Paris is a magical place. The smell of cigarettes and urine on the street creates the perfect ambiance for enjoying a croissant, and seeing the Mona Lisa through dozens of cell phone screens is exactly what every child dreams of. Times Square is just as enchanting, with hordes of Midwesterners pushing through to see screens of ads for Broadway musicals and people dressed up like Pikachu and Mario on the street…
While it’s inevitable for famous attractions to bring huge crowds, it’s important to have reasonable expectations when visiting some of the world’s most popular locations. So Reddit users have recently been sharing all about the “most disappointing, tourist infested” places they’ve ever been to. Keep reading to also find a conversation with travel expert King Siu of Solo Traveler, and be sure to upvote the replies you’ll keep in mind when planning your future travels!
#1
Ground Zero in NYC. It wasn’t so much the number of tourists, but rather the number of smiling selfies being taken. It felt like it was in bad taste.
Image source: IreCalifornia, ERIC SALARD
#2
My own city in the last 10 years. Amsterdam really took a nosedive. Lots of unique little shops disappeared in favor of approx. 10 million frozen yogurt/chocolate waffle stores. Tourists used to be a few chill, cheery groups interested in the city they were in – now they sometimes look like hordes of zombies hobbling from one tourist trap to the other. Painstakingly slowly, and of course taking up the whole sidewalk.
Image source: dreamy_25, Dim Hou
#3
Times Square, NYC It’s just a bunch of screens. I’m not joking, that’s *it*. New York City is an amazing place, but please avoid this giant tourist distraction that offers nothing. Side note: and for those who want to see the Statue of Liberty, since you can’t go up in the crown anymore, the trip isn’t really worth the unbelievable line, imo. Just take the Staten Island ferry, and you’ll get close to the statue and pass at a leisurely pace. Then hop on the ferry back! Unless… you know, you want to hang out in Staten Island… which is entirely your prerogative, I mean… you do you!
Image source: Schneetmacher, Vlad Alexandru Popa
#4
Egypt. So many scammers and thieves. Can’t check into a hotel without getting some miscellaneous upcharge. Can’t take a taxi without having 50 miles tacked on to the fare or driver goes in an incredibly roundabout way. Can’t report to the cops without paying a ~~bribe~~ fine for whatever fake penal code they make up. Then you go to the pyramids and its just a line full of more scammers. Fake tour guides, camel rides that will quote you a small charge, but end up charging you a ridiculous tab, miles of trinket shops, orphan pick pockets, the over population of tourist. Its just crazy. It’s one of the few tourist locations that if you visit, you better know a local or you will get scammed during your trip, multiple times.
Image source: WanderlustFella, Tim & Annette Gulick
#5
Mount Rushmore, the land around it is 1000X more spectacular to look at then the f****n rock lol
Image source: YOSH_beats, Jim & Robin
#6
Yellowstone NP is fantastic when it’s just you or a few other people. However, most of the main sites are so full of people it really feels like Disney World at some points instead of nature. It’s also infuriating when I see so many tourist disrespecting the nature by walking off of the paths/board walks and leaving trash around.
Image source: wyatt_sw, pedrik
#7
Every cruise ship port in the Caribbean
Image source: Lallner, Güldem Üstün
#8
The Disney parks in Orlando, we paid an absolute fortune for tickets but the place was so overcrowded it just wasn’t fun
Image source: st2826, xiquinhosilva
#9
Bourbon Street, New Orleans.
I don’t want to sell my shoes to you, and I don’t want to give everyone on the street a cigarette.
Just didn’t feel safe at all, and there wasn’t much jazz playing either – day and evening.
Lovely city tho.
Image source: CatFaceRocker, denisbin
#10
I’m sure other cities have this problem, too, but there’s an epidemic in NYC of pop-up “museums” that are essentially just Instagram backgrounds. There are some great temporary exhibits in the city all the time that genuinely have cool artwork, or historical items, or just make for a neat experience. …and then there’s ones that just have a bunch of backdrops for people to pose in front of and maybe a placard.
Special shoutout to the ‘Museum of Candy’ that was hosted in a random warehouse and where you *didn’t even get any candy* with your ticket admission.
Image source: blueeyesredlipstick, Steve Jurvetson
#11
The room with the Mona Lisa in it.
Couldn’t get anywhere near it and it’s not that big of a painting to see from the back of the room when all the people in front of you had giant cameras. Maybe it’s better in the age of cell phone cameras – but I doubt it.
Edited to add I am so excited many of you agree with me! I saw the Mona Lisa when I was 18 back in 2005 and many other pieces in the Louvre partly led to my getting a degree in the history of art. But, damn, that was a crowded room!!
Image source: Appropriate_Panda467, Matt Biddulph
#12
Anything Disney! I grew up living near Disney, so we went a lot (80’s). It was still crowded and pricey, but nothing like it has become today. I went a couple years ago on a trip back home. I could not believe the prices and crowds. It was miserable.
Image source: TLC_4978
#13
Hollywood blvd … literally a worse version of NY Times Square (which also sucks)
Image source: Phader24, Shinya Suzuki
#14
This might get downvoted to hell but MILAN CATHEDRAL. Beautiful cathedral but whoever is running that as an attraction has utterly ruined it. They check the bags of everyone entering NOT looking for weapons, they’re looking for souvenirs that were not purchased at the official Milan Cathedral gift shop. The person has the choice to throw away the souvenir they bought or waste the ticket they had already purchased. I saw a trash can full of hundreds of dollars worth of souvenirs just because they were not purchased from the official store where you buy the entrance tickets. It was gut wrenching not only as a tourist, but as a Christian to see this. Beautiful cathedral ran by ugly and terrible people.
