Nan

Germany \ Member since April 2014

#34 646 162 38

It's up to you how you want to spend your holiday, whether that's lazing on the beach at a Caribbean club hotel sipping Mai Tais. Or tending to the garden.

Standing on the shorelines of the Pacific Ocean at Rialto Beach.

While I do enjoy the occasional Mai Tai on the beach, I prefer to see new things and travel to faraway places. I've read my fair share of travel guides to find out where to go and what to see. And I was often disappointed.

While many guidebooks spend an entire chapter extolling the virtues of a particular destination (e.g. a capital city), World Heritage Sites are different. They're as objective as it gets, and often take you off the beaten track. For example, I have fond memories of my taxi ride through a Czech winter landscape to visit Holasovice, a site that only World Heritage connoisseurs would appreciate. More often than not, WHS are great places.

Initially, I concentrated on visiting as many WHS as possible, which gave me a good overview. However, since I've reached the magic 300 (almost 600 now), I've shifted my focus to visiting the really great sites: quality over quantity.

Ultimately, I recommend that you travel as you please. However, if you find yourself in a country (even if it's just for a beach holiday), take a look at the map of World Heritage Sites on this site to see if any are nearby. You may have to travel a little off the beaten track, but I assure you it will be worth it.

My most impressive sites (the usual):

  • Petra
  • Machu Picchu
  • Angkor

From the tentative sites I have seen I feel strongly for:

  • Okefenokee NP, USA - Riding canoe in the swamp with snakes and crocodiles.
  • Unjusa temple, South Korea (my title picture) - Korea's best temple.
  • Desert Castles in Uzbekistan.

Several aspiring sites in Sri Lanka also come to mind Bawa's modernism and the painted buddhist temples are something to behold.

Recent Visits
  • 24
    6
    Oct. 1, 2025
    China and Thailand: Archaeological Sites of the Ancient Shu State, Ayutthaya, Beijing Central Axis ...
  • 1
    0
    June 7, 2025
    Weekend in Warsaw: Warsaw
  • 6
    0
    June 1, 2025
    Brückentag in Baden-Württemberg: Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch, Great Spa Towns of Europe, Mathildenhöhe Darmstadt …
Completed Countries

About nan

Member since
April 2014
Country of Origin
Germany
Visits
Rank
#34
WHS
646
Tentative Sites
162
Website Participation
Reviews
326
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
646 184
Locations
360
Zones
2
Reserved for members.

Reviews by nan

Page 15 of 17
Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District by Nan

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus … (Inscribed)

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District by Nan

On the occasion of World Heritage Day 2017 I decided to visit my home town’s world heritage site: the Speicherstadt and the Kontorhausviertel. Leaving my office at Gänsemarkt I crossed …

Thessalonika by Nan

Thessalonika (Inscribed)

Thessalonika by Nan

Late antiquity, the rise of Christianity and the early Byzantine empire are periods of history I have grown fond of. When you come from a site like the Pantheon in …

Boyana Church by Nan

Boyana Church (Inscribed)

Boyana Church by Nan

On my last day in Sofia, I went to Boyana Church. It’s a small church with very nice frescos on the outskirts of Sofia facing the mountains. The original church …

Rila Monastery by Nan

Rila Monastery (Inscribed)

Rila Monastery by Nan

Rila Monastery is a nice day trip from Sofia taking you into the mountains where you will find a colorful monastery. It does feel special and I can’t quite fathom …

Pirin National Park by Nan

Pirin National Park (Inscribed)

Pirin National Park by Nan

Who could have known that a skiing region would still be snow covered in Mid-April? Apparently everyone but me and two Spaniards, because we were the only ones hiking in …

Archaeological site of Philippi by Nan

Archaeological site of Philip… (Inscribed)

Archaeological site of Philippi by Nan

Philippi has a spot in the history books for two reasons. First, it was on the fields of Philippi that the Roman Republic ended when the final battle was lost …

Meteora by Nan

Meteora (Inscribed)

Meteora by Nan

For those who have been to Meteora before, it may come as a surprise: It wasn’t that high on my list. Indeed, my original plan had been to skip it …

Mount Athos by Nan

Mount Athos (Inscribed)

Mount Athos by Nan

Not sure how and why, but I got in. As Ian can attest, I didn’t believe it would work out till I held my official permit (diamonitirion) in …

Archaeological Site of Aigai by Nan

Archaeological Site of Aigai (Inscribed)

Archaeological Site of Aigai by Nan

At the time of my visit (April 2017) only the royal tombs museum is open and can be visited. As previous reviewers have pointed out the combination of excavation site …

Rock Carvings in Tanum by Nan

Rock Carvings in Tanum (Inscribed)

Rock Carvings in Tanum by Nan

Having seen multiple rock art sites by now I am always stuck how similar early human art is. You find the same forms and patterns. On the other hand I …

Grimeton Radio Station by Nan

Grimeton Radio Station (Inscribed)

Grimeton Radio Station by Nan

While the Swedish list is lacking in terms of world class sites, they definitively have a few odd and peculiar sites well worth exploring, Grimeton being one of those.

Peking Man Site

Peking Man Site (Inscribed)

Peking Man Site by Nan

I did the Beijing Hotspot sites in a 3.5 days site hopping bonanza. Most sites are well connected and quite touristy. The only site that takes you off the beaten …

Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus by Nan

Jesuit Missions of Trinidad a… (Inscribed)

Jesuit Missions of Trinidad and Jesus by Nan

One can lament the quirks of the Unesco process where a site like the Jesuit Missions of the Guaranis gets inscribed twice: once for Paraguay and once for Brazil and …

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier by Nan

The Architectural Work of Le … (Inscribed)

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier by Nan

Somewhat by coincidence I ended up going to La Plata. My flight from Buenos Aires was the next day and I found Buenos Aires itself not that interesting on my …

Fray Bentos by Nan

Fray Bentos (Inscribed)

Fray Bentos by Nan

Fray Bentos is situated at the first river crossing between Argentina and Uruguay of Rio Uruguay. The main town on the Argentinian side is Gualeguaychu. And that’s where I found …

Peninsula Valdes by Nan

Peninsula Valdes (Inscribed)

Peninsula Valdes by Nan

Peninsula Valdes is a world heritage site primarily about the fauna you can find on the peninsula. You get to see whales, penguins and sea lions. With a little luck …

Los Alerces National Park

Los Alerces National Park (Inscribed)

One of the Great American National Parks

“No bus.” I stood there at a loss. I had made my way past four travel agencies in Esquel and now stood in the local tourist office. “Tomorrow, sorry, but …

Cueva de las Manos by Nan

Cueva de las Manos (Inscribed)

Cueva de las Manos by Nan

When you travel in Patagonia you will get to see endless plains, some hills, plenty of bushes and almost no trees. Over time the landscape feels quite monotonous, especially if …

View from the bus of Fitz Roy in Los Glaciares

Los Glaciares (Inscribed)

Los Glaciares by Nan

Los Glaciares is a national park in the southern Andes in Argentina. As the name suggests there are plenty of glaciers to see and explore, the most famous one being …

Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins National P by Nan

Torres del Paine and Bernardo… (On tentative list)

Torres del Paine and Bernardo O'Higgins National P by Nan

If you want to understand why Chile has so few sites, a trip to Torres del Paine is quite illuminating. This is the one iconic national park of Chile, printed …

Page 15 of 17