Travel can be great, but hype isn’t your friend. When you stay grounded and realistic, you can be pleasantly surprised. But when you have huge expectations for how your adventure will turn out, you’re just waiting in line for disappointment.
The reality is that not all tourist attractions are all that they’re cracked up to be. So, locals took to a thread on the ‘Ask The World’ online community to share their words of warning about the tourist traps to avoid in their countries. Check out the places you might want to rethink visiting on your next journey abroad.
#1
Plymouth Rock without question.
HawocX:
As arguably the worst tourist attraction in the world, it’s now firmly on my list of must-sees.
stoinkb:
Absolutely underwhelming and so unlikely to have had anything to do with the Pilgrim’s arrival.
Image source: Happy-Capital6508, Mike Norton
#2
I live in Washington state so I will have to say the Gum Wall. It’s a wall in an alley in Seattle that’s covered in people’s chewed gum.
Image source: Rackle69, rulenumberone2
#3
Poverty safari… er… guided tours through favelas. They exist not because anyone is interested in seeing the history and important places in a favela, but driven by tourists who want to see poverty and feel happier with their lives.
BAaaaaaaaaa22:
Ugh that’s as bad as the ‘Katrina tours’ here in New Orleans. 20 years later people still want to see the damage from the hurricane and levee failures.
Image source: DELAIZ, Brooke Laven
Based on research conducted by Stasher, during which travel experts analyzed 101 of the world’s most popular attractions, the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, USA, is the biggest tourist trap. The research accounted for five main factors, including Google Reviews ratings, TikTok engagement, airport accessibility, country safety, and local accommodation quality.
Other massively overhyped tourist destinations include the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Turkey, the Great Wall of China in China, Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong, and the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, Australia. Still, other sites that might not meet travellers’ massive expectations include Stonehenge in Wiltshire, UK, Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France, Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and the Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu in the Cusco Region of Peru.
#4
This door in the city of Québec, Québec Province, Canada.
Koreans travel to take picture of that door because it was featured in a popular K Drama show.
Image source: ghostdeinithegreat
#5
Hollywood. LA itself has better to offer let alone the rest of the country.
pdx_foodie_raver:
Hollywood was one of the biggest disappointments of my life. I’m like “this is it?”
Image source: pikay93, Darya Sannikova
#6
Apparently, the lighthouse in Aberdeen is a hidden gem, which is possibly the funniest things I’ve heard since, you know, it’s a lighthouse.
Image source: Fuzzy-Gear1965, Julien Carnot
As per Stasher, the Hollywood Walk of Fame scored a mere 2.67 out of 10 in their research. The sidewalk of celebrity stars was named the world’s worst tourist attraction due to its low safety score and bad Google ratings.
Meanwhile, the travel experts noted that Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar, though historically and culturally significant, is overcrowded, has tourist trap pricing, and boasts lots of aggressive vendors.
On the flip side, the best tourist destination in Europe was found to be the iconic Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain. In North America, the best destination was Walt Disney World in Orlando, USA. In Asia, the best-rated spot for tourists to visit was Tokyo Disneyland in Japan.
Milford Sound in New Zealand took the top spot in Oceania, the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt are the best place to visit in Africa, and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil is the best destination in South America.
#7
Neuschwanstein, honestly, the castle is great from the outside, but save yourself the entrance fee. What you only find out after entering is that inside there are basically only a few truly finished rooms.
Image source: Acrobatic-Active5353, Nils van der Burg
#8
Giulietta House in Verona.
And a lot of other things, famous for the wrong reason.
polarbearsloveme:
I’m a moron so I went super out of my way to get to Verona to see this, got there, realized Romeo and Juliet were never real people so this balcony has no meaning but to trap tourists, and was like why did I do all that.
Image source: TheFace5, eebAMDG
#9
Platform 9 3/4 at London Kings Cross Station.
It’s not even on a platform like in the novels/movies – it’s just a sign they’ve affixed to a portion of blank wall on the main station concourse.
