Lamest tourist attractions in the world

OP - YES, lived there and it's ridiculous, to say the least. Although some of the "painters" there that make some quick paintings are kind of talented; i could never do that at all.

However, i will counter with Hollywood/Hollywood Blvd. Also lived a few miles away. Total tourist trap and stupid as hell.

Spanish Steps

Most tourist attractions are lame, better to ask which ones aren't lame...

The Grand Canyon

Five miles from Gundagai

r2 you might want to add a bit more detail to your entry or a link.

r3 i've been to the Grand Canyon twice in my life - once when i was a kid (we stayed the night and it snowed!) and once as an adult moving across from NY to CA. it was not great at that point...trash EVERYWHERE, so many tourists you couldn't even look at the view; it was horrible. that was many years ago though (2003) and maybe it's gotten better. it was beautiful though when i first saw it as a child so man years ago.

As a Londoner, I always get deeply embarrassed when I see thousands of tourists flooding Piccadilly Circus. What are you there for? What are you looking at? It's literally a junction with some ads above it.

I also get embarrassed about tourists flocking to Harrods. I don't know a single Londoner who's ever even been there.

r6 i didn't know anything about Piccadilly Circus when i was there for the short time i was (18 hours), it was just a means to an end (a play we were attending on the way to ride the tube). it was a bit of a "what is this about" for us. Harrods was not even in my purview - knew nothing about it. the small amt of time i spent in London though I wanted to see some actual history. I really wished i had more time on my holiday to see the countryside outside of London thought. Someday!

i did go to a pub, have a pint, enjoyed a great full English brekkie and watched the sun go down at around 10pm and up at 4/5 am. it was a great experience and i wished i had more time to explore! i can't wait until i get to re-visit.

The Alamo

Hollywood Blvd.

R5 What for ? Everyone knows the Spanish Steps. Except you.

Little Mermaid, Copenhagen

"The Alamo "

If you didn't get to see the basement you missed it

r10 i'm sure that many others don't know what the Spanish Steps are. just provide a fucking link. nobody is expecting EVERYONE in the world o know what every place in the world is, please. we are not all as well traveled as you may be. cut a bitch a break.

"Little Mermaid, Copenhagen "

^ This^ First time I went to Copenhagen everyone insisted I had to see this little statue... Ok, so now I've seen the little statue. Tivoli Gardens is much better

R11 Thread closed.

What is the big deal about 'The Little Mermaid'.

I saw it in back in fucking 1998 and like crowds of people there had to fight my way through to take a peak, and it was 'what the fuck?'.

r12 lol

The Mona Lisa. It’s much smaller than you would think and you have to stand far away from it.

r17 holy cow, i'm with you. i'm 5'2" and that painting was small as fuck and was hard to see over crowds. much smaller than you think based on representations. i was glad i was there very early in the day and got a chance to look at it for all of 1 or 1 1/2 minutes. it was practically the only thing we rushed to see because we knew about the crowds. still was beautiful, just different than what it was built up to be.

R17 I've been to Paris so many times and I've never been to the Louvre. I just can't be bothered lining up for hours for what will won't be that great.

For years I'd never been up the Eiffel Tower. In 2001 shortly after 9/11 we were in Paris.

We were watching a new item on TV in our hotel room and they mentioned of a plot uncovered that some nutters had planned to fly a plane into the Eiffel Tower. I said to my partner that we better go there because who knows how long it will remain.

We got up very early the next morning to beat the crowds. It wasn't worth it. Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world when you are amongst it be looking at it from the Eiffel Tower was bland. Flat and ugly.

Manneken Pis In Brussels - Tiny

[quote] also get embarrassed about tourists flocking to Harrods. I don't know a single Londoner who's ever even been there.

I'm old enough to remember when Harrods was for Londoners. I even got my first dog there.

On the other hand, did the Eiffel Tower late at night while we were there, after walking through fields of people drinking bottles of wine. Went as far as we could up the tower and was able to see the spectacular fireworks going off against another building and all the city alight. it was beautiful!

Plus ate wonderful pastries and cappuccino every day, watched French porn in our hotel room for the first time and had amazing sex, visited Notre Dame (prior to the blow up). it was a trip before we headed down to Italy!

[quote]I've been to Paris so many times and I've never been to the Louvre. I just can't be bothered lining up for hours for what will won't be that great.

Well then you're an absolute fucking idiot R19. There is a virtual plethora of much of the most stunning art in the world, statues, sculpture and the incredibly beautiful inside of the Louvre building itself.

You're obviously gutter trash as is evident from your post.

Agree with r23, although we wanted to see Mona Lisa, we totally took our time throughout the museum before it was too crowded. the amount of art is amazing and not to be missed, esp if this may be a once in a lifetime trip.

[quote]Spanish Steps (Nothing to See Here)

Yes, nothing at all. No plaza, no fountains, no obelisks, no Baroque palazzi nor churches architecture nor landscape design at the top, and beyond that a sad slum that could be the rough end of any city. La Dolce Vita my ass. Nothing at the top of those stairs, no prospect of the city below. It's just a bunch of old shops, filled with cheap shit made in China filled with plastic flowers and incense and packets of off-brand bubblegum and no elegant shop fronts with historic Italian brands and elegant window displays. No beautiful cafes from 1760 that have operated continuously. No place to take a cup of coffee and enjoy the surroundings because, well, it's all shit, am I right?

Nothing in the adjoining neighborhoods to see either. Piazza del Popolo? Piazza della Minerva (no obelisks on elephants there either)? The Pantheon and the Piazza della Rotundo? Piazza Navona? Chiesa de Santa Ivo de Sapienza? Fuck that shit. Stay home and save some coins for a real trip, something Disney.

R18 Glad it wasn’t just me! And on top of all that, it’s behind glass so there’s a bit of a glare making it even harder to see it clearly. Definitely not worth all the hype and just one of those things you see just to say you saw it.

