The Ironbridge Gorge, home to the World’s first cast iron bridge and birthplace of the industrial revolution, has been revealed as the second in the World’s most recommended UNESCO World Heritage Sites to visit, according to TripAdvisor travellers. The Ironbridge Gorge was also the top recommended World Heritage Site to visit in the UK according to the same study.
The results are based on over a million TripAdvisor feedback forms, collected in partnership with UNESCO, making this the largest study of its kind ever conducted.
World's Most Recommended Sites
- Historic Ensemble of the Potala Palace, Lhasa - China
- Ironbridge Gorge - UK
- Palace and Park of Fontainebleau - France
- Historic Centre of Guimaraes - Portugal
- Masada - Israel
- Byblos - Lebanon
- Persepolis - Iran
- Hwaseong Fortress - Republic of Korea
- Cilento and Vallo di Diano National Park with the Archaeological Sites of Paestum and Velia, and the Certosa di Padula - Italy
- Meidan Emam, Esfahan - Iran
UK's Most Recommended Sites
- Ironbridge Gorge - Shropshire
- Heart of Neolithic Orkney - Orkney Islands, Scotland
- Studley Royal Park including the Ruins of Fountains Abbey - North Yorkshire
- Castles and Town Walls of King Edward in Gwynedd - Gwynedd, Wales
- City of Bath - Bath
- Durham Castle and Cathedral - Durham
- Old and New Towns of Edinburgh – Edinburgh, Scotland
- Canterbury Cathedral, St Augustine’s Abbey, and St Martin’s Church - Canterbury
- Pontcysyllte Aqueduct and Canal - North East Wales
- Westminster Palace, Westminster Abbey and St Martin’s Church - London
Professor Mike Robinson, Director of the University of Birmingham’s Ironbridge International Institute for Cultural Heritage, commented:
"We work in close partnership with the Ironbridge Gorge site and have done for many years. This is truly an amazing site and it seems as if the TripAdvisor online community agrees. For our students studying heritage management, having access to this premier World Heritage Site and the range of professionals which manage it on a day-to day-basis, is a tremendous resource. It means that students can have direct experience of the best practice which has clearly played a part in achieving this very high recommendation amongst international travellers.”