Image source: culturedgoat, Laura LaRose
What are the biggest tourist traps in your home countries, dear Pandas? What are the most overhyped tourist destinations that you’ve ever visited abroad?
On the other hand, what are some underhyped, undervalued, and even outright ignored places that you’d suggest others visit? You can share your insights and travel experiences in the comments at the bottom of this post.
#10
The Blarney Stone- I get that it’s a pretty castle but millions of people have kissed this to get ‘the gift of the gab’ and all I can think is that now all these people have cold sores cause you know someone with a cold sore has kissed it at least a thousand times.
Image source: Easy-Cauliflower-429, Jennifer Boyer
#11
The stupid bean in Chicago.
Image source: loskubster, Rich Bowen
#12
The liberty bell in Philadelphia. Guys, it’s just a big bell that rang like, twice. Great symbol, underwhelming attraction.
Image source: sarzarbarzar, alotor
#13
The red light district.
GrimyGrippers:
I accidentally walked through there when I visited. It was SO bizarre to see people in the windows, and yet businesspeople are just going about their day and not batting an eye. Meanwhile I just hurried my pace and tried to act natural haha
Image source: anon, Steve Parker
#14
Les Champs Élysées.
No actual Parisian goes there it’s a clownery of a tourist trap with no authenticity and a ton of pickpockets.
Image source: Important-Prize3803, SoWhat
#15
This [hellhole]. €10.45 for a pint.
m1kasa4ckerman:
One of my friends who had never been to Ireland before came to visit. They were very adamant “all my friends said I have to go to the temple bar”…. I kept trying to explain it was kind of like going to Olive Garden in Times Square NYC.
Image source: Purenotionslike, Svein-Magne Tunli
#16
This bench. The Chinese will queue for hours for a chance to sit on this bench. It’s in the suburbs of Sydney, Australia.
The story behind it is a pop star called Jay Chou sat there once, posting a picture to social media. As a result, it’s now a huge Chinese tourist thing to do, and leaves everyone else more than slightly bemused.
Image source: Terri23, irispupu1012
#17
This, Vinicuna or “color mountain”.
It is one of those places that became a thing after instagramers started taking pictures in front of it.
However, on instagram, you can edit the color so it looks way more vibrant, and you can take it from an angle that looks like a huge mountain.
In reality, you need to take a bus ride that’s far away and do a hike just to end up at this underwhelming hill with some colors caused by minerals.
Image source: breadexpert69
#18
Shilin Night Market, it is one of the most popular night markets in Taiwan and is shoulder to shoulder crowded every night, but the food [is bad] because the stalls prioritize volume over taste and ingredients, and it’s overpriced.
Image source: StuddedScones, Soon Koon
#19
Gastown Clock.
People are misled to think it’s a historical artifact and runs on steam but it’s neither. You’ll find people waiting for a long time to see it do its steam thing.
Image source: Few_Paces
#20
The spire of Dublin, dumbest thing we got in my opinion.
Thought it was pretty sick when they turned it into a lightsaber for Star Wars Day.
Image source: NewspaperHelpful6500, William Murphy
#21
It’s just ok.
The area around the Mall of America is laid out so that you can get from the airport to the mall to your hotel room without ever going outside (kind of impressive tbh) but the Mall itself is whatever. Except the log ride.
Image source: Competitive_Web_6658, Farragutful
#22
Four Corners Monument.
Image source: SI108, Rita Quinn
#23
Blue boathouse, Perth Australia.
meandhimandthose2:
This was my pick as well, it’s not even famous for anything. It is just, a boathouse?? Yet people line up for ages just for a picture. Even on their wedding day!!
Image source: sclerophylll
#24
A staircase in my neighborhood I used to go sledding down as a kid when New York City had heavier snowfalls in the 90s. It’s now referred to as the “Joker Stairs” because of Joaquin Phoenix’s performance in the Joker(2019) in which he dances down a part of the staircase and it attracts so many tourists daily. It’s just a staircase…
Image source: Nino167, With Paul
#25
I used to drive past this pile of rocks on my way to work every day.
It’s much, much smaller than you imagine.