R19/R22 Now see I actually did like the Eiffel Tower - I went on it once in the day time and at night during another trip. And it was definitely much more fun at nighttime seeing all the twinkling lights.

The “Spanish Steps” is just that: stairs. Pretty stairs, but stairs. Use them as a navigation point, because its direct surroundings are breathtakingly beautiful.

I nominate Checkpoint Charlie, in Berlin. The history is insanely interesting — but the poorly enacted “checkpoint” has all the hallmarks of a tourist trap. Yuck!

[quote]I nominate Checkpoint Charlie, in Berlin. The history is insanely interesting — but the poorly enacted “checkpoint” has all the hallmarks of a tourist trap. Yuck!

Oh I forgot about that one! Definitely.

Plymouth Rock.

The Little Mermaid

[quote]I've been to Paris so many times and I've never been to the Louvre. I just can't be bothered lining up for hours for what will won't be that great.

As others have said, R19, you're a fool. You think one of the greatest art collections in the world, filled with an encyclopedic range of works of extraordinary quality, some of them the very images of art we have known since childhood, but so powerful on seeing in person that they sweep away all the overexposure and gift shop hype "won't be that great"? Nevermind the things to don't know, to discord in a wholly fresh slate?

I guess with all those countless visits to the city you know "the real Paris" like the back of your hand. And yet you don't know one of the 5 greatest art collections in the world, and can't be bothered because of queues?

How can you not know that there are multiple entrances to the Louvre? Some a lot less busy than others? Or that you can book a timed admission ticket, on the fucking internet? Or that you could check on Google or elsewhere for real time reports of crowds awaiting entrance? Or that there are other go-arounds to not spending all day outside the glass pyramid waiting in line?

No. Just blow all that off and be the dumb counts who can't be arsed because the Louvre is a tourist trap with lines. It will be better for the rest of the visitors without you inside.

R23 Takes gutter trash to know gutter trash honey.

guttergurl

(sorry, feeling silly after an intense week)

Could someone explain "Little Havana" in Miami to me? Our tourist guide said a must see in Miami, authentic neighborhood, great food bla bla bla. Looked like a random ghetto, dirty streets, worst food I ever had in Florida.

R33 All forgiven and no offence taken. What would Data Lounge be without it's wonderful bitchy comments.

Hope next week is a lot for you (Hugs and kisses)

Nobody said Fisherman's Wharf was lame

when I was the big attraction back in the 70s & 80s.

Thanks R35 - much appreciated.

R6 From just looking at photos it looks like there are beautiful old buildings on Piccadilly Circus

I was pretty unimpressed with the French Quarter of New Orleans.

Statue of Liberty

In my opinion the Eiffel Tower is the ugliest and most overrated famous building in Paris. So out of place with the rest of the city.

Anything that is generally a must-see and is relatively accessible to large groups of tourons is going to be terrible, if only due to the braying masses.

For supposed natural wonders, I would suggest sunset in Santorini is something to skip.

Piccadilly Circus is interesting, I think, though not as a tourist destination. It's the start of John Nash's Regent Street whose variations on a theme Regency stone facades had a huge influence in how London looks. The other buildings on the circus are in a century of variations of Neoclassicism, some polite nods to Nash, others more brash and assertive.

It's an experimental space: in a cab, in a bus, rising out of the subway labyrinths to all of the hurries foot traffic and noise and lights and a bit of danger. To get from one side to another there are choices, bad and good and ingenious. It's confusing if you don't know it, and can be momentarily disorienting even if you take the same route all the time. The lights and signage are the least interesting to me, once in a while it's something interesting or well done. It's the experience of passing through a gauntlet of wedding cake architecture, iron railings, sculpture, and some chaos.

I would never send visiting friends to "see" it, but if we were passing near I might lead them through to experience its different pace.

The Petrified Forest.

It's fun to watch the tourists if you pass the Mannekin Pis. It's surrounded by chocolate shops, elaborately decorated and most featuring their own often well-done if flashy or lewd takes on the MP, and then suddenly they see it, just as they were about to walk by it: the little statue 60cm/24" long, stuck rather as an afterthought in a little niche of sorts that looks like it could be a water to fill a trough for animals passing by. And most of the time the MP is tricked out in some garrish dolly clothes. Today in appliqued lederhosen, tomorrow in blackface and bright colors, the next as a football player.

It's first so underwhelming, and secondly so odd and tacky.

Ruby Falls

Visited the Louvre in my late 20s and yes the Mona Lisa is a small painting and iirc was behind thick glass even then in the 80s.

But Paris is an absolutely amazing city. I could go every 5 years for a visit and I would never get bored of it.

[quote]In my opinion the Eiffel Tower is the ugliest and most overrated famous building in Paris. So out of place with the rest of the city.

I don't. I'm always impressed by it.

Not true.

R48 Some has better taste than others

Eiffel Tower is not 'a building' R41.

The Eiffel Tower is an absolute marvel of engineering, and a timeless monument that will never look outdated.

It’s very steampunk, Jules Verne.. and yet so recognisable.

Originally built for the World Expo, the Eiffel Tower was meant to be torn down afterwards. I’m glad it stayed.

The twinkling lights at night are both tacky and magical — but I remember what it looked like without the sparkling lights. Think those were added to celebrate the new millennium?

Yes but it’s out of place in the city

It's meant to look out of place - much like the dome at the Louvre or whatever it's called...the pyramid.

That Louvre pyramid is ugly too. IMHO

What's really out of place are the Tour Mont Parnasse and La Defense. The terrorists never get the right buildings. And I thought I had seen ugly out of place buildings in NY. Wrong!

