EXPLORE NEW WORLDS
Unesco’s latest book collates the best our planet has to offer
Whatever word you are fond of using to describe yourself as a victim of your own wanderlust, be it “traveller”, “globetrotter”, or “vacationer”, there is one thing in common — travelling makes us alive and being alive makes us want to travel more.
And one thing that cannot go wrong when it comes to choosing a travel destination is following Unesco’s World Heritage Site list.
From India’s Taj Mahal to Peru’s Machu Picchu, these World Heritage Sites are more than worth visiting once in a lifetime. However, there are umpteen other World Heritage destinations which are less popular and understated waiting to be discovered.
It’s only a matter of acknowledging such unfamiliar places that we remind ourselves we haven’t seen enough of this world. To see the hidden gems we need a guru to guide us. But what can be a better, more trustworthy source than The World’s Heritage, a book published with Unesco.
The book, in its fourth edition, is the definitive guide to all World Heritage Sites. There have been 1,007 destinations inscribed on the World Heritage List since the 1972 World Heritage Convention, the foremost international treaty for the protection of natural and cultural heritage around the world. Not only has the convention helped to preserve the sites for posterity, it has also shaped our travel, providing us with the best things the world has to offer.
The book delves into each of the sites, which span 779 cultural, 197 natural and three mixed, in 161 countries. Presented in a similar manner and arranged chronologically by the year in which they were first inscribed on the World Heritage List, each description comes with detailed information filled with history, stunning photographs and maps.
Irina Bokova, director-general of Unesco, says in her foreword that she hopes the updated edition of The World’s Heritage will provide readers with a better understanding of our planet’s culture and biodiversity, which Unesco works every day to safeguard for the benefit of all.
I trust that this book will also find you travelling to brave, new worlds.