UNESCO World Heritage Sites

Having checked the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites attributed to the United Kingdom, we found we had visited a number of them.

Four were easy to visit as they are in the London area and we are London based. Others were a little further away..... 

We also checked other UNESCO World Heritage Sites around the world and found we had visited a number of them as well.  

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004. It aims to identiy cities noted for their creativity and cultural industries. We've started visiting these as well.

UNESCO Creative Cities Network
Tower of London

'Maritime Greenwich’  includes The National Maritime Museum, the Royal Observatory and the Queen’s House.

The heart of contemporary British Politics (The area around Westminster Abbey, Saint Margaret’s Church, the Palace of Westminster and Parliament Square) 

Tower of London

Royal Botanic Gardens 

Others were a little further away.....

Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine's Abbey, and St Martin's Church

Ironbridge Gorge

Blenheim Palace

Jodrell Bank Observatory

Dorset and East Devon Coast

The English Lake District

Blaenavon Industrial Landscape

Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd

Old and New Towns of Edinburgh

New Lanark

Frontiers of the Roman Empire(Hadrian’s Wall - The “Hadrian’s Wall” which was previously inscribed on the World Heritage List, is part of the transnational property “Frontiers of the Roman Empire”.)

There was also one we had visited that has lost UNESCO status

Liverpool – Maritime Mercantile City

Kew Gardens
Tickets Available

Houses of Parliament
Tickets available

Tower of London
Tickets available

Royal Observatory Greenwich
Tickets available

National Maritime Museum

The Greenwich Bundle

Tickets available

Blenheim Palace

Tickets Available

Edinburgh

Tickets Available

Hadrian's Wall

Tickets Available

Hadrian's Wall: From Newcastle

Tickets Available

still to visit

Not yet Visited in the UK

Although we've been to a lot, there are a number of places we haven't visited. We did try to visit Bath once, but found we couldn't park so ended up visiting nearby Wells instead. Our trip to Hadrian's Wall was cancelled due to the pandemic. We've also seen Stonehenge and the Forth bridge from a distance, but have yet to visit them. The list includes some places we will never visit. Remote islands, especially those inaccessible and untouched by a human presence, are never going to happen.

And Bermuda? Why is that under UK sites?* Now there's an idea......

*Bermuda is a British island territory in the North Atlantic Ocean so it's UNESCO site is included as a UK site.

UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network promotes cooperation among cities which have recognised creativity as a major factor in their urban development. The Network recognises these  creative fields - Literature, Film, Music, Design, Media, Gastronomy and Crafts and Folk Arts.

York - photo by Juliamaud
Edinburgh Castle - photo by Juliamaud

UK Cities of Literature

Edinburgh, Scotland (2004) - Edinburgh is the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature.

It is the birthplace and home to world-famous writers, poets and playwrights including Arthur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes), Walter Scott (Waverley), and JK Rowling (Harry Potter). It has its own Poet Laureate, the Edinburgh Makar.

The Edinburgh International Book Festival is the world’s largest literary festival of its kind, lasting for two weeks each August.

Norwich, England (2012)

 The city’s literary heritage includes the first book to be published in English by a woman: Revelations of Divine Love written by Julian of Norwich in the fourteenth century which still resonates to this day.

Nottingham, England (2015)

Nottingham boasts a rich history of illustrious literary figures residing within its walls, such as Lord Byron, D.H. Lawrence, Stanley Middleton and Alan Sillitoe, to name but a few. We also went on the heritage trail - UK Cities of Literature part 1 and part 2

Manchester, England (2017)

Literature has been a force for change, innovation, openness and collaboration throughout the city's history. It is where Engels and Marx worked together at Chetham's Library and where Elizabeth Gaskell wrote her campaigning novels.

Exeter, England (2019)

As well as having a rich heritage linked with some of the country’s most famous writers, including Agatha Christie, Ted Hughes, Daphne du Maurier and Charles Causley, its 1,000-year-old Cathedral houses The Exeter Book, a 10th century anthology described as ‘the foundation volume of English Literature’. 

Meeting Lord Byron

UK Cities of Film

Bradford

Bristol


Liverpool - photo by Juliamaud

UK Cities of Music

Belfast

Glasgow

Liverpool

UK Cities of Media Arts

York

York - photo by Juliamaud

UK Cities of Crafts and Folkart

Perth

UK Cities of Design

Dundee

UK Cities of Gastronomy

Alas there are none in the UK!

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