UNESCO World Heritage Sites
Language: 
Published: 2018-09-23
Modified: 2020-05-12
Briefly
I try to visit as many UNESCO World Heritage Sites as possible during my lifetime. They are often worth it.
Article history
- 2020-01-19 Added 11 new visits in New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam.
- 2019-11-17 Added Progression chapter.
- 2019-05-27 Added two new visits in United States of America.
- 2018-12-28 Added ten new visits in Jordan, Israel, Palestine.
- 2018-09-23 Article is published.
- 2018-09-19 Writing the article is started.
Background
I like travelling. Finland is already conquered, Europe is half done and world travelling has been progressing quite nicely.
The number of different countries visited isn't my objective but the high quality of the journeys. Besides eating and drinking well, I try to experience, learn and report as much as convenient while producing some CO2 to the earth atmosphere.
So, could there be a meter to use in travel planning which directed to experience and learn the best bits of the world and human kind, a better meter than the number of visited countries which basically means just random border crossings of different administrational regions.
The best collection of the most precious cultural heritage sites and natural miracles of the world, that I've found, is UNESCO World Heritage Sites List which contains 1121 sites at the moment (2020-05-12). The list can be criticized of being politically influenced but a list like this can't be created objectively. Also UNESCO exists for educational purposes, to teach us life and nature, history and culture so let's do it!
First time I knew I was visiting a UNESCO site was in Alta (Norway) in June 2003 but it was 2018-09-19 when I first time calculated my score. It was 54/1092 at that time, so I had already done 4.9 %!
To be realistic, visiting all of them is virtually impossible. The current rate is about 10-30 new sites per year and even if one had all the money, time and health, this couldn't be done because the permit issues, bookings, random temporal close downs, weather and medical problems make it just too hard. Moreover I don't want to travel around the globe only running after these sites without doing anything else in the destinations. Nevertheless the goal gives some idea whehere to go next.
Progression
Here's the data to show how the number of sites and my visits have progressed. Data and a chart are also in a spreadsheet.
| Year |
New visits |
Total visits |
Total sites |
Progression |
| 2020 |
4 |
76 |
1121 |
6.78 % |
| 2019 |
9 |
72 |
1121 |
6.42 % |
| 2018 |
15 |
63 |
1092 |
5.77 % |
| 2017 |
6 |
48 |
1073 |
4.47 % |
| 2016 |
2 |
42 |
1052 |
3.99 % |
| 2015 |
12 |
40 |
1031 |
3.88 % |
| 2014 |
5 |
28 |
1007 |
2.78 % |
| 2013 |
9 |
23 |
981 |
2.34 % |
| 2012 |
5 |
14 |
962 |
1.46 % |
| 2011 |
2 |
9 |
936 |
0.96 % |
| 2008 |
2 |
7 |
878 |
0.80 % |
| 2006 |
1 |
5 |
830 |
0.60 % |
| 2004 |
1 |
4 |
788 |
0.51 % |
| 2003 |
1 |
3 |
754 |
0.40 % |
| 1999 |
1 |
2 |
629 |
0.32 % |
| 1995? |
1 |
1 |
468 |
0.21 % |
List
The UNESCO World Heritage sites which I've visited:
| Country |
Site |
C |
N |
M |
Listed |
Visited |
| Austria |
Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn |
X |
|
|
1996 |
2015 |
|
Historic Centre of Vienna |
X |
|
|
2001 |
2015 |
| Belgium |
La Grand-Place |
X |
|
|
1998 |
2013 |
| China |
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor |
X |
|
|
1987 |
2018 |
| Croatia |
Plitvice Lakes National Park |
|
X |
|
2001 |
2014 |
|
Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian |
X |
|
|
1979 |
2014 |
| Czechia |
Historic Centre of Prague |
X |
|
|
1992 |
2012 |
| Estonia |
Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn |
X |
|
|
1997 |
2013 |
| Finland |
Old Rauma |
X |
|
|
1991 |
2008 |
|
Petäjävesi Old Church |
X |
|
|
1994 |
2008 |
|
Fortress of Suomenlinna |
X |
|
|
1991 |
2006 |
|
Verla Groundwood and Board Mill |
X |
|
|
1996 |
2004 |
| France |
Palace and Park of Fontainebleau |
X |
|
|
1981 |
2017 |
|
Palace and Park of Versailles |
X |
|
|
1979 |
2017 |
|
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay |
X |
|
|
1979 |
2017 |
|
Champagne Hillsides, Houses and Cellars |
