16 of the World's Most Beautiful World Heritage Sites
UNESCO's World Heritage List now has more than 1,200 places judged to be of outstanding value to humanity. Picking sixteen is almost unfair, but these are the ones that take your breath away first, with a few notes on why they made the list.
1Angkor, Cambodia
The capital of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries covers some 400 square kilometres of temples, reservoirs and forest. Angkor Wat at sunrise is the classic image, but the smiling stone faces of the Bayon are just as unforgettable. Inscribed in 1992.
2Bagan, Myanmar
More than 3,000 Buddhist temples, stupas and monasteries scattered across a plain beside the Irrawaddy River, built mostly between the 11th and 13th centuries. Inscribed in 2019.
3Göreme and the rock sites of Cappadocia, Turkey
Erosion carved soft volcanic rock into "fairy chimneys", and people carved homes, churches and whole underground cities into them. Painted Byzantine chapels survive inside the cliffs. Inscribed in 1985.
4Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
The islands whose finches and tortoises helped Charles Darwin develop the theory of evolution. In 1978 they were among the very first sites ever added to the list.
5Hampi, India
The ruins of Vijayanagara, once one of the largest cities in the world, lie among giant granite boulders in Karnataka: temples, bazaars, stepped tanks and royal stables. Inscribed in 1986.
6Iguazú Falls, Argentina and Brazil
Hundreds of waterfalls spread along nearly three kilometres of the Iguazú River, with the roaring Devil's Throat at their heart. Both national parks are inscribed, Argentina's in 1984 and Brazil's in 1986.
7Machu Picchu, Peru
The 15th-century Inca citadel on a ridge high above the Urubamba valley, so well hidden that the Spanish conquerors never found it. Inscribed in 1983.
8Mont-Saint-Michel, France
A medieval abbey on a tidal island that seems to float when the sea rushes in across the bay. Inscribed in 1979.
9Petra, Jordan
The Nabataean city carved into rose-red sandstone, reached through a narrow gorge called the Siq that opens dramatically onto the Treasury. Inscribed in 1985.
10The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt
The only survivor of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, part of the Memphis necropolis site inscribed in 1979.
11Rapa Nui, Chile
Nearly a thousand moai statues stand on remote Easter Island in the Pacific, carved by the Rapa Nui people centuries ago. Inscribed in 1995.
12Sigiriya, Sri Lanka
A 5th-century palace on top of a 180-metre rock, with a lion-paw gateway, frescoes and water gardens at its feet. Inscribed in 1982.
13The Acropolis, Athens, Greece
The Parthenon and its neighbours, symbols of classical Greece and of democracy itself. Inscribed in 1987.
14Chichén Itzá, Mexico
The great Maya city of the Yucatán, where the pyramid of Kukulcán casts a serpent-shaped shadow at the equinoxes. Inscribed in 1988. (Lovely Tulum, on the coast, is often mistaken for a World Heritage Site, but it is not on the list.)
15Historic Centre of Macao, China
Portuguese churches, squares and fortresses mixed with Chinese temples and houses, the record of more than four centuries of East meeting West. The baroque facade of the Ruins of St Paul's is its icon. Inscribed in 2005.
16The Great Spa Towns of Europe
A single listing, added in 2021, that covers eleven elegant spa towns in seven countries, among them Baden-Baden in Germany, Spa in Belgium, Bath in England and Karlovy Vary in Czechia. They are celebrated for their pump rooms, colonnades, parks, theatres and, yes, casinos.
World Heritage with a roulette wheel next door
The last two entries share a surprise: in both, the heritage and the gaming tables have grown up side by side. In Macao, you can stand on the wave-patterned pavement of Senado Square, walk a few minutes past the Ruins of St Paul's, and find yourself under the neon of the old casino district around Avenida de Lisboa. The territory is now the biggest gambling market on Earth, yet its UNESCO core still feels like a Mediterranean old town.
The Great Spa Towns tell an older version of the same story. In the 19th century, Europe's aristocrats came to "take the waters" by day and to play roulette and trente-et-quarante by night. Spa in Belgium claims one of the oldest casinos in the world, dating from the 1760s. Not far away, in the German spa town of Bad Homburg, the twin brothers François and Louis Blanc ran a famous casino before François took over the Monte Carlo operation in the 1860s. Baden-Baden's Kurhaus casino, with its gilded French-style rooms, is often quoted as the most beautiful casino in the world.
See the full line-up in 12 of the Most Amazing Casinos in the World, and plan a trip with 7 Casino Cities to See Before You Die, which includes both Macau and Baden-Baden.