Hollywood Sign, especially if you live near it and have to contend with tourists & traffic enthralled with it

"Statue of Liberty "

As a stand alone it's kind of puny compared to the New York skyline behind it, but together with Ellis Is. was a dramatic, emotional experience for me. Found the records of my own ancestors who came through there. A must see for any descendants of immigrants who came through there. A moving experience

"Ruby Falls "

That's probably because you didn't "See Rock City" as well. Got to do both or it sucks

Creation Museum in Dry Ridge Kentucky. Religion porn for deplorables and gun nuts.

TIMES SQUARE- OOO the first MUST SEE thing in NYC is the M&M store!

Cabezon dinosaurs.

The Blarney Stone.

I'm down to ironically visit The Ark. I did many such jaded jaunts when I was young. Such as to Gatlinburg, and ended up enjoying experiences and people both snarkily and not. I'm not as jaded as I think I am.

You want the lamest? Here it is ...

If you're going to go pineapple, why not do it right?

Wall Drug

Mt. Rushmore. World’s largest graffiti.

Ladyboys shows, Thailand

Trump Tower. Discussion closed.

In Philly, shitty tourists line up for hours to look at the very underwhelming and basically insignificant Liberty Bell for reasons I just can't fathom. You're better off getting a cheesesteak from any street vendor....you'll likely get diarrhea but it'll be worth it.

"Mt. Rushmore. World’s largest graffiti. "

The South would like a word with you...

True, r73, Stone Mountain is worse

But still, Hollywood. Forever and always.

Ditto to the Blarney Stone. In a small country filled with natural beauty and charm, there's much to experience. Cross the Stone off your list.

We could start a thread limited to NYC, if one doesn't already exist:

The Hudson Yards. And I mean pretty much every part of the Hudson Yards.

The Temple of Dendur at the Metropolitan Museum. Striking for about 20 seconds, but probably the least interesting thing in that world-class collection. And they built a whole wing for that?

Herald Square. I can't believe tourists actually seek out one of the most depressed and depressing neighborhoods in Manhattan. But they do. Most natives avoid it whenever possible.

My personal top 3: Changing of the Guard in London Capilano Bridge in Vancouver Mt Rushmore in South Dakota

Buckingham Palace. It looks so unimpressive front view compared to other palaces.

Times Square. If you want to eat at the Olive Garden just stay home and go to the mall!

Agree re: Buckingham Palace.

Same goes for the royal palace in Madrid. It’s a typical city palace, which are usually built to function as an office rather than a residence.

"Buckingham Palace. It looks so unimpressive front view compared to other palaces."

Oh my, I MUST say, we are quite the cunt, aren't we?

We settled this last time

How jaded are R3 and R5 to find the Grand Canyon dull? Try the North side to avoid the bulk of the tourists and trash. It is spectacular and well worth the visit.

This old witch.

The "Big Chicken" in metro Atlanta. For years it was the local landmark of choice. It was used regularly in giving directions, "Bubba and Mary Jo, you all drive past the Big Chicken then turn left". It became a local tourist attraction which was ridiculous as it was just a KFC with a large plywood chicken as the marquee. Tacky as hell . . . welcome to Jawga

@r83, Hon, go back and re-read the posts before posting your snark

How embarrassing for you

[quote] Times Square. If you want to eat at the Olive Garden just stay home and go to the mall!

[quote] Herald Square. I can't believe tourists actually seek out one of the most depressed and depressing neighborhoods in Manhattan. But they do. Most natives avoid it whenever possible.

I agree, especially Macy's. It may have been worth seeing ages ago, but now that every town in America has a Macy's, there's no point in seeing this one. It's the same crap, only more of it. They've ceded a large part of the main floor to 'designer' boutiques, such as Gucci and Burberry, selling the same stuff as their own stores. Even their coffee shops are Starbucks.

Any self-respecting New Yorker avoids both Herald Square and Times Square

I know it's off topic but the tourist attraction that I THOUGHT would be lame that wasn't NIAGRA FALLS. It was pretty amazing.

r20=pedophile size queen

[quote]I also get embarrassed about tourists flocking to Harrods. I don't know a single Londoner who's ever even been there

Different strokes. I adore Harrod's just for the food halls. There is absolutely NOTHING in the United States that can compare.

The Vulcan statue, Birmingham, AL.

^ Hahaha! I've actually seen that

R64, if you are GAY and going to the ARK, I hope you realize those people HATE H omosexuals , make you sign a letter before hiring you that you are NOT Gay , Neither are any of your Family or Friends They want YOU to go to Hell . They are Major MAGA supporters. You really want to spend your money there .

[quote] I also get embarrassed about tourists flocking to Harrods. I don't know a single Londoner who's ever even been there.

These days, yes; but back in the day, every gay male tourist wanted to experience the magnificent campiness of the Di and Dodi statue that used to be there.

There are things that are for tourists and that tourists like to see; complaining about this while living in one of the world's various tourist magnets seems extremely stupid. In Paris, people want to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower, in NYC, people want to go see the Statue of Liberty. In both cases there's not much to see, but the experience of it is important for people who don;t live in those places.

If tourism intensely bothers you, it seems like the wise thing to do would be to stay away from the attractions or to move to a quieter city. But to bitch about it seems both counterproductive and pompous. There will be tourists visiting those attractions long after you are forgotten, and you knew what you were getting into by living in a place with famous tourist attractions. No one is going to stop visiting tourist attractions where you live because of your bitching.

The Santa Monica Pier

Hoover Dam

Pike Place is OK, but people who get excited about visiting the original Starbucks are extremely lame! You're standing in line for the same shitty coffee you can get on any street in the world!

r93 This Ark is better. I was there last year.

[quote] The Alamo

But I want to learn all about the thousands and thousands of uses for corn, all of which Tina will tell us about right now!

R95.

[quote]I adore Harrod's just for the food halls. There is absolutely NOTHING in the United States that can compare.

