I just noticed that Iain Jackson is the first to have passed the 800 mark!

One of his recent 'ticks' is the unreviewed Western Caucausus, I'll see if I can tempt him to write a review on this website.

Well done to Iain Jackson for his perseverence!

Wasn't Iain also the one with the most severe rules as what counts as a visited site?
* Only inscribed sites, no tentative sites.
* 50% +1 of all inscribed locations visited...

Amazing. And congrats :D

And he still hasn't ticked off Edinburgh, where he lives.

Would love to know what his score would be if he applied more relaxed criteria ;)

On the other hand, I think figuring out yourself what you consider as visited is part of what makes this site more special than the average been there, done that page.

will he be joining us in Vilnius by any chance?

I don't know. I have planned to send a mass e-mail out to rsvp 6 weeks before

Congratulations to Iain! I noticed today that Atila is just about to cross the mark, too, and his wife isn't far behind. That's quite a lot of traveling!

I just heard from Atila that he (graciously) drove Iain to his WHS no. 800 - Ephesus.

Atila is currently travelling again in the US and Canada, and will pass the 800 mark there.

I just saw Atila passed 800 -- congratulations to him!

Incidentally, I see Atila just reached his goal of being #1 on the list of World Heritage Sites seen, passing Iain by one site.

Thanks for all the congratulations and kind remarks. I've been WHS visiting since 1988 which I guess is longer than most, so on a yearly average basis I probably score lower than many of you. Yes, Freda and I will be in Vilnius, flights to and from Kaunas booked (via Copenhagen) accommodation still to be arranged. And I will do a review of my recent visit to Western Caucasus.

Good to hear from you, Iain. And glad that you can make it to Vilnius!

For the fun of it compared my list to Atila's and Iain's to see what I have seen they haven't (or haven't counted yet):

Atila:
Japan - Hiraizumi
Japan - Kii Mountain Range
Japan - Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
Japan - Sites of Japan's Meiji Industrial Revolution
Japan - Tomioka Silk Mill
Portugal - Elvas
Russia - Novgorod
Sweden - Visby
UK - Forth Bridge

Remark: Seems a trip to Japan is due ;) Those sites are easy pickings.

Iain:
France -Lyon
Denmark - Par force hunting landscape
Denmark - Stevns Klint
France - Fortifications of Vauban
Germany Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District
Germany - Corvey
Italy - Longobards in Italy
Italy - Mantua and Sabbioneta
Mexico - Camino Real
Norway - West Norwegian Fjords
Portugal - University of Coimbra
Portugal - Elvas
South Korea - Royal Joseon Tombs
UK - Edinburgh
UK - Forth Bridge
UK - Kew Gardens
UK - Liverpool
Vietnam - Trang An

Multi - Prehistoric Pile Dwellings
Multi - The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier
Multi - Wadden Sea

Remarks:
* Not counting Edinburgh or Forth Bridge seems just a tiny bit... extreme... Just saying ;) The UK ones in general seem off. But Liverpool probably isn't worth the time anyhow as they may well be deservedly delisted soon.
* The high standards of Iain are quite transparent here. You can't visit 50%+1 of the Wadden Sea (every second island?) or of the pile dwellings. This applies to a lesser degree also to Longobards, Joseon Tombs, Camino Real and Vauban. Even visiting the parforce hunting landscape can turn into a week with a 50% + 1 approach.
* For Le Corbusier, the multi continental scope of the inscription can be handled if doing tentative sites, but seems hard to catch up on quickly after inscription.
* Ping me when you visit the Speicherstadt. ;)

To visit 13 of the 18 serial components it took 3 visits to Korea! (2008, 2011, 2016) Granted this TWHS and then WHS was not a primary destination, but unless you want to spend the better part of a week to visit 10 or more tomb clusters, and not much else, I would not recommend it. Realistically, any dedicated traveller could comfortably visit 2-3 tomb clusters a day. While I love trying to complete components of a serial nomination, its best to spread out the visits to not undermine the enjoyment.