writing this review because it's been a while since the last one and unfortunately for you reader it doesn't have anything else to add than the previous one, only that it's been more recent (2019). The core area, and pretty much all of the national park, is closed for tourists and non-natives. This is actually good news for the environment. There is no logging problem, unsure about poaching etc but I always say leave nature alone and after all this is just a rainforest like you get so many - I don't think you'll know the difference aside from it being UNESCO designated.

As I was doing a roundtrip in Columbia and wanted to include this I left my car at Turbo and took the ferry to Riosucio along the Atrato river. It takes several long hours and on the way you see the sides of the jungle. As I said it won't be much different than other forests and it will maybe make you think it it was worth your time and money. I might not do this again now that I'm older but well, it's done. You can take the ferry back if you prefer staying in the jungle lodges somewhere but the collectivo is much faster than going against the current.

This is the ONLY way you get to see this place at the moment unless you are a researcher of sorts with serious connections.

I'll give this a 3 star …

For my annual ski trip for the winter 2022-23 season, because my original ski resort destination in the Pyrenees, Gavarnie-Gedre ski resort, had not opened as scheduled due to little snow, and eventually I decided that I didn't have to go to this particular ski resort, I was wondering what to do, while stuck in Toulouse and Lourdes. 

When I originally planned this trip, even though I was aware of L’observatoire du Pic du Midi de Bigorre (2,877 m), it had not been nominated for a WHS, and it was for me just another tourist attraction / observation deck in the vein of Aiguille du Midi (3,778 m) in French Alps. But while in Lourdes, I suddenly discovered that Pic du Midi had been nominated for a WHS only a few months before. Pic du Midi lies within the Grand Tourmalet, the largest ski resort in the French Pyrenees, which was partially open. In order to go to Pic du Midi from Lourdes and come back within a day, however, the only way was to ski from the Barèges lift station to La Mongie lift station within the Grand Tourmalet and take 2 successive rope ways from La Mongie to Pic du Midi. (Col du Tourmalet, the road between Barèges and La Mongie famed for Tour de France, was closed due to snow.)

But then I was surprised that the two rope ways cost whopping 47 Euros. Upon finding out, however, that the lift ticket for the Grand …

I tend to "dig" Roman ruins and it's always a highlight on my travel plan. Algeria has a lot and most is quite nice, not so much Tipasa. On paper it sounds great: port town with many ruined buildings extending along the shoreline. The site is split into two parts. The larger one is in town surrounded by restaurant streets so parking is a bit of an issue plus there was road construction when I was visiting, so I went to the eastern graveyard first which has a parking lot (it's free although someone tried to get money as I was driving away which I think is just a scam?) and entrance is very cheap. It doesn't take long to see this area and I tried to explore more on the eastern edge of it but local drunkards that jump over the fence and hang around here (I have even seen them jump over it from the street) were harassing me so it's no wonder nobody else is making their way into the trees. This doesn't effect the rating but the site just doesn't have much to offer at this area.

The much better part is in town. You reach it through a small road off the main street and pay another ticket, can even hire a tour guide if you want although most will just speak French and Arabic. The site is quite extensive and worth the entry fee. It will take you an hour just to see …

Zee (also marked as Thee) Ain Heritage Village is a nice detour on the drive from Jeddah to Abha and we enjoyed our visit, I have to say more than Wojciech did. The best visit is definitely by a car as it's off the main road and there are some nice viewpoints along the way. The village is a lovely cluster of houses built out of polished stone, which gave it a moniker of Marble Village. Its official name comes after the river that gathers its water from nearby mountains. It was established in the tenth century and many large tribal battles and invasions took place on its grounds before Saudi unification. The most prominent battle that took place in this region was when the collective force of Zahran and Ghamd tribes clashed with the Turkish army led by Muhammad Ali Pasha. This battle ended with the Turks being defeated. The village still houses the tombs of the Turks. The village was abandoned 30 to 40 years ago and only recently became touted as a new tourist destination, emphasised by the WHS nomination.