The food halls at Harrods are oddly organized, and lit up like a midway carousel; more a tourist trap to buy a few precious tings to take back to a hotel room, wrapped in a precious box, inside a precious bag as "our little splurge!". It's all so...Eatalay and packaged. The boutique-approach of Godiva here and and Ladurée there and overall feel that seems stuck in the 1980s still even after its helpful 2019 reworking.

If I'm making a meal, it's the last place to go; in Selfridge's I can make a round and then repeat it gathering up what I decided upon; even Fortnum & Mason would be a better choice, but Brough Market on some traditional food market better yet. If I want to buy fancy little boxes of sweet treats for a little girl's tea party, I'd head straight to Harrods and overspend by, oh, £150. Borough Market and the real food markets with foods you might eat outside an unbirthday party.

[quote]Herald Square. I can't believe tourists actually seek out one of the most depressed and depressing neighborhoods in Manhattan. But they do. Most natives avoid it whenever possible.

I've never in my life heard a visitor to New York say he wants to go to Herald Square - maybe go to Macy's but that's different.

Well, I don't actually BUY anything at Harrod's -- for me it's just live food porn.

@r95, Down girl, we love you and all your ticky-tacky tourist attractions

Picadilly is fine and when I lived in London I had to take every visitor there - mainly to eat at a fine Indian restaurant in the area that was my father's favorite when he visited and he insisted that people seeing me have me take them there. The sexual hookups weren't as prevalent as in the glory days, before we started living in "Inauthentic Tourist World Where All Sites and Attractions Are Ruined."

Personally, I find Central Park overrated. It's a place where everyone celebrates its not being what everything around it is, but it is just a very large park that luckily was carved out and maintained.

It's not that I mind tourists. It's just that people who travel are in a different mode than others, and many are unused to being away from the familiar.

When I have been one I have tried to schedule myself when the fewest people would be around the museum, cathedral, house, scenic area or whatever I wanted to see. And since I usually am staying in a place for at least a month (fast travel doesn't provide any real sense of place) I've found a house or apartment and tried to live a little like a local.

Got that right up thread. Harrods food hall is tourist trap central. The store is a good place to test a very deep stock of perfume.

I could enjoy Fortnum & Mason but Harrods is disgusting and, owned by Qatar, has nothing to do with anything British except via a dotted line.

Stonehenge and the Colosseum. Both are a pile of rocks pretending to be more than they are.

Lady Liberty is amazing. She's worth the climb up - the view from the crown during the magic hour is amazing.

If you go to the Grand Canyon, go to the North Rim. It's far less crowded, only open May - September. The other side is trash.

Disney. My idea of hell. Give me a traveling carnival with some rough trade carnies any day over this saccharine TRASH.

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Alcatraz, Uluru and the pyramids in Giza yet. I guess they all live up to their expectations?

And what about the Ferris Wheel in Vienna, Sistine chapel, Oktoberfest, Sagrada Familia or Machu Picchu?

Disneyland Paris...absolute hell on earth, and proof Europeans are as garbage-y as Americans.

Alcatraz is authentic and interesting..doesn't belong on this list.

The pyramids at Giza remain the most awe inspiring thing I've ever seen.

I did the haj and found the big black stone to be drab and uninteresting.

Machu Picchu and the Giza Pyramids are AMAZING, and do not belong in the same categories as your odd assortment of "attractions".

Are trolling, or that ignorant?

Anything Disney..fucking HATE that shit.

I agree. Piccadilly Circus is pretty lame.

piccadilly Circus used too look very cool at night back in the 60s (see pic)

then they fucked it over.

piccadilly Circus used too look very cool at night back in the 60s

^ sorry about that mess

The infrastructures in Medina and Mecca are fabulous. You're lying about your journey and a dead soul if you expect the Ka’aba itself to be a physically impressive thing.

so many tourists were tricked into buying tickets for the staten island ferry. it's free! I read some greedy cunts where charging tourists 200 or 300 bucks for the trip. the ferry passes the statue of liberty.

All of Las Vegas. A good reason for nuclear war.

Don't go to China, they do covid testing via the anus...even for tourists!

Itchy’s Flea Market

A nightmare for anyone who grew up with hoarders, House On The Rock is the most insulting to me.

R121 - ticket booked!

Maybe Los Angeles Farmers' Market? I don't know, I still kind of like it.

Mona Lisa ...

Not sure what people's expectations are. It's known to be a small painting.

Agree that I don't "get" the glass pyramid outside the Louvre. Maybe to show a contrast between modern and old?

If you do go to the Louvre, I wouldn't spend too much time on the sculpture floor. (If time is limited.)

Trevi Fountain in Rome ... worth going to (I thought it was going to be lame).

Hollywood Boulevard ... maybe worth going to, just so you can how seedy it is. It's like finding out who Oz is.

The Hollywood Walk of Fame. Even stupider are the people who actually go there and end up dissapointed. I mean, it's a bunch of handprints, what the fuck did you expect!?

[quote] Stonehenge and the Colosseum

Stonehenge is even worse. At least the Colosseum is big. Stonehenge is literally just a bunch of slabs of rock in the ground.

[quote] In my opinion the Eiffel Tower is the ugliest and most overrated famous building in Paris.

I have never gotten the big deal about the Tower from a aesthetic perspective. Yes, I'm sure it was innovative when it was built but I don't find it aesthetically impressive at all.

Versailles was a little disappointing. Partly because I went between seasons. There were just hedges, no plants between the hedges.

Most of the tourist London monuments.

Oh get off it, you queens.

London is filled to the brim with absolutely amazing, historical sites and monuments.

As for Harrod’s: Going there is a treat. You don’t need anything, you pay too much for your high tea, but it allows you for a bit of indoors fun when it’s yet another rainy day.