Image source: Flyinryans35
#15
Stonehenge. When I went: for some reason you couldn’t get within a hundred yards from it or so. Don’t remember why but I remember it was faaaar away. And there’s nothing else to do nearby. What’s crazy is they let people hop and dance all over the damn thing during summer solstice. I know because the peeps I went with had done so.
Image source: profanesublimity, Su–May
#16
The Sistine Chapel. It was incredible to see in person, but it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder with people and they were trying to usher everyone through as fast as possible, so I felt like I was in the way and couldn’t stay long. I would have loved to just gaze quietly at the ceiling and take it all in for several minutes, but that wasn’t an option.
Image source: Atheist_Alex_C, Beyond Forgetting
#17
Dubrovnik after GoT. So many Khaleesies
Image source: ComfyHomonto, @pip_says
#18
Never go to the Van Gogh “immersive experience” — it’s the biggest bit of malarkey I’ve ever paid $50 for. You’re just trapped inside a blurry, underwhelming PowerPoint presentation where the art is not even presented in logical sequence and the music is a**e.
Image source: elegantsweatshirt, Jeff Vincent
#19
The big Christmas tree at Rockefeller center NYC around Christmas… So packed I got just close enough to barely squeeze myself out.. Didn’t even really see the tree… That area always looks so nice in movies 🤷.Time square also.. straight up stressful just being there . An I still don’t understand why gridlock traffic everyone feels the need to beep their horn constantly as if there is anywhere to go?..I’m just to country boy I guess…
Image source: Wkdp1ssa86, P a U L i u S
#20
Any tourist destination in Bali. Beautiful place, amazing food, stunning vistas, friendly people, but the pushy salespeople on the street outside every tourist destination trying to extract every rupiah I had for tourist knick-knacks ruined a lot of the good vibe.
Image source: PeterJoAl, shankar s.
#21
I’ve been to Las Vegas twice and both have been very underwhelming.
Everything is basically a giant fake a*s tourist trap that tries to imitate the real world locations, with slot machines stuffed everywhere up to the eyeballs, manned by fat old people trying to p**s away their life savings.
Clubs were fun, but the rest is a solid 6/10.
Image source: Icarus-1908, Manuel Ressel
#22
Venice in August, I felt bad being there. Luckily was only a day trip but it was like something from a horror film.
Image source: luckybeee, Luca Sartoni
#23
Nassau, Bahamas. It was like being in a very expensive prison.
Image source: outerproduct
#24
Las Ramblas in Barcelona, what a pickpocket paradise!
#25
Sadly I live there.
Nashville, Tennessee
Image source: iwishiwereonabeach, Daniel Lobo
#26
The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen was…underwhelming. To be fair though, I shouldn’t really have expected to be whelmed by a little mermaid statue.
Image source: Apprehensive_Jaguar, Rob Young
#27
Plymouth Rock
Image source: ImprovementUsual1361, denisbin
#28
Oxford Street, Central London. The place for you if you enjoy:
Claustrophobic levels of crowding, overpriced / borderline fraudulent retail, traffic that barely moves, groups of roadmen/hood teens everywhere
Image source: o1frmda4, MallSecrets.co.uk Picture A
#29
The leaning tower of Pisa.
A field of tourists trying to take a picture of the tower without other tourists in it and souvenir shops trying to sells those tourists stuff.
Image source: Korpikuusenalla, Boris Kasimov
#30
Niagara Falls, overrun during the summer. The Ontario side is the tackiest of tourist destinations, the NY side is a great place to get shot in the face.
Image source: buffaloeccentric, Ken Lund
#31
Rome. People complain about Paris, but I really enjoyed it. Rome, on the other hand, was horrible. Amazing art and architecture everywhere, ancient ruins, the opulence of the Vatican… it’s all there, but absolutely ruined by the thousands of tourists, the locals, and the overall dingy unkempt depressing nastiness of the city. Sorry, didn’t love it.
Image source: DonktorDonkenstein, Sakena
#32
Cabo San Lucas. It’s certainly pretty, and the tourists aren’t the problem, it’s that you can’t go anywhere in town or on the beaches without being constantly hounded by people trying to sell you stuff.
Image source: ARandomPileOfCats, Kirt Edblom
#33
Dublin… nothing Irish about it. Every pub is Americanized to the max, to include a dude with a guitar playing the same American “hits” from the last 40 years.
Image source: Equal_Win, Laura LaRose
#34
Downtown Reykjavík. Any Icelander knows what I’m talking about.
Quirky cute little downtown area thats just overswarmed with tourists and stores selling cheap puffin trinkets
Image source: Bolvane
#35
All the hottest places in Tokyo. I spent 3 weeks in Japan and loved 90% of it but Tokyo was a massive disappointment. Even in March, when international tourism was still slow to pick up, places like Harajuku, Shibuya, and Kabukicho were way too touristy and boring for my tastes and every other tourist seemed to have no idea what they even wanted to do or see, there. On the other hand, I endured tourist-infested areas of Kyoto well because the sights to see were extremely worth it. Kiyumizu-dera? Gorgeous. Totally worth the 9am crowds. Probably would not have felt the same at 1pm, who knows. Dotonbori in Osaka? Totally f*****g worth every crowd, it was so much fun. Tokyo? Not even close.
Image source: wakattawakaranai
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