Image source: Speshal__
#26
Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
An urban planning crime and a gathering place for poverty. A terrible place.
Image source: lth199, Mike
#27
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen…
MarketingNew5370:
I agree, it is an underwhelming statue with a boring Industrial background which is often marketed as the highlight of any trip to Copenhagen. The literal fortress right next, Kastellet, is infinitely more interesting.
Image source: ImperatorDanorum, pleia2
#28
The smell from this place hits harder than any drunken stepfather.
Image source: CAUSE_I_FEEEEEEEEEEL
#29
I live in New York City… Times Square.
mikroonde:
When I went to NYC, I remember arriving there tired late at night, struggling to find our way to the hotel, and eating a disgusting sandwich before going back outside just to see Times Square before going to sleep. I was like… that’s it? Thankfully the next days were less disappointing but honestly I expected Times Square to be a huge thing and I realised it was just a street and the screens were smaller than I imagined. Some people mentioned tourists experiencing a busy area of a big city for the first time but I grew up in Paris so I was unimpressed lol. I did find it cool to see that the streets of Manhattan were just like in the movies though lol.
Image source: Mortal_emily_, Namrata Garad
#30
I’m always shocked when in Vegas and I hear foreign accents. Like, you came from Europe for… this??
Gogyoo:
You couldn’t pay me money to go there, let alone spend money there.
greaper007:
This falls in the category of a place that used to be amazing and now isn’t worth it. I still remember doing maybe 5 days in Vegas for about 150 bucks in 03.
Image source: IcePrincess_Not_Sk8r, Cameron Rainey
#31
Hot take, but probably The Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Image source: liljuddsrightpaw, Paul Mannix
#32
The Inverness “it’s nae a bonk machine”.
Fuzzy-Gear1965:
I genuinely think one of the funniest things to come out of Scotland is a railing that’s nae a bunk machine becoming a tourist destination.
Image source: Flowa-Powa, Scottish Banter
#33
Moulin rouge.
skabben:
My experience is that all tourist spots in Paris is full of scammers and people trying to sell you [stuff]. Really ruins the experience.
Image source: Accomplished_Day9936, Roderick Eime
#34
Don’t know so much about International tourists, but The Dog On The Tuckerbox near Gundagai NSW is the worst tourist attraction in Australia.
It’s just off the Hume Highway, the main road between Sydney and Melbourne and maybe as a place to stretch your legs on the drive, it’s ok? But it’s so oversold. I remember as a kid if my family was going on a road trip that way all the adults would say “oh, you’ll have to see the dog on the Tuckerbox”.
It’s just a dog statue on a plinth in a wishing well fountain and that’s it. There’s nothing there, not even a decent restaurant. Gundagai is also home to the Australian Pen Museum. It’s an exciting place!
Image source: monsteraguy, Michael Coghlan
#35
Nelson Mandela prison cell has to one of the most anticlimactic attractions in South Africa.
Image source: Medium-Education-659, Schavda
#36
The Corner in Winslow, AZ. The thing didn’t even happen there but outside a Weiner Hut in Flagstaff. Jackson Browne suggested to change it to make it flow better.
Image source: CaptServo, Tpaairman
#37
Even though it’s featured in most documentaries about Brazil or Rio, they’re just stairs. There’s nothing relevant in the area.
Image source: rafaelidades
#38
UK: Bronte waterfalls near me, look a bit more impressive with the recent rain than in the summer when it’s swamped with people.
Image source: Aseili
#39
“Dracula’s castle”
Vlad Țepeș never even came near it in all his life. The castle is pretty, but cramped due to the sheer number of tourists.
Image source: Euphoric_Judge_8761, David Stanley
#40
The Holy Stone of Clonrichert.
Image source: Albert_O_Balsam
#41
Poverty stricken places. Just why?
Anonymous:
Came here to say ‘slums’. Yall, I promise India has better places than Dharavi.
narvuntien:
It was actually in Busan, South Korea they painted a bunch of Poor peoples houses bright colours and called it a tourist attaction and the poor try to hawk you trickets from thier front doors. It was so exploitative for both the poor and the tourists.
