San Cristobal de La Laguna

San Cristobal de La Laguna UNESCO World Heritage Site, Spain

From the World Heritage inscription for San Cristóbal de La Laguna: The historic ensemble of San Cristóbal de La Laguna has outstanding universal value is an urban design that represents the concept of the ‘town-territory’ as the first example of an unfortified town laid out and built according to a complete plan based on navigation, …

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Visiting Teide National Park

Teide National Park - UNESCO World Heritage Site, Spain

Mount Teide is the highest point in all of Spain, and it sits at the center of Teide National Park on Tenerife in Spain’s fascinating Canary Islands. The park itself is a giant caldera with geologically recent lava flows from the Teide volcano, and a desert-like environment stretching far into the distance, wherever you look. …

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Visiting the Wachau Cultural Landscape, Austria

Visiting the Wachau Cultural Landscape, Austria

The Wachau Wachau Cultural Landscape is an Austrian World Heritage Site location along the Danube River approximately between the towns of Krems and Melk. It is one of the most popular world heritage sites in the country attracting thousands of riverboat passengers each year, as well as visitors from the nearby capitals of Vienna, Bratislava, …

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The Old Town of Cáceres

The Old Town of Cáceres UNESCO World Heritage Site

From the Old Town of Cáceres World Heritage inscription: The Old Town of Cáceres is an urban ensemble of 9 hectares surrounded by a wall of 1,174m, located in the Autonomous Community of Extremadura in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Cáceres has been a trade route city and a political center of the local …

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Amy’s First Passport Stamp

With half a decade of non-stop travel under my belt, I can talk about a lot of subjects related to travel. The one thing I cannot talk about, however, is what it feels like to travel for the first time. Recently my assistant Amy made her very first trip outside of US/Canada. I asked her …

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How to Visit the Monasteries of Meteora, Greece

Monasteries of Meteora, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Greece

What to say about Meteora, Greece … This is one of the most photogenic places I’ve ever visited—and I’ve visited a lot of places. The monasteries of Meteora—and those imposing rock formations peeking through the mist—are incredible. When you visit Meteora, you have the chance to see something unlike anything else in the world and …

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How to Visit the Best Gaudi Architecture in Barcelona

The Architecture and Works of Antoni Gaudi in Barcelona

Antoni Gaudí is almost synonymous with Barcelona. The architect was a visionary with an outsized impact on the architecture and building technology of the early 20th century. La Sagrada Familia is Gaudí’s signature building in Barcelona, and it’s been under construction for almost 130 years. Despite the size and scope of this basilica, it’s not …

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Italy Off the Tourist Trail

Meta Description: Explore some of the lesser know parts of Italy. Discover mountain ranges in the north, historic towns in central Italy, and stunning coastal destinations to the south. Italy is one of the most visited countries in the world. And yet, much of the tourism is concentrated on the ‘big names’ like Rome, Florence, …

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Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida

Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida UNESCO World Heritage Site, Spain

From the Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida World Heritage inscription: The Archaeological Ensemble of Mérida, located in Extremadura, Spain, has its origins in the year 25 BC when Augustus completed the conquest of the North of Hispania and founded the Colony of Augusta Emerita. The city was created as an idealized model of Rome and was …

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