Whenever I visit a new country, one of the first things I do is check the UNESCO World Heritage List to discover which culturally or naturally significant sites are recognized there. While I usually don’t manage to see them all, I make it a point to visit as many as possible.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites are recognized by the United Nations for their outstanding value to humanity, whether for their cultural richness, historical importance, or natural beauty. As of May 2025, there are 1,223 sites worldwide. So far, I’ve had the privilege of visiting 153 sites across 54 countries and territories - which comes to about 12.51% of the entire list.
Below is a full list of the World Heritage Sites I’ve explored on my travels:
Albania (2/4)
1. Butrint - March 2017
2. Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra (both) - March 2017
Australia (3/20)
3. Great Barrier Reef - November 2015
4. Greater Blue Mountains Area - November 2015
5. Sydney Opera House - November 2015
Austria (1/12)
6. Historic Center of Vienna - July 2013
Azerbaijan (3/5)
7. Gobustan Rock Art Cultural Landscape - January 2018
8. Historic Centre of Sheki with the Khan's Palace - January 2018
9. Walled City of Baku with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower - January 2018
Belarus (2/4)
10. Mir Castle Complex - October 2017
11. Bialowieza Forest - October 2017
Belgium (4/16)
12. Belfries of Belgium and France (Gent Belfry) - April 2022
13. Flemish Béguinages (The Small Beguinage in Gent) - April 2022
14. La Grand-Place, Brussels - April 2022
15. Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Hôtel van Eetvelde) - April 2022
Canada (1/22)
16. Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks - June 2023
China and Macau (3/59)
17. Beijing Central Axis: A Building Ensemble Exhibiting the Ideal Order of the Chinese Capital - November 2015
18. Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang (Beijing) - November 2015
19. Historic Centre of Macao - April 2016
Czech Republic (3/17)
20. Historic Centre of Prague - As a child and August 2022
21. Kutná Hora: Historical Town Centre with the Church of St Barbara and the Cathedral of Our Lady in Sedlec - August 2022
22. Tugendhat Villa in Brno - August 2022
Denmark and Greenland (9/11)
23. Kronborg Castle - As a child
24. Jelling Mounds, Runic Stones and Church - As a child
25. Wadden Sea - As a child
26. Roskilde Cathedral - August 2016
27. Stevns Klint - November 2016
28. The par force hunting landscape in North Zealand - October 2017
29. Ilulissat Icefjord - October 2018
30. Moravian Church Settlements (Christiansfeld) - September 2020
31. Viking Age Ring-Fortresses (Borgring, Trelleborg, Aggersborg) - 2016-18
Estonia (1/2)
32. Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn - May 2015
Finland (1/7)
33. Fortress of Suomenlinna - May 2015
France (4/53)
34. Paris, Banks of the Seine - April 2012 and April 2024
35. Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera - July 2019
36. Palace and Park of Versailles - April 2024
37. Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France (Saint Jacques Tower) - April 2024
Georgia (3/4)
38. Gelati Monastery - September 2021
39. Upper Svaneti - September-October 2021
40. Historical Monuments of Mtskheta - October 2021
Germany (23/54)
41. Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe (Jasmund National Park) - July 2020
42. Historic Centres of Stralsund and Wismar (both) - July/August 2020
43. Abbey and Altenmünster of Lorsch - August 2020
44. Bauhaus et ses sites à Weimar, Dessau et Bernau (Weimar) - August 2020
45. Classical Weimar - August 2020
46. Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg - August 2020
47. Hanseatic City of Lübeck - August 2020 and December 2022
48. Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg (Eisleben) - August 2020
49. Maulbronn Monastery Complex - August 2020
50. Messel Pit Fossil Site - August 2020
51. Mines of Rammelsberg, Historic Town of Goslar and Upper Harz Water Management System - August 2020
52. Monastic Island of Reichenau - August 2020
53. Naumburg Cathedral - August 2020
54. Pilgrimage Church of Wies - August 2020
55. Prehistoric Pile Dwellings around the Alps (Lake Constance) - August 2020
56. Speyer Cathedral - August 2020
57. Town of Bamberg - August 2020
58. Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square - August 2020
59. Archaeological Border Complex of Hedeby and the Danevirke - September 2020
60. Museuminsel, Berlin - December 2021
61. Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin - December 2021
62. Berlin Modernism Housing Estates (all six) - December 2021-April 2022
63. Aachen Cathedral - April 2022
Greece (6/19)
64. Acropolis, Athens - October 2013
65. Archaeological Site of Delphi - October 2013
66. Archaeological Site of Aigai (modern name Vergina) - May 2018
67. Archaeological Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns (both) - May 2018
68. Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika - May 2018
69. Meteora - May 2018
Hungary (1/8)
70. Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue - January 2016
