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Sbeïtla is located slightly south of the center of northern Tunisia, as the countries map visually divides in two by the vast salt pan of Chott el Jerid. It’s on the north-south line between Dougga and Chott el Jerid some 100 km southwest of Kairouan. It’s a large roman remain with some near complete structures and a lot of lower structures. In total it shows the size of this once great city.

Arriving just an hour before closing time and even at Ramadan we weren’t very popular neither at the ticket counter nor the gate. The counter had practically been closed already, but er got tickets, and at the gate they told us that we couldn’t do it within the hour. Thus, we hasted along not really knowing which direction to take. Soon we had an uninvited “guide” with us speaking only a few words of English. After telling him a couple of times we could do this by ourselves we gave that up. He hasted along with us saying “mill, olive press, bathtub, fountain, church” and so he continued. After a while we had to admit he was in fact informative in his short language way. Arriving at the more complete structures he could tell us “Jupiter, Juno, Minerva”. In addition to these bigger structures the mosaic floors and mosaic bathtubs are impressive. And of course, the arc is great! It might be an entrance, but it might not?In the end we had to admit our hasty guide …

Four times a day, there are direct trains between Tunis and El Djem. That seemed like an interesting way to visit this WHS, so I bought a ticket for the 8.35 a.m. train, which should take about 3.5 hours. The platform was full of passengers… but no train arrived. The local travelers were not impressed and sat on the edge of the adjacent platform in the shade and waited. In the end, we left with a 1h45 delay, which increased to 2 hours later on the route. The train is quite comfortable (I went in first class for 14.75 dinars / 5 EUR), but outdated, warm, and slow.

From El Djem station it is a 10-minute walk to the amphitheater. I had read that it is so big that you can see it from the station, but I didn't see it. It only suddenly appeared in the last street. Due to all the delays, I was there exactly during the hottest part of the day, and it can get hot here. I just started by walking around the galleries, the sun doesn't penetrate there. The galleries are special in that they are three rows high and two rows thick. The stones are scratched with graffiti, many of them recent, but also from the 19th century.

From the second and third galleries, there is a good overview of the entire amphitheater. What is striking is that there are only steps with seats left on one side. There is also …

This is fun! This is great!A new this interesting TWHS is just fantastic! They appear unique and different! Although the site description can tell us that there are other troglodyte habitats sites and thus not unique, it also says the collective granaries are.

After visiting 8 of the 22 troglodyte habitats in the southern part of Tunisia, we found mainly granaries. Some easily accessible and other more remote, and by far the more remote ones are the most interesting.

Our first one was in the town of Médenine (lower right picture). Except some unwanted odd people hanging around and a private museum inside the ksour that didn’t really appeal, it was good example. The ksour itself is big and contains a two-three story building complex with twisted and rough stairs, certainly interesting.

The second one, EI Mourabitibe or Kasr Mrabtine (upper left and right picture), was fantastic. Located alone on a barren ridge with only a rough path, it attracts few visitors. It’s a 20-minute hike up the rocky and desert-like hill to the gate of this “fortress”. Entering gives you immediately the feeling of how it must have been back in the old times. The “inside of a fortress” is a three-four story building complex again with these impossible cartoon-like stairs, and you can visualize the granaries filled with merchandise and a vivid community of people doing business the Bedouin way. It must have been an experience! The building complex has no straight line, nothing seems …

Kerkuane lies in the ‘far’ northeast of Tunisia. I went there by rental car from Bizerte, which turned out to be an ‘interesting’ drive of about 200km. It is slow going, as you have to cross numerous towns and there is a lot of slow traffic on the road including horse carts and flocks of sheep. The landscape isn’t as pretty as near Dougga, but the numerous olive groves easily outdo the ones in Andalusia. Near Erritiba, there was a nasty surprise – the road was blocked for some reason, with police around and many onlookers. I had to make a large detour to finally arrive at Kerkuane after 5(!) hours.

The archaeological site has a pleasant setting right at the sea and I welcomed the breeze that comes with it. It takes about an hour to explore. It needs a bit of TLC (or more funds), as several of the excavated parts are now overgrown with weeds. The information panels were barely readable. Under a protective shelter lies its most precious treasure: the House of Tanit, with the sign of the goddess Tanit placed in front of its entrance for good luck (pictured).

