UNESCO World Heritage Wonders
The planet's most extraordinary places, as recognized by UNESCO. 40 places, mapped and ready to build a trip around.
Plan a trip on Trailwind →Vatican City
Vatican CityBestVariesClimate39–93°FVatican City, officially the Vatican City State, often shortened as the Vatican, is a landlocked sovereign city-state in Southern Europe. Ruled by the pope, it is an enclave within the city of Rome, Italy, and serves as the administrative centre of the Catholic Church. Vatican City is governed by the See of Rome, commonly known as the Holy See, itself a sovereign entity under international law, which maintains its temporal power, governance, diplomacy, and spiritual independence.
Brasília
BrazilBestApr–SepClimate59–88°FCurrencyBRLLanguagePortugueseBrasília is the capital city of Brazil and the Federal District. Located in the Brazilian Highlands in the country's Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino Kubitschek on 21 April 1960, to replace Rio de Janeiro as the national capital. Brasília is Brazil's third-most populous city after São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, with a population of 2.8 million. Among major Latin American cities, it has the highest GDP per capita.
Rabat
MoroccoBestVariesClimate50–81°FCurrencyMADLanguageArabicRabat is the capital city of Morocco, located on the northwestern coasts of the Atlantic Ocean. Rabat is the country's seventh-largest city with a population of 515,619 (2024) and the second largest metropolitan area after Casablanca, with a population of approximately 2.1 million (2025). It is also the capital city of the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra administrative region. Rabat is located on the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the river Bou Regreg, opposite Salé, the city's main commuter town.
Lake Baikal
RussiaBestYear-roundClimate-9–55°FCurrencyRUBLanguageRussianRecord-breaker, Deepest & oldest lake · Russia.
Quito
EcuadorBestJun–SepClimate45–70°FCurrencyUSDLanguageSpanishQuito, officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha. Quito is in a valley on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, an active stratovolcano in the Andes.
Taj Mahal
IndiaBestNov–MarClimate46–102°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiAirportDELThe white-marble mausoleum on the Yamuna at Agra.
Valletta
MaltaBestVariesClimate54–88°FValletta, also known as Città Umilissima, is the capital city of Malta and one of its 68 council areas. Located between the Grand Harbour to the east and Marsamxett Harbour to the west, its population as of 2021 was 5,157. As Malta's capital city, it is a commercial centre for shopping, bars, dining, and café life. It is also the southernmost capital of Europe, and, at just 0.61 square kilometres (0.24 sq mi), it is the European Union's smallest capital city.
Great Barrier Reef
AustraliaBestYear-roundClimate72–84°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishRecord-breaker, Largest living structure · Australia.
Statue of Liberty
United StatesBestVariesClimate28–86°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishAirportJFKLady Liberty on her harbor island, welcoming the tired and poor.
Verona
ItalyBestVariesClimate32–88°FCurrencyEURLanguageItalianVerona is the largest city in the region of Veneto in Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city municipality in the region and in northeastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona covers an area of 1,426 km2 (550.58 sq mi) and has a population of 714,310 inhabitants.
Jaipur
IndiaBestSep–MarClimate46–102°FCurrencyINRLanguageHindiJaipur is the capital and the largest city of the north-western Indian state of Rajasthan. As of 2011, the city had a population of 3.1 million, making it the tenth most populous city in the country. Located 268 km from the national capital New Delhi, Jaipur is also known as the Pink City due to the dominant colour scheme of its buildings in the old city.
Salvador
BrazilBestNov–MarClimate72–84°FCurrencyBRLLanguagePortugueseSalvador is a Brazilian municipality and capital city of the state of Bahia. Situated in the Zona da Mata in the Northeast Region of Brazil, Salvador is recognized throughout the country and internationally for its cuisine, music, and architecture. The African influence in many cultural aspects of the city makes it a center of Afro-Brazilian culture. As the first capital of Colonial Brazil, the city is one of the oldest in the Americas.
Stonehenge
United KingdomBestMay, Jun, SepClimate36–70°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishAirportLHRThe prehistoric stone circle aligned to the solstice sun.
Galapagos Islands
EcuadorBestJun–NovClimate66–84°FCurrencyUSDLanguageSpanishDarwin's finches, blue-footed boobies and fearless endemic seabirds.