Image source: anon, Jon Hurd
#42
Resorts. There is more to mexico than just the fancy hotels and beaches.
Image source: UmbraWolfG2T, Charan S
#43
Uzungöl.
This was a legitimate natural beauty alongside a teeny tiny village. When Arabic tourists started to take interest the place got bigger and uglier by the people who tried to grab money off of the place.
Darth-Vectivus:
Yep. It has become a concrete pond. I visited there when it was less “developed”. It was breathtaking.
Image source: ShitassAintOverYet, Ozbakanelwan
#44
Surfers Paradise.
colintbowers:
Neither a paradise, nor particularly good for surfers.
Image source: ApplicationPutrid587, John
#45
Bondi – there are so many amazing beaches in Australia.
Intelligent-Fan-6217:
I have to say bondi was utterly disappointing. The beach walk was nice but it wasn’t impressive or anything. Not sure why it’s so hyped.
Image source: BreakApprehensive489, Moritz Marquardt
#46
The part of the EuroVelo what we have- it’s a biker route accross Europe, but the Hungarian part is basically was just way to steal a disgusting amount of money, they didn’t built proper biker roads just putted the signboards to “roads” what was barely used even for the locals.
The part what is close to city is basically a sheep track, literally only used by shepherds. There’s no place to get water in a 10 km radius, it’s on a dam, so there’s not even a proper shadow there (and the trees are hard to reach, especially with packed bikes) and the whole thing is just hell on a warmer summer day.
Most of the constructions what was built for this route for “resting points” were designed poorly, they don’t give enough shadow, doesn’t protect you from the wind or rain, barely has place to sit down, and were made from cheap materials, so after 3 years they already looked old.
It’s not unusual that the country’s government stole europian money, there are way too many constructions with irrationally expensively built here ( or in worse cases, nothing there just the board about the money) but I think this is one of the worst cases because this thing was supposed to show the places, not making it to be insufferable xd.
Image source: Citazita, Chris Bainbridge
#47
Mount Rushmore.
bluechickenz:
Mount Rushmore is so strange… the scale is pretty amazing and the monument is quite cool, but it just looks so small and underwhelming in person.
Image source: Green_Mare6, Jim & Robin
#48
Teen and tween girls visit Forks, Washington hoping to see hunky, sparkly vampires and werewolves (because of Twilight) and end up seeing a depressed, gloomy logging town.
Image source: Worried_Process_5648, Ted Drake
#49
I’m going to say the American side of Niagara Falls. Technically the more aesthetic half is on the US side, but you can only see it well from the Canadian side. Even our tourist trap attractions in the area are [worse].
Image source: PlutoniumBoss, Larry Koester
#50
The Pablo Escobar tour in Medellín.
Image source: epicureanengineer, Jonnyfootballhero
#51
Skyscrapers.
They are too boring.
Image source: Tiny_Chart_4869, Juan Castro
#52
The underground path in Toronto. It’s really just that, underground pathways between buildings and subway stations, with shops and food courts in them. It’s also the path between the train station and the financial district so it’s super busy with people traffic during rush hour in what truly feels like a rat race. It comes in super handy on cold windy winter days, but it has been sold as an ‘underground city’ as a tourist destination. I feel sooo bad every time a tourist stops me to ask me where is the underground city, and I have to tell them ‘you’re in it, this is it.’ Uuuugh and it’s usually super polite Japanese tourists that still proceed to take pictures of the glorified underground 2000’s shopping mall.
Image source: SalientSazon, Raysonho @ Open Grid Scheduler
#53
Dudes throwing fish at each other at Pike Place Market.
Image source: makk73, Elsie Lin
#54
It’s fun to joke about but… meh. There’s hundreds of Coffs all around Australia.
Image source: Atzkicica
#55
I am from Northern Ireland United Kingdom and everyone comes to Belfast to see the peace wall, a grey wall running through West Belfast, then think all Northern Irish people live seperate lives when in reality a lot of us mix with each other both protestant and catholic.
