How many UNESCO World Heritage sites have you visited?
 

It may be more than you think!

http://whc.unesco.org/

Here is another link:

http://www.thesalmons.org/lynn/world.heritage.html

More ideas when you are traveling - at least see some of the above if you haven't already!

I've done the two wine ones (St Emillion and Tokai)

I've always been a little surprised by the fact that Ireland has so few sites (2) on whc list. No Glendalough, Rock of Cashel or Aran Island fortresses. Cashel has been on a tentative list for 14 years, the others aren't even up for consideration. Other countries seem to get quite a lot of sites listed of which many have less history... I wonder if it's the country themselves that make the nomination and whether funds have to be allocated to make the designation?

Anyway, I guess I don't always know which ones I've been to - most of the US ones; Puebla, Mex; but only Newgrange in Ireland. A couple in London. Budapest, the Pustza and the Tokaj region in Hungary. The Maramures churches, the painted monasteries in Moldavia, Beirtan and Sighisoara in Romania. Angkor in Cambodia. A few sites in Australia which were nice (Carlton Gardens??), but nowhere the heritage of a Glendalough.

Hope to add quite a few next trip - Marrakech, Essaouira, Ait Benhaddou, Fez, Meknes, Volubilis, the Alhambra.

Geez, what a long list. I'm surprised that the McDonald's in Avignon isn't on the list for its clean toilets. :)

Here are some that I remember:
Angkor Wat
Great Wall of China
Cesky Krumlov
Fatephur Sikri
Taj Mahal
Agra Fort
Sintra, Portugal
Istanbul
Temple of Heaven
Vatican City
Cathedral of Burgos (Why?)
Red Square
Alhambra
Salzburg
Vienna

That's all that I can remember.

I've been to Notre Dame, the Acropolis, Meteora, Delos, the Vatican, Agrigento, Pompeii, Paestum, Syracuse, Istanbul, Pamukkale, Xanthos and the historical center of Rome. I haven't been to too many countries, but by this this list I look more well-traveled!

Clifton - so the US has UNESCO listed sites? Now that's a surprise.

Which, where? Oh, and why?

I've been to the centre of Salzburg, the Grand Place, Paphos, Chartres,Mont St Michel, Fontainebleu, the Seine, the Canal du Midi, the routes of Santiago de Compostela (or some of them), the Acropolis, the Vatican, the Last Supper, Florence, San Gimignano, Siena, the Cinque Terre, Genoa, the Alhambra, Ironbridge, Westminster Cathedral, Greenwich, Orkney, Kew, Yosemite.

46

63, but I've not been to the one that's only about 40 miles from my house!

Surprised that Egypt hasn't got any more and that Mount Vernon isn't included.

I've been to 48 of the listed sites.

Great Barrier Reef, Queensland Tropics, Uluru-Kata Tjunta, Blue Mountains, Seine-Paris, Acropolis, Rhodes, Olympia, Mycenae, Patmos, Historic Rome, Vatican, Florence, Pisa, Venice, Ravenna, Padua, Verona, Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes, Volubilis, Batalha, Tower of Belem, Sintra, Alto Douro, Alhambra, Avila, Toledo, Seville, Salamanca, Stonehenge, Bath, Westminster, Canterbury, Tower of London, Edinburgh, Greenwich, Liverpool, Mesa Verde, Yellowstone, Everglades, Grand Canyon, Redwoods, Smoky Mountains, Statue of Liberty, Yosemite and Carlsbad Caverns.

I've been to Vienna city center, Salzburg city center, Schonbrunn, Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Historic Quebec, Historic center of Prague, Kutna Hora, old town Regensburg, wooden churches of Maramures, fortified churches of Transylvania, old town Sighisoara, Stonehenge, Westminster, Tower of London, Edinburgh, Independence Hall, Mammoth Cave, Monticello/University of Virginia, Pueblo de Taos, Smoky Mountains, Statue of Liberty.

