Your guide to the planet's best travel itinerary

Your guide to the planet's best travel itinerary

BY ELLEN CREAGER
FREE PRESS TRAVEL WRITER


Think of it as the world's greatest hits.

"The list has grown and grown and grown," says Jethro Lennox, editor of the new "World Heritage Sites" guide, which describes 878 sites the United Nations has designated as culturally or environmentally important to the world (Firefly/UNESCO, $29.95).

The hefty illustrated volume has 832 pages. It is nearly 3-inches-thick. It weighs 4 pounds.

But are there really that many significant places on the planet? The list, which now includes 890 sites, doesn't have rankings, so everything from the Taj Mahal to "historic Liverpool" gets equal billing. Eclectic selections include Verona, Italy; Machu Picchu, Peru; Moscow's Red Square; the saltpeter mines of Chile, and the Varberg Radio Station in Sweden ("monument to early wireless transatlantic communication").

To avoid diminishing the value of the list, should it be capped?

"I don't think so," Lennox says. "The world is such a big place. There are nearly 200 countries in the world, and there are World Heritage sites in 148 of them. They don't always have to be the really well-known tourist sites."
List influences tourism

Since the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization began naming the sites in 1978, starting with the Galapagos Islands, travelers have used the list as a guide to what to see and relied on it as the ultimate insider recommendation.

Dutch writer Els Slots has a goal of visiting every World Heritage site. She even started a Web site for World Heritage travel fans, www.worldheritagesite.org.

Some tour companies cater to such tourists. World Heritage Tours (www.worldheritagetours.com) in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, promotes tours in Asia, Europe and the Middle East that focus on World Heritage sites.

"We attract world travelers who want something cultural and historical beyond regular tours," says Azmina Pirani, sales and marketing manager. "The chosen sites are recognized by UNESCO so people are curious."


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Wow. What a goal.

Imagine.

To be able to visit all of the heritage sites. All those breathtaking places.

Wow.