From Luxembourg to Swiss wine country: Lesser known UNESCO sites to visit in 2024

If you’re a keen traveller, you’ll no doubt have global icons like the Taj Mahal, the Great Barrier Reef and the Great Wall of China on your ‘must visit’ list.

This World Heritage Day, though, UNESCO has released a roster of less-trodden destinations to add to your agenda - and, luckily, they’re closer to home.

UNESCO - otherwise known as the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation - offers protection to sites with cultural and natural heritage, recognising places of outstanding universal value.

As you plan your next European adventure, why not skip Athens’ overcrowded Acropolis and Rome’s Vatican City for places less discovered? Read on for UNESCO’s favourite alternative World Heritage spots for 2024.

Set in the heart of the northern Italian alps, the Dolomites are a strikingly impressive mountain range comprising 18 peaks, rising to more than 3,000 metres.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, they were completely underwater but, today, the range features some of the most picturesque mountain vistas in all of Europe - and the wider world.

Divided naturally into nine different areas, each offers a unique landscape, ranging from impressive rock walls to glacial landforms.

In the winter, skiing and snow sports are particularly popular along with kilometres of cross-country trails - and in the summer, active visitors can hike, play golf, ride bikes and climb rock faces.

For those less keen on getting sweaty on the mountains, there are plenty of forest bathing experiences on offer, including in the picturesque​ Paneveggio Pale di San Martino Natural Park, so you can relax and unwind in truly serene surroundings.

If you ask people to name five European countries, it’s fairly unlikely that Luxembourg will appear