50. The Century Club has a list of countries that is used to determine if one has been to 100 and can join the club. It's fun to see how many countries to which one has been.

Fifty Seven - I was a bit surprised by some of the place on the list.

Only 25, but much to my embarrassment none in my own country. We only live a couple hours away from Yosemite, and I was raised in Colorado but never got to Mesa Verde. But I promise to keep on traveling and trying to visit more!

Well, it's way more than I would have expected - 92! It does help to have combed every inch of France, though.

161?

3 more a few weeks from now.

~55 for me. I think my dad has gone to 3 times as many, though he's only double my age. ;)

The Tower of Belem is on the list? Really?

I have been there, too.

And the Tower of London (who hasn't?)

Been to Acropolis, Batalha, Canterbuy, Ravenna, Edinburgh, Seville, Grand Canyon, Florence, Pisa, Venice.

With this list, I really don't understand why the casino at Bally's in Las Vegas isn't mentioned.

Blimey.

Fuzzy, yes, there are few. Not nearly the volume as in Europe of course. Some of the US sites have already been named since I posted. Why? Why ask me?

I'd seen a past thought or two from you on this board and thought it was might be possible to predict your reasons for picking this particular mention to be "surprised" about. But, in the event it is not the typical hit and run posting, and even if it is, question asked.... so.

Most of the US sites are natural sites, rather than cultural. Grand Canyon, Everglades, Yosemite. All fairly unique in that respect. A couple of large caves as well. A very few sites are US historical sites - Statue of Liberty for instance (although I'd have preferred Ellis Island as a site, personally). The balance are native American sites such as Mesa Verde. Personally, I'm glad to see these on the list, as there's no particular reason that I know of to discount native cultures, like the aboriginal heritages of the Americans, Australia or Africa over those of Eurasia. There is a WHC site in the middle US for instance, near where I lived most of my life, called Cahokia Mounds. Nothing near as flash as the Great Wall and such, but this is a stone age site where mounds were built at huge volumes by the Mississippian people, without horses or much more than stone axes. An earth moving project, bringing in fill from 20 miles away, that would take modern equipment quite a long time to accomplish. And then the entire people disappeared. I appreciate that there's an interesting past anywhere you go and that it's being preserved.

Thanks for asking, even if I did have to speculate a little on the why part.

UNESCO World Heritage sites are not just a list - like one from a magazine - or just some plaques placed at the site. Instead, a lot of politics and money is involved.

Many locales at poorer nations really need the money to protect the sites, as well as to bring more tourists (and their money) to them. That's simply not happening in US/Canada.

The purpose and focus have also changed. That's why you'll find those registered earlier are mostly in Europe, while the newer ones are often in developing countries.

It's a beautiful world! I'm glad I've checked out:

Paris - Notre Dame and the banks of the Seine

Greece - Acropolis, Delphi, Epidaurus, Meteora, Olympia, Mystras, Mycenae

Italy: Rome and The Vatican

Spain - Alhambra, Burgos cathedral, Cordoba, Avila, Segovia, Toledo, Seville cathedral, Salamanca, Cuenca, Aranjuez.

Istanbul, Troy

London (Tower)

It was interesting to look for sites I've visited on the list. I came up with 34.

Sheila:

Westminster Cathedral a World Heritage site? I realise the Scotch are a bit hazy about anything south of Berwick - but they'd be onto it like a shot if anyone English made a similar howler about something in Scotland.

I claim 105, by the way.

>>>>>
Many locales at poorer nations really need the money to protect the sites, as well as to bring more tourists (and their money) to them. That's simply not happening in US/Canada.
>>>>>

so true...2 that i visited recently are good examples....stari most and lijiang. stari most and the area around it was destroyed by the croats and serbs. shortly after it was rebuilt, it was made a UNESCO WHS. clearly a statement to reinforce that what happened was a tragedy and to provide an economic boost.

lijiang was made a WHS shortly after it was mostly destoyed by an earthquake (and rebuilt).

i think both are wholy deserving of the honour, however, i don't think there is any dispute that the timing of their inclusion has something to do with providing an economic boost to the areas involved. lijiang was unheard of as a mainstream travel destination before it became a WHS.

finally, the lack of sites in the US may also have something to do with the fact that this is not a strong marketing tool in the US. therefore, there is not a huge incentive to go through the application process. nobody really knows or cares that yellowstone is a WHS.

