The World Heritage Sites with Walking Softly Adventures - World Heritage Sites, national parks, and other protected areas are part of most Walking Softly tours

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The Urnes stave church, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway.

The Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage is an international agreement that has been signed by more than 150 nations to date. It was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 1972. Through the identification of sites whose extraordinary values warrant their protection and preservation, the Convention seeks to encourage international cooperation to conserve the world's heritage for all humanity.

As of November 2009, there are 890 sites that have been "inscribed" on the World Heritage List. 689 of them are cultural sites; 176 are natural sites; 25 are "mixed properties." World Heritage Sites have been identified in 148 nations. For a complete list of World Heritage Sites, visit UNESCO's World Heritage website.

Following are some of the World Heritage Sites visited on Walking Softly Adventures and Mountain Hiking Holidays trips.

	Tiwanaku BOLIVIA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2000 Featured on Walking Softly's Peru and Bolivia trip. « PHOTO: The Semi-subterranean Temple at Tiwanaku.

	Boyana Church BULGARIA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1979 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Mountains of Bulgaria trip and Walking Softly's Bulgaria Heritage trip. « PHOTO: An architectural detail from the exterior of the Boyana Church; the real gems are the frescoes inside!

Icebergs float in Popovo Ezero ("Priest Lake"), a gem of the Pirin Mountains high country.

Pirin National Park
BULGARIA
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983
Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Mountains of Bulgaria trip.

« PHOTO: Icebergs float in Popovo Lake in the Pirin National Park.

The principal church at the Rila Monastery and the Hrelyu Tower at left.

Rila Monastery
BULGARIA
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983
Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Mountains of Bulgaria trip and Walking Softly's Bulgaria Heritage trip.

« PHOTO: The church at Rila Monastery seen from the multi-storied arcades that ring the monastery compound.

Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks
CANADA
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1984
Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Canadian Rockies trip.

« PHOTO: Mount Lefroy, Banff National Park (Photo by J. Pollock).


	Imperial Palaces of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (Forbidden City) CHINA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hiking the Great Wall trip. « PHOTO: Hall of Supreme Harmony, Forbidden City.

	Temple of Heaven CHINA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1998 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hiking the Great Wall trip. « PHOTO: Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests.

	Great Wall of China CHINA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hiking the Great Wall trip. « PHOTO: Mutianyu Great Wall.

	Historic Centre of Český Krumlov CZECH REPUBLIC Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992 Featured on Walking Softly's Prague, Budapest and Krakow trip. « PHOTO: Cesky Krumlov.

	Historic Centre of Prague CZECH REPUBLIC Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1992 Featured on Walking Softly's Prague, Budapest and Krakow trip. « PHOTO: Prague.

	Meteora GREECE Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hiking Northern Greece trip. « PHOTO: Monastery of St. Barbara Roussanou.

The Chain Bridge and the Parliament building, Budapest, Hungary.

Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter, and Andrássy Avenue
HUNGARY
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1987, 2002

Featured on Walking Softly's Prague, Budapest and Krakow trip.

« PHOTO: The Chain Bridge and the Parliament building, Budapest, Hungary.

Himeji-jo
JAPAN
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993
Featured on Walking Softly's Japan trip.

« PHOTO: Himeji-jo, the finest surviving example of early 17th-century Japanese castle architecture.

Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
JAPAN
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994
Featured on Walking Softly's Japan trip.

« PHOTO: Ginkaku-ji, the Silver Temple, in Kyoto.

Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
JAPAN
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1995
Featured on Walking Softly's Japan trip.

« PHOTO: Traditional house at Shirakawa-go.

Shiretoko
JAPAN
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005
Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hokkaido Trails trip.

« PHOTO: Oshinkoshin Falls near Utoro on the Shiretoko Peninsula.

	Petra JORDAN Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1985 Featured on Walking Softly's Jordan Heritage trip. « PHOTO: The "Treasury" at Petra. (Photo by K. Ivanov)

	Tongariro National Park NEW ZEALAND Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1990 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Hiking New Zealand trip. « PHOTO: Mount Ruapehu seen from the slopes of the Ngauruhoe Volcano, Tongariro National Park.

City of Cuzco
PERU
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983
Featured on Walking Softly's Peru and Bolivia trip.

« PHOTO: Street lined with Inca stonework in Cusco.

Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu
PERU
Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1983
Featured on Walking Softly's Peru and Bolivia trip.

« PHOTO: Machu Picchu.

	Historic Center of Lima PERU Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1988 Featured on Walking Softly's Peru and Bolivia trip. « PHOTO: Facade detail, Church of San Francisco, Lima.

	Historic Center of Kraków POLAND Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1978 Featured on Walking Softly's Prague, Budapest and Krakow trip. « PHOTO: The Sukiennice, or "Cloth Hall," on the Rynek Glowny in Kraków.

	Spisský Hrad and its Associated Cultural Monuments SLOVAKIA Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1993 Featured on Walking Softly's Prague, Budapest and Krakow trip. « PHOTO: The fortress of Spisský Hrad atop a travertine hill, Slovakia.

	Jungfrau-Aletsch-Bietschhorn SWITZERLAND Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2001 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Swiss Alps: Inn to Inn trip. « PHOTO: Seen from near Männlichen, the summit of the Jungfrau rises into the clouds.

	Olympic National Park UNITED STATES Inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981 Featured on Mountain Hiking Holidays's Pacific Northwest Hiking: Olympic National Park trip. « PHOTO: Mount Angeles, Olympic Mountains.

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