I am on the email list for AFAR, a great travel magazine. I rarely have time to open and read it, but dare not unsubscribe, lest I miss something important. (Anybody else have that problem?)
A title of the Jan 30 issue caused me to pause: “Must-Visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites.” I’ve visited many a UNESCO site but I was curious about this list.
This is how the article started: UNESCO was created in 1945 as a means to help ensure the preservation of our natural, cultural, and intellectual heritage. Of the nearly 1,000 awe-inspiring UNESCO World Heritage sites, these should be at the top of your list.
I understand that these lists are simply someone’s opinion. And I’ve thought from time to time that I should become a contributing writer for a publication such as this, since I have more than a few opinions of my own. This list was compiled by a young guy named Bryan Kitch, and I couldn’t resist checking his list and offering my own opinions and experience.
The three places he listed at the bottom, I’d absolutely bump to the top of my list!
I suppose this rating is predictable, but I have mixed feelings about the place. Yes – it is iconic. And beautiful. But it requires that you go to Agra, which is as uninteresting and nondescript a city as you can find in India. There’s no other reason to go there. So you’ve dedicated two precious days of your India itinerary to visit this monument which, truly, looks as pretty as the millions of pictures you’ve seen (which will likely be better photos than any of the ones you will take). Still, you can say you’ve been there . . . and you, too, can take a corny picture like these:
As corny as it gets at the Taj Mahal.
As much as I love Amsterdam, I’m not sure it would be #2 on my list. But when you consider that Amsterdam is below sea level – it is quite an extraordinary achievement of the 17th century! And awfully pretty to look at, too. There’s a Museum of Canals that I never had time to visit. Next time, I’ll make a point to get there and learn more about the significant influences of engineering, hydraulics, town planning and architectural know-how.
As the ocean temperatures get warmer – we might need to learn a few things from the Dutch about water management.
Jerónimos is a 500 year old, exceedingly ornate monastery in western Lisbon. The project was originally planned to take only 8 years, however as the country grew more and more prosperous with a new tax on colony imports, the plans grew more elaborate. Almost a century after the foundations were laid, the magnificent monetary was completed.
I know I stopped here with a group en route from Lisbon to Porto some years ago and was blown away! Can’t locate any of my photos, however.
I’ve never heard of this place! (And you thought I knew everything!)
It’s a historic mining site in north-west Spain that was the most important and innovative gold mine in the Roman Empire. After their withdrawal from the mines, the land was left devastated, but has since evolved into a dramatically beautiful one! Sheer rock faces and vast spans of terrain (now used for agriculture) dot the landscape.
Oh, yeah – without question – Angkor Wat would make my short list!
I confess to not always listening intently to my tour guides when they talk about the importance of a monument. Sitting atop a mammoth elephant, lumbering to the top of Amber Fort – I admit to being slightly distracted! Built in 1592, it’s more beautiful on the inside. And – the proper name for this place is Amer Fort.
When at Amber, you’ve got to book an elephant!
Hmmm … a scenic train journey is on the UNESCO list? Who would have thunk it? I’ve not experienced this…
Apparently, this railway joins 2 historic railways that cross the extremely problematic landscape of the Swiss Alps through 2 passes. The engineering and innovation that went into the architecture of these projects earned the Rhaetian Railway a spot on the UNESCO World Heritage list!
With a nearly 1,000 year history, this site is known as one of the most sacred and greatest Mayan centers on the peninsula. The Toltec people also left their mark on the site, and today it’s one of Yucatan’s best preserved examples of Mayan-Toltec architecture and civilization.
On my list . . .
I loved Jordan, but didn’t get to this place…
At just over 258 square miles, this natural and cultural site situated in southern Jordan is home to archeological remains that testify over 12,000 years of human history! Some 20,000 inscriptions and 25,000 carvings discovered show the evolution of the alphabet and the transformation of human thought. Amazing!
Nope – not been here either.
This park is home to interesting geographical formations that spot the central Australian plain. Uluru, an iconic red monolith, and Kata Tjuta, a formation of rock domes, are both central to the traditional beliefs of the Aboriginal people – one of the oldest human civilizations in the world.
The experience of walking around and over birds, iguanas and sea lions who have absolutely NO fear of humans is quite remarkable. There’s no other place on earth where this is possible.
Galapagos are unlike anything, anywhere. I would definitely include this on my UNESCO Higlights List!
How did they do that in 3,000 B.C.?? And why would they approve construction of a nearly 2-mile long traffic tunnel underneath this prehistoric monument? Supporters argue that it would help “relieve traffic congestion along the A303 road and stimulate the local economy.”