25. But after my next trip I'll be able to add 4 more!

I counted 63 in 15 countries; the most in any one country is 13 in Italy. I will add a few more in Australia next June.

I think I counted 48! Long list!

Let's see... (The dates next to these are from the site, not the dates I visited!)

Great Barrier Reef (1981)
Historic Centre of Vienna (2001)
Old City of Dubrovnik (1979, 1994)
Historic Centre of Český Krumlov (1992)
Historic Centre of Prague (1992)
Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady at Sedlec (1995)
Holašovice Historical Village Reservation (1998)
Colonial City of Santo Domingo (1990)
Palace and Park of Versailles (1979)
Paris, Banks of the Seine (1991)
Dresden Elbe Valley (2004)
Acropolis, Athens (1987)
Archaeological Site of Delphi (1987)
Medieval City of Rhodes (1988)
Archaeological Site of Olympia (1989)
Delos (1990)
Vatican City (1984)
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue (1987, 2002)
Agra Fort (1983)
Ajanta Caves (1983)
Ellora Caves (1983)
Taj Mahal (1983)
Fatehpur Sikri (1986)
Elephanta Caves (1987)
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus) (2004)
Historic Centre of Florence (1982)
Venice and its Lagoon (1987)
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (1997)
Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza (1988)
Defence Line of Amsterdam (1996)
Cracow's Historic Centre (1978)
Auschwitz Concentration Camp (1979)
Škocjan Caves (1986)
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada (1984, 1994)
Old City of Salamanca (1988)
Statue of Liberty (1984)
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (1987)
Mesa Verde National Park (1978)
Independence Hall (1979)

40, which is great, but not nearly enough!

109..but then again, I've been traveling longer than most...60 years since first seeing Japan in 1946 (courtesy of the U.S. Government).

Fascinating list.

Stu T.

Only 53 but I add a few more each year.

I wouldn't say I plan trips around the UNESCO list, but in the early stages of trip planning I check the list and try to visit as many as possible. There's a very good reason why places make the list. So far I haven't been disappointed.

45...more than I thought. I knew about Lunenberg in Canada, which we kinda happened upon on our driving trip through Nova Scotia, so it was a happy surprise.

And I knew about Tallin being on the list as well. But many of the places I visited I didn't even realize were on the list.

How cool is that? I think I'll add about 3 (definitely Hawaii, and Switzerland if all goes well...along with another if things go really well!)

I have visited 141, and have trips planned (and ticketed) that will take me to nine new sites in 2007.

AUSTRALIA
1987 Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park

AUSTRIA
1996 Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
1996 Palace and Gardens of Schonbrunn
2001 Historic Center of Vienna

BELGIUM
1998 La Grand-Place, Brussels
2000 Historic Centre of Brugge

BELIZE
1996 Belize Barrier-Reef Reserve System

BENIN
1985 Royal Palaces of Abomey

BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA
2005 Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar

BULGARIA
1983 Rila Monastery

CAMBODIA
1992 Angkor

CHINA (PEOPLES REPUBLIC OF)
1987 The Great Wall
1987 Imperial Palace of the Ming and Qing Dynasties
1987 The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emporer
1998 Summer Palace in Beijing
1998 Temple of Heaven, Beijing
2000 Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties

COLOMBIA
1984 Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena

CROATIA
1979 Old City of Dubrovnik

CUBA
1982 Old Havana and its Fortifications

CZECH REPUBLIC
1992 Historic Centre of Prague

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
1990 Colonial City of Santo Domingo

ECUADOR
1978 Galapagos National Park, including the Galapagos Islands
1978 Old City of Quito

