With the pandemic having put our lives on unprecedented hold, many are dreaming of returning to norm… Who are we lying to? The sole, okay, one of the little things, we truly miss badly is traveling. And I can bet that at any given opportunity, you’d be up and rolling with a fedora to any place in the world just to sip on a pina colada and forget the comfort-turned-hell of your four home walls.
And it’s no secret that many thirsty travelers have must-see travel bucket lists somewhere in the drawer waiting for the borders to open up. For some, it’s Times Square and Hollywood, for others, it’s all about dinner with a view at the Eiffel Tower, but as you’re about to plan your next big post-pandemic trip, you may as well take some good advice from people who have been to those places, but would likely travel back in time to not go there.
So below, ladies and gents, are the most overrated travel destinations shared in one r/AskReddit thread to help us reflect on our sightseeing must-dos before its too late.
#1
Pisa.Besides the small square with the tower where everyone is taking the same stupid joke pic. And guys tryna sell you toys.
The rest of the town is pretty lame. You're in Tuscany, go to ANY small town and you'll enjoy it far more.
Image credits: patch173
#2
The Mona Lisa in Louvre in Paris. It's just a small painting hanging quite far away in a really crowded room full of tourists. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful, iconic painting, but it's not worth visiting the Louvre only for the Mona Lisa. The majority of the other artworks in that museum are more impressive than the Mona Lisa.
Image credits: cheeseguy_
#3
The peak of Mount Everest. People just pay sherpas to carry all their gear, and navigate the dangerous areas. Many have heated tents. The line to wait to get a picture at the top can be extremely long, and dangerous because people aren’t used to the altitude.
Image credits: jchanceh9lol
#4
Hollywood. The most disappointing garbage and pee covered place on earth.
Image credits: existentialism91342
#5
Dubai.Unless you're really into spending all day in an air conditioned building, then going to the air conditioned basement to get in an air conditioned car to travel to the air conditioned basement of another air conditioned building in which case, do I have a city for you!
Image credits: Invunche
#6
Times square on new years. If you know, you know
Image credits: LeSenpaii
#7
Egypt, all the beauty and awe of the ancient civilisation is completely outshone by how absolutely horrible the modern civilisation is. Think of all the worst parts of India and then add sand to it.
Image credits: PublicOccasion
#8
Bali. It was beautiful 10 years ago but now it's been ruined by influencers.
Image credits: gitwiz89
#9
OktoberfestYou can get the same brand and amount of beer for a third of the price literally anywhere else in Munich. The carnival rides are also overcrowded and overpriced, the food is decent but also overpriced... I could go on. Oktoberfest is over-everything.
Image credits: TeaOnWine
#10
Brussels. If you're in Belgium, visit Ghent and Bruges.
Image credits: HamiltonSlashLaurens
#11
That wing mural in Nashville.. there is literally a line that takes an hour to go take a picture with a pair of wings on a wall.
Image credits: nateisgreat1017
#12
If you're in Dublin, stay away from the Temple Bar area, it's ridiculously overpriced and is not at all what a real Irish bar is like at all
Image credits: ois2400
#13
Hollywood walk of fame. Haven't seen a dirtier road.
Image credits: mirgyasen
#14
Stonehenge. They don't let you get very close to it to help preserve it. Either way you get just about as good a view of it from the Highway going by it as you do by waiting in line and paying to go see it. I appreciate what it represents, but if you put on a youtube video of it you will get a more personal and close experience of it then if you actually go there.
Image credits: anonymous
#15
Japan has such a romanticized view of France that they actually have a term, "Paris Syndrome", for the sudden shock suffered by Japanese tourists when they see that France isn't how they imagined.
Image credits: onlysane1
#16
4 corners. Its hours away from anything notable and there isn't really anything to do there except a picture and buy native American crafts.
Image credits: someinternetdude19
#17
definitely Mallorca - I'm German enough, I don't want to hear 90% German on holiday in Spain as well. The quieter, less central parts of Mallorca are gorgeous, especially for snorkeling and diving, but the Playa de Palma, or at least that part, is horrendously German lol
Image credits: yeetaliano
#18
Venice.Sorry for this if I offend anyone. Like sure there are some visually aesthetic spots and some good cafes etc. but the water stinks! I mean, Italy has so much more to offer and if I had to skip onto something in Italy, it would be Venice.
#19
UAE, it's the most culturally deficient place you will ever see in your life!!
Image credits: thatcoolgaydude
#20
Plymouth Rock, the only boat small enough to have landed on it would be for ants.
Image credits: nsfredditkarma
#21
Disneyland. It's just a lot of waiting for bad rides.
Image credits: anonymous
#22
Batu Caves in Kuala Lumpur. SA Asia is full of karst caves. Many are bigger and aren't full of tourists. A-hole macaques are also everywhere.
Image credits: anonymous
#23
Paris. The sightseeing hotspots are crowded, everything is ridiculously expensive and the metro smells like pee.#24
Bourbon Street, New Orleans. It's really just the same as any other bar district in any other large city around the world. Same old cover bands playing the same old songs that you'd hear anywhere. You can experience all you need just by walking down the street for an hour and not going in anywhere.
Image credits: HappyTimeHollis
#25
Anyone said Niagra Falls yet? Hear me out on this one.The falls themselves are beautiful, and I guess if you're really into the history of a waterfall and its surroundings you can spent half a day there. But once you've seen it, you've got nothing.
