I've heard comments here and there about visiting all WHS in a specific country. Instead of focusing on what we have completed, what about the countries that we're still trying to "complete"? Any noteworthy completist visits, like trying to visit all components of a serial WHS?

What country are you nearing world heritage completion?

1. Country + Total WHS
2. Remaining WHS
3. Noteworthy Visits
4. TWHS Visits: __ of __

United States [24 WHS]

Having visited 21 of 24 WHS in the United States, completing the country is within reach. Unsurprisingly, the remaining WHS are the ones that take a little more effort! Alaska and Puerto Rico are not particularly difficult, but do require some additional time and expenses compared to inscribed sites in the Continental U.S. Papahānaumokuākea is the real challenge since it's almost impossible to get a proper experience in this enormous national monument.

Remaining WHS
Kluane / Wrangell-St. Elias / Glacier Bay / Tatshenshini-Alsek
La Fortaleza and San Juan National Historic Site in Puerto Rico
Papahānaumokuākea

Noteworthy Visits
- The 20th-Century Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright (visited 8 of 8 components)
- Grand Canyon National Park (North & South Rim) *North Rim is more remote and gets about 1/10 the visitors
- Yellowstone National Park (visited all 5 National Historic Landmarks within the park boundaries)
- Yosemite National Park (visited all 5 National Historic Landmarks within the park boundaries)

Visit TWHS: 12 of 19

winterkjm
I hope to finish China soon but needs to open the borders. I need 6 or so more to complete; did also quite some of the serials like the tombs.

in regards your question. What country are you nearing world heritage completion?
due to covid concentrating on europe, in partiular Netherlands my country, Germany easy drive, Spain/Portugal easy fly and Italiy easy fly.

and my goal is to add about 115 WHS sites in 2022, making my total 400. I'm happy I didn't concentrate on Europe earlier. these 5 countries make up about 110-125 WHS that i shoudl visit this year.

Netherlands: 2 of 12 left Willemstad (Will probably fly to there soonish), and Colonies of Benevolence (it's 45 minute drive so any day). I actually enjoyed the beemster polder. The TWHS will do as well, the 2 in the caribbean only if i fly. Regarding serials: I visited 50% of the forts around Amsterdam. The waterlinie, I might stop by some more places only if I'm driving anyway in the area.

Germany: 36 of 52 left. I have 4x 1 week planning which must tick off all including the few TWHS. For sure NOT going to visit all Limes areas.
Spain: 38 of 49 left. I visit 8 more next week actually. And I have 2 more trips of 10 each planned leaving about 8-10 more which are not on the mainland mostly. For sure NOT going to visit all the rock art. TWHS,
Portugal: 10 of 17 left. Trip planned for May for 7 more (plus 3 in Spain) the remainder 3 are on the islands. TWHS will try to visit some which I think are good.
Italy: 44 of 58 left. Yeah, a lot. End february will visit Bologna area for a handfull. And in May probably around Naples. Need to plan Sicilia and the North West for after summer which must complete it closely. Will leave TWHS in Italy for what it is except those for 2022 and 2023.

@winterkjm, you will appreciate that last summer I came close to "completing" South Korea in one fell swoop.

However, it was not really my intention to complete the country originally, I primarily wanted to catch up on my rate of Site visits, which had been sparse at best for several months. During that visit, I went to 13 of 14 Sites, only skipping Haeinsa because of its out-of-the-way location, and I also saw 2 T-list sites. Of course, if completion had been a goal, I would have bungled the effort anyway. My visit to Korea was several weeks before the '20/'21 combined meeting and at the time, the recommendation for Getbol was, I think, "defer," and since in July there would not have been many birds on the flats, I decided not to go to that Site. Of course, it was inscribed anyway, and since I will, in all probability, not make a second trip to the country, I will have to be satisfied with 13 of 15!

Hmmm, I am nowhere near finish any country of sizable size, all my visits are quite sparse, not even Italy. But here I am at half or so and this year I count making some tactical weekend-trips (the country is long! Not few places in France, Switzerland, Germany or else are nearer to me than those in Southern Italy! :-P ). In Croatia I am missing 3 sites, but I don't see myself travelling there too soon, and two are the stećci and the beech forests...

An already "begun" country to which I'd like to aim, if not else for affective reasons, is Greece (11/18): I am notably missing the islands (apart from Crete), but then also some less easy to put together sites like the temple at Bassae (which I missed long ago in a Peloponnese tour...) and Philippoi. Not to speak of Mount Athos which is an adventure in itself. And Olympus seems to be going to join the club, too... So nothing too soon here, but I can consider them this year, even if it is not in my priorities.

But I have true goals in completist objectives bordering on the maniacal, as mentioned in the new ywar's thread:
- all pile dwellings in Italy: I miss a cluster near the Garda lake, and for a couple I am waiting for the good season for the archaeological digs (and superminor, local museums) to open to visitors... a guided tour with competent involved persons is probably the best way to appreciate them!
- all Langobard sites: this is more complex than it may seem, because all places are so far apart from each other, so I'll have to have more patience, especially with regard to the one down in Puglia, a little more isolated than the others.
- all Sacred Mounts: well, I just need to combine a couple of weekends in Piedmont in style to do the small hikes at the two remaining ones, and maybe enjoy some good wine and/or Savoia's palaces in the process... and they are much nearer than the other two categories above!

Now, I am not so bold to say that I want to complete Palladian villas, too. Let's say that if I just happen in the area, I'll throw a look...

For the rest, I am more interested to explore new frontiers this year rather than completing places! :-)

That is impressive! Indeed, "completing" Korea is becoming slowly more difficult with the last few inscriptions. If Korea's 2022 nomination is inscribed I suppose that will give WHS Travellers more reason to visit Daegu as a main access point for both Haeinsa and the Gaya Tumuli sites. I have not visited Korea since 2016 and my "complete status" for the country should last quite some time having visited most of the tentative list and aspiring TWHS.