The tourist infrastructure is already firmly in place with a large parking lot and equally large visitor's centre, consisting mostly of infopanels in various languages about the geology of the place, village history and some information about its former inhabitants and their culture. It's free and air-conditioned. After the introductory visit, it's all the way up the stone steps, along the houses - some ways to …

I visited this WHS in 2022 as a very convenient stopover between Budapest and Serbia, and I followed other reviewers' recommendation to stay over at the Art Nouveau Palatinus Grand Hotel at the heart of Pecs with great underground parking. The area of Pecs has been inhabited continuously for about 2,000 years, ever since the Roman times (when Pecs was known as Sopianae). However, the focus of this WHS are the early Christian necropolis sites, located in the northwest of the inner city on the slopes of the Mecsek Hills, in the vicinity of the cathedral. They are regarded as the largest single Christian tomb complex outside Italy.

The community of Sopianae built a significant number of burial structures (chapels, burial chambers, built tombs) in the 4th century. These buildings' OUV lies in their architecture as well as their artistic features. The first Paleo-Christian burial chamber to be unearthed way back in 1782 was the Peter and Paul octagonal burial chamber and most of the excavations took place after inscription on the WH list in the year 2000. In total 16 burial chambers and several hundred tombs were discovered. Of the 16 burial chambers, 5 are painted burial chambers. The barrel vaulted burial chamber between the Cella Trichora and the Cella Septichora was probably the burial place of a revered member of the community. Early Christian art was not primarily intended as a decoration. Paintings, sculptures and even buildings served as symbols. The painters are unknown, but probably they …

Hejaz Railway is an interesting nomination and I would say my favourite in Saudi out of the four large serial ones (the three others are pilgrimage hajj routes). It's a coherent collection of sites with an interesting story and many places to see in still quite decent shape. The Hejaz railway was a narrow gauge railway, named after the Hijaz region of present-day Saudi Arabia through which it ran. It connected Damascus in present-day Syria with Medina in Saudi Arabia, with a branch line to Haifa (present-day Israel). It was part of the Ottoman railway network and its original purpose was to connect Damascus and Mecca with Istanbul. The builders' grandiose plans were thwarted by the First World War; only the Damascus-Medina line, which was 1,300 kilometres long, was built. As you might have guessed, the main purpose of its construction was to bring pilgrims from Europe, Asia and the Levant to Medina and Mecca. To give you an idea, the journey from Damascus to Medina by camel took forty days, which the railway shortened considerably.

It was built in eight years, between 1900 and 1908, using local labor, local resources, and the charity of Muslims (their obligatory alms called zakat). There were stations every 20 kilometres, mainly for defence reasons, and there were water tanks - as there is no water to spare in the desert, the train had to have, among other things, one carriage of water, which was used to power the steam locomotive.

The …

I have visited this WHS on multiple occasions before inscription in 2013 and 2015 in Regensburg, Germany, and in 2015, 2017, 2020 in Vienna, Austria. I only had a short video of the archaeological remains of the Danube Limes in Michaelerplatz, Vienna so this time round in 2022 during a brief family reunion, I made it a point to revisit the square and take some photos for my collection.

Not that now I have spectacular photos, nor did I get much more insight by this conscious visit post-inscription. Best time to visit is around noon when the sun shines on the remains. There are a couple of information boards on both sides of the square and also on the floor near the closed off remains themselves. Small appropriately placed bronze plaques give you a better idea of what the foundations once were and their approximate date of construction. As of 2022, there still is no UNESCO WHS plaque for the Historic Centre of Vienna, nor is there one for the Danube Limes.

These kind of WHS detract from the overall value of the WH list and provide no real value added unfortunately. They are a mere tick to bolster capital cities' status or tourist centres as hotspots and are not worth visiting simply for their own merit (should they have any!).

