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[aopaq]

I was recently on the UNESCO site World Heritage List and was amazed at the huge numbers of such properties (851) which are considered to have outstanding universal value. To me, some of these are as incredible as any of the more famous 7 Wonders.

I definitely plan to view this list prior to going on future travels to see which sites I can include in my journey. The last such site I saw was the Dazu stone carvings in Chongqing China which thoroughly impressed me

What are some UNESCO Heritage sites you have seen and would recommend?

[wakingdream]

Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg, Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System- beautiful!,
Iguaçu National Park in Brasil and many of the historic centers. I loved Angkor and alot of the places in Serbia and area. Tokaj Wine Region in Hungary. Luang Prabang is a favorite. Kinabalu Park is a beauty as well. Nahanni, the Rockies, Lunenburg, Rideau in Canada. The Gothic art of Bourges Cathedral in France is a must see if you like old style design. Too many great ones in Mexico to mention! Lots of really great ones in Peru: esp. Machu Piccu, Chan Chan, Nasca (wow!) Arequipa was a fave, the Monuments in Kosovo, I really enjoyed Ayutthaya and Sukothai in Thailand. Th Causeway Coast in N. Ireland is stunning, fell inlove with Halong Bay and My Son in Vietnam and now........I am being ridiculous! Getting alittle carried away here....

I would love to see so many more of them. One that stands out is Island of Mozambique. Gotta get there.

[Paul]

I really liked Sukothai

[kitkatgo]

I have been to a few, I think they were all worth visiting, even if they are on the touristy side:

Cesky Krumlov Castle, Czech Republic (13th century castle and town)
Historic Center of Prague (Old Town Square, Charles Bridge & so many other buildings and places in this area are very worth seeing)
Kiyomizu Temple, Kyoto, Japan (overlooks Kyoto)
Kinkakuji Temple, Kyoto, Japan (covered in gold)
Himeji Castle, Himeji, Japan (masterpiece 17th century castle)
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Hiroshima, Japan
Stonehenge, England
Bath, England (The town itself is worth visiting, the Roman Baths were quite something)
Canterbury Cathedral, England
Tower of London, England
Paris, Banks of the Seine, France (surprised that this was a UNESCO site, but it is among my favorite places, so must list it!)
Historic Site of Lyon, France (some cool Roman ruins here)

Some U.S. ones I've been to:
Grand Canyon (haven't been there since I was a kid, but it's amazing)
Redwood National & State Parks (it's breathtaking--everyone should visit at least once!)
Yosemite (used to go there quite a bit, it's beautiful, but has taken it's toll from all the visitors)
The forts of San Juan, Puerto Rico (El Morro and San Cristobal--really beautiful and a lot of history)

Thanks, that was fun looking at the UNESCO list, been meaning to do that. I hope to visit many more UNESCO sites, I've never been disappointed.

[druki123]

Ajanat caves in India is worth visiting

[ahd]

Did you mean Ajanta and Ellora Caves.

Yes i did travel in there. Pretty old caves and i hope your traditioned ones.

See You.

[rbisset]

Polonnaruwa, Sri Lanka was pretty special!

Looking at that list I've only been to 42 of them!

[starlagurl]

"Only" 42?

[tourman]

Masai Mara in Kenya is worth visiting especially between August and October when about 3 million wildebeests migrate from the Mara to the Serengeti national park in Tanzania.

[skylab]

i love this list. i love this group too because they preserve history pretty good.
It's a shame there's only 1 left from the 7 Ancient wonders of the world.

[rbisset]

"Only" 42?

Make that 43 now

[starlagurl]

Ha, what was the 43rd one?

[rbisset]

Bremen historical centre

[starlagurl]

Ah, Germany of course. You were there for NYE, nice.

Let me see, these are the ones I've been to, I'm not doing as bad as I thought!:

Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg in Austria
Dinosaur Provincial Park in Canada
Kluane / Wrangell-St Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek in Canada
Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump in Canada
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks in Canada
Historic District of Old Québec in Canada
Gros Morne National Park in Canada
Old Town Lunenburg in Canada
Rideau Canal in Canada (I live there!)
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Remi and Palace of Tau, Reims in France
Paris, Banks of the Seine in France
Historic Site of Lyons in France
The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes in France
Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Germany
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura in Italy
Vatican City
Historic Centre of Florence in Italy
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa in Italy
Venice and its Lagoon in Italy
Assisi, the Basilica of San Francesco and Other Franciscan Sites in Italy
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications
Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco in Mexico
Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán in Mexico
Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan in Mexico
Dong Phayayen-Khao Yai Forest Complex in Thailand
Everglades National Park in the US
Independence Hall in the US
Statue of Liberty in the US
Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the US

I've got 30!

[rbisset]

Actually I missed a few off. Been to 45.

