Chris' Linkjockey blog links to unique, fantastic sites on the web that you haven't seen before.

Monday, January 22, 2007

Ultimate List of Unforgettable Places to See Before You Die

World Heritage List

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has chosen to natural and cultural sites for protection, and inclusion on the World Heritage List. The criteria specify that they must "represent a masterpiece of human creative genius", "be areas of exceptional natural beauty", "contain the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity" or represent some other equally outstanding characteristics. In essence, the sites on the World Heritage List are judged to be the very best that our planet has to offer.

Currently, there are 830 sites, with at least 1 in every country, and many countries having many sites. There are many of the most famous sites, including the Great Pyramids, Machu Picchu, Angkor, and the Grand Canyon. There are also many lesser known sites, such as: the city of Pienza in Italy, the Japanese island of Yakushima, and the American Pueblo de Taos.

You could do a lot worse than using the UNESCO sites as your ultimate global travel checklist.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

oh come on Chris world heritage tours? People who travel for UNESCO sites are like people who travel for stamps on their pastport, the country doesn't matter, just the stamp.
if you want to just look at heritage sites get a postcard.. if you want to travel fine but there are other things in a country besides the UNESCO site,