World Heritage Site

Since at least 2008 we have distinguished “WHS Hotspots” on this website. From the start its connected sites always have been under much debate as exact criteria do not exist, which is a bit hard to handle for people that enjoy order and organization (including myself). We currently have 93 hotspots, spanning 496 unique sites. This means that 43% of the 1154 WHS are in a hotspot.

After the recent surge in interest in the topic of WHS hotspots at the Forum, I spent some time this week upgrading and refreshing these connections. All have a center now, a reference to neighbor hotspots if applicable, and most of them also explanations to locations and how to get there. In addition to the Forum discussions, I used the reviews of the regular public transport travellers to see whether a return day trip would be possible. I’ve linked to access instructions on official websites and to specific reviews describing getting there on public transport.

When is a hotspot a hotspot?

A hotspot is “a cluster of at least 4 WHS within reach for a return day trip from a center”. We’ve had long discussions in the past about what “within reach” essentially means – some are not deterred by 400km drives and back, but travelling 4.5 hours on public transport to (not) see a Pile Dwelling is too much for all.

There are no rigid distance limitations (as they differ by the mode of transport and the quality of the roads/trains etc), but rules of thumb are:

• The center should be a place where you want to stay for a couple of nights, preferrably with a WHS itself. Having an international airport is also a bonus.

• 200km or a 4 hour trip each way is a reasonable indication.

• No flights – it should really be a geographical cluster.

• No overlap with other hotspots, only when a WHS truly lies halfway then it can be assigned to 2 hotspots. Also serial locations in different regions can of course put a WHS in multiple hotspots.

• Practically possible: only ‘friendly’ border crossings included, trains/buses need to run frequent enough to allow for a return trip, opening hours of the WHS taken into account.

• Private and public transport are both allowed (or combinations). Some are a car-only hotspot (flagged).

Also, in metropolises such as Beijing and Mexico-City you need to be aware of the intracity travel, eg. to a “northern bus station” which easily can take an extra hour.

Hotspot trivia

With 17 WHS each, Brussels and Frankfurt are the no. 1 hotspots. And these cities are only 3 hours apart by train! Paris has the 3rd place with 13 WHS.

Small countries (NL, Belgium, but also Israel and Tunisia) are one big hotspot.

Ultimate hotspots can also be found in the WHS within Walking distance connection (needs 3 within 15km to make the connection).

62 of the 93 hotspots are in Europe. The ones outside have been steadily increasing: this year we could add one in Iran: Shush. Iran has a number of hotspots, as do China and Japan (thanks to fast trains).