Best of UNESCO
Top 10 Ancient World Heritage Sites
Ten places where ancient states turned belief, power and engineering into stone. Each entry says what makes it exceptional, when to go, and how to time your entry so you see it at its best.
01The only surviving ancient wonder
Pyramids of Giza
Egypt · inscribed 1979
Three pyramids and the Sphinx were raised with astonishing precision 4,500 years ago, and still align to the cardinal points within a fraction of a degree.
Open site guideBest time to go
November to March; enter at opening before the desert heat and tour buses arrive.
02A city carved from rose sandstone
Petra
Jordan · inscribed 1985
The Nabataeans cut tombs, temples and a theatre directly into desert cliffs, and engineered water channels that made a trading capital possible in near-desert.
Open site guideBest time to go
March to May or September to November; walk the Siq at opening for empty light on the Treasury.
03An Inca estate on a knife-edge ridge
Machu Picchu
Peru · inscribed 1983
Terraces, temples and water channels sit between two peaks, built without mortar and aligned to solstice sunrises.
Open site guideBest time to go
April to October dry season; book timed circuit tickets weeks ahead, and take the first bus up.
04The largest religious complex ever built
Angkor
Cambodia · inscribed 1992
Hundreds of temples spread across 400 square kilometres of former Khmer capital, from Angkor Wat's galleries to the faces of the Bayon.
Open site guideBest time to go
November to February; start at Angkor Wat for sunrise, then move to Ta Prohm before the heat.
05A frontier across mountains
Great Wall of China
China · inscribed 1987
Dynasties joined walls, passes and watchtowers into a defensive landscape running thousands of kilometres across northern China.
Open site guideBest time to go
April to May or September to October; pick an unrestored section for empty ridgelines.
06Maya astronomy in stone
Chichén Itzá
Mexico · inscribed 1988
El Castillo casts a serpent-shaped shadow at the equinoxes, and the ball court and observatory show how tightly ritual and astronomy were bound.
Open site guideBest time to go
November to March; stay overnight in Pisté and enter at 08:00 ahead of the coach crowds.
07The template of public architecture
Acropolis, Athens
Greece · inscribed 1987
The Parthenon and its neighbours crowned a city inventing citizenship, theatre and philosophy; their proportions still govern civic buildings worldwide.
Open site guideBest time to go
April to May or September to October; first entry gives cool marble and clear views to the sea.
08Capital of an empire
Rome & Colosseum
Italy · inscribed 1980
The Forum, Colosseum and imperial avenues preserve the working heart of a state that linked three continents, later built through by churches and palaces.
Open site guideBest time to go
March to May or October to November; Forum in the morning, Colosseum in the last hour of light.
09Mughal geometry in white marble
Taj Mahal
India · inscribed 1983
A mausoleum of perfect symmetry, inlaid with semi-precious stone and set in a charbagh garden that frames it in water.
Open site guideBest time to go
October to March; sunrise entry gives the softest colour and thinnest crowds. Closed Fridays.
10Ceremonial capital of Achaemenid Persia
Persepolis
Iran · inscribed 1979
Monumental terraces, gateways and reliefs show tribute-bearers from across the empire, carved with remarkable individuality.
Open site guideBest time to go
March to May or October to November; the plain is punishingly hot in summer.