I visited Stonehenge early in my career. Pretty cool rocks!
Oh, now I get it. That money thing again . . . seems to trump all other considerations these days 🙁
Athens has a couple of things that make it worthwhile to visit (in my opinion). The Parthenon is one, these guys are another!
A great workout for the thighs!
Preparing to get drenched at Iguassu Falls, on the Argentina side.
This place WOWs me every time… one of the world’s most impressive and largest waterfalls!
Fraser Island is one of the world’s most unusual islands; it is the largest sand island in the world – 76 miles long and 14 miles wide – and it’s the only place on Earth where tall rainforests grow on sand dunes at elevations of more than 650 feet. Home to the most pure strain of dingoes remaining in eastern Australia, and one of the best places to see baby humpback whales and their mothers, Fraser Island also has superb scenery like nowhere else on earth.
Been here, but it sure wouldn’t be on my “best of UNESCO” list, however, Austrians see it as one of the most important and most beloved landmarks of the country.
For more than 700 years, the magnificent cathedral has stood watch over the city. Climb the 343 steps up to the tower and enjoy a breathtaking view of the city.
From my single (admittedly limited) experience of China, this would be the only reason to go here. Pretty darn impressive!
I’ll be seeing these with my WOW! Travel Club in July!!
The waters flowing over the limestone and chalk have, over thousands of years, created natural dams which in turn have created a series of beautiful lakes, caves and waterfalls. The park’s forests are home to bears, wolves and many rare bird species, as well as Veliki Slap, the tallest waterfall in Croatia!
Two hours south of Prague, Cesky Krumlov is a gem!
A magical island topped by a gravity-defying medieval monastery, the Mont-Saint-Michel counts among France’s most stunning sights. Set in the mesmerizing bay where Normandy and Brittany merge, it truly looks as if it was a toy castle placed in the sea by a discerning giant!
Surprised that this museum made it on the list, but who doesn’t love Belgium?
The Plantin-Moretus Museum is a printing plant and publishing house dating from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. It is associated with the history of the invention and spread of typography, and home to the oldest printing presses in the world. The entire workshop of the world-famous printing works is still there, after 440 years!
Tivoli is one of the most popular destinations for day trips from Rome. Tivoli’s two most famous tourist attractions are the magnificent gardens of the Villa d’Este and the extensive ruins of Hadrian’s Villa (Villa Adriana). The Villa Adriana is a complex of classical buildings created in the 2nd century A.D. by the Roman emperor Hadrian. It combines the best elements of the architectural heritage of Egypt, Greece and Rome in the form of an “ideal city.”
Brussels’ Grand Place is so grand, it’s hard to get a good photo!
It took Mother Nature 485,000,000 years to mold Gros Morne National Park into the geological and visual wonder that it is. The second largest National Park in eastern Canada, Gros Morne National Park stretches across 1,100 square miles of western Newfoundland. Encircled by tiny seaside communities, and encompassing forests, freshwater fjords, bogs, barren lowlands, moose, and striking cliffs and shorelines – a nature lover’s dream come true!
The gardens and castle of Kroměříž are an exceptionally complete and well-preserved example of a European Baroque princely residence and its gardens. During the summer, Kroměříž is reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. The local gardens represent a perfect symbiosis of light, plants, water, art and architecture. The Castle and Gardens are some of the most beautiful in Europe!
A place of sublime beauty and poetry. Created over a period of a quarter century (1915-1940) on about 250 acres of pine-covered boulder ridge under the direction of the famous modernist architects Gunnar Asplund and Sigurd Lewerentz; it is considered one of the most important works of the modernists. It evokes a Nordic philosophy on nature, life, and death.
This place is absolutely a “wow”! My WOW! Travel Club visited here in 2014.
Matera, in the heart of Italy (towards the south) is a hidden treasure! I agree with his inclusion of Matera on his “must see” list – a fascinating place of cave houses!
This would be in my Top Ten UNESCO experiences!
One of the MOST thrilling things I’ve ever experienced in my life. I highly suggest a visit to Vic Falls during low water season – when you can go to the Devil’s Pool when it won’t wash you over the edge!
Yes, yes, yes!!
Cappadocia, Turkey is an absolute treasure. It would be on my UNESCO short list, for sure! (Be sure to go up in a hot-air balloon!)
The author’s list included his top 29 (a strange number, don’t you think?). Notable omissions (in my opinion) are Machu Picchu, Halong Bay and Hoi An in Vietnam, Vinales Valley in Cuba, Trulli houses in Alberobello, Italy … and others that don’t spring to mind at this moment.
Are there UNESCO sites that you would put on your Top 29 List?
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