World Heritage Sites (August 2022 Update)

UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites is far from perfect, but I still think it’s a better guide than anything else to find the most interesting and important places to see as a tourist, so I figured it’d be nice to come up with a list of how many I’ve been to.

So far I’ve only managed to visit just 143 sites, which is just over 12% of the 1,154 worldwide (you can see the full list here). Which means there should be more than enough to keep me busy for quite a while yet (not least the 14 back home in the UK that I still haven’t seen yet).

I’ve also included links to the blog posts I’ve written and the photos I’ve taken for all the sites I’ve visited since 2008.

How many have you visited?

Africa – 11

Egypt – 1
Saint Catherine Area

Ethiopia – 4
Aksum
Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region
Rock-hewn Churches, Lalibela
Simien National Park

Morocco – 5
Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador)
Medina of Fez
Medina of Marrakesh
Historic City of Meknes
Archaeological Site of Volubilis

Mozambique – 1
Island of Mozambique

The Americas – 31

Argentina – 1
Los Glaciares National Park

Bolivia – 2
City of Potosí (blog / photos)
Historic City of Sucre (photos)

Brazil – 1
Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes Between the Mountain and the Sea

Chile – 2
Rapa Nui National Park on Easter Island (Moais) (blog / photos)
Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso (blog / photos)

Colombia – 2
Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena (blog / photos)
Coffee Cultural Landscape of Colombia

Guatemala – 2
Antigua Guatemala (blog / photos)
Tikal National Park

Honduras – 1
Maya Site of Copán

Mexico – 12
Agave Landscape and Ancient Industrial Facilities of Tequila
Historic Centre of Mexico City and Xochimilco
Historic Centre of Oaxaca and Archaeological Site of Monte Albán (blog / photos)
Historic Centre of Puebla (photos)
Historic Centre of Zacatecas (blog / photos)
Historic Monuments Zone of Santiago de Querétaro (blog / photos)
Historic Town of Guanajuato and Adjacent Mines (blog / photos)
Hospicio Cabañas, Guadalajara (photos)
Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque
Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan (blog / photos)
Prehistoric Caves of Yagul and Mitla in the Central Valley of Oaxaca
Sanctuary of Jesús de Nazareno de Atotonilco, and Protective town of San Miguel el Grande, today San Miguel de Allende (blog / photos)

Nicaragua – 1
Leon Cathedral

Peru – 6
City of Cusco (blog / photos)
Historic centre of Lima (photos)
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (blog / photos)
Historic centre of Arequipa (blog / photos)
Huascaran National Park (blog / photos)
Qhapaq Ñan, Andean Road System

USA – 1
Statue of Liberty

Asia – 21

Cambodia – 1
Angkor

Indonesia – 4
Borobudur Temple Compounds (blog / photos)
Komodo National Park (blog / photos)
Prambanan Temple Compounds (photos)
Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra (blog)

Israel – 1
White City of Tel Aviv

Laos – 2
Town of Luang Phrabang
Vat Phou and the Champasak Cultural Landscape

Malaysia – 1
Melaka & George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca

Myanmar – 1
Bagan

Philippines – 3
Baroque Churches of the Philippines (blog)
Rice Terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras (blog / photos)
Puerto Princessa Subterranean National Park (blog / photos)

Sri Lanka – 5
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa
Ancient City of Sigiriya
Rangiri Dambulla Cave Temple
Sacred City of Anuradhapura
Sacred City of Kandy

Vietnam – 3
Complex of Hué Monuments
Hoi An Ancient Town
My Son Sanctuary

Oceania – 7

Australia – 6
Great Barrier Reef
Gondwana Rainforests of Australia
Greater Blue Mountains Area
Royal Exhibition Building & Carlton Gardens (photos)
Sydney Opera House (photos)
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (blog / photos)

New Zealand – 1
Tongariro National Park (blog / photos)

Europe: – 73

Armenia – 1
Cathedral and Churches of Echmiadzin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots

Austria – 3
Historic Centre of Salzburg
Historic Centre of Vienna
Schönbrunn Palace

Azerbaijan – 2
Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshahs’ Palace and Maiden Tower
Gobustan State Reserve

Belgium – 4
La Grand-Place, Brussels
Belfries of Belgium and France
Historic Centre of Bruges
Plantin-Moretus House–Workshops–Museum Complex (blog / photos)

Croatia – 3
Historic Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
Old City of Dubrovnik
Historic City of Trogir

Czechia – 1
Prague

France – 3
Paris, Banks of the Seine
Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera

Georgia – 1
Historical Monuments of Mtskheta

Germany – 6
Aachen Cathedral
Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin (including Schloß Sanssouci)
Cologne Cathedral
Museum Island (Museumsinsel), Berlin
Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus, Hamburg
Upper Middle Rhine Valley, the Rhine Gorge

Holy See – 1
Vatican City

Hungary – 1
Budapest

Iceland – 1
Þingvellir National Park

Italy – 6
Amalfi Coast
Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum & Torre Annunziata
Historic Centre of Naples
Historic Centre of Rome
Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto
Mount Etna

Malta – 2
City of Valletta
Megalithic Temples of Malta

Montenegro – 2
Durmitor National Park
Kotor Natural, Cultural and Historical Region

Netherlands – 1
Seventeenth-century canal ring area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht

Poland – 2
Kraków’s Historical Centre (blog / photos)
Wieliczka Salt Mine (blog)

Portugal – 5
Monastery of Batalha
Monastery of the Hieronymites and Belém Tower in Lisbon
Historic Centre of Porto
Cultural Landscape of Sintra
University of Coimbra – Alta and Sofia

Russia – 2

Historic Centre of St. Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments
Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow

Spain – 10
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
Historic Centre of Córdoba
Works of Antoni Gaudí
Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville
Palau de la Música Catalana and the Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona
Ibiza, Biodiversity and Culture
Lonja de la Seda
Serra de Tramuntana
Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, a landscape of Arts and Sciences
Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco

Switzerland – 1
Jungfrau-Aletsch Protected Area

Turkey – 2
Historic Areas of Istanbul (blog / photos)
Ephesus

United Kingdom – 13
Blenheim Palace
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey and St Martin’s Church
City of Bath (Great Spa Towns of Europe)
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
Jurassic Coast of Dorset and East Devon
Frontiers of the Roman Empire: Hadrian’s Wall
Lake District National Park
Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City
Maritime Greenwich
Old Town and New Town of Edinburgh, Scotland
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (photos)
Tower of London
Westminster Abbey, Palace of Westminster, Westminster School and St. Margaret’s Church

Click here for a list of my ten favourites prior to August 2008 – since then I’ve visited many more sites over the past 9 years, so I’ll probably come up with a revised top 10 at some point.