Mozambique’s sole UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Island of Mozambique, sits 1,900 km north of Maputo — a coral island where 500 years of Swahili, Arab, and Portuguese history survive in a single square kilometre.
Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within reach of San José: a remote Pacific island famous for hammerhead shark schools, and an archaeological enigma of near-perfect stone spheres.
Panama’s two UNESCO World Heritage Sites — the Spanish colonial fortifications of Portobelo and the marine wilderness of Coiba National Park — are both reachable from Panama City, in opposite directions and on very different timescales.
Guatemala’s three UNESCO World Heritage Sites — colonial Antigua, Maya Tikal, and the stela fields of Quiriguá — are all accessible from Guatemala City, from one hour to eight hours away.
Three of Mali’s four UNESCO World Heritage Sites — ancient Timbuktu, the mud-brick city of Djenné, and the Dogon cliff settlements of Bandiagara — lie within reach of Bamako.
Paramaribo is itself a UNESCO World Heritage Site — a Dutch colonial city built entirely in tropical hardwood. A second inscription, the pristine Central Suriname Nature Reserve, lies 260 km south.
Two UNESCO World Heritage Sites lie within reach of Caracas: Canaima National Park with its ancient tepuis and Angel Falls, and the 500-year-old Colonial city of Coro to the west.
Three UNESCO World Heritage Sites are reachable from Sucre: the inscribed colonial city itself, the pre-Columbian metropolis of Tiwanaku, and the carved rock of Fuerte de Samaipata.
Jamaica’s sole UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Blue and John Crow Mountains, rises 30 km northeast of Kingston — a mountain wilderness of endemic species and living Maroon culture.