There is a 2nd location as well, a Necropolis from the 6th-3rd centuries B.C., about 5km away from the main site. It is a bit hard to find when you don’t know what you’re looking for. I made it by car to where Google Maps has it marked but saw nothing. Fortunately, Svein …

On our Tunisia journey this April, we visited the island of Djerba. Visiting all the country’s WHS’ we wanted to add on a visit the only site which will supposedly be forwarded (next year). Not knowing too much about the island upfront thus we decided to stay a day (and two nights) to explore it. Even though the island is far from small the mentioned elements in the site description are limited, so with all due respect to the island’s nature, history, culture and trade traditions, there is not much to see!

The nature - is semi-desert like impression all over, except for then inhabited areas. Sandy and rocky, some scattered palms and some slightly cultivated fields. The description says it’s a “dispersed habitat illustrating a great capacity of adaptation”, but we failed to see the beauty or the uniqueness.

The history - is more interesting, but the tangible part is limited.

The culture - is albeit more visual. There are heritage museums showing off the lifestyle and clothing and their way of managing daily life.

The trade traditions - is also partly “documented” through the heritage museums and some of the buildings.

The collection of scattered elements is meant to represent the heritage and we spent our time visiting a collection of them. We used a handy app called “Djerba Guide“.

The most interesting element was the venerable synagogue of Ghriba from the 19th century. The exterior is decent, not flashy. The …

We visited this site in Feb 2022 en route from the Mani peninsula to Olympia. I would definitely recommend a visit and a car to get there. Our GPS took us there via some rather obscure back roads and our first glimpse of the site was from above as we came down from the mountain to the east. Our visit on site was equally pleasant as the ruins are well kept and laid out. I think what I liked the most was that each element of the former city is spaced out and clearly identifiable and I could get a feel for the full layout without getting an impression of clutter or trying to cut through more modern development like most other ruins. As mentioned in the previous reviews the best is saved for last. At the far end is the fantastic stadium. 

As well presented as the site is there is still evidence of much more left to be uncovered. The nearby museum is small with just a few local artifacts. As for the fortifications, it is possible to see some elements of the walls in the distance from the ruins. We left by driving to the west and after a km or so passed through the large Arcadian gate and got a good look at the walls.

This should be an easy addition to the WHS list if Greece ever decides to submit it.

I visited this little town in the summer of 2021 when I covered all the inscribed sites on Denmark proper and a few tentative sites. I decided to stay overnight here and rented a room in the Brødremenighedens Hotel, probably the only hotel in town. It is not cheap (as all hotels in Denmark) but it is in one of the largest historic buildings in town and features not only a restaurant (with a UNESCO-Menue!) and several historic halls. I figure you can see them also without being a guest. There were several reasons I decided to stay overnight: It fit decently with my travel route coming south from the eastern centre of Jutland (coming from Aarhus over Jelling) and, as strange as it sounds, because I knew that there was not very much to see. I hate it when I look back disappointedly at a visit to a WHS, knowing that I missed a kew element that might have improved the impression. So when I visit a while a large WHS like an inscribed city I know I needs several visits to cover all interesting parts so I have to come back anyway. On the other hand when I visit a small site I like to make sure I see all (possibly) important parts so I don't have to go home with the feeling that I should got there again to see a missed part. 

As has been mentioned by other reviewers you can mainly walk around the …

Hallstatt is a beautiful little town, and attracts lots and lots of tourists. We drove in from Salzburg through vary mountainous roads and some mistakes of the GPS. Once in town, you have to contend with parking, as there is no outside cars allowed in the tourist areas. The two small lots in the center fills up quickly, but once in, everything is within walking distance. The parking payment system is strange (for non-German speakers) but once you figure it out that the little yellow token is your parking stub, everything is logical.

We did the tourist thing by taking the funicular up the mountain for the view, waiting patiently for the young couples taking pictures. Our physical condition did not allow us to explore the salt mines. A visit to the Museum (no one is there) was actually quite educational in terms of understanding the cultural aspects of the Hallstatt Culture and history of salt mining.

I visited this WHS in April-May 2012. At the time, since Nice wasn't on the WH list, I used it mainly as my base for the other WHS in the area and my main reason to visit was to attend a concert. That said, I clearly remember the palm tree lined wide promenade, the luxury hotels and cars parked in front of them, the gorgeous blue Mediterranean sea, and the snow-capped Alps in the distant background - a postcard view seen in so many international movies.