EGYPT
1979 Ancient Thebes, including its Necropolis
1979 Islamic Cairo
1979 Memphis and its Necropolis-the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur

ESTONIA
1997 Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn

FINLAND
1991 Fortress of Suomenlinna

FRANCE
1979 Palace and Park of Versailles
1981 Roman and Romanesque Monuments of Arles
1985 Pont du Gard (Roman Aqueduct)
1991 Paris, Banks of the Seine
1998 Historic Site of Lyons

GERMANY
1987 Hanseatic City of Lübeck
1999 Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin

GHANA
1979 Forts and Castles in Volta, Greater Accra, Central and Western Regions

GREECE
1987 The Acropolis, Athens

GUATEMALA
1979 Antigua Guatemala
1979 Tikal National Park
1981 Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua

HOLY SEE
1984 Vatican City
1980, 1990 Historic Centre of Rome, the properties of the Holy See in that city enjoyning extraterritorial rights, and San Paolo Fuori le Mura

HONDURAS
1980 Maya Site of Copan

HUNGARY
1987 Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube with the district of Buda Castle

INDIA
1983 Ajanta Caves
1983 Ellora Caves
1983 Agra Fort
1983 Taj Mahal
1986 Group of Monuments at Khajuraho
1986 Fatehpur Sikri
1987 Elephanta Caves
1993 Humayun's Tomb, Delhi
1993 Qutab Minar and associated monuments, Delhi
2004 Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus

INDONESIA
1991 Komodo National Park
1991 Borobudur Temple compound
1991 Prambanan Temple compound

ITALY
1980 Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci
1982 Historic Centre of Florence
1987 Venice and its Lagoon
1987 Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
1980, 1990 Historic Centre of Rome, the properties of the Holy See in that city enjoyning extraterritorial rights, and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
1995 Historic Center of Naples
1997 Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata
1997 Villa Romana del Casale
1997 Archaeological Area of Agrigento
2002 Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
2005 Syracuse and the Rocky Necropolis of Pantalic

JAPAN
1993 Himeji-jo (Himeji Castle)
1994 Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
1998 Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara

JERUSALEM
1981 The Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls

REPUBLIC OF KOREA
1995 Chongmyo Shrine
1997 The Ch'angdokkung Palace Complex

LATVIA
1997 Historic Centre of Riga

LITHUANIA
1994 The Old Town of Vilnius

MADAGASCAR
2001 Royal Hill of Ambohimanga

MALAWI
1984 Lake Malawi National Park

MALTA
1980 City of Valletta
1980 Megalithic Temples

MEXICO
1987 Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
1987 Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacán
1988 Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza
1991 Historic Centre of Morelia

MONTENEGRO
1979 Natural and Culturo-Historic Region of Kotor

NEPAL
1979 Kathmandu Valley
1984 Royal Chitwan National Park

PANAMA
1997 Historic District of Panama, with the Salon Bolivar

PERU
1983 City of Cuzco
1983 Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
1991 Historic Centre of Lima

POLAND
1978 Historic Centre of Cracow
1978 Wieliczka Salt Mine
1979 Auschwitz Concentration Camp
1980 Historic Centre of Warsaw

PORTUGAL
1983 Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belem, Lisbon
1996 Historic Centre of Oporto

RUSSIAN FEDERATION
1990 Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and related groups of monuments
1990 Kremlin and the Red Square in Moscow

SLOVENIA
1988 Skocjan Caves

SOUTH AFRICA
1999 Greater St. Lucia Wetland Park
1999 Robben Island
2000 Ukhahlamba/Drakensberg Park
2004 Cape Floral Region

SPAIN
1984 Alhambra, Generalife, and Albayzin, Granada
1984 Mosque of Cordoba
1984 Monastery and Site of the Escorial, Madrid
1984, 2005 Works of Antoni Gaudi, Barcelona
1985 Old Town of Segovia, including its aqueduct
1986 Historic City of Toledo
1987 Cathedral, the Alcazar and Archivo de Indias, Seville