The Eiffel Tower looks like something that belongs in a Texas oil field.

R128, they are stars embedded into the sidewalk, not handprints. You're thinking of the Grauman's (TCL) Chinese Theater forecourt.

I remember Big Liz (QE2) was flashing her pussy from the balcony of Buckingham Palace for a while, to boost tourism.

The hole stunt was in bad taste.

I thought it was Princess Margaret so the crowds would actually see something from such a distance. The astronomer royal called it the finest example on earth of a black hole.

R121 - you do understand you are posting on DL, right?

The Big Chicken in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta is not really a tourist trap. No one comes to Atlanta and says "oh we've got to go see the big chicken". The only reason anyone goes there is the same reason they go to any KFC, to get chicken. Decades back, before the freeways if someone asked how to get to Marietta from Atlanta they were told "drive north on Hwy. 41 and turn left at the big chicken". The pilots landing their jets at Robins AFB just up the road use it as a navigation tool to in getting their aircraft lined up to land.

I only visited the Spanish Steps once, back in the late 90s. It was so jammed with people sitting on the steps you couldn't see much. But as I got there the cops were hauling a man and woman off in handcuffs. I heard a group of people speaking English and I asked them what had happened and they said they were pickpockets and the cops had been arresting them all day. Apparently the Steps are a magnet for pickpockets when it gets crowded.

This is the rebuilt Big Chicken. The blizzard of 92 pretty much destroyed the original structure and KFC was about to tear it down and sell the property. But the outcry from the locals was so strong they decided to rebuild the whole thing. And yes, the beak opens and closes.

I always have been lucky to find staff in the Louvre with enough authority to let me in off hours. Of course it is very different, like actually visiting a museum with overwhelming art, rather than a too-small maze with me being one of too many rats.

People complaining about the Eiffel Tower in 2021 are architectural Luddites and aesthetic iconoclasts. The tower is the perfection of outrageous misplacement to transform (and elevate) civic context and sense of place. Most people seem to feel a combined sense of its quaintness and grand folly when they finally encounter it. There is joy, which is right, because the tower is the greatest work of public art in Europe.

Of course, "me no like" posters are welcome to lummox their way around that worn track of theirs.

R135, that's still dumb. To be fair, LA is not a great city to be a tourist in. You need to explore it with someone who knows the area well.

I can honestly say the most disappointing place I ever visited as a tourist was Hollywood, and much of L.A.. i first visited back in 1974. I drove the length of Hollywood Blvd and visited the Chinese Theater and viewed a lot of the stars on the walk of fame. I only did it so I can check it off my to-do list. Much of L.A. was just a horror of ugly, dirty industrial looking sections or miles and miles of tacky shops and businesses. The Sunset Strip and Santa Monica Blvd. were embarrassingly mediocre to me. Hollywood was just a big dump, full of homeless crazy people and hippies who hadn't heard the hippie movement was long over. But, like many cities if you drove far enough you eventually would find yourself in an area of great beauty. Granted, over the years lots of new buildings sprang up and streets were somewhat beautified, but much of L.A. proper is still the same horror of ugly, dirty industrial looking sections.

I once hosted a nationwide staff meeting in Hollywood at the old Holiday Inn on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. and Highland, now part of the fancy Hollywood and Highland development. We had a big room way up high on the back side looking over the hills. One of the locals walked over to me as I was taking in the view and said "you see that small apartment building right down there?". That second floor corner apartment is Charlie Manson's old apartment. All I could think was "typical, just typical".

You can keep Los Angeles. Give me the desert and the mountains any day.

r142 i lived there for 3 years and it was about 2 years and 10 months too long. Moved to SF after re-locating for work and lifestyle.

According to many Graceland in Memphis is the biggest tourist trap on the planet. It's basically an homage to what poor taste Elvis had in most everything. The mansion is chock-a-block with shag carpet and gaudy decor from the 70s/80s. But the worst thing about it is having to wade through the masses of massives. Massively obese women who still swoon over Elvis, in their size 60" pedal pushers and loose fitting tops.

[quote]Are trolling, or that ignorant?

It was more like a question than a judgement R113.

Please take a chill pill!

- R108

[quote]R140 I always have been lucky to find staff in the Louvre with enough authority to let me in off hours.

Whore.

...........Sistine chapel, Oktoberfest, Sagrada Familia or Machu Picchu..........

All of the above a fucking amazing!

San Diego. All of it.

Waikiki. Over-crowded tourist trap and not representative at all of Hawaii.

LOL R149- I was just going to post the same thing, although adding its just a mall with cars & busses driving through it......... Its so sad from what it used to be.......

Great Wall of China, it’s overrun with tourists.

Hagia Sophia, it looks better on TV.

I visited Machu PIcchu in October, 2019, and was happy I did so pre-pandemic. I highly recommend hiring a guide, as I did, to learn about the ancient settlement's fascinating history. At the time, visitors were allowed only three hours to wander around the ruins. That seemed about right to me. You do a lot of climbing up and down uneven stone stairs, so it's not suitable or even doable for people with physical disabilities.

The site is located on the edge of Amazonia, so the mosquitoes are fierce. The tourist bureau and hotels in Cusco advise would-be visitors to take along mosquito repellent, sunscreen and altitude sickness pills (MP is about 8,000 feet above sea level). And despite the possibility of rain on any given day, umbrellas are not allowed inside the park.

While I am grateful for the experience, I enjoyed exploring nearby Cusco even more. The city is the launching point for visits to Machu Picchu. I encountered people at different stages of life all wanting to see the Incan city in the clouds--college-age hikers, families with kids and retirees. The restaurant scene is eclectic, the handmade crafts, especially silver, are often of superior quality and it is easily walkable.

