There are currently 1,154 UNESCO World Heritage listed sites in the world. Across 2020 and 2021, thirty-four sites were added to the official list, which can be seen here. The committee usually meet annually but the 45th session of the World Heritage Committee, initially scheduled from 19 – 30 June 2022, is postponed.
We are not overly obsessed with seeing as many UNESCO sites as possible during our travels but if we are near one, we certainly make the effort to go and see it.
To date, we have visited 327 sites between us (Mark 293 and Kirsty 260) in 86 countries and territories worldwide.
There are just 13 countries where we have visited all of the UNESCO sites; Albania, Armenia, Belize, Cambodia, Guatemala, Holy See, Laos, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Myanmar (Burma), Nepal and Singapore.
Our highest tally to date is India (with 28 out of 40 sites visited), whereas some of our least impressive counts are very close to home – France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom itself!
Of the 1,154 sites, 897 are defined as cultural, 218 are natural and 39 are mixed properties. The accolade of being the country with the most number of sites (if you include sites shared with other countries) is goes jointly to Italy which has 58 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. China ranks seconds with 56 listings.
There are currently 167 countries and territories in the world with at least one UNESCO World Heritage listed site, so we’ve still got quite a way to go!
If you are interested in UNESCO World Heritage Sites and details such as what’s involved in getting listed by UNESCO as well as the pros and cons of inscription, read our post: UNESCO World Heritage Sites: Backgrounder.
Number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Visited by Kirsty
Number of UNESCO World Heritage Sites Visited by Mark
Below is a list of all the countries that have UNESCO World Heritage Sites that we have visited. Click on the country to expand and see the sites within that country. And if we’ve written about the site, click on the link to read more.
Albania (4 sites/4 visited)
Butrint
Historic Centres of Berat and Gjirokastra
Ancient and Primeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians and Other Regions of Europe
Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region
Argentina (11 sites/4 visited)
Los Glaciares National Park
Iguazu National Park
Península Valdés
Quebrada de Humahuaca
Armenia (3 sites/3 visited)
Monasteries of Haghpat and Sanahin
Cathedral and Churches of Echmiatsin and the Archaeological Site of Zvartnots
Monastery of Geghard and the Upper Azat Valley
Australia (20 sites/12 visited)
Great Barrier Reef
Kakadu National Park
Tasmanian Wilderness
Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park
Wet Tropics of Queensland
Shark Bay, Western Australia
Fraser Island
Macquarie Island
Greater Blue Mountains Area
Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens
Sydney Opera House
Australian Convict Sites
Austria (12 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Vienna
Historic Centre of the City of Salzburg
Valletta, Malta
Bangladesh (3 sites/2 visited)
Historic Mosque City of Bagerhat
The Sundarbans
Belgium (13 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Brugge
Belize (1 site/1 visited)
Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System
Bolivia (7 sites/3 visited)
City of Potosí
Historic City of Sucre
Tiwanaku: Spiritual and Political Centre of the Tiwanaku Culture
Bosnia and Herzegovina (4 sites/2 visited)
Old Bridge Area of the Old City of Mostar
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad
Brazil (23 sites/1 visited)
Iguaçu National Park
Bulgaria (10 sites/2 visited)
Rila Monastery
Ancient City of Nessebar
Mehmed Paša Sokolović Bridge in Višegrad, Bosnia & Herzegovina
Sundarbans National Park, Bangladesh
Cambodia (3 sites/3 visited)
Temple of Preah Vihear
Temple Zone of Sambor Prei Kuk, Archaeological Site of Ancient Ishanapura