Having 4 days and 4 nights in Curaçao allowed my wife and I ample time to explore Historic Willemstad and the island as a whole. Using Els' neatly compiled list of 18 representative sites across the already well described districts, I explored the island by morning (car) and after lunch I explored Willemstad (on foot). Renting a car proved useful (if expensive), it allowed us to easily visit Curaçao's National Parks, Ramsar Wetlands (Flamingos!), Caves, Plantations, and best beaches.

To enhance your experience of the History of Willemstad, I would recommend three museums (all part of listed monuments within the WHS).

1. Kura Hulanda Museum (Otrobanda)

2. Mikve Israel-Emanuel Synagogue Museum (Punda)

3. Curacao Maritime Museum (Scharloo)

A particularly memorable experience in Willemstad, was in Nieuwstraat (Pietermaai) at the 'Mundo Bizarro', a popular live music restaurant/pub. Hearing Caribbean music and feeling the energy of the dance floor as the musicians expertly played their set, I will not forget it. Nearby, 'Kome' restaurant serves delicious dishes and has a great atmosphere. Considering that Willemstad is off and on busy based on the arrival of cruise ships, if you have a few days you can see a more "lively" atmosphere or laid back one. When the pontoon bridge is not in service, take the free ferry to cross back and forth, ideally near dusk.

According to the official website there are 743 listed properties that contribute to the Willemstad world heritage site. Both establishments I highlighted …

Syrian Hajj road is another of the long-winded multi-site serial nomination to be inscribed, along with Dar Zubaydah (Saudi-Iraqi road) and Egyptian road. This pilgrimage route connected Mecca and Medina with Syrian capital Damascus and measured 1307 kilometres in length. It was also called Attabukiya. It consists of places of refuge for pilgrims and security posts (forts, castles), markets (pilgrims took different products and wares from their country to trade at these places, changing items of value into local currency to fund their pilgrimage), bridges, canals and water reservoirs. 

We have visited or seen three different components of this proposed site. The best and most convenient visit is definitely the Al Siker Fortress in Tabuk, also called Tabuk Castle (it's actually quite close to the Tabuk Hejaz Railway station). Although legends say that a castle stood on the site for several millennia BC, it is of Ottoman origin, dating from 1559. Its purpose was to protect a nearby reservoir and provide accommodation for pilgrims. The fortress has two floors around the perimeter of which are rooms now used as a museum, a mosque and a courtyard. The museum houses historical artefacts and many infopanels providing information about the Syrian pilgrimage route as well as the most famous historical figures who walked it (Ibn Battuta, Evliya Celebi). There are parking spots at the beginning of the pedestrian section the fort is located at. Information is provided in English on the infoboards, which is appreciated.

Moving on to AlUla from …

Another of the serial nominations for three pilgrimage roads to Mecca, and this one actually ends in Mecca, not Medina as Dar Zubaydah and Syrian Hajj road do. Egyptian Hajj road allowed pilgrims not only from Egypt, but also other North and Central African countries and even Sicily, visit the two holy cities. The stops are on the Saudi Red Sea Coast, some a few tens of kilometres inland. They include traditional pilgrim infrastructure such as forts, castles, bridges, reservoirs, mosques, markets, etc. Nomination file says Islamic inscriptions and commemorative writings can be found there. What's interesting, there have been waves of using the road, then it fell into disuse when it was preferable to the pilgrims to sail the Red Sea instead.

We visited sights located about forty kilometres from Yanbu and Rabigh Tower. Al-Swaiq village and Yanbu Al-Nkhel site are both located in the city of Yanbu Al-Nkhel. Unfortunately, there isn't much of way of pointers, so have your map ready and know what to look for. The Al-Swaiq village is quite extensive and very interesting. It used to be a bustling centre and one of the stops of the Egyptian Hajj, there are many houses and the whole village seems to be fortified by an outside wall. It aparently also has a castle, called Suwaiq Castle, though we could not point out which of the sand-coloured ruins it was. The whole site is still being developed and reconstructed to be presentable for the tourists in the …

After having visited the wooden church of Hervartov back in 2014, this time round I managed to visit another four Slovak wooden churches, thanks to a very informative UNESCO map at the only restaurant in Vlkolinec. Since they weren't much of a detour between Spis, Vlkolinec and Banska Stiavnica and I had enough time to spare, I set off to visit the wooden churches of Kezmarok, Lestiny, Tvrdosin and Hronsek.

