UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES
The UNESCO World Heritage list is made up of 1,031 sites that have been deemed by the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) as sites that are of special cultural, historical and physical significance. Some of the most well known examples include the Great Barrier Reef in Australia, the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador, Easter Island in Chile, the Great Wall of China in China, Macchu Picchu in Peru and the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.
As someone who is incredibly passionate about history, I always seek out UNESCO World Heritage sites when I’m planning a trip to a country. Sometimes I even plan my trips around visiting sites such as the week I spent in Bavaria, Germany visiting UNESCO sites in Regensburg, Bamberg, Wurzburg, Trier and Cologne.
In the past, hunting out a World Heritage Sites has sent me to lesser known tourist destinations, small local towns and off the beaten path, especially in Europe.
Here is a list of all of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites that I have visited so far. I update this on a regular basis, including a link to my post on the specific site.
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- Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (Australia)- Visited: Many Times
- Sydney Opera House (Australia) Visited: 2000, 2009, 2013, 2014
- Great Barrier Reef (Australia) Visited: 2003
- Wet Tropics of Queensland (Australia) Visited: 2003
- Paris, Banks of the Seine (France) Visited: Visited: December 2009 and March 2016
- Palace of Westminster (UK) Visited: December 2009 and January 2016
- Tower of London (UK) Visited: December 2009 and January 2016
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd (UK) Visited: December 2009
- Vatican City (Vatican City) Visited: December 2009
- Historic Centre of Rome (Italy) Visited: December 2009
- Mont St Michel (France) Visited: January 2010
- Palace and Park of Versailles (France) Visited: February 2010
- Lake system in the Rift Valley (Kenya) Visited: December 2011
- Melaka and George Town- Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca (Malaysia) Visited: July 2013 and August 2017
- Central Sector of the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long (Vietnam) Visited: August 2013
- Halong Bay (Vietnam) Visited: August 2013
- Historic City of Ayutthaya (Thailand) Visited: February 2015
- Changdeokgung Palace Complex (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Hwaseong Fortress (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Jongmyo Shrine (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Gyeongju Historic Areas (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Historic Villages of Korea: Hahoe and Yangdong – I visited Yangdong only (South Korea) Visited: July 2015
- Historic Centre of Vienna (Austria) Visited: November 2015
- Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn (Austria) Visited: November 2015
- Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg (Austria) Visited: November 2o15
- Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps– I visited some at Lake Attersee (Austria) Visited: November 2015
- Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrassy Avenue (Hungary) Visited: December 2015
- Old Town of Regensburg with Stadtamhof (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Town of Bamberg (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Speyer Cathedral (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in Trier (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Cologne Cathedral (Germany) Visited: December 2015
- Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) Visited: December 2015
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct (Wales) Visited: December 2015
- Maritime Greenwich (United Kingdom) Visited: December 2015
- Monastery of Alcobaca (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Monastery of Batalha (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Convent of Christ in Tomar (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belem in Lisbon (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Cultural Landscape of Sintra (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Historic Centre of Oporto (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia (Portugal) Visited: January 2016
- Old Town of Avila with it’s Extra-Muros Churches (Spain) Visited: January 2016
- Old City of Salamanca (Spain) Visited: January 2016
- Old Town of Segovia and it’s Aqueduct (Spain) Visited: January 2016
- Historic City of Toledo (Spain) Visited: January 2016
- Cathedral, Alcazar and Archivo de Indias in Seville (Spain) Visited: January 2016
- Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzin in Granada (Spain) Visited February 2016
- La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia (Spain) Visited: February 2016
- Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco (Spain) Visited: February 2016
- Poblet Monastery (Spain) Visited: February 2016
- Works of Antoni Gaudi (Spain) Visited: February 2016
- Palau de la Musica Catalana (Spain) Visited: February 2016
- Episcopal City of Albi (France) Visited: February 2016
- Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne (France) Visited: February 2016
- Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge (France) Visited: February 2016
- Historic Site of Lyons (France) Visited: February 2016
- Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch (Switzerland) Visited: February 2016
- Old City of Berne (Switzerland) Visited: Visited: February 2016
- Le Grand-Place, Brussels (Belgium) Visited: March 2016
- Belfries of Belgium and France (Belgium- Visited Bruges and Gent Belfries) Visited: March 2016
- Historic Centre of Brugge (Belgium) Visited: March 2016
- West Norwegian Fjords- Geirangerfjord and Naeroyfjord (Norway) Visited: March 2016
- Bryggen (Norway) Visited: March 2016
- Historic Centre of Florence (Italy) Visited: April 2016
- Piazza del Duomo, Pisa (Italy) Visited: April 2016
- City of Valletta (Malta) Visited: April 2016
- Megalithic Temples of Malta, Gozo and Western Malta (Malta) Visited: April 2016
- The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes (France)Visited: April 2016
- Amiens Cathedral, Amiens (France) Visited: April 2016
- Historic Centre of San Gimignano (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- Venice and its Lagoon (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- City of Verona (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- Porto Venere and the Cinque Terre (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annuziata (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- Costiera Amalfitana (Italy) Visited: May 2016
- Skocjan Caves (Slovenia) Visited: May 2016
- Plitvice Lakes National Park (Croatia) Visited: June 2016
- Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian (Croatia) Visited: June 2016
- Stari Grad Plain (Croatia) Visited: June 2016
- Old City of Dubrovnik (Croatia) Visited: June 2016
- Natural and Culturo-Historic Region of Kotor (Montenegro) Visited: June 2016
- Acropolis, Athens (Greece) Visited: June 2016
- Archaeological Site of Delphi (Greece) Visited: June 2016
- Meteora (Greece) Visited: June 2016
- Monasteries of Daphni, Hosios Loukas and Nea Moni of Chios (Greece) Visited: June 2016 (Nea Moni only).
- Delos (Greece) Visited: July 2016
- Giant’s Causeway (Northern Ireland-UK) Visited: August 2016
- Old and News Towns of Edinburgh (Scotland-UK) Visited: August 2016
- The Forth Bridge (Scotland-UK) Visited: August 2016
- Heart of Neolithic Orkney (Scotland-UK) Visited: August 2016
- Historic Centre of Krakow (Poland) Visited: August 2016
- Auschwitz Birkenau German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (Poland) Visited: August 2016
- Historic Centre of Prague (Czech Republic) Visited: September 2016
- Kutna Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of Saint Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec (Czech Republic) Visited: September 2016
- Museuminsel (Museum Island), Berlin (Germany) Visited: September 2016
- Historic Centre of Riga (Latvia) Visited: September 2016
- Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn (Estonia) Visited: September 2016
- Vilnius Historic Centre (Lithuania) Visited: September 2016
- Historic Centre of Warsaw (Poland) Visited: September 2016
- Boyana Church (Bulgaria) Visited: October 2016
- Rila Monastery (Bulgaria) Visited: October 2016
- Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar (Bosnia and Herzegovina) Visited: October 2016
- Statue of Liberty (USA) Visited: October 2016
- Sian Ka’an (Mexico) Visited: October 2016
- Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza (Mexico) Visited: October 2016
- Historic Centre of Mexico City (Mexico) Visited: October 2016
- Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan (Mexico) Visited: October 2016
- Historic Centre of Oaxaca (Mexico) Visited: November 2016
- Old Havana and its Fortification Systems (Cuba) Visited: November 2016
- Vinales Valley (Cuba) Visited: November 2016
- Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena (Colombia) Visited: December 2016
- Galapagos Islands (Ecuador) Visited: December 2016
- Historic Centre of Lima (Peru) Visited: December 2016
- Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (Peru) Visited: January 2017
- City of Cuzco (Peru) Visited: January 2017
- Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa (Peru) Visited: January 2017
- Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaiso (Chile) Visited: January 2017
- Iguazu National Park (Argentina) Visited: February 2017
- Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea (Brazil) Visited: February 2017
- Singapore Botanic Gardens (Singapore) Visited: July 2017
- Borobudur Temple Compounds (Indonesia) Visited: September 2017
- Prambanan Temple Compounds (Indonesia) Visited: September 2017
- Komodo National Park (Indonesia) Visited: September 2017
- Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang (China) Visited: October 2017
- Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing (China) Visited: October 2017
- Temple of Heaven, an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing (China) Visited: October 2017
- The Great Wall (China) Visited: October 2017
- Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (the Terracotta Warriors)(China) Visited: October 2017
- South China Karst (China) Visited: October 2017
- Angkor (Cambodia) Visited: October 2017
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Number 12 is an excellent choice! Enjoy!