Looking through the list there are a lot of towns that I visited and didn't bother seeing the UNESCO sights for some reason...... I have been to shockingly few of the sights in my own country!

Also out of the 45 I have visited, only 8 have been in Europe!!!

[stereobread]

I think I'm doing alright, let's see.

I've been to:
Historic Centre of Vienna, Austria
Boyana Church, Bulgaria
Historic Center of Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic
Historic Center of Prague, Czech Republic
Kutna Hora: Historical Town Center, Czech Republic
Historic Center of Tallinn, Estonia
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin, Germany
Museumsinsel, Berlin, Germany
Berlin Modernism Housing Estates, Germany
Acropolis, Athens, Greece
Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessaloniki, Greece
Old Town of Corfu, Greece
Budapest: The Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrassy Ave, Hungary
Old Village of Holloko, Hungary
Millenary Benedictine Abbey of Pannonhalma, Hungary
Hiroshima Peace Memorial, Japan
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, Japan
Historic Center of Riga, Latvia
Vilnius Historic Center, Lithuania
Historic Center of Mexico City, Mexico
Historic Center of Oaxaca, Mexico
Historic Center of Puebla, Mexico
Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan, Mexico
Historic Town of Guanajuato, Mexico
Historic Center of Morelia, Mexico
Historic Monuments Zone of Queretaro, Mexico
Hospicio Cabanas, Guadalajara, Mexico
Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila, Mexico
Central University Campus of the UNAM, Mexico
Krakow's Historic Center, Poland
Wieliczka Salt Mine, Poland
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Poland
Villages with Fortified Churches in Transylvania, Romania
Wooden Churches of Maramures, Romania
Medina of Tunis, Tunisia
Site of Carthage, Tunisia
Kairouan, Tunisia
Medina of Sousse, Tunisia
Historic Areas of Istanbul, Turkey
Yellowstone National Park, USA
Grand Canyon National Park, USA
Redwood National and State Parks, USA
Olympic National Park, USA
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA
Yosemite National Park, USA
Carlsbad Caverns National Park, USA

And I'm heading up to Seoul in about an hour to finally start checking out the historic stuff that I know exists in Korea even if it's not particularly evident here in Daejeon. I know that there are at least two or three World Heritage Sites served by the Seoul Metro so I'll probably be adding a couple to the list by the end of the day.

Back from my daytrip to Seoul and as expected I added two more sites to my list, the Jongmyo Shrine and the Changdeokgung Palace. Although to be honest they're right next door to each other practically, the only thing separating them is another old historic palace and the associated royal gardens from the shrine and the two palaces. It seems like they'd just list the whole complex as a single site instead of breaking it up into two and leaving the other palace out entirely like they did. I came pretty close to adding a third site, the Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon, which is a suburb of Seoul that is connected to the metro system. I stopped in Suwon on my way home but by then it was getting kind of late and I figured it would be best to save the fortress until I have a little more time to check it out.

[starlagurl]

That's a pretty good list you got going there. Nice work!

Tell us about Suwon whenever you get the time to go back, it should be cool.

(BTW, welcome to the forums, nice to see you here)

[stereobread]

I still haven't made it back up to Suwon, that will probably happen in the next couple of weeks, but I thought I should update because this weekend I went to Gyeongju, which is itself a world heritage site and which also contains the Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple which form together form a third. I didn't get to spend as much time in the city as I'd have liked so I'm planning on heading down there again relatively soon but I did get to wander around Bulguksa for a while, the cherry blossoms were absolutely gorgeous with the temple as a backdrop.

[aopaq]

Do you have any pictures of Gyeongju, Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple because it would great if you posted a shot or two for us.

This weekend I also finally made it out to see the Fujian Toulo which was a most enjoyable trip despite the wet weather.

[stereobread]

Do you have any pictures of Gyeongju, Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple because it would great if you posted a shot or two for us.

This weekend I also finally made it out to see the Fujian Toulo which was a most enjoyable trip despite the wet weather.

Well I didn't really get too many pictures that turned out very good in Gyeongju itself and I didn't actually make it to the Grotto, I just mentioned it because the UNESCO site is both it and Bulguksa, but I did get a few good ones of Bulguksa.



For good measure here are a few pics from the other Korean and Japanese sites I've been to.

Jongmyo Shrine, Seoul:



Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul:



Hiroshima Peace Memorial:



Itsukushima Shrine, Miyajima Island:



I love your pictures, I'm planning on a trip to China after my contract in Korea is over. I want to go sooner but I can't justify buying a visa just for a weekend trip, it needs to be a few weeks at least.

I'd love to see this turn into a photo thread, I don't have the pictures from my time in Europe, Tunisia or the US on this computer but I can post photos of the Mexican sites if there's any interest. I'd also like to see other people's pictures of the World Heritage Sites they've visited.