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

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Old Town of Galle by Nan

Old Town of Galle (Inscribed)

Old Town of Galle by Nan

It’s quite clear why the Portuguese and then the Dutch chose Galle as a strategic location. The peninsula naturally offers protection against external threats. The walls encompass the entire old …

The Palaces of King Ludwig II by Hubert

The Palaces of King Ludwig II… (Inscribed)

The Palaces of King Ludwig II by Nan

Having read Hubert’s fabulous review, I wanted to add a bit of historical context to the proposed sites. Ludwig II’s main constraint as a monarch was not Bavaria’s constitution and …

Bukhara by Nan

Bukhara (Inscribed)

Bukhara by Nan

In the trifecta of great Uzbek Islamic silk road cities (Xiva, Bukhara, Samarkand), I think there are arguments for either city being the greatest. Samarkand is the biggest city and …

Ancient Jericho by Nan

Ancient Jericho (Inscribed)

Ancient Jericho by Nan

Jericho supposedly is the world's oldest and/or longest and/or fortified inhabited city. Or one of them. In the pre-Neolithic things get a bit fuzzy.

While Els general comment holds …

Sinharaja Forest by Nan

Sinharaja Forest (Inscribed)

Sinharaja Forest by Nan

When showing my Sri Lanka pictures to friends & family, Sinharaja tends to impress the most, especially for kids. While we didn't venture too deep into the jungle, we still …

Upper Svaneti by Nan

Upper Svaneti (Inscribed)

Upper Svaneti by Nan

Upper Svaneti... For a long time, I had a hard time recalling what a WHS this is and where it's located. Then I read Els' review and wanted to go …

Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands  by Nan

Colchic Rainforests and Wetla… (Inscribed)

Colchic Rainforests and Wetlands by Nan

Travelling in Georgia you get used to checking the daily weather forecast. Georgia in summer is hot and humid from the Black Sea and has high mountains: All the ingredients …

Haghpat and Sanahin by Nan

Haghpat and Sanahin (Inscribed)

Haghpat and Sanahin by Nan

As a stopover between Tblisi and Dilijan and Yerevan, we visited Haghpat monastery and Sanahin Bridge. Both are medieval monuments (10-12th century) belonging to the Kingdom of Lori, a …

Sarazm by Nan

Sarazm (Inscribed)

Sarazm by Nan

Sarazm in Tajikistan is one of the oldest settlements in Central Asia, dating back over 5,000 years. Excavations in the 1970s revealed a thriving Bronze Age urban centre engaged in …

View of Mertola at sunrise across Río Guadiana

Mértola (On tentative list)

Mértola at sunrise

Mértola is a charming town in the Alentejo region of Portugal, with a rich and varied history dating back to the Phoenicians, Romans, Visigoths and Arabs. Its strategic location on …

Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum by Nan

Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum (On tentative list)

Chashma-Ayub Mausoleum by Nan

As a day trip from Bukhara, I decided to tackle a few silk road sites in the proximity. We started the day at the Minaret in Vobkent and were then …

Viewpoint of Civita di Bagnoregio without any tourists yet.

Civita di Bagnoregio (On tentative list)

Another Italian City on a Hill

We were fortunate to take the morning bus from Viterbo to Bagnoregio, as the landscape was still blanketed in slight fog, adding a mythical feel to the stunning view of …

Early Synagogues in the Galilee by Nan

Early Synagogues in the Galil… (On tentative list)

Early Synagogues in the Galilee by Nan

During our Israel trip, we visited two early synagogues: Korazim and Capharnaum.

Korazim, located north of the Sea of Galilee, boasts an ancient Jewish synagogue dating back to the …

Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands by Nan

Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta… (On tentative list)

Lake Maggiore and Lake D'Orta lakelands by Nan

As a child, my family and I drove from Hamburg to Italy twice, with Lago Maggiore being our first stop after driving non-stop for 12 hours. The stunning scenery on …

Sulcis Iglesiente by Nan

Sulcis Iglesiente (On tentative list)

Sulcis Iglesiente by Nan

Sulcis-Iglesiente is a historical mining region in southwestern Sardinia. Mining activities date back to prehistoric times with evidence of lead, silver, and copper extraction in the Nuragic era. The Roman …

Tashkent makhallas by Nan

Tashkent makhallas (On tentative list)

Tashkent makhallas by Nan

Tashkent is one of the capital cities that does not have its own World Heritage Site yet. Although it has a long history as a trade hub in Central Asia, …

Shakhrisyabz by Nan

Shakhrisyabz (Inscribed)

Shakhrisyabz by Nan

Arriving by car from Bukhara, the first thing I saw of Shakhrisyabz was the large blue dome of the Kok Gumbaz Mosque, an impressive 15th-century mosque. The mosque is a …

Álvaro Siza’s Architecture by Nan

Alvaro Siza's Architecture (On tentative list)

Álvaro Siza’s Architecture by Nan

In 2023, I visited several components as part of a week-long road trip through Portugal. We started in Porto at the school of architecture (FAUP) and we continued the same …

Hisham's Palace/ Khirbet al-Mafjar by Nan

Hisham's Palace/ Khirbet al-M… (Nominated)

Hisham's Palace/ Khirbet al-Mafjar by Nan

The Umayyad dynasty was the 2nd Islamic dynasty, ruling from 661 to 750 AD. The dynasty was centred in Damascus, Syria, rather than Arabia. The Umayyad caliphs expanded their power …

Masada by Nan

Masada (Inscribed)

Masada by Nan

As a kid, I loved to read P.M., a German popular science magazine. You would get stories about stealth bombers, ghosts, space lifts, and occasionally history. It was here …

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