Auschwitz
PolandBestMar, Aug, SepClimate28–77°FAuschwitz, also known as Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschwitz I, the main camp (Stammlager) in Oświęcim; Auschwitz II-Birkenau, a concentration and extermination camp with gas chambers, Auschwitz III-Monowitz, a labour camp for the chemical conglomerate IG Farben, and dozens of subcamps.
Timbuktu
MaliBestDec–FebClimate59–106°FTimbuktu is an ancient city in Mali, situated 20 kilometres north of the Niger River. It is the capital of the Tombouctou Region, one of the 19 administrative regions of Mali, having a population of around one million people in the 2022 census.
Phong Nha–Ke Bang National Park
VietnamBestFeb–AugClimate57–86°FCurrencyVNDLanguageVietnamesePhong Nha–Kẻ Bàng is a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Bố Trạch and Minh Hóa Commune of central Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam, about 500 km south of Hanoi. The park borders the Hin Namno National Park in Khammouane Province, Laos to the west and 42 km east of the East Sea from its borderline point.
Troy
TurkeyBestVariesClimate41–91°FCurrencyTRYLanguageTurkishTroy or Ilion was an ancient city located in present-day Çanakkale, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destination, and was added to the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1998.
Petra
JordanBestVariesClimate45–90°FCurrencyJODLanguageArabicAirportAMMRose-red city carved into desert cliffs, reached through the Siq.
Yellowstone National Park
United StatesBestJun–SepClimate5–72°FCurrencyUSDLanguageEnglishYellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of the state of Wyoming, with small portions of it extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress through the Yellowstone National Park Protection Act and signed into law by President Ulysses S. Grant on March 1, 1872. Yellowstone was the first national park in the US, and is also widely understood to be the first national park in the world.
Cusco
PeruBestMay–SepClimate39–66°FCurrencyPENLanguageSpanishCusco or Cuzco is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range, and the Huatanay and Urubamba rivers. It is the capital and largest city of the eponymous Cusco Province and Cusco Department. It has historically been one of the largest cultural, economic and political centers of Peru.
Victoria Falls
ZambiaBestFeb–AugClimate50–97°FVictoria Falls is a waterfall on the Zambezi River, located on the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the world's largest waterfalls, with a width of 1,708 m (5,604 ft). The region around it has a high degree of biodiversity in both plants and animals.
Bath
United KingdomBestJunClimate36–70°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishBath is a city in Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 census, the population was 94,080. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, 97 miles (156 km) west of London and 11 miles (18 km) southeast of Bristol. The city became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987, and was later added to the transnational World Heritage Site known as the "Great Spa Towns of Europe" in 2021. Bath is also the largest city and settlement in Somerset.
Palace of Versailles
FranceBestVariesClimate36–77°FCurrencyEURLanguageFrenchThe Palace of Versailles is a château and historic monument in Versailles in the Yvelines department of France, southwest of Paris. It served as the principal residence of the French kings Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI.
Chichen Itza
MexicoBestNov–MarClimate66–97°FCurrencyMXNLanguageSpanishAirportMIDMonumental Maya pyramid city on the Yucatan plain.
Palmyra
SyriaBestOct–MayClimate39–102°FPalmyra is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early second millennium BCE. Palmyra changed hands on a number of occasions between different empires before becoming a subject of the Roman Empire in the first century CE.
Basilica and Expiatory Church of the Holy Family
SpainBestJul, Aug, DecClimate39–84°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishBasílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, or simply Sagrada Família, is a Catholic church under construction in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Designed by the Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, it is the tallest church in the world. On 7 November 2010, Pope Benedict XVI consecrated the church and proclaimed it a basilica. Parts of the Sagrada Família were declared as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2005, under "Works of Antoni Gaudí".
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
JapanBestOct–NovClimate30–88°FCurrencyJPYLanguageJapaneseThe UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto encompasses 17 locations in Japan within the city of Kyoto and its immediate vicinity. In 794, the Japanese imperial family moved the capital to Heian-kyō. The locations are in three cities: Kyoto and Uji in Kyoto Prefecture; and Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture; Uji and Ōtsu border Kyoto to the south and north, respectively. Of the monuments, 13 are Buddhist temples, three are Shinto shrines, and one is a castle.