Since Hubert already covered the wooden church of Kezmarok pretty well, my only suggestion is to time your visit with the rather limited opening hours as the highlight of this church is definitely its interior; from the outside, it really is the odd one out of the eight wooden churches and not worth the visit simply for a view from the outside. I also found most of the Slovak churches' interior harder to access than its counterparts in Poland even though I visited during the "peak tourist season" when in theory it should have been easier than visiting in winter. Next, I drove to Lestiny where the wooden church is neatly hidden on a hill full of trees making it hard to take photos. Overall, it is quite similar to the wooden church in Hervartov, almost like a small fortified church enclosed by a wall.

Next, I drove to the Roman Catholic Church of All Saints in Tvrdosin and managed to get inside the church (open July-August from 10am till 4pm; strictly no photos allowed inside). Here a …

I visited this WHS in 2022 and it probably is Slovakia's best WHS town thanks the wealth generated by mining on a large scale since the 12th century, especially through silver mining in the 15th century. Incredibly enough, Banska Stiavnica is located in an immense caldera created by the collapse of an ancient volcano. The influence of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is evident as it looks pretty much like an Austrian city such as Salzburg or Graz, in a mining environment similar to that of the towns near the Ore Mountains in Germany or Czechia.

The main monuments scattered around the town's historic centre are the Church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, the Protestant Church, St. Catherine's Church, the Town Hall, the Old and New Castles, the Knocking Tower, the Forestry Academy, the Piarg Gateand the Plague column in Holy Trinity Square. Another building worth mentioning is known as Fritz's House with its Neo-Renaissance facade with sgraffito details on its facade. Just opposite St. Catherine's Church one can find the UNESCO WHS plaque. Walking around town is quite a fitness exercise as it involves a lot of uphill walking, although there are some shortcuts through flights of stairs. There are several associated mining sites one can visit such as the Bieber drainage gallery, the Mayer shaft, the Silver-lead mining plants, the water basins or "teichs" above town, or the buildings of the former Mining Academy where one can experience the harsh mining environment and working conditions for free. …

I visited this WHS in 2022 as a very comfortable stopover en route from Spis to Banska Stiavnica. The quite hidden quaint village of Vlkolinec is one of ten Slovak villages that have been offered protection for their folk architecture. Vlkolinec is an excellent example of folk countryside architecture of the Northern Carpathians region, untouched by modern construction. Even though an entrance fee is charged per person to visit the village (instead of a parking fee), people still live in it and as such is quite intact. 

The walk from the parking area to the top of the village is at a very steep gradient, although there is a longer but less steep walk round the village leading to the area near the main well. After the first few wooden houses, houses 16 and 17 and a barn/stable have been converted into a folk museum with all the instruments of daily life and work. Originally Vlkolinec was a settlement of loggers, shepherds and farmers. Further up, there's a little 18th century wooden belfry next to a well and a small Baroque chapel which have been preserved. A canalized stream flows through the centre of the village. Nearby, another house has been converted into a sort of mini visitor centre with some information on bear hunting and conservation downstairs, and a few information boards on the WHS proper upstairs. There is a carved wooden UNESCO WHS plaque half way up the stairs and the UNESCO WHS certificate facsimile inside. Towards …

From the petroglyphs and Ha'il, it's another two hundred kilometres to of Dawmat al Jandal. It's not very touristy, but it was the largest town on the way to Tabuk with several hotels to choose from. Overall, as far as Saudi Arabia is concerned, the north of the country, specifically these parts, aren't very busy - the petroglyphs are usually the northernmost the average tourist will go. 