That said, Cusco is at around 11,000 feet above sea level and requires a day or so to acclimate to the thin air. And the street hawkers can be annoying. But overall I really enjoyed my visit and would return someday, if and when the pandemic is under control.

Just because a tourist attraction has tons of tourists does not automatically make it lame. The Great Wall of China, Machu Pichu, Hagia Sophia, and lots of others listed here are the farthest things from lame as you can get.

Schloss Neuschwanstein. Crowded. Overrun. You have a 20 minute time slot for the visit.

[quote] Great Wall of China, it’s overrun with tourists.

Well, who else is going to visit? It's not like it serves any purpose in modern day China. It's not like a local housewife is going to say 'I've got to run, Estelle. After I drop the kids at school, I need to go to the pharmacy and pick up Bob's prescription, then I'm going to the market to get a fish for dinner, and then I thought I'd swing by the Great Wall for a trek and cup of tea."

Yes, it's full of tourists, but it is an unparalleled architectural feat that's truly amazing to experience in person. And, unlike having your picture taken with Elmo in Times Square, or anything involving Disney, it has real historical significance.

Me. I don't know why I bothered.

Harrods foods halls are a good example of a tourist trap — as something apart from an important site that's unfortunately prone to overpopularity. (At link, one of many food halls that's a better experience than Harrod's tourist trap tea and scones with Nanny Hawkins experience. Yes, everybody likes food porn.)

Whereas the Louvre, the Eiffel Tour, Versailles, Stonehenge, the Sagrada Familia, the Alhambra, the Sistine Chapel and other places are all crowded enough to give some pause about whether and how to see them, the answer should usually be yes (unless you know yourself as one of those people who will be disappointed that "it's only an old circle of big stones.") They have a history and a physical presence that is compelling, despite crowds.

Yes, you can see a Gaudi house or a park that's impressive and worth seeing, but it's not the equal of a church built on the massive scale of a cathedral. You could see an Eiffel-designed bridge (or a food market hall) that exhibit much the same beautiful patterns in iron. You could skip the crowds at Stonehenge and see the Avebury Stone Circle — and have a drink in the pub in the center of it, as everyone will suggest— it's interesting and nice enough, but you'd think "this is a bit shit" if you drove half a day to get to it (you might have stopped in Reading or Basingstoke and had a pint and turned around.) Instead of getting out to Versailles to see the palace, you could not bother and see the Royal Palace in Madrid the next time you're there; the Madrid palace has close to 1M square feet on Versailles if it all comes down to dick measuring and not waiting in a line. There are miles of advice answering the question of Is the Alhambra really worth the bother? Should I see it. What can I see in Granada instead? A lesser cathedral, sure why not, in a country bursting with extraordinary ones lets forsake bothering to book Alhambra tickets, travel all the way to Granada, and then not see it but see a cathedral less impressive than any city they had to pass to arrive there.

People are sometimes so adamant on the idea of they are "not tourists but travellers," that they put the Alhambra and Versailles into the same bucket as the Plymouth Rock, the Little Mermaid, the Blarney Stone, Harrod's food halls, and any wax museum anywhere. Somethings should be seen, even if they take and effort to figure out how to do so in the least degree of unpleasantness. If Columbus did not discover the Americas, what makes so many travellers think that they are discovering the undiscovered when they travel. Fucking relax and acknowledge that maybe it's a good idea to see at least a select group of the "top sites" where ever it is that they travel for the first time. There's nothing wrong with making choices and saving some for later, maybe, but to rule anything popular out as a waste of time is ridiculous.

Totally disagree, r158.

R5, If you and your acquaintances have never been to the Food Halls in Harrod's, more's the pity.

Moreover, if you've never been, how did you decide, per the topic, that Harrod's is lame?

And FTR, THE WORLD'S GREAT MUSEUMS ARE NOT "TOURIST TRAPS."

Any site where they claim “You must come here to watch the sun rise!”

I’ve done that many time and every single time, it was: meh, I’d rather be sleeping in.

It’s better to go without expectations.

Since we are familiar with so much through TV, few things are that awe inspiring.

Macchu Pichu was definitely one for me. I didn’t expect exactly how glorious that was. I hear Angkor Watt is similar

Just WTF do some of you Philistines want, a museum to offer song and dance shows? A famous landmark to shower gold coins onto you?

The masterpiece "Mona Lisa" is "lame" because it's "too small" and with "crowds"?! JFC.

I'll tell you what's "lame" about many of the sites and things mentioned: THE OBSERVER.

The Eiffel Tower actually gives Paris an iconic look

The Great Wall of China

Where the OLD World Trader Center used to be- before all the museum and memorials etc- tourists 16 or 17 years ago would FLOCK there.

As for exploring Europe’s museums, monuments and iconic spots — visit them during the week.

A restaurant called "The Great Wall Of China Buffet" is indeed lame. The real Great Wall Of China is certainly not.

The London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ.

If the "trap" is in a nice part of the city, like there's good cityscape views and there's some decent non-tourist stuff mixed in, then it's okay to me.

German Christmas Markets. Mostly made in China crap now, and Germany does not require things to be labeled with country of origin. The vast majority of those Nutcrackers and Smokers are made in China. Also, the gingerbread hearts that are iced with "Ich liebe Dich" taste like shit. (Exception, the Medieval Christmas Market in Munich.)

Tokyo Tower is lame. So is the San Antonio and Dallas towers. Towers are generally lame. A hidden gem of New York tourist attractions is the Staten Island ferry. It is neat to see the harbor... and it's free! A hidden gem of Osaka is Minoo, which is a suburb with a mountain with lots of monkeys. Also free!

R170 .. and the Lucia Christmas Market on Berlin!

R172, I have not been to that Christmas market, but my experience from a 2019 visit to the Baltic Sea was that 90% of the"Scandinavian" style merchandise was made in China.