X |
|
|
2015 |
2017 |
|
Paris, Banks of the Seine |
X |
|
|
1991 |
2017 |
|
The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy |
X |
|
|
2015 |
2013 |
| Germany |
Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin |
X |
|
|
1999 |
2014 |
|
Cologne Cathedral |
X |
|
|
1996 |
2013 |
|
Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen |
X |
|
|
2001 |
2013 |
| Greece |
Medieval City of Rhodes |
X |
|
|
1988 |
1999 |
| Holy See |
Vatican City |
X |
|
|
1984 |
2013 |
| Hungary |
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue |
X |
|
|
1987 |
2012 |
| Israel |
White City of Tel-Aviv - the Modern Movement |
X |
|
|
2003 |
2018 |
|
Beit She'arim National Park |
X |
|
|
2003 |
2018 |
|
Sites of Human Evolution at Mount Carmel: The Nahal Me’arot / Wadi el-Mughara Caves |
X |
|
|
2012 |
2018 |
|
Bahá’i Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee |
X |
|
|
2008 |
2018 |
|
Old City of Acre |
X |
|
|
2001 |
2018 |
|
Masada |
X |
|
|
2001 |
2018 |
| Italy |
Genoa: Le Strade Nuove and the system of the Palazzi dei Rolli |
X |
|
|
2006 |
2014 |
|
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura |
X |
|
|
1980 |
2013 |
|
Historic Centre of Florence |
X |
|
|
1982 |
2013 |
| Japan |
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) |
X |
|
|
1996 |
2018 |
|
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) |
X |
|
|
1994 |
2018 |
| Jordan |
Petra |
X |
|
|
1985 |
2018 |
|
Wadi Rum Protected Area |
|
|
X |
2005 |
2018 |
| Luxembourg |
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications |
X |
|
|
1994 |
2017 |
| Netherlands |
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht |
X |
|
|
2010 |
2013 |
| New Zealand |
Te Wahipounamu |
|
X |
|
1990 |
2019 |
|
Tongariro National Park |
|
|
X |
1990 |
2019 |
| Norway |
Rock Art of Alta |
X |
|
|
1985 |
2003 |
| Palestine |
Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town |
X |
|
|
2017 |
2018 |
| Poland |
Auschwitz Birkenau |
X |
|
|
1979 |
2015 |
|
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines |
X |
|
|
1978 |
2015 |
|
Historic Centre of Kraków |
X |
|
|
1978 |
2015 |
| Republic of Korea |
Changdeokgung Palace Complex |
X |
|
|
1985 |
2018 |
| Singapore |
Singapore Botanic Gardens |
X |
|
|
2015 |
2019 |
| Slovakia |
Wooden Churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area |
X |
|
|
2008 |
2012 |
|
Vlkolínec |
X |
|
|
1993 |
2012 |
|
Levoča, Spišský Hrad and the Associated Cultural Monuments |
X |
|
|
1993 |
2012 |
| Spain |
La Lonja de la Seda de Valencia |
X |
|
|
1996 |
2015 |
|
Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville |
X |
|
|
1997 |
2015 |
|
Historic Centre of Cordoba |
X |
|
|
1984 |
2015 |
|
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada |
X |
|
|
1984 |
2015 |
|
Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona |
X |
|
|
1997 |
2015 |
|
Works of Antoni Gaudí |
X |
|
|
1984 |
2015 |
| Sweden |
Royal Domain of Drottningholm |
X |
|
|
1991 |
1995? |
| Switzerland |
Three Castles, Defensive Wall and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona |
X |
|
|
2000 |
2014 |
| Great Britain |
Tower of London |
X |
|
|
1988 |
2011 |
|
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church |
X |
|
|
1987 |
2011 |
| United States of America |
Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville |
X |
|
|
1987 |
2019 |
|
Independence Hall |
X |
|
|
1979 |
2019 |
|
Grand Canyon National Park |
|
X |
|
1979 |
2016 |
|
Mesa Verde National Park |
X |
|
|
1978 |
2016 |
| Vietnam |
Tràng An Scenic Landscape Complex |
|
|
X |
2014 |
2020 |
|
Phong Nha-Kẻ Bàng National Park |
|
X |
|
2003 |
2019 |
|
Mỹ Sơn |
X |
|
|
1999 |
2019 |
|
Hội An |
X |
|
|
1999 |
2019 |
|
Hạ Long Bay |
|
X |
|
1994 |
2020 |
|
Imperial City of Huế |
X |
|
|
1993 |
2019 |
|
Citadel of the Hồ Dynasty |
X |
|
|
2011 |
2020 |
|
Imperial Citadel of Thăng Long |
X |
|
|
2010 |
2020 |
| Transboundary |
Old City and Walls of Jerusalem |
X |
|
|
1981 |
2018 |
|
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang'an-Tianshan Corridor |
X |
|
|
2014 |
2018 |
|
Caves of Aggtelek Karst and Slovak Karst |
|
X |
|
1995 |
2015 |
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