I am not a completist exactly, but I recall seeing users here tick of their last WHS in countries like China and Germany, which really is inspiring!


Ahh, this would be a really rewarding country to complete and maybe not so easy!


I swear every time I hear about this WHS on this website, I search flights from Los Angeles! Otherwise, it never would have been on my radar.

That's awesome! I'm rather envious of the remaining sites you have to see in the US, since those should be some spectacular trips. When you get to Alaska, I'd highly recommend a visit to the Glacier Bay park headquarters and lodge in Gustavus, if you have time (it's not too long a trip by ferry, and even shorter by plane, from Juneau). I really enjoyed getting to stay within the park, and to see the beauty of the mountains and sea, as well as some wildlife, from some of the hikes around the lodge.

I certainly understand the challenge of Papahānaumokuākea -- that is the one site I have yet to visit in the US. It really would have been better if I'd been more focused on visiting World Heritage Sites when I lived in Hawaii some ten years ago, since I may have been able to find easier options than what is available now (though who knows -- maybe it would have been as much of a challenge then). Of the 23 US sites I've visited, my favorites would have to be Yosemite National Park and Glacier National Park (I'm very partial to the natural beauty and great hiking opportunities in the US National Park system). Of the TWHS in the US, I've been to 11 of the 19, and hope to visit at least two more in the next couple of years. I'm hoping to see the Early Chicago Skyscrapers and the California Current Conservation Complex inscribed sooner rather than later.

Beyond the US, I'm working on completing Canada, though I'm only about 2/3 of the way there, with 13 of 20 sites visited (and one site seen across the border from the hinterlands of Glacier Bay, but not counted). I hope to visit another three within the next couple of years, should travel work out. Canada has as much variety as the United States, but I am particularly partial to the Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Gros Morne National Park, and Quebec City. I am rather far behind on Canada's TWHS list, since I have yet to visit one of them.


I think it must be very exciting to try to complete countries in Europe, since the sites are so much closer than they are here in North America. Hope your travel goals go well this year!

Plenty of European countries finished and Laos and Singapore outside Europe.

Germany is my personal eternal struggle. Had it finished repeatedly only to be at 1 open the next year.

Generally, finishing anything is a fool's errant due to the list growing constantly.

How do you deal with serial sites when considering if a country in completed or not? For exemple to you need to have visited a beech forest site in every country to consider them completed? Or thicking the site in a single country make it thicked for every country?

Hm, since we are speaking of single countries, I'd lean on the yes, you need also all the beech forests in a country to call it "completed". This would be a little too strict, though... Since, at the same time, most of the times I'd say that a serial site completely inside a country does not need to be visited in its entirety to be ticked, I'll do this for the local subparts of trnsnational sites, too... especially for the most "boring" one. So for me one counts to call it, and hopefully it is the most significant one :-) Conversely, this does not mean that you can't visit that beech forest in Ukraine if you have already visited one in Germany :-P


For the smallest ones it is, for bigger ones I would not even think of the country as a whole, but only of regions, since density is so high! I do have some completed ones, like (continental) Denmark, Lithuania... or the Vatican :-P I see them as choosing a hotspot and exploring around it, as it is so easy here. I cannot really fathom the different perspective e.g. in the USA, or Australia, where two places 600km aside are considered "near"! May it make each experience more noteworthy?

As for TWHS, I am keeping track of them, but for mental sanity I'm not even considering a "completion" for them :-P

@winterkjm, I think you might rightfully claim USA completed, just aiming to some extras! That Wrangell (a dream of mine fom ever and ever, btw) might be quite nasty... Edit: don't mind, I got confused with the Russian Wrangel island. I suspected of some minor islands there belonging to the USA. Wrangell-St.Elias should be muuuch easier XD


This is also noteworthy, kudos!!! And think that you have less WHS remaining in China than in Germany! :-P Ah, and if you happen to be in NW Italy, don't hesitate to contact me if you like ;-)

Good question. I'm not as much of a completist when it comes to the components of sites as others are, so I will count a serial site as visited if I have seen even just one of its components. I prefer to see more, but I don't have any compulsion to hunt down every component.

When it comes to counting a country as complete for myself, however, I would consider it important to have visited at least one component of a multinational serial site in that country to count the country complete.

For instance, I have completed Ecuador, with visits to all five of its sites, including a visit to Ingapirca, one of the components of the Qhapaq Ñan multinational WHS. I have also visited components of Qhapaq Ñan in Peru, such as Pachacamac, Cuzco, Ollantaytambo, and hiking the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu. I have not visited any components of Qhapaq Ñan in Chile, though, so if I am to finish Chile, I would choose to include a Chilean component of Qhapaq Ñan along with the two sites in the north I have yet to visit.


I think the high density is what would make it exciting! Incidentally, I am enjoying your Danish reviews; I'm hoping to make it there sometime soon.

To answer this question for North America -- yes. In general, unless taking a long road trip like winterkjm just did, visiting individual or relatively clustered World Heritage Sites in a country like the United States or Canada requires multiple trips, which are often rewarding on their own. When traveling around the States, I like to visit national parks, state parks, cities, and state capitals, in addition to seeing friends and family that may live in the region, so each trip (like each region) has its own unique and memorable flavor. Having taken great American road trips across country a few times in my life, I can also highly recommend those if one has the time.

Sites that are transborder personally I want to see 1 site in each country. But this is a minor addition for me. It's not written in stone but as a general rule I do this. I'm more than happy to have visited the beechforest in Macedonia.