Randi Thomsen

Norway \ Member since May 2013

#18 764 225 68

Together with Svein, I have been travelling the world since 2010 with a special focus on visiting World Heritage Sites. What started as a shared curiosity soon became a passion — discovering new countries, cultures, and landscapes while learning about the Outstanding Universal Value that makes each site unique.

My love for travel goes back long before our WHS adventures. It began with family road trips around Europe every summer, and continued as I grew older, exploring new parts of the continent on my own. As a student in the USA, I travelled widely and visited most of the states. After my studies, I made several longer journeys to Asia and Central America discovering new cultures and landscapes. One of my most memorable trips was a family journey to Ghana in the 1989, where my sister was an exchange student.

All these early travels were not focused on World Heritage Sites — but when I finally started counting, I realised I had already visited quite a few!

Hunting for WHS often takes us off the beaten track, to remote and fascinating places far from the typical tourist routes. For us, travel is about more than seeing new places — it’s about learning history, experiencing diverse cultures, and enjoying local food.

My most impressive sites:

There are so many breathtaking places in the world! I have a special connection to Natural World Heritage Sites such as Galápagos, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, and the great African parks like Ngorongoro, Serengeti, Odzala, and Mount Kenya — and of course, the Norwegian Fjords. But sites like Machu Picchu, Angkor Wat, and Rome never fail to impress either.

Recent Visits
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    1
    Nov. 9, 2025
    Alpine and pre-alpine meadows
  • 1
    0
    Nov. 8, 2025
    The Palaces of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
  • 1
    0
    Oct. 6, 2025
    Høstferie 2025: Memorial Sites of Genocide
Completed Countries

About Randi Thomsen

Member since
May 2013
Country of Origin
Norway
Visits
Rank
#18
WHS
764
Tentative Sites
225
Website Participation
Reviews
45
Ratings

Ratings

World Heritage Sites
Tentative Sites
760 63
Locations
5
Zones
0
Reserved for members.

Reviews by Randi Thomsen

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Nyungwe National Park

Nyungwe National Park (Inscribed)

Nyungwe National Park

We visited Nyungwe National Park on a day trip from Kamembe, but in retrospect, we really should have stayed longer. The forest is absolutely stunning – said to be one …

Rwenzori path

Rwenzori Mountains (Inscribed)

Day Hike from Mihunga Gate

Our second World Heritage Site on our Uganda road trip september 2025.

We started our day hike from the Mihunga main gate (Nyakalengija), heading into the Rwenzoris. As others have …

Tomb of Buganda Kings

Tombs of Buganda Kings (Inscribed)

Fully restored after fire

Our first stop on our road trip through Uganda was a visit to the Kasubi Tombs, the resting place of the Buganda kings. To be honest, we didn’t have …

From interor

Nicortsminda Cathedral (On tentative list)

Cathedral with beautiful frescoes

Nikortsminda Cathedral is located in the village of Nikortsminda in Georgia’s Racha region and was built between 1010 and 1014 during the reign of King Bagrat III. It is regarded …

Amboseli National Park

Amboseli National Park (On tentative list)

Herds of elephants

Visit June 2025

No reviews yet – surprising for one of Kenya’s most iconic parks.

Amboseli lies right on the border with Tanzania. Declared a national park in 1974, it’s …

Kvetera church

Kvetera Church (On tentative list)

Updated Information

Getting to the church is now much easier — the main road is fully paved, so driving there is no problem. Then from the main road, you follow a road …

Palace inside the fortress

The Urartian Heritage of Yere… (On tentative list)

Erebuni museum and fortress

Erebuni Fortress was founded in 782 BCE by King Argishti I and is considered the birthplace of Yerevan. This ancient Urartian citadel once stood as a powerful military and administrative …

Dvin

The archaeological site of th… (On tentative list)

Dvin - doesn’t take long

Visit July 2025

Once a grand city — today, there’s almost nothing left.

A visit doesn’t take long. Not much has changed at this site since the last review.

There …

Streets of Stonetown

Island of Mozambique (Inscribed)

The forgotten capital in Mozambique

Visit July 2025. 

Although listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991, Ilha de Moçambique, just a few handful of members from the community have made it here. 

We …

Freedom Towers

Nelson Mandela Legacy Sites (Inscribed)

Mandela Legacy Sites in Johannesburg

July 2025

We had the chance to visit three (four) locations of Nelson Mandela’s legacy in the Johannesburg area. This review focuses on logistics and practical experiences rather than deep …

Faya palace

Faya Palaeolandscape (Inscribed)

A bonus visit to Faya

Visit – June 25

This summer our first goal was Kenya. With Etihad we landed in Abu Dhabi a few minutes late to reach our morning connection to Nairobi. The …

Mulanje - mountain

Mount Mulanje Cultural Landsc… (Inscribed)

A timely visit to Mount Mulanje

Visit July 2025. When the nominations and evaluations for this year’s World Heritage session were published, we decided to carve out time in our itinerary for a short visit to …

Mijikenda Sacred Forests turned out to be one of the trickier ones to plan a visit to on your own. There are few helpful reviews or other visitor information online — and most available information focuses on Kaya Kinondo, which, as Els pointed out, isn’t

Mijikenda Kaya Forests (Inscribed)

Kaya Kambe

Mijikenda Sacred Forests turned out to be one of the trickier ones to plan a visit to on your own. There are few helpful reviews or other visitor information online …

Mount Kenya by Randi Thomsen

Mount Kenya (Inscribed)

Mount Kenya

As Els pointed out, there aren’t many reviews out there to help plan a visit to Mount Kenya. This is Africa’s second-highest mountain, reaching 5,199 meters, and most people associate …

Thimlich Ohinga by Randi Thomsen

Thimlich Ohinga (Inscribed)

Thimlich Ohinga

Tucked away in the far western corner of Kenya lies Thimlich Ohinga, hidden deep in the countryside. Although it’s been seven years since the site was inscribed on the World …

Centre historique de Praia by Randi Thomsen

Centre historique de Praia (On tentative list)

Centre historique de Praia

We stayed one night in the heart of Praia’s historic center, conveniently located for an early departure to one of the other islands. The city is perched on the naturally …

Odzala-Kokoua by Randi Thomsen

Odzala-Kokoua (Inscribed)

Odzala-Kokoua

We arrived the park after nightfall - it’s a 14 hour drive from Brazzaville.

Camp Impalanga, one of the few camps in Odzala, is a small facility run by …

Sangha Trinational by Randi Thomsen

Sangha Trinational (Inscribed)

Sangha Trinational

After a long day on the Sangha River from Oesso, we arrived at Dzanga-Sangha National Park we arrived at eight o’clock, the last leg in darkness. The speedboat journey through …

'Uruq Bani Ma'arid by Randi Thomsen

'Uruq Bani Ma'arid (Inscribed)

'Uruq Bani Ma'arid

This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that I was very excited to visit, located at the edge of the legendary “Empty Quarter.” Desert landscapes have always fascinated me. However, …

Melka Kunture and Balchit by Randi Thomsen

Melka Kunture and Balchit (Inscribed)

Melka Kunture and Balchit

It’s likely we are the first visitors from our community to visit this site after inscription at the 2024 session.

On our southern Etiopia tour this was our first …

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