Although Nice's urban development was clearly the product of the tourism industry, and it must have played a clear role in coastal tourist amenities developed elsewhere, at the very least this is stretching the OUV concept a bit too far IMHO. I rated it as one of France's weakest WHS, as of all the French cities, monuments and sites, Nice really doesn't deserve its listing already on a national level, let alone on an international level. I really enjoyed the panoramic views from the Berlanda Tower area of the Colline du Chateau as well as the fine Art Deco details here and there, the elaborate mosaics on the villa facades and the colourful tiles of the many church domes, steeples and bell towers. When in the area, I would recommend also visiting pretty Antibes nearby and tasting the fresh food from the covered market.

A few days after my visit to Rosia Montana WHS I made my second attempt to visit the main component of this Dacian Fortress WHS, Sarmizegetusa Regia, this time by public transportation. 

My first attempt was in winter 2016-17 when I found the ruins covered by snow, as described in my earlier report below. For that trip I rented a car because it appeared too difficult to get to the site without it. I typically like to utilize public transportation in my attempt to immerse myself more in the local scenes, but this time the main reason I did not rent a car was because my California driver's license expired almost 4.5 years ago and cannot be renewed online. The only way for me to renew it now is to physically appear at a DMV in California where I have not been back over 5.5 years. 

I was staying in Deva and took a bus to Orastie and another bus to Costești. From there I was hoping to hitchhike to Sarmizegetusa Regia, some 20 km away, thinking having all afternoon in Costești was enough to do so. As described in my report below, there were a dozen Romanian tourists even during the snowy day in winter, so I thought it couldn't be too difficult to hitch a car. But when I got to Costești by bus, to my bewilderment and disappointment, I hardly saw any cars going in the direction of Sarmizegetusa Regia. 

So after some 30 …

I visited this tWHS in April 2022. I must say that the Netherlands in general really has a treasure trove of quaint well-presented little museums. I truly can't see how this little gem, dubbed as the world's oldest working planetarium, won't make it on the WH list just like the splendid Plantin Moretus, Ir. D.F. Woudagemaal or the Rietveld Schröder House.

The facade of the Eise Eisinga house in Franeker, Friesland, was built on a canal well before 1768 (this date can be seen on the stone of the facade but it's actually the year in which the facade was replaced). Overall the facade is quite plain with the usual gable roof. The nearby coffee shop is much more ornate with a lovely Art Nouveau interior. However, the highlight and OUV of this tWHS lies mainly in the living room literally converted into a fully working solar system model with the sun in the centre and the planets known at that time circling around it. The outer three planets, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are missing as they had not been discovered by the time the model was built.

Entrance now costs 6 euros and whenever there are enough people, a lovely knowledgable old lady closes the living room door, fetches a long bamboo stick, and gives a brief explanation on the planetarium or orrery in Dutch, English or German. I revisited the room more than a couple of times practically listening to the explanation in three languages as …

I visited Kairouan on a half-day trip from Sousse by louage, the typical Tunisian minibus share taxi. The 60km distance is easily covered within an hour and a ticket costs only 5 Tunisian dinars (1.70 EUR). It was a scorching day, but still I managed to see all of Kairouan’s significant sights on foot – I walked the streets for 10km in total. With about 140,000 inhabitants, it is a fairly large city, located in a semi-arid region. Fortunately, there are many mini-markets where you can stop for a cool drink.

I started at the Aghlabid Basins, 1 of the 3 locations that make up this WHS. This is already quite a trek from the louage station. The Basins, large water reservoirs from the 9th century, were built outside the city walls and are fed by an aqueduct. I entered from the side, where the gate was open; the official entrance wasn’t and there were no tickets checked or sold. Local boys were using the reservoirs for swimming, although with plastic garbage floating in them this didn't look inviting. Still, I found the monumentality of the reservoirs quite impressive – the largest is 128m in diameter. Later I heard from the guide in Dougga that more basins have been found recently.

I then continued to location #2, the Zaouia of Sidi Sahib which shelters the remains of a companion of the Prophet. It is a white, domed building just inside the city walls. I found it closed …

Carthage may not be Tunisia’s grandest attraction anymore, its rich and powerful empire by far superseded the importance of the country it currently is part of. Unfortunately, not a lot is known about the cultural history of the Carthaginians – most books focus on the military history and their battles with the Romans (using sources written by Romans). You'll know enough if you listen to only one podcast on that subject. At an exhibition on Punic Carthage that I visited in Leiden in 2015, I found more to my taste (those white and blue glazed pendants!). The accompanying book, “Carthage: fact and myth”, still is the best one I could find as it covers a range of topics including the Punic writing system, the relationship with the Numidians, and its influence on European art.