Canada (20 sites/1 visited)
Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
Chile (7 sites/2 visited)
Rapa Nui National Park
Historic Quarter of the Seaport City of Valparaíso
China (56 sites/17 visited)
Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Beijing and Shenyang
Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
Mogao Caves
The Great Wall
Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa
Mount Emei Scenic Area, including Leshan Giant Buddha Scenic Area
Ancient City of Ping Yao
Old Town of Lijiang
Summer Palace, an Imperial Garden in Beijing
Temple of Heaven: an Imperial Sacrificial Altar in Beijing
Longmen Grottoes
Yungang Grottoes
Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas
Historic Centre of Macao
South China Karst
Xinjiang Tianshan
Silk Roads: the Routes Network of Chang’an-Tianshan Corridor
Colombia (9 sites/1 visited)
Port, Fortresses and Group of Monuments, Cartagena
Croatia (10 sites/5 visited)
Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
Old City of Dubrovnik
Venetian Works of Defence between 15th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar (also in Italy and Montenegro)
Historic City of Trogir
The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik
Cuba (9 sites/5 visited)
Old Havana and its Fortification System
Trinidad and the Valley de los Ingenios
Viñales Valley
Urban Historic Centre of Cienfuegos
Historic Centre of Camagüey
Czech Republic (16 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Prague
Holy Trinity Column in Olomouc
Cyprus (3 sites/1 visited)
Paphos
Corfu Old Town in Corfu, Greece
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (2 sites/1 visited)
Historic Monuments and Sites in Kaesong
Denmark (10 sites/1 visited)
Kronborg Castle
Ecuador (5 sites/3 visited)
City of Quito
Galápagos Islands
Historic Centre of Santa Ana de los Ríos de Cuenca
Egypt (7 sites/4 visited)
Historic Cairo
Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur
Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae
Estonia (2 sites/1 visited)
Historic Centre (Old Town) of Tallinn
Ethiopia (9 sites/4 visited)
Simien National Park
Rock-Hewn Churches, Lalibela
Fasil Ghebbi, Gondar Region
Aksum
France (49 sites/9 visited)
Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
Palace and Park of Versailles
Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims
Paris, Banks of the Seine
Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge
Chartres Cathedral
Prehistoric Sites and Decorated Caves of the Vézère Valley
The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera
Leptis Magna, Libya
Stelea of the Great Plaza, Copan Archaeological Site, Honduras
Borobudur Temple, Java
Georgia (4 sites/3 visited)
Gelati Monastery
Historical Monuments of Mtskheta
Upper Svaneti
Germany (52 sites/1 visited)
Cologne Cathedral
Greece (18 sites/5 visited)
Acropolis, Athens
Archaeological Site of Delphi
Medieval City of Rhodes
Archaeological Site of Olympia
Old Town of Corfu
Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments of Thessalonika
Meteora
Guatemala (3 sites/3 visited)
Tikal National Park
Archaeological Park and Ruins of Quirigua
Holy See (2 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Vatican City
Honduras (2 sites/1 visited)
Maya Site of Copan
Hungary (8 sites/1 visited)
Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
India (40 sites/28 visited)
Agra Fort
Ajanta Caves
Ellora Caves
Taj Mahal
Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram
Sun Temple, Konârak
Keoladeo National Park
Churches and Convents of Goa
Fatehpur Sikri
Group of Monuments at Hampi
Khajuraho Group of Monuments
Great Living Chola Temples
Sundarbans National Park
Nanda Devi and Valley of Flowers National Parks
Buddhist Monuments at Sanchi
Humayun’s Tomb, Delhi
Qutb Minar and its Monuments, Delhi
Mountain Railways of India
Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodh Gaya
Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (formerly Victoria Terminus)
