The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - Travel
THE BEST OF THE REST
UNESCO NEWCOMERS
Other Unesco enrollees can be enjoyed by tour. The nearest is Strasbourg, the French city whose historic centre has been in the World Heritage portfolio since 1988. Now its Neustadt, built under German rule (1871-1918), has been added to the list. The city is accessible by train from London (£118 return via Eurostar – 03432 186 186; eurostar. com). Viator (001 702 648 5873; viator.com) sells a two-hour bike tour which meanders the centre in depth (£31 per person; code 12576P5). Further afield, Valongo Wharf is a patch of historic sadness amid the high energy of Rio de Janeiro – “built for the landing of enslaved Africans reaching the South American continent from 1811 onwards”. It can be seen on the 13-day “Classic Brazil” tour sold by Last Frontiers (01296 653000; lastfrontiers.com). From £3,490 per person, including international flights. On the far side of the planet, Taputapuatea –a ceremonial site on the island of Raiatea, French Polynesia – also joins the Unesco club. It offers “exceptional testimony to 1,000 years of ma’ohi civilisation” in the South Pacific. It can be seen as part of the 18-day “Luxury French Polynesia” holiday by Audley Travel (01993 838250; audleytravel.com) – from £9,380 per person, with flights. Another isle,
in Japan, has also been inscribed. However, access is restricted – it is viewed as holy in the Shinto religion. But the Munakata Shrine – nearby on the Kyushu mainland, also part of the new inscription – features in a nine-night trip, sold by Inside Japan Tours (0117 370 9730; insidejapantours. com), which covers Japan’s Unesco sites. From £1,653 per person, flights extra. Mbanza Kongo – once “the political and spiritual capital of the Kingdom of Kongo” – predated the Portuguese arrival in what is now Angola, and is perhaps only for intrepid travellers. But Steppes Travel (01285 601 754; steppestravel. com) is planning a 2018 tour of the African state. Register interest at enquiry@ steppestravel. com. (Croatia) and Kotor (Montenegro). Unesco says “[These] defence works spanned more than 1,000km between the Lombard region of Italy and the eastern Adriatic coast.” Take me there Ciceroni Travel (01869 811167; ciceroni.co.uk) will inspect the Balkan flank of Venetian self-protection via its “Safe Harbours: The Dalmatian Coast” odyssey, beginning in Split, Croatia, on September 8. The nine-day group tour will visit Zadar and Kotor. From £2,950 per person – with flights.
Sviyazhsk, Russia
An island standing proud in the currents of Europe’s longest river, the Volga, 25 miles (40km) west of the city of Kazan, Sviyazhsk is a fragment of medieval Russia – founded as a fortress in 1551 by (Tsar) Ivan the Terrible. Unesco’s king-making gaze has fallen particularly on the Assumption Cathedral and Monastery, its ornate vision of piety.
“The cathedral’s frescoes are among the rarest examples of Eastern Orthodox mural paintings.” Take me there The Trans-Siberian Travel Company includes Kazan and Sviyazhsk in its 23-night “Ultimate Trans-Siberian” rail jaunt between Moscow and Vladivostok – which also halts in Ekaterinburg and Krasnoyarsk. From £3,965 per person, including Englishspeaking tour guides, but no flights (020 8816 8925; thetranssiberiantravelcompany.com).
Asmara, Eritrea
Not, perhaps, the most in-demand of destinations in Africa, Eritrea has earned a doffing of the Unesco hat in the latest heritage list. This is for Asmara, its capital, and for the modernist architecture which came to define the city during its occupation by Italy (1889-1941) – like the Fiat Tagliero Building, whose futuristic angles were hewn in 1938.