I choose to do a half-day tour with Le Lemon Tour for my real-life visit. They own a bicycle shop in Carthage and conduct tours – on a bike of course! - to the archaeological sites. They are very professional and you can also just rent a bike to explore the area on your own. That a bike is such a good way of transportation here, also says a lot about the terrain. The sites are all separate “islands”, with their own access, in between the quiet and prosperous residential areas. Fortunately, you have to pay your entrance fee only once: for 12 TD (4 EUR) you can visit the 8 associated sites and they …

Site visited in July, 2021 during extended Balkan trip. One of the oldest monasteries in Romania. Located in northern part of the country in historical region of Moldovia (do not confuse it with current state of Moldova).

Neamt Monastery (in Romanian Mănăstirea Neamţ) was built in XIV century during the reign of Petru Musat (first stone church was built) but its current shape received in XV century by Stephen III of Moldavia (better known as Stephen the Great, rom. Ştefan cel Mare – you will find streets named after him in every Romanian town).

Currently it is a well known landmark and local touristic destination. There is a huge parking space just near the monastery. The whole complex, surrounded by walls is accessible by main gate. Inside there are two churches including the imposing Church of the Ascension of the Saviour, two chapels, the bell-tower with 11 bells, the Theological Seminary, local museum with religious art and some old printing presses. Inside the main church we can see the icon of Virgin Mary, painted in 665 in Palestina – this icon was a gift to Alexandru cel Bun from the Byzantine Emperor Ioan the VIIth Paleologul. The whole interior is covered with beautiful paintings, some of them are a bit dark due to smoke from candles.

Outside the monastery – on the other side of main road – there is characteristic round building – monastery library – considered to be one the most important in Romania. It …

I visited this WHS in December 2021 and what was initially planned as quick visit due to COVID closures, turned out to be a great experience over three days. I had contacted a number of small hotels at Zapotitlan as well as a great local company called Bio Fan for more information on some hiking possibilities and to have further information whether the Helia Bravo Botanical Gardens were open since they had been closed for almost two years due to the pandemic.

After weeks with no positive reply, the day before heading towards Oaxaca from Puebla, we received good news: the botanical gardens were finally open on Christmas Eve, so we changed our initial plans and booked a very early guided tour with the friendly and knowledgable Bio Fan to Santa Ana Tecomavaca to spot the military macaws at sunrise (great with binoculars, much less for photography at least with a bridge camera) on the last day before heading to Oaxaca as it's quite on the way. We also did a shorter visit to a place known locally as El Bosque de los Sotolines which we had initially planned as Plan B should the Botanical Gardens be still closed as I wanted to make sure to see the endemic Pata de elefante or sotolin tree which is believed to be the oldest (800+ years old) in the region of Tehuacan. We simply parked our car close by and hiked slightly uphill. Next we headed to the Helia Bravo Botanical …

I thought that this site did not need any additional reviews. I mean, it’s got heaps of testimonies already, and we all know it’s famous, iconic, and a well-managed site that boasts some of the most beautiful sceneries in the world. But it won’t hurt if this site gets another review, right? :D

The previous reviews had highlighted the OUV of this WHS already, so I would just focus on sharing my experiences visiting Milford Sound and hiking the Kepler and Routeburn tracks. Visits were on two separate occasions last March 2022.

1. Milford Sound/Piopiotahi

The night we arrived in Te Anau from Queenstown, my friend and I booked the tour for the following day, knowing that it would rain the whole day and the waterfalls would be spectacular. I wouldn’t say I like going outdoors in the rain, but this was one of the rare exceptions.

There were only about 20 tourists on the bus, and it was a typical tour bus where the driver also gave commentaries. We stopped at the designated tour spots such as the Mirror Lakes and Eglinton Flats despite the drizzle. We arrived at Milford Sound almost 2 hours later and were surprised that we were one of the only two buses there. COVID has drastically affected tourism in Fiordland—our driver lamented how they used to have a surplus of visitors pre-COVID. At the moment it was rare for their tours to even reach half the capacity, although I am …

I visited this WHS in December 2021 before and after a very long drive full of hairpins to Oaxaca's far-away beaches. This WHS is practically 2 WHS in 1, yet another colonial town packed with beautiful churches with intricately decorated interiors and another pre-Columbian archaeological site.

