First things first: The naming of the site is a bit misleading, as these are very historic places with multiple different names and spellings:
- Harran was known to the Romans …
Germany \ Member since April 2014
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.

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):
From the tentative sites I have seen I feel strongly for:
Several aspiring sites in Sri Lanka also come to mind Bawa's modernism and the painted buddhist temples are something to behold.
Harran and Sanliurfa (On tentative list)
First things first: The naming of the site is a bit misleading, as these are very historic places with multiple different names and spellings:
The Olive Grove Landscapes of… (On tentative list)
With serial tentative sites there is always a risk that you visit a location that gets cut in the process. If you scroll down, you will find my review of …
Diyarbakir Fortress and Hevse… (Inscribed)
Arriving from Zerzevan South of town, I started my visit to Diyarbakir at the Ten-Eyed-Bridge. It's located a few kilometers down river from the old city and offers great initial …
Mardin Cultural Landscape (On tentative list)
More by coincidence, I ended up staying two nights in Mardin. I had two free days left and wanted to spend them in a warmer region than freezing Anatolia. My …
Çatalhöyük (Inscribed)
On January 2nd and to kick of 2022, I went to look at a mud hill, i.e., Çatalhöyük. A 30min taxi ride from downtown Konya had taken me to a …
Italica (Nominated)
My previous visits to Sevilla had taken place, before Italica was chosen as site of the dragon pits of Game of Thrones and way before the Spanish added Italica to …
Monastery of Horezu (Inscribed)
On my way from Transylvania to Bucharest, I visited the Monastery in Horezu. I had stayed over night in Targ Jiu and hopped a minibus direction Bucharest, getting off at …
Arslantepe Mound (Inscribed)
Anatolia is the go to place for early human settlements. The latest addition by the Turks in this area is Arslantepe Mound in 2021. What you will find is a …
Ayvalık Industrial Landscape (On tentative list)
The Turkish Tentative list is a bit of a mixed bag. You have sites like Kaunos, Zerzevan or Mor Gabriel that are clearly WHS material. And you have sites like …
The Historical Port City of I… (On tentative list)
Most of us would place the end of World War 1 in 1919. For western Europe, this is mostly correct, keeping in mind that Germany saw plenty of violence on …
Asturian Monuments (Inscribed)
For me, the Visigoths were a short lived episode of late antiquity, an afterthought of the Roman Empire that faded away quickly. In reality, they ruled Spain for 250 years, …
Ribeira Sacra Waterscape (Nominated)
Unlike most of the year, November in Spain in general and more specifically in Galicia is anything but dry. It rains frequently and heavily. Which is a pleasant surprise if …
Ancient City of Kaunos (On tentative list)
When we were looking at our Meetup for 2020, the idea had been to go to Rhodes and take a day trip to Turkey. As such, I had been researching …
Midyat Churches and Monasteri… (On tentative list)
If you had asked the historic Jesus (assuming he existed) what his religion was (ignoring that the term religion is rather modern), he would have answered Jew. He was …
Zerzevan Castle and Mithraeum (Nominated)
Zerzevan Castle is a fairly recent addition (2020) to the Turkish tentative list. The available information on Zerzevan Castle is limited. Indeed, google maps will not find it, if you …
Las Medulas (Inscribed)
For a long time, I couldn't place Las Medulas. I had stumbled across the name repeatedly when filling out my checklist. My only association was to the famed Velazquez painting …
Dacian Limes (Inscribed)
The Roman Empire had it's largest extend under Trajan. He defeated the eternal enemy of Rom, Parthia, and incorporated Mesopotamia as a province into the empire. However, the conquest was …
Villages with Fortified Churc… (Inscribed)
On a summer quest through Romania, I visited Biertan, the most prominent of the villages with fortified churches. Biertan is a small, colorful village and the fortified church in the …
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal S… (Inscribed)
First thing first, Wieliczka is a unique site well worth the visit. The artistry at display and how the miners transformed a mundane, industrial mine into architecture and art is …
Krzemionki prehistoric flint … (Inscribed)
First things first, it's Q3 2021 and the tunnel is open again. With it the site is fully accessible for visitors. I had waited for more than a year to …