Red Fort Complex
The Jantar Mantar, Jaipur
Jaipur City, Rajasthan
Western Ghats
Hill Forts of Rajasthan
Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) at Patan, Gujarat
Historic City of Ahmadabad
Victorian Gothic and Art Deco Ensembles of Mumbai
Indonesia (9 sites/4 visited)
Cultural Landscape of Bali Province: the Subak System as a Manifestation of the Tri Hita Karana Philosophy
Iran (26 sites/8 visited)
Meidan Emam, Esfahan
Persepolis
Bam and its Cultural Landscape
Pasargadae
The Persian Garden
Masjed-e Jāmé of Isfahan
Golestan Palace
Historic City of Yazd
Israel (10 sites/3 visited)
Masada
White City of Tel-Aviv — the Modern Movement
Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls
(*) Officially, Israel has 9 sites but Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls was nominated by Jordan
Italy (58 sites/8 visited)
Church and Dominican Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with “The Last Supper” by Leonardo da Vinci
Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
Historic Centre of Florence
Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
Venice and its Lagoon
City of Verona
Historic Centre of Siena
Venetian Works of Defence between 15th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar (also in Croatia and Montenegro)
Mahabodhi Temple at Bodhgaya, India
Rinca Island in Komodo National Park, Indonesia
The Yungang Caves in Datong, China
Japan (25 sites/9 visited)
Buddhist Monuments in the Horyu-ji Area
Himeji-jo
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities)
Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Hiroshima Peace Memorial (Genbaku Dome)
Itsukushima Shinto Shrine
Historic Monuments of Ancient Nara
Shrines and Temples of Nikko
Fujisan, sacred place and source of artistic inspiration
Jordan (5 sites/2 visited)
Wadi Rum Protected Area
Kyrgyzstan (3 sites/2 visited)
Sulaiman-Too Sacred Mountain
Laos (3 sites/3 visited)
Town of Luang Prabang
Vat Phou and Associated Ancient Settlements within the Champasak Cultural Landscape
Plain of Jars
Latvia (2 sites/1 visited)
Lebanon (5 sites/4 visited)
Libya (5 sites/4 visited)
Lithuania (4 sites/1 visited)
Luxembourg (1 site/1 visited)
City of Luxembourg: its Old Quarters and Fortifications
Angkor Thom in Cambodia
Malaysia (4 sites/3 visited)
Gunung Mulu National Park
Kinabalu Park
Melaka and George Town, Historic Cities of the Straits of Malacca
Mali (4 sites/3 visited)
Old Towns of Djenné
Cliff of Bandiagara (Land of the Dogons)
Malta (3 sites/1 visited)
Mexico (35 sites/4 visited)
Pre-Hispanic City and National Park of Palenque
Pre-Hispanic City of Chichen-Itza
Historic Fortified Town of Campeche
Montenegro (4 sites/2 visited)
Natural and Culturo-Historical Region of Kotor
Venetian Works of Defence between 15th and 17th centuries: Stato da Terra – western Stato da Mar (also under Italy and Croatia)
Morocco (9 sites/7 visited)
Medina of Fez
Medina of Marrakesh
Historic City of Meknes
Rabat, Modern Capital and Historic City: a Shared Heritage
Medina of Essaouira (formerly Mogador)
Archaeological Site of Volubilis
Medina of Tétouan (formerly known as Titawin)
Myanmar (Burma) (2 sites/2 visited)
Pyu Ancient Cities
Bagan
Castle Square, Old Town Warsaw in Poland
Nepal (4 sites/4 visited)
Netherlands (12 sites/1 visited)
Seventeenth-Century Canal Ring Area of Amsterdam inside the Singelgracht
Nicaragua (2 sites/1 visited)
North Macedonia (2 sites/1 visited)
Natural and Cultural Heritage of the Ohrid region
Norway (8 sites/2 visited)
Struve Geodetic Arc
Oman (5 sites/1 visited)
Bahla Fort
Pakistan (6 sites/2 visited)
Fort and Shalamar Gardens in Lahore
Palestine (3 sites/2 visited)
Hebron/Al-Khalil Old Town
Peru (13 sites/4 visited)
City of Cuzco
Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
Historic Centre of Lima
Historical Centre of the City of Arequipa
Poland (17 sites/7 visited)
Historic Centre of Kraków
Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines
Auschwitz Birkenau
Historic Centre of Warsaw
