In total, there are nearly 1200 Unesco World Heritage Sites. They range from the Jurassic Coast of England to the Taj Mahal, and are recognised for their cultural or historical significance. Unesco does extensive research when deciding what should and shouldn’t be awarded a prestigious title, and anything that does receive it is worth a spot on your bucket list.
But 1200 is a lot of places to visit. ‘I wish someone would rank the best World Heritage Sites in Europe in a reliable manner, so I can better plan my future voyages !’ we hear you cry. Well, wayward traveller, it’s funny you should say such a thing, because someone has done just that.
The tourism board for Cascais, a town in Portugal, has officially listed the continent’s top ten Unesco sites based on the most reliable judge of all: TikTok.
Okay, TikTok is not the most convincing measure, but it does at least show what people think is worth talking about. Plus, two of the top ten are in the UK – and we could really do with that win.
At eight was Stonehenge, making it officially the coolest pile of rocks in the continent. Take that, the Colosseum. Who’s got more historical significance now?
We also claim the tenth spot, with the Royal Botanical Gardens in Kew. They are great, but whether or not they’re better than the Notre Dame or historical quarter of Vienna is for you to decide.
According to Visit Cascais’ research, the Amalfi Coast comes out on top, with 147,000 videos posted to the hashtag on TikTok. It is worth pointing out that by this logic, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is ten times more worth seeing than the ruins of Pompeii. To be fair, Taylor Swift could probably destroy an Italian village with her army of fans if she really wanted to, but Mount Vesuvius could not write ‘Blank Space’. Maybe there’s something in this methodology after all.
RECOMMENDED: The world’s most beautiful Unesco site is officially in the UK.
Visiting the UK soon?
Or just looking for a day-trip that’s close to home? We at Time Out are better judges than the TikTok masses, we promise. Have a browse our guide to the best castles in the country you can actually stay in, or try out one of our favourite things to do in the UK this year. We also have rounded up some of the best family friendly stays, and the 21 best natural wonders in Britain.
Did you see that the legendary Crooked House pub is being rebuilt?
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