Image credits: Blarg4470
#26
I did a Mount Fuji tour in Japan in March. It was hands down the worst part of the trip. No point to go up the actual mountain. It was like 12 hours on a bus. Then I saw it from a train like 3 days later, and that was a better view than anything I got on the tour.#27
Bondi beach in Sydney. Overcrowded, everything there is way overpriced
Image credits: koolkid131
#28
Mount Rushmore. It's faces on a rock basically and smaller than you think.
Image credits: chemaster23
#29
Inside of the White HouseThe most common tour doesn’t let you see anything of importance, just a bunch of rooms that nobody knew existed.
Image credits: rockbottomresidents
#30
Seychelles. Super expensive trip, overpriced hotels, terrible food and underwater is not nearly as impressive. Also, if you are a woman traveling alone, you will be hassled with sexual advances at every turn by the locals.#31
Romeo & Juliet balcony & house in Verona, Italy. Pure tourism BS
Image credits: CharlesBronx
#32
Tower of LondonExpensive, cheesy, absolutely packed with tourists. I have been twice because the people I was with really wanted to go, and all I remember is kids running and screaming in the “torture chamber” themed room, and the ravens which were the only interesting part.
Image credits: Ohmannothankyou
#33
Rainbow Mountains in Peru, colours are just not like on Instagram, so all you experience is the smell of donkey feces and the sound of disappointment of hundreds of fat tourists carried up by the donkeys#34
Austin is now the Homeless capital of Texas#35
The mermaid show at weeki wachee springs in FL. Their show looks great on their website, but the images you see with silicone tails were used or photo shoots or special occasions. Any normal day the show is very lackluster and I super disappointed.#36
The Statue of Liberty. Takes forever to get on a crowded ferry.Once you get there you have a great view of her back but there is no room in the front to get a good picture let alone be in the picture.
Image credits: awerm
#37
Blue lagoon in Iceland. Always super crowded and you have to book it super early. There are a lot of better lagoons in Iceland that are just as pretty (or even prettier), more isolated, definitely less crowded, and just as "blue".#38
Honolulu, HI. It's just a huge and overpriced tourist trap. Sure it's pretty and obviously it's Hawaii, so great vacation spot, right? Do yourself a favor and go to a different spot like Maui or even Hawaii, Hi. But, Honolulu is kind of overrated imo.#39
The Space Needle.In Seattle, there are great tourist attractions...Pike Place is totally worth it, Post Alley is quaint, and the pier is fun on a nice day.
However, I don’t think going up into the Space Needle is worth it anymore. I haven’t been up since it’s been remodeled, but that’s because it’s so expensive now.
#40
Blackpool, used to be a nice place but not anymore.#41
The original starbucks store in seattle.It's a recreation and the actual location is a few doors down. The design and decor doesn't really stand out.
They serve starbucks coffee there.
Large queue to get in and standing room only. Take selfies in front, order, buy some souvenirs and gtfo. The store interior is just a queueing place.
At least its in a decent tourist area and its low effort though.
Image credits: sir-clicks-a-lot
#42
South Beach/MiamiOver priced bars and clubs, if youre a dude and you dont have a fine group of women with you, be ready to drop serious cash for a night out if youre there. There are better beaches up and down the coast, that wont force you into the terrible traffic and parking SB has.
Image credits: MrBoliNica
#43
I didn’t get anything out of Las Vegas. It was cool to see the themed hotels but besides that it was just an overpriced cultureless soulless city designed to entertain you.
Image credits: viktor72
#44
Oslofjorden. Please go anywhere else In Norway when you visit
Image credits: MrMrRubic
#45
Whatever expectation you have of Roswell, New Mexico- it’s worse
Image credits: FrontiersWoman
#46
Toyosu Fish Market. The one that replaced Tsukiji as the fish auction central of Tokyo in 2018. You get to watch the auction process, but only if you go early in the morning. And even then, only through small glass windows two stories above the auction block. If there are more than a couple dozen other visitors, you will not be able to see anything.
Image credits: veotrade
#47
The new York stock exchangeYou can't actually go in and see the trading floor.
Image credits: anonymous
#48
The Terracota Army. Now, it's very impressive , but you're higher up than the statues, so you can't really see them in detail. And any thought of what an amazing place it is will be ruined by someone yelling at their kid or their friends to " COME OVER AND SEE THIS ! YES, RIGHT HERE, NOT THERE, IT'S BETTER HERE SOMEHOW" at the top of their lungs. Also, the tour guides will try to get you to visit the tomb of Qin Shi Huang and it's just a mound, you can't go in it.#49
The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen.It's just so... meh. And too far away from the city center, especially if it's freezing outside like the time I visited it. Just get a souvenir or a postcard or something.
Copenhagen itself is beautiful though, very highly recommended.
Image credits: I_hate_traveling
#50
The Taj Mahal. Yes, it's beautiful but it's also overcrowded which ruins any serenity and every thing that there's to see is visible on the pictures you've seen a thousand times before. The inside is dark, surprisingly small and you're rushed through. Agra Fort, overlooking the Taj Mahal, by contrast is equally gorgeous, vibrant and teeming with history. I enjoyed it much more.
Image credits: misringuette
#51
Mall of America. It just a Mall with a lot of stuff in it. My opinion would’ve probably be different if I didn't live in Minnesota.
Image credits: Zabboon
#52
If you're ever in Berlin, do all the touristy stuff in one day. Go to the Reichstag and walk to the Brandenburger Tor, visit the Holocaust Memorial, then walk to the Alexanderplatz. There's not that much to see but that city has so much more cool places to visit or to hang out. Especially if you're looking to meet people or not pay much for little value.
Image credits: frerky5
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