By definition any tourist site that is free to enter or see may be lame, but it's not a tourist trap.

[quote]Germany does not require things to be labeled with country of origin

False

R175, Really? Have you been to a Käthe Wohlfahrt? Any souvenir shop on the Ostsee? A Christmas Market? Nothing is marked with the country or origin. The sellers lie about the items being made in China. Manufacturers have label the item with the country of origin but shops can remove the labels.

R175 is correct. Germany made it easy to avoid Made in China shit when I lived there, because nearly everything was labeled. The things that weren’t labeled were handmade. Also, at the Christmas markets, mass made crap (like Käthe Wohlfahrt) would have stickers showing the country of origin—usually China.

not for everyone, but Long Island's Big Duck

The little mermaid statue in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It is the most disappointing tourist attraction you'll ever see.

Something like the Great Wall may have historical significance but if your experience is going to be ruined by hordes of tourist, why bother going ?

Like why bother viewing a small piece of artwork like the Mona Lisa from afar separated by some glass when you can view it in its splendor on the net ?

And some attractions in person like the Hagia Sophia are nowhere as marvellous as they look on my TV screen. Way to spoil them. Why bother ?

I mostly agree, R180. Attractions should be judged in context.

The Trevi Fountain in Rome is spectacular, but I longed to see it when it wasn't swarming with obnoxious, loud, rude tourists. I said as much to my local guide, who laughed and said, "Good luck. It is always swarming." (The attached photo must have been shot at dawn.)

Still, glad I experienced it at all, and the Mona Lisa at the Louvre.

Visiting a place just so you can say you’ve been there even though you didn’t enjoy it is lame. There are better things in life to experience.

R182 It was a mere fountain to me

There is a website for this in the US .

Disneyland, Disney World, anything Disney. It's nauseating.

Knotsberry Farm

Theme parks in general.

Solvang, California

Conversely, Falling Waters is definitely worth the trip. Sainte-Chapelle in Paris, impressive. Ayers Rock? Meh, it’s like Camelback mountain in Phoenix without the excitement of the surrounding Indian casinos.

r187 Solvang has great , so it gets a pass for me.

*has great wine

Provincetown. So overpriced and so overrated. So many other fishing villages in New England if that's what you want to see.

Not sure why, but I enjoyed visiting the Statue of Liberty more than I thought I would. Certainly more than others thought, too. I was REALLY disappointed by Ellis Island, for some reason, and I *love* history. I loved visiting the Tenement Museum, as a comparison. Ellis Island was so. fucking. boring. Awful.

R179 I got a kick out of visiting The Little Mermaid statue, only to watch tourists climb along the rocks on the shore to get a photo of it without any one else in the frame. I'm surprised we don't hear about idiots falling and breaking their ankles.

Can a tourist attraction be "so bad it's good"? That's how I'd describe The Little Mermaid statue.

Japan: Nara (the place with the deer, near Kyoto) and Miyajima island (yes I know jima means island) with the red torii gate.

Kyoto, on the other hand, is not lame.

How did we get to 194 comments without anyone mentioning Pedro's South Of The Border?

While many are not the least bit lame, I cannot stand to visit attractions that group you in corrals and force you to shuffle through without stopping to appreciate what you’re seeing, ex. Sistine Chapel.

Universal Studios in Hollywood is overpriced and pretty lame. It's not really a studio, but just a lot with some very, very old requisites and attractions they created for tourists. Like a very fake mini Amityville with a even faker White Shark or some Indiana Jones shit they built for tourists. They have some lame shows about fire or sound effects and some theme park rides with the typical long lines and wait times. Only thing I was mildly interested in was a tour to the houses of Wysteria Lane from Desperate Housewives, but of course it was closed that day.

I heard there are great walking tours on the WB and Sony lot were you visit soundstages and actual film sets with a guide and only a small group. I regretted going to Universal Studios instead of doing one of those.

Venice/Santa Monica was also disappointing. The beach and promenade are ok, but the rest of the neighborhood looked shady with dirty back alleys and run-down shops and houses. The person upthread who said that LA is just a bunch of run-down shops and ugly neighborhoods was right. LA is dirty and ugly and most people can't afford to live in the nicer parts of the city.

da Vinci's The Last Supper, Santa Maria delle Grazie Church, Milan

Pay your money, go into a room, you get 3 min to look, they you are unceremoniously hustled out. No photos! Some asshole built a door into the wall AFTER the painting was painted. 85% of what you see is restoration, not what da Vinci slapped on the wall. What a waste!

^^^ THEN you are ^^^

R192 The Tenement Museum is one of the best attractions in the city. It made me appreciate my first apartment -railroad, of course - in Brooklyn.

[quote] While many are not the least bit lame, I cannot stand to visit attractions that group you in corrals and force you to shuffle through without stopping to appreciate what you’re seeing, ex. Sistine Chapel.

When I was there, we were all packed in tighter than sardines. I've never felt so claustrophobic in my life. It was definitely not an enjoyable experience.

I wasn't too keen on the Griffith Observatory because of the crowds, either. Inside it was noisy and chaotic and stank of B.O. Outside there are Instawhores taking selfies everywhere, ruining the view.

r197 Universal Studios in California is most definitely a working studio. The one in Florida -- not so much.

The WB Studios tour is definitely more "intimate." No rides or attractions, and you do get to get off the golf cart and walk around on the actual ot and in the props warehouse.

R200 The Tenement Museum was fantastic. I wasn't sure what to expect, so I purchased a ticket for one tour, just to see. I enjoyed it so much that I *immediately* purchased a ticket for another tour after the first one was over (they were different tours of course). They were so well done, so much thought has been put into that museum. It was really a treat. I hit pretty much most of the "big" attractions during my visit to NYC, but The Tenement Museum and The Frick Collection are the two that really stood out to me was excellent.