Persepolis
IranBestVariesClimate28–100°FAirportSYZThe ceremonial capital of the Persian Empire, carved with kings.
Al-Aqsa Mosque
PalestineBestVariesClimate43–91°FThe Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Qibli Mosque or Qibli Chapel, is the main congregational mosque or prayer hall in the Al-Aqsa mosque compound in the Old City of Jerusalem. In some sources the building is also named al-Masjid al-Aqṣā, but this name primarily applies to the wider compound in which the building sits, which is itself also known as "Al-Aqsa Mosque", "Al-Aqsa" or "Haram al-Sharif".
Acre
IsraelBestVariesClimate52–88°FThe acre is a unit of land area used in the British imperial and the United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one chain by one furlong, which is exactly equal to 10 square chains, 1⁄640 of a square mile, 4,840 square yards, or 43,560 square feet, and approximately 4,047 m2, or about 40% of a hectare. The acre is sometimes abbreviated ac, but is usually spelled out as the word "acre".
Derbent
RussiaBestApr–OctClimate36–84°FCurrencyRUBLanguageRussianDerbent, also historically known as Darband, or Derbend, is the southernmost city in Russia. It is situated along the southeastern coast of the Republic of Dagestan, occupying the narrow gateway between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, and connecting the Eurasian Steppe to the north and the Iranian Plateau to the south. Derbent covers an area of 69.63 square kilometres (26.88 mi2) with a population of roughly 120,000 residents.
Sydney Opera House
AustraliaBestVariesClimate46–79°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishAirportSYDThe sail-roofed icon on Sydney Harbour, a global stage.
Mohenjo-daro
PakistanBestNov–MarClimate46–111°FMohenjo-daro is an archaeological site in the Larkana District of Sindh, Pakistan. Built c. 2500 BCE, it was one of the largest settlements of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation, and one of the world's earliest major cities, contemporaneous with the civilisations of ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Minoa, and Norte Chico.
Acropolis of Athens
GreeceBestVariesClimate43–93°FCurrencyEURLanguageGreekAirportATHThe Parthenon crowning the birthplace of democracy.
Heard Island and McDonald Islands
AustraliaBestJan–AprClimate0–12°FCurrencyAUDLanguageEnglishThe Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands is an Australian external territory in the southern Indian Ocean. Discovered in the mid-19th century, the territory is a group of sub-Antarctic volcanic islands that lie on the Kerguelen Plateau. It is about 4000 kilometres (2500 mi) south-west of the Australian mainland and 1700 kilometres (1100 mi) north of Antarctica.
Samarra
IraqBestNov–AprClimate43–113°FSamarra is a city in Iraq. It stands on the east bank of the Tigris in the Saladin Governorate, 125 kilometers (78 mi) north of Baghdad. Due to the presence of Al-Askari Shrine, the city is considered a holy site in Shia Islam. The modern city of Samarra was founded in 836 CE by the Abbasid caliph al-Mu'tasim as a new administrative capital and military base.
Olympia
GreeceBestVariesClimate41–95°FCurrencyEURLanguageGreekOlympia, officially Archaia Olympia, is a small town in Elis on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece, famous for the nearby archaeological site of the same name. The site was a major Panhellenic religious sanctuary of ancient Greece, where the ancient Olympic Games were held every four years throughout classical antiquity, from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. They were restored on a global basis in 1894 in honor of the ideal of peaceful international contention for excellence.
Tower of London
United KingdomBestJunClimate36–73°FCurrencyGBPLanguageEnglishThe Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic citadel and castle on the north bank of the River Thames in London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separated from the eastern edge of the square mile of the City of London by the open space known as Tower Hill. It was founded toward the end of 1066 as part of the Norman Conquest.
San Cristóbal de La Laguna
SpainBestVariesClimate52–79°FCurrencyEURLanguageSpanishSan Cristóbal de La Laguna is a city and municipality in the northern part of the island of Tenerife in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, on the Canary Islands, Spain. The former capital of the Canary Islands, the city is the third-most populous city of the archipelago and the second-most populous city of the island.