Dawmat Al-Jandal was nominated quite this year under the name Ancient Fortified Oases of Northern Arabia, along with Tayma, Qurayyah and Ha'il. Dawmat (or Dumah) Al-Jandal was located on the trade route connecting the Gaza Strip and the Arabian (or Persian) Gulf and Babylon. According to historical sources, this place was inhabited as early as the first millennium BC. It was plundered by the Assyrians in the seventh century BC and was inhabited by the Nabataeans in the first century AD, then by the Romans. The city also bears Byzantine and Islamic influences.

The main monument is the stone castle of Marid, which gave the city its name - Jandal means stones. The castle is said to have been built by the Nabataeans (a civilization to which we owe the Jordanian Petra and the Saudi Hegra, more on them in a later article) and has been rebuilt many times throughout its history, thanks to both the Ottoman Turks and the city's later inhabitants. Today it is an interesting archaeological complex, besides the castle there is a preserved village with a mosque …

I visited this WHS in 2022, first visiting the Baradla cave in the Hungarian Aggtelek National Park en route from Tokaj, then proceeding to the Domica cave and the Dobšinská ice cave in Slovakia. This was truly just a sample of the hundreds of caves in the region, inscribed and not inscribed, but I always wanted to visit especially the ice cave in Slovakia, so I simply made an extra effort to add a stopover to the other two sites which pale in comparison to at least visit one location from Hungary too.

I was surprised by the amount of people visiting most of the caves, even the less known ones. There are several facilities and free parking near many of them but do research the opening and closing days and times before visiting. Also most caves are closed during winter. Make sure to bring at least a jacket even in summer as the temperatures in the caves are always lower than 10 degrees in most caves. The Baradla cave in Hungary and the Domica cave in Slovakia are actually one cave system, nowadays with two separate entrances in both countries. Short guided tours (around 1 hour) and long guided tours (2 hours) to the Baradla cave are offered almost every two hours. The cave has a natural entrance at Aggtelek at the foot of a high white cliff. Just before the entrance there's a UNESCO WHS inscription stone marker.

The Baradla cave has been discovered as early …

I visited this WHS in 2022 en route from Aggtelek/Dobsinska and based myself for 2 nights in a very pleasant former monastery converted into a hotel just behind the Spis Chapter House. Before doing some research, I always thought that the highlight of this WHS was the huge crumbling Spis castle, but after making the effort to visit Levoca and the other associated sites I think that they are very worthy additions that complement each other and possess OUV.

Having my hotel just behind it, I started off by visiting the Spis Chapter House with its imposing walls. There's a free parking lot just next to it and a pleasant hiking trail/Spis Jerusalem pilgrimage route just in front of the chapter house representing a Calvary complex with three minor churches/chapels. The complex is also part of the Slovak route to Santiago de Compostela as is Levoca. The Spis Chapter House is definitely the highlight within an exceptionally well preserved ecclesiastical town on the outskirts of Spis proper. The town consists of St. Martin's Cathedral, a former monastery, a small yellow bell tower just behind the cathedral and a single street, all of Mediaeval construction and enclosed by a large wall. Best light for photography is in the late afternoon when the sun lights up the Romanesque-Gothic cathedral facade and the Spis Castle in the background. Outside the main gateway of the Spis Chapter House there's a UNESCO WHS plaque, which is also found outside the main gateway of the …

To see the rock art, we headed north from Buraydah, through the town of Ha'il to the smaller resort of Jubbah. There are two sites for the rock art: Jabal Umm Siman in Jubbah, where we went, and the slightly more remote Jabal Al-Manjor/Jabal Raat double site. Jubbah is also one of the smaller towns in the northern part of Saudi Arabia. There are a few signs pointing from the main road towards a place with rock paintings, but the end of the road has to be navigated using any of the online or offline maps.