SWEDEN
1991 Royal Domain of Drottningholm
1994 Skogskyrkogarden

TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF
1979 Ngorongoro Conservation Area, including the Ngorongoro and Empakaai Craters and Olduvai Gorge
1981 Serengeti National Park

TUNISIA
1979 Roman Amphitheater of El Djem
1979 Archaeological Site of Carthage
1979 Medina of Tunis
1988 Medina of Sousse
1997 Dougga/Thugga

TURKEY
1985 Historic Areas of Istanbul

UGANDA
1994 Bwindi Impenetrable National Park

UKRAINE
1990 St Sophia Cathedral and related monastic buildings, and Lavra of Kiev-Pechersk
1998 L'viv - the Ensemble of the Historic Center

UNITED KINGDOM
1987 City of Bath
1987 Palace of Westminster, Abbey of Westminster, and St. Margaret's Church
1988 The Tower of London
1997 Maritime Greenwich
2000 The Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
1978 Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming/Idaho/Montana
1979 Everglades National Park, Florida
1979 Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
1979 Independence Hall, Pennsylvania
1981 Mammoth Cave National Park, Kentucky
1983 San Juan National Historic Site and La Fortaleza, Puerto Rico
1984 The Statue of Liberty, New York
1987 Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, including Mauna Loa, Hawaii
1992 Pueblo de Taos

URUGUAY
1995 Colonia del Sacramento

former YUGOSLAV REPULIC OF MACEDONIA
1979 Ohrid Region

ZAMBIA/ZIMBABWE
1989 Victoria Falls/Mosi-oa-Tunya


************

BAHRAIN
2005 Qal'at al-Bahrain Archaeological Site (will visit in November 2006)

CYPRUS
1980 Paphos (will visit in December 2006)
1985 The Painted Churches in the Troodos Region (will visit in December 2006)

GREECE
1988 Medieval City of Rhodes (will visit in December 2006)

NETHERLANDS
1997 Historic Area of Willemstad, Inner City, and Harbour, Curaçao (will visit in April 2007)

NEW ZEALAND
1990 Te Wahipounamu - South West New Zealand (will visit in August 2007)

TURKMENISTAN
1999 State Historical and Cultural Park "Ancient Merv" (will visit in May 2007)

UZBEKISTAN
1993 Historic Centre of Bukhara (will visit in May 2007)
2001 Samarkand (will visit in May 2007)

Okay - here goes....

Austria
* Historic Centre of Salzburg
* Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn
* Historic Centre of Vienna

Azerbaijan
* Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower

China
* Imperial Palaces in Beijing and Shenyang
* The Great Wall
* Temple of Heaven

Cyprus
* Paphos
* Painted Churches in Troodos Region

Egypt
* Ancient Thebes
* Islamic Cairo
* Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur
* Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae
* Wadi Al-Hitan (Whale Valley)

France
* Cathedral of Notre-Dame
* Paris, Banks of the Seine
Carcassonne
in France

Jordan
* Petra

Russian Federation
* Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow

Turkey
* Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
* Historic Areas of Istanbul
* Hierapolis-Pamukkale

United Kingdom
* Westminster
* Tower of London

Tanzania
* Ngorongoro Conservation Area
* Serengeti National Park (1981)
* Kilimanjaro National Park (1987)

United States of America
* Independence Hall
* Great Smoky Mountains National Park
* Hawaii Volcanoes National Park


Funny - not as many as I would have thought...........

About 85.

At least 51. Some I'm not sure of (it's been a while).
More every year...

At least 52 for me. I'm a bit fuzzy on the ones in Asia as well as Portugal/Spain as I visited these places when I was younger.

So far 87 spread across Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, nepal, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, U.K, USA, and Tanzania. Hope to see many more in the future.

54 for me. and I hope many more in the future.

I never did answer. I'm somewhere around 40.

44 and counting! I have been to most of the North American ones except for the sites in Atlantic Canada.