I loved the Tenement Museum. It reminded me of my 3,892-square-foot apartment in Tribeca.

I've been to Paris twice in the last 15 rears. The Eiffel Tower and the Louvre are must-sees. However, the city is overrun with tourists (myself included) and one should expect long lines. However, all that has happened in the city in the past 10 years has reduced hours to visit many other landmarks. Some were even closed altogether. And since they've erected a glass wall around the Tower, one cannot even pass under it to marvel at its engineering. If one has never been to Paris, visit the city. I think my next visit to France will not include Paris in the itinerary.

Old Faithful geyser is underwhelming, and the way Yellowstone sets up the viewing platform area is quite lame.

As an Angeleno, the Griffith Observatory will always get a pass. It is where we went, intoxicated on cannabis, to the light show. They blasted Led Zeppelin etc and it was perfect.

Happy days at the Observatory in the early 80s.

"Los Angeles" as a destination, in general. There's no real city center. Downtown LA is a daytime, weekday, working people thing. The beaches aren't that great. The piers (Santa Monica, Redondo Beach) are seedy. It's not like San Francisco where you can walk a neighborhood and really get a feel for being in San Francisco.

Lombard Street

Four corners in southwest U.S, where Arizona, New Mexico, Utah and Colorado meet.

You think the Hollywood Walk of Fame is lame? Check out the Palm Springs Walk of Stars - it's so lame that even DL fave Joyce Bulifant has a star. (And don't miss the Sonny Bono statue!)

R208, you are correct in that I don't think LA is a very good tourist destination. It is sprawling, expansive, and chaotic for tourists to navigate.

The Swan Boats in Boston.

Itchy’s flea market

R205, You have an interesting method of reckoning time.

Plymouth Rock. Hands down the lamest tourist attraction. 1 million visitors a year and it's a total fraud.

Four Corners is great. It is silly but also fun to get pictures with your hands and feet in four different states or doggos and partner all right next to you but everyone in a different state. Silly but fun. Native Americans sell art work there and I got a pair earrings for my mom to support them (I think entrance was free).

^ I've always wondered about committing a crime at the four corners. Could you just jump from state to state while police try and catch you? How about a murder if the body is in all four states?

Doggos? I smell Ugg and Pumpkin Spice on R217.

[Quote]Doggos? I smell Ugg and Pumpkin Spice on [R217].

Yawn, lameass. Try again.

The IRONY @R220

r218 Why don't you try it and let us know how it works out.

[quote] Oh my, I MUST say, we are quite the cunt, aren't we? —Queen Elizabeth II

But ma'am, you head to Windsor Castle every weekend.

There are so many enormous boulders in New England, Plymouth should get a new rock that would be more impressive.

[quote] (if you are GAY and going to the ARK, I hope you realize those people HATE H omosexuals), make you sign a letter before hiring you that you are NOT Gay

Under a Supreme Court decision this would be no longer permissible under the Civil Rights Act.

I'm uncomfortable calling it "lame," but here's another vote for the Sistine Chapel. Too many sweaty people crowded in a small space, with guards yelling at you to keep moving. A very deep disappointment.

We should have another thread on tourist attractions that turn out to be as wonderful as you've always imagined. I would put the statue of David in that category.

[quote]While many are not the least bit lame, I cannot stand to visit attractions that group you in corrals and force you to shuffle through without stopping to appreciate what you’re seeing, ex. Sistine Chapel.

We were a Globus tour and the Vatican/Sistine Chapel were part of it. Our tour and some others were allowed into the Sistine Chapel early. We had twenty minutes to wander freely for the most part.

R225 Thought posters were talking about Arkansas, so above post is not valid.

R140 quite obviously breathes different air than the rest of us.

[quote] 90% of the"Scandinavian" style merchandise was made in China.

An excellent reason to skip it.

R123...I went to The House on the Rock based on the recommendation of a friend who could not get over the sheer amount of STUFF. I found it terrifying!

^ I remember the after-headache of The House on the Rock

The good news is that it's near Taliesin the Frank Lloyd Wright school and that's worth a visit

R232, you’re so right. I felt weird and vaguely unwell for the rest of the night. It really defies description.

I’m from NYC and agree that Hudson Yards is a giant yawn, along with Macy’s/Herald Sq. Statue of Liberty is awesome though, and as far as Times Sq. goes, although like anyone who lives here, I avoid it like the plague, I can understand why visitors from smaller cities like it: the sheer number of people and diversity is interesting. Too bad they often want to go to the M&M store or Olive Garden!

I've had dreams about being back in that market R158. It is as beautiful and interesting as pictured in that YouTube video. The most extraordinary marketplace I have ever experienced. The display of olives alone was mindblowing. I loved Barcelona. Just a lively, incredibly interesting city, and packed with some very hot-looking citizens.

R31 is correct. I hate lines so I just bought a VIP ticket to the Louvre and waltzed right in at my convenience. Spent the whole day but that's still not enough time.

Dunn River Falls Jamaica. After you walk up some rocks with running water, you’re ushered through a gauntlet of stands of trinkets and stuff. There is no way to avoid it. I did feel sorry for the merchants watching. waiting, and hoping for the tourists to make purchases.

Popeye Village in Malta.

In fact pretty much anywhere in Malta, with the possible exception of Grand Harbour.

Grand Harbour in Malta, looks it's best from this distance I should add.

Don't get too close you'll be disappointed and figure out why Malta has doubled for every shit-hole war ravaged Middle-Eastern Country on film for almost 50 years.

Hollywood Blvd. has got to be the trashiest tourist attraction on earth. It's filthy, boring, and full of fat tourists from Iowa buying cheap t-shirts.

The 2nd trashiest tourist attraction has got to be Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with its dime a dozen mini golf links, taffy kitchens, and east coast yahoos with MAGA hats and bumper stickers.