Castle of the Teutonic Order in Malbork
Medieval Town of Toruń
Centennial Hall in Wrocław
Republic of Korea (15 sites/1 visited)
Gyeongju Historic Areas
Romania (9 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Sighisoara
Russian Federation (30 sites/2 visited)
Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments
Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow
Leon Catedral in Nicaragua
Serbia (5 sites/4 visited)
Medieval Monuments in Kosovo
Studenica Monastery
Stari Ras and Sopocani
Gamzigrad-Romuliana, Palace of Galerius
Singapore (1 site/1 visited)
Singapore Botanical Gardens
Spain (49 sites/5 visited)
Alhambra, Generalife and Albayzín, Granada
Historic Centre of Cordoba
Works of Antoni Gaudí
Cathedral, Alcázar and Archivo de Indias in Seville
Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida
Sri Lanka (8 sites/7 visited)
Ancient City of Polonnaruwa
Ancient City of Sigiriya
Sacred City of Anuradhapura
Old Town of Galle and its Fortifications
Sacred City of Kandy
Golden Temple of Dambulla
Central Highlands of Sri Lanka
Switzerland (13 sites/1 visited)
Old City of Berne
Syrian Arab Republic (6 sites/5 visited)
Ancient City of Damascus
Ancient City of Bosra
Ancient City of Aleppo
Crac des Chevaliers and Qal’at Salah El-Din
Tajikistan (2 sites/1 visited)
Tajik National Park (Mountains of the Pamirs)
Tanzania (7 sites/2 visited)
Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Serengeti National Park
Thailand (6 sites/3 visited)
Historic City of Ayutthaya
Historic Town of Sukhothai and Associated Historic Towns
Ban Chiang Archaeological Site
Tunisia (8 sites/6 visited)
Amphitheatre of El Jem
Archaeological Site of Carthage
Dougga /Thugga
Medina of Sousse
Medina of Tunis
Kairouan
Turkey (19 sites/13 visited)
Göreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia
Nemrut Dağ
Hierapolis-Pamukkale
Xanthos-Letoon
Archaeological Site of Troy
Pergamon and its Multi-Layered Cultural Landscape
Diyarbakır Fortress and Hevsel Gardens Cultural Landscape
Ephesus
Archaeological Site of Ani
Selimiye Mosque and its Social Complex (Edirne)
Hattusha: the Hittite Capital City of Safranbolu
Gulludere (Rose) Valley, Cappadocia in Turkey
Ukraine (7 sites/4 visited)
Kyiv: Saint-Sophia Cathedral and Related Monastic Buildings, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra
L’viv – the Ensemble of the Historic Centre
Primaeval Beech Forests of the Carpathians
Residence of Bukovinian and Dalmatian Metropolitans (Chernivtsi University)
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (32 sites/15 visited)
Durham Castle and Cathedral
Ironbridge Gorge
Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites
City of Bath
Frontiers of the Roman Empire
Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey including Saint Margaret’s Church
Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church
Tower of London
Maritime Greenwich
Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
Dorset and East Devon Coast
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape
The Forth Bridge
The English Lake District
United States of America (24 sites/3 visited)
Grand Canyon National Park
Statue of Liberty
Yosemite National Park
Uruguay (3 sites/1 visited)
Historic Quarter of the City of Colonia del Sacramento
Uzbekistan (5 sites/3 visited)
Historic Centre of Bukhara
Historic Centre of Shakhrisyabz
Samarkand – Crossroad of Cultures
Vietnam (8 sites/4 visited)
Complex of Hué Monuments
Ha Long Bay
Hoi An Ancient Town
My Son Sanctuary
Zimbabwe (5 sites/2 visited)
Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls
Matobo Hills
Halong Bay, Vietnam
Dormition Cathedral Kyiv-Pecherskaya Lavra in Kyiv, Ukraine
Wat Mahathat in Sukhothai Historical Park, Thailand
Dougga, Tunisia
UNESCO World Heritage Sites Mapped Out
This is a fantastic map for identifying the locations and exploring of all UNESCO World Heritage Sites. You can zoom in a particular country and also use the toggle function to show tentative sites.
