Best of UNESCO
Top 10 Natural World Heritage Sites
Of more than 250 natural inscriptions, these ten deliver the most on a single trip: reef systems, migrations, canyons and waterfalls at a scale nothing else matches. Each entry explains what makes it exceptional and the season that shows it best.
01The largest living structure on Earth
Great Barrier Reef
Australia · inscribed 1981
Nearly 3,000 individual reefs stretch along Queensland's coast, supporting thousands of species in a single inscription. Nowhere else offers reef diving at this scale.
Open site guideBest time to go
June to October: calm water, low rainfall and the best underwater visibility.
02Where evolution became visible
Galápagos Islands
Ecuador · inscribed 1978
Volcanic islands with animals that never learned to fear people — giant tortoises, marine iguanas and the finches that shaped Darwin's thinking.
Open site guideBest time to go
December to May for warm water and calm seas; June to November for stronger wildlife activity.
03The greatest land migration
Serengeti National Park
United Republic of Tanzania · inscribed 1981
More than a million wildebeest and zebra circle between the Serengeti plains and the Maasai Mara, followed by the densest predator population in Africa.
Open site guideBest time to go
June to October for the river crossings; January to March for calving on the southern plains.
04275 waterfalls in one horseshoe
Iguazú Falls
Argentina · inscribed 1984
The Iguazu river falls across nearly three kilometres of basalt shelf, ringed by subtropical rainforest and constant spray-borne rainbows.
Open site guideBest time to go
March to May or August to October: high flow without the summer heat and crowds.
05Two billion years of rock, exposed
Grand Canyon National Park
United States of America · inscribed 1979
The Colorado river has cut nearly two kilometres into layered sandstone and schist, producing the clearest geological cross-section on the planet.
Open site guideBest time to go
April to May or September to October; summer heat makes inner-canyon hiking dangerous.
06Glacier-cut sea valleys
Norwegian Fjords
Norway · inscribed 2005
Geirangerfjord and Nærøyfjord are among the world's deepest and narrowest fjords, with waterfalls dropping directly into salt water.
Open site guideBest time to go
Late May to early September; June brings meltwater at full force and long daylight.
07Sixteen lakes linked by travertine
Plitvice Lakes
Croatia · inscribed 1979
Water builds its own dams here, creating terraced turquoise lakes that shift colour with mineral content and light.
Open site guideBest time to go
April to June for high water, or October for autumn colour; midsummer boardwalks are crowded.
08The world's first national park
Yellowstone
United States · inscribed 1978
Half the planet's active geysers sit on this volcanic plateau, alongside bison, wolves and grizzly bears in a largely intact ecosystem.
Open site guideBest time to go
May to June and September for wildlife; winter offers geysers in steam and almost no visitors.
09The largest curtain of falling water
Mosi-oa-Tunya / Victoria Falls
Zambia · inscribed 1989
The Zambezi drops more than 100 metres along a 1.7-kilometre front, throwing spray high enough to be seen from far away.
Open site guideBest time to go
February to May for peak flow; September to December for clearer views and swimming pools on the lip.
10Turquoise lakes under ice fields
Canadian Rockies
Canada · inscribed 1984
Four contiguous mountain parks protect glaciers, hot springs and glacier-fed lakes along one of the world's great mountain drives.
Open site guideBest time to go
July to September for hiking; the Icefields Parkway needs shuttle or parking reservations in summer.