Both sites are very enjoyable and we were glad we had allowed some 3-4 days in total even though if pressed for time both can be easily covered in one full day with the Yagul WHS in the late afternoon. Monte Alban is best visited early in the morning not only because of the lighting for photography but also because there is no shade anywhere apart from under a couple of trees and it can get very hot here. We were there quite early, mostly because entrance was limited to a low number of visitors which was monitored already going uphill with a makeshift traffic light. By using public transport, you get to jump all the queing vehicles uphill, at least during COVID restriction times. Another important reason to wake up early was to beat any protestors blocking all the main roads and literally trapping anyone inside the city, which seems to be quite a recurring problem here.

Practically we were among the very first visitors and having printed a small map beforehand, we headed straight towards the Main Plaza to enjoy the panoramic views from the North and South Platforms void of people. The most striking building was the "pyramid-like" structure …

If it were not located next to a busy modern day national road one could imagine the Daphni Monastery to be located in Shakespeare’s Athenian forest with elves, kings and queens enjoying a pleasant Midsummer’s Night on the lush meadow among the pine trees behind one of the Greek capital’s most impressive buildings of the Middle Byzantine period. The site was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1990, together with the Monastery of Hosios Loukas near Delphi, and Nea Moni on the island of Chios.

We visited on 1 May 2022, a day when Athenians come out to the country side to celebrate spring, enjoy lunch with the family and friends, and bring back flowers and wreaths to their homes.    

Already when it was first built in the 6th century, the monastery was erected on an important road, the ancient Sacred Way - the Iera Odos, and served as a way station to Eleusis and farther to Corinth and the Peloponnese. It is the site of the sanctuary of Apollo Daphnaios which was destroyed by the Goths in the 4th century. It is mentioned in the little museum that of the old temple only one column of the narthex remains, while the others were removed by Lord Elgin and are now in the British Museum. The missing columns were replaced by white marble replicas. Throughout the centuries after the fall of the Byzantine empire the monastery suffered looting and damage. After the Ottoman conquest of Athens …

We visited Slovenia in October 2018, with a passing visit, in terms of this extension nomination,to Predjama Castle and a longer visit to Postojna Cave.

We didn’t enter the castle, what with castle overload, and I believe there is not much inside at any rate, so parking up for free for a quick photo stop was all that was on the cards. We had arrived self-drive from Ljubljana in the morning en route to Kobarid via the WHS site Skojcan Caves and the aforementioned Postojna Cave.

Postojna is well set up for tourists (possibly too well set up), becoming a tourist attraction in the early 1800s, with annual visitor numbers shy of a million. Apart from the usual cave formations, there are two main novelties here. The underground railway with which you tour the cave was the world's first railway in an underground cave, opened in 1872. The other novelty is the presence of the olm or proteus, a kind of aquatic cave dwelling salamander.

Tours were on the hour, so when we arrived early, we had a bite to eat in the onsite cafe. There is an exhibition and a zoology museum but we gave those a miss as we had researched that the elusive olm was displayed at the end of the cave tour anyway. On the hour, there was an elaborate “herding system” where we were divided by language before taking our seats on the railway, which was more akin to an amusement …

Unlike the previous reviewers, I visited the French part of the World Heritage Site, to be more precise the Cirque de Gavarnie. The Cirque is a deep, amphitheatre like valley formed by glaciers, with steep, very high cliffs (the mountains rise up to 1500 meters above the valley floor). It is also home to one of the highest waterfalls in Europe.

I visited the Cirque in July 2020 on a day trip. I stayed overnight in Lourdes and drove by car to the village of Gavarnie (takes about an hour). You are not allowed to enter the village center by car, but there is paid parking near it. I think, the earlier you arrive, the better. In high season, there is the real possibility of traffic jam on the small roads leading to the village. And when I arrived around 10 a.m. the parking was already quite full, too.

Even from the village - provided there are no clouds - you have spectacular views of the Cirque. After an easy hike on dirt roads (duration about one hour), I reached the restaurant at the entrance of the Cirque. From there, you can take several trails. I decided against the path to the waterfall and instead crossed the river and walked past sheep to a snow field at the foot of the rock walls. Much more challenging routes (including through the cliffs up to the Breche de Roland pass) are also available for the more ambitious hikers. But I …