UNESCO World Heritage Sites
The United Nations is a vast and complicated organization, and it’s hard to keep track of everything they do. My favorite part of the UN Family is UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Their mission is to ‘build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.’ UNESCO has a lot of different initiatives like helping underserved populations attain education, coordinating Tsunami early warning systems, Youth Networks and more. My favorite program of theirs is the World Heritage initiative.
The organization has identified thousands of locations of cultural and natural significance around the world. Sites can range from sprawling palace temple areas like Angor Wat in Cambodia to various works spread throughout a city like the Works of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona. Entire Islands like Goree in Senegal to national parks like the Everglades and Yellowstone. Famous places like the Pyramids of Egypt or the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, and lesser known treasures like the Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso Chile or Chaco Culture in northwest New Mexico. Throughout my travels, I’ve had the opportunity to visit over 50 of these sites across 20+ countries. I have done 7 each in Italy and China, and 5 each in Japan, Australia.
Each one I’ve visited could more than support it’s own post. Some of my favorites so far include:
Iguazu National Park (Argentina)
Great Barrier Reef (Australia
Angkor Wat (Cambodia)
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor (China)
Museumsinsel (Museum Island) (Germany)
Acropolis, Athens (Greece)
Taj Mahal (India)
Historic Centre of Rome (Italy)
Venice and its Lagoon (Italy)
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Japan)
Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza (Mexico)
Galápagos Islands
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu (Peru)
Cultural Landscape of Sintra (Portugal)
Island of Gorée (Senegal)
Works of Antoni Gaudí (Spain)
Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (USA)
Himeji-jo (Japan)
There are thousands of sites recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, and some of them are endangered. Reading through the list of sites all at once can be a daunting task, and I doubt anyone on the planet has visited every single one. But I promise, just reading about the sites can give you hours and hours of enjoyment. Visiting some will give you memories to last a lifetime. When you come to the entrance of an place and see that UNESCO seal, you know you’re about to explore something special.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are a perfect jumping off point for planning what to see and do in any country. Many countries have too many sites to visit in one trip, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s a tourist trap, and what’s worth your time. UNESCO’s list helps take some of the guessing out of your planning, because a respected international organization has already done the work for you.