Iceland (1/3)
71. Thingvellir National Park - April 2015
Indonesia (1/10)
72. Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy - March 2016
Iran (10/28)
73. Bam and its Cultural Landscape - January 2017
74. Golestan Palace - January 2017
75. Historical City of Yazd - January 2017
76. Lut Desert - January 2017
77. Masjed-e Jamé of Isfahan - January 2017
78. Meidan Emam, Esfahan - January 2017
79. Pasargadae - January 2017
80. Persepolis - January 2017
81. Tabriz Historic Bazaar Complex - January 2017
82. The Persian Garden (Fin Garden) - January 2017
83. The Persian Caravanserai (Meybod) - January 2017
Israel (5/10)
84. Bahá'í Holy Places in Haifa and the Western Galilee - December 2019
85. Masada - December 2019
86. Old City of Acre - December 2019
87. Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls - December 2019
88. White City of Tel Aviv - the Modern Movement - December 2019
Italy (5/60)
89. Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata (Pompeii and Herculaneum) - August 2024
90. Historic Centre of Naples - August 2024
91. Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura - March 2013 and August 2024
92. Via Appia. Regina Viarum (Rome section) - August 2024
93. Venice and its Lagoon - July 2013
Japan (3/26)
94. Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) - April 2016
95. Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome) - April 2016
96. Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara - April 2016
Kazakhstan (1/6)
97. Cold Winter Deserts of Turan (Altyn-Emel) - March 2025
Kyrgyzstan (1/3)
98. Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain - May 2016
Latvia (1/3)
99. Historic Centre of Riga - January 2015
Lithuania (1/5)
100. Vilnius Historic Centre - February 2016
Luxembourg (1/1)
101. City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortification - August 2018
Malaysia (1/4)
102. Kinabalu Park - March 2016
Malta (2/3)
103. City of Valletta - April 2014
104. Megalithic Temples of Malta - April 2014
Mongolia (1/6)
105. Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape - May 2016
Netherlands (1/13)
106. Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht - July 2017
---. Wadden Sea - November 2024
North Macedonia (1/2)
107. Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid Region - February 2018
Norway (1/8)
108. Bryggen - November 2021 & April 2023
Peru (4/13)
109. City of Cuzco - June 2018
110. Historic Center of Lima - June 2018
111. Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Palpa - June 2018
112. Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu - June 2018
Poland (4/17)
113. Historic Centre of Kraków - September 2015
114. Auschwitz Birkenau - September 2015
115. Historic Centre of Warsaw - September 2015
116. Centennial Hall in Wrocław - August 2022
Portugal (3/17)
117. Cultural Landscape of Sintra - August 2019
118. Historic Centre of Évora - August 2019
119. Monastery of the Hieronymites and Tower of Belém in Lisbon - August 2019
Russia (3/32)
120. Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow - January 2018
121. Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye - January 2018
122. Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent - January 2018
San Marino (1/1)
123. San Marino Historic Centre and Mount Titano - July 2019
Slovenia (1/5)
124. Škocjan Caves - March 2018
South Korea (2/16)
125. Changdeokgung Palace Complex - April 2016
126. Jeju Volcanic Island and Lava Tubes - April 2016
Spain (5/50)
127. Works of Antoni Gaudí - July 2015
128. Caliphate City of Medina Azahara - July 2019
129. Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville - July 2019
130. Historic Centre of Cordoba - July 2019
131. Vizcaya Bridge - August 2019
Sweden (2/15)
132. Hanseatic Town of Visby - May 2015
133. Agricultural Landscape of Southern Öland - April 2018
Switzerland (3/13)
134. Three Castles, Defensive Walls and Ramparts of the Market-Town of Bellinzona (all three) - November 2022
135. Swiss Alps Jungfrau-Aletsch - November 2022
136. Old City of Berne - November 2022
Tajikistan and the GBAO (1/4)
137. Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs) - May-June 2015
Tunisia (1/9)
138. Medina of Sousse - July 2010
Ukraine (1/8)
139. Kiev: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kiev-Pechersk Lavra - March 2019
United Kingdom (7/35)
140. Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites - As a child
141. Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret's Church - July 2015
142. Tower of London - July 2015
143. Old and New Towns of Edinburgh - February 2019
144. The Forth Bridge - February 2019
145. Heart of Neolithic Orkney (all four sites) - April 2023
146. The English Lake District - November 2024
United States (3/26)
147. Everglades National Park - October 2008
148. Grand Canyon National Park - August 2017
149. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site - August 2017
Uzbekistan (3/7)
150. Historic Centre of Bukhara - March 2025
151. Itchan Kala - March 2025
152. Samarkand - Crossroad of Cultures - March 2025
Vatican (1/1)
153. Vatican City - March 2013 and August 2024