Image source: teaandsconesfan, Ross
#56
Anything ghost or wizard/Harry Potter related in York, UK. Pathetic because ghosts don’t exist and York has zero connection to Harry Potter. There’s so much actual history to immerse yourself in, it boggles the mind why people spend their money on it.
Image source: SprayInternational58, Domagoj Smoljanovic
#57
The book tower in municipal library in Prague.
Various guides mention it as a “hidden” or “secret” spot.
In reality there’s always a queue where tiktokkers and instagrammers waits for hours to take the same picture.
Image source: zennie4, Deror_avi
#58
Gatlinburg, TN. A soulless tourist trap with no redeeming cultural value. Yet it’s always chuck full of people visiting Ripley’s Believe it or Not or buying moonshine in a mason jar.
Image source: Skysis, BarbarianCoder
#59
Oktoberfest. People fly here from all over the world to get wasted on overpriced mediocre beer and disgusting food, just to throw it all up again an hour later.
Image source: CaptainRaxx, Roberta Sant’Anna
#60
I don’t get the interest in touching the nose of Grayfriars Bobby
Image source: TeamOfPups
#61
Technically not a tourist spot but I know people that make special trips to Buckee’s . While we didn’t plan a trip, we stopped because we were in the area. I ve never been so disappointed in my life.
Image source: westslexander, Dave Stone
#62
This piece of.. whatever.
The ”obelisc / obelisco” in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Image source: Acceptable-Cry6618
#63
Do not go to pier 39 in San Francisco it’s a tourist trap ! Go literally anywhere else. I see so many international tourist.
Image source: TheBackyardPigfarmer, Chris6d
#64
Sunny Beach, Bulgaria.
It is a resort town that somehow marketed itself successfully throughout Europe for all the wrong reasons.
The [worst] tourists (violent alcoholics from Sweden, redneck Brits, russians) started flocking there to get drunk cheaply, and the local businessmen layer tons upon tons of concrete and plastic to create a ridiculous skyline.
The resort has been a chaos of luxury hotels and vomiting drunkards on the streets ever since, with none of the charm that a peaceful beach town should have.
Image source: 7_11_Nation_Army, Greger Ravik
#65
Magnetic Hill in New Brunswick. Tourist trap. You practically have to drive through a maze to get in and out of the place. All to experience an optical illusion.
Image source: Concentrateman, Laurie Piskun
#66
Where I am…..Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco.
Image source: Pirate_Lantern, Eugene Kim
#67
The royal castle in Stockholm.
It’s one of the ugliest buildings in the city and a huge anticlimax for the tourists coming to Stockholm expecting to see a grand royal castle in the middle of the city and instead they are greeted by this ugly brown box.
What makes it even worse is that it is located in the most beautiful part of the city, surrounded by absolutely amazing architecture.
It’s quite possibly the most disappointing royal castle in the world.
At least the interior is really nice and it houses a couple of good museums.
I live right next to it and i can see it from my kitchen window, so i am forced to see it every day, so i am extra salty, but they are renovating it and repainting it to it’s original pink colour, not sure that will help.
Image source: ultraplusstretch, Magnus Johansson
#68
Honorable Mention in my area: the White House. Nothing to do with my politics. You can’t get close to it to really look at jt, it’s a gamble if you can get an inside tour, and chances are there’s a big enough protest going on that it will disrupt any visit you may want to chance. Go to Mount Vernon, or a variety of of the other famous houses that have tours instead.
Image source: LilkaLyubov, Matt Wade
#69
Probably the Sky Tower in Auckland. I mean we have WAY nicer tourist attractions.
Image source: cleanfreaksince4eva, 4nitsirk
#70
Krupówki street in Zakopane
it is a just bunch of overpriced souvenir shops and restaurants with mid food.
Image source: sbebasmieszek, Jose A.
#71
Moose Jaw tunnels in Saskatchewan
It’s reenactments of the possible bootlegging of alcohol by Capone etc.
Image source: Hazencuzimblazen, Traveller_muzamil
