Western Europe

Amiens Cathedral

A 13th-century Gothic cathedral of extraordinary workmanship and beauty.

A row of buildings decorated with gold leaf and with ornate gables.

La Grand-Place, Brussels

The central plaza in Brussels, surrounded by beautiful old guild houses, a Gothic city hall and other impressive historical architecture.

A dirt road stretching ahead, with a single cyclist - vineyards on both sides of the road.

The Climats, terroirs of Burgundy

Precisely-defined plots of land with distinct geological and climatic conditions that contribute to a centuries-old tradition of winemaking.

Bordeaux, Port of the Moon

A port city of opulent architecture, especially classical and neo-classical, and the center of a centuries-old wine-producing region.

View over the village of houses with red tile roofs with a church tower looming over them.

Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion

A picturesque area of countryside and villages surrounded by a vineyard landscape; also an important pilgrimage stop.

Notre-Dame Cathedral, towering over neighboring buildings.

Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

A 12th-century cathedral with a mix of Romanesque and Gothic elements.

Rows of walls on a hill show the contours of the terraces. The lake below and snow-capped mountains in the distance.

Lavaux, Vineyard Terraces

A beautiful vineyard-covered landscape of terraced hillsides, almost a thousand years old.

The side of the cathedral with much decorative stonework.

Aachen Cathedral

A monument of religious architecture from the Carolingian period of European unification under Charlemagne.

A direct view down a straight garden walkway to the central entrance to the palace.

Palace and Park of Fontainebleau

A magnificent 16th-century royal palace, particularly important for its artwork.

Wachau Cultural Landscape

A picturesque segment of the Danube Valley with beautiful scenery and charming towns and villages.

A white castle with many turrets, set on a series of arches over the Loire River.

The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes

A beautiful river valley landscape dotted with stunning castles and charming medieval towns.

Historic Centre of Avignon: Papal Palace, Episcopal Ensemble and Avignon Bridge

Palaces and other structures that tell the story of the 70-year sojourn in France of the Catholic papacy in the 14th century.

Looking straight down the canal, a small bridge crosses it, with a bicycle passing over it.

Canal du Midi

A 360-km canal plus locks, tunnels and bridges: a 17th-century feat of engineering.

Looking up at the front of the cathedral: two square towers, very lacy with many vertical gothic openings, rose window at the center above the central entryway, lots of statue niches with figures and also gargoyles.

Cathedral of Notre-Dame, Former Abbey of Saint-Rémi and Palace of Tau, Reims

Three medieval structures central to the history of Christianity and coronations in France.

Seen across the square, a stately building - a palace - in an 18th-century baroque style.

Place Stanislas, Place de la Carrière and Place d’Alliance in Nancy

Three elegant 18th-century city plazas.

A marea with black paving stones on the ground, a wall of standing stones at the far end.

Taputapuātea

An ancient site of great historical and cultural significance to indigenous Polynesians.

A row of 2-3 story houses, the nearer ones painted white and the furthest one red brick with a small round turret.

Flemish Béguinages

Centuries-old architectural ensembles in Flanders that once housed religious communities of women.

Looking down a canal with large red-brick warehouses lining both sides.

Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus

An ensemble of warehouses and office buildings resulting from Hamburg’s port trade in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

View of the front of the building: red brick, symmetrical, and wider than it is tall.

Ir.D.F. Woudagemaal (D.F. Wouda Steam Pumping Station)

The largest and most powerful steam-driven pumping station ever built.

A pillared building with a shallow pool in front of it.

The Great Spa Towns of Europe

Towns in seven countries where an early tourism industry thrived around natural hot springs.

A view from above of a long stretch of beach lined with palm trees and a pedestrian and bike path.

Nice, Winter Resort Town of the Riviera

An early example of a city that developed due to tourism.

View of a bridge across a river leading to a pretty town of white buildings with red roofs, a steeple peeking up above them.

Old City of Berne

A unique example of urban planning from the Middle Ages that has developed over time while still respecting the original plan.

Front view of Schonbrunn palace seen from a distance to fit such a large structure into the picture.

Palace and Gardens of Schönbrunn

Former home to the powerful Habsburg emperors: an opulent Baroque castle and its gardens.

A view from lake level with the lake in the foreground and the village clustered picturesquely opposite, mountains to the left and behind the village.

Hallstatt-Dachstein / Salzkammergut Cultural Landscape

A picturesque little village surrounded by a breathtaking mountainous landscape.

Looking up at the facade of the building, with a 2-storey high rounded section with long rectangles of glass and decorative pillars.

Major Town Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)

Four pioneering works of architecture in Art Nouveau style.

Pilgrimage Church of Wies

A magnificent rococo church with a legend that draws the faithful to visit.

The Albi cathedral: a rather plain red-brick exterior, with simple walls and rounded towers not much higher than the main body of the cathedral. Tall narrow windows.

Episcopal City of Albi

A small city with a rich collection of Medieval and Renaissance architecture.

Upper Middle Rhine Valley

A beautiful portion of the Rhine River with centuries of history evident in its vineyards, castles and villages.

Full front view of the Wurzburg Residence: a massive palace, several stories tall and extremely wide. A symmetrical design with a round dome above the entrance and smaller domes at each end.

Würzburg Residence with the Court Gardens and Residence Square

A magnificent 18th-century baroque palace and accompanying garden.

Historic Center of Vienna

An urban center with a wide range of outstanding historical architecture, viewed as the music capital of Europe.

A wide, white low building of about 5 stories with the ground floor on pillars to allow traffic through.

Berlin Modernism Housing Estates

Apartment complexes designed in the early 20th century to improve living conditions for low-income families.

The pretty marketplace in Quedlinburg: cobbled plaza with half-timbered houses around it.

Collegiate Church, Castle and Old Town of Quedlinburg

A medieval town known for its Romanesque church/castle on a cliff and its picturesque half-timbered houses.

A view of a cluster of half-timbered buildings with balconies and flower boxes.

Strasbourg, Grande-Île and Neustadt

Two districts, one exemplifying medieval cities, the other a model of modern city planning.

A row of pretty buildings, 3-4 stories high, along a river in Bamberg.

Town of Bamberg

A beautifully intact medieval city center with over 1000 historic buildings as well as an early example of urban farming.

A white brick building, quite grand, with a row of oddly-shaped pillars supporting a triangular pediment.

From the Great Saltworks of Salins-les-Bains to the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the Production of Open-pan Salt

Two locations that exemplify the historical process of salt production and industrial architecture.

A pretty brick building with small turrets and gothic windows at Dessau-Worlitz.

Garden Kingdom of Dessau-Wörlitz

A huge English-style garden and the structures in it that illustrate the principles of Enlightenment ideals in landscape design.