Although the map has pointed us towards the museum and the place with the petroglyphs, on the way we saw another site with something obviously there: there was a staircase attached to the stones, the whole place was fenced off, and workers were just putting up an information board in front of the entrance. A gentleman who appeared to be the head of this shift spoke to us in English, welcomed us and explained that the museum and the main petroglyphs were about a kilometre further down the road, but that we could go and see these if we wanted to. So we did. The stairs led us to a stone with images carved into it. 

We continued towards the museum is probably a bold designation for the administration building for the caretakers who open and close the gates to the main set of rock formations, with paths and sometimes stairs leading …

This report has to do with the French side. The main place to visit is Gavarnie, the site of one of the three "Cirques" in the area. 

In visiting a WHS I don't think I have experienced so many "twists" as I did with this Pyrenees WHS. 

When I was planning a trip to finish mainland France in winter 2019-2020 (just before the pandemic), I realized that it was better to visit all national / nature park-related WHS in France / Andorra in summer, not only because you can see more, but because public transportation is more frequent. So I postponed my visit to this Pyrenees WHS until some summer later.

Then, when I was planning such trip to visit this and other French / Andorra WHSs in summer 2022, I came across the following statement on the top page of the Gavarnie-Gedre Ski Resort: "In winter, near the Cirque de Gavarnie, discover a ski area ... in the heart of a UNESCO World Heritage Site!"

Gavarnie-Gadre Ski Resort

Pardon??? In the heart? You mean in the core zone? It can't be true! (I had in my mind the Bansko Ski Resort at the Pirin National Park WHS in Bulgaria where the ski area lies within the buffer zone surrounded the the core zone.) Upon my careful inspection of the WHS map, however, I concluded that at least one of the ski lift stations was within the core zone. I was fascinated by the idea …

I visited the Hungarian Tokaji Wine Region in 2022 en route from Hortobagy and as a pleasant stopover for 2 days before heading to the Aggtelek and Slovak Karsts WHS. The best location in terms of vineyard landscapes is probably the area around Mad, Tarcal and Tokaj with excellent views from the oval Terézia chapel near Tarcal. The unique highlight of this WHS for me though lies in the peculiar shaped Tokaji wine cellars in Hercegkut.

First of all, Tokaj is the name of one of the villages of the wine region, while Tokaji is the official name of the wine region. The inscribed part (at least for now) lies in Hungary, but there are plans to extend this WHS to the Slovak part too. Tokaji aszu wine, the world's oldest botrytized wine, is a sweet wine made from grapes affected by noble rot. The "nectar" coming from the grapes of Tokaj is also mentioned in the national anthem of Hungary. Of the six grape varieties officially approved for Tokaji wine production, Furmint and Harslevelu account for 60% and 30% of the area respectively. The wines produced in the region range from dry whites to the Eszencia, the world's sweetest wine. I tried a variety of wines from different wine cellars and since I was travelling by car got a generous sample of those I enjoyed most during my stay.

Probably the largest and most impressive of the wine cellars are found at the Oremus winery near Tolcsva, …

I'm not impressed but I don't really dislike it either. It's easy to see these as they are 10 minute drive from the airport. Use one of the ride apps to get a car to drop you off easily. Echmiatsin is the easiest because it's the town of Vagharshapat itself, with a hotel directly across the traffic circle if you want a convenient place to stay (Richmind, cheap and comfy). Unfortunately as you can see from my picture it was closed for renovation.

While the infrastructure is not bad in any way, the Armenian style churches are not special enough in this area. So I think it was more inscribed due to "imported" structure knowledge at the time to show culture moving around the world/regions - I don't find that fancy enough for a world heritage. Because it's an easy visit (oh no she said "easy" again?!) I would recommend throwing it on your itinerary even for non-WHS enthusiasts.

Zvartnots is best done on the way to/from Yerevan and it won't take you long to see everything either (I didn't say "easy"!), it's got ancient ruins from the old buildings and a better view because there is no town surrounding the site. So once again, don't expect to spend much time here and don't have high hopes of seeing something fantastic either.