Overrated sights/destinations

LirW · 05-11-2018 03:30PM #1

I think we all had that moment to go and see a world famous sight or visited a must-see destination and you were nothing but disappointed or didn't get what the fuss is about.

I'll start: Stonehenge. It's literally a bunch of really boring rocks. Now I'm very into prehistoric sights and all but that one is pretty underwhelming.
Also Denmark, this is a really boring country to visit (except Copenhagen which leaves you bankrupt).

bop1977 · 05-11-2018 03:31PM

The giants causeway. A few rocks and it’s not that big.

RebelButtMunch · 05-11-2018 03:32PM

Leaning tower of pizza, not that impressive. Lots of tourists doing stupid poses.

Mona Lisa, tiny and swarmed with people

Barcelona / Venice; suffering from over tourism

RebelButtMunch · 05-11-2018 03:32PM

LirW wrote: »

Also Denmark, this is a really boring country to visit (except Copenhagen which leaves you bankrupt).

Quite a bland / industrial city as far as city breaks go

RebelButtMunch · 05-11-2018 03:33PM

bop1977 wrote: »

The giants causeway. A few rocks and it’s not that big.

Very un-impressive. The drive around that area was nicer than the destination

05-11-2018 03:33PM

LirW wrote: »

I think we all had that moment to go and see a world famous sight or visited a must-see destination and you were nothing but disappointed or didn't get what the fuss is about.

I'll start: Stonehenge. It's literally a bunch of really boring rocks. Now I'm very into prehistoric sights and all but that one is pretty underwhelming.
Also Denmark, this is a really boring country to visit (except Copenhagen which leaves you bankrupt).

Mona Lisa in the Louvre, a small squalid portrait behind bulletproof glass. Magnificent paintings adorning nearby walls all but ignored by tourists eager to chalk one off the list.

05-11-2018 03:34PM

Ayers rock...four day drive from Sydney with not much to see around you only to go see a big red rock, four day back.. waste of holiday from work

Dog Man Star · 05-11-2018 03:36PM

Little Mermaid in Copenhagen is pretty underwhelming.

Also Venice.

Humphrey BoaGart · 05-11-2018 03:37PM

Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. A terrible waste of time.

BailMeOut · 05-11-2018 03:38PM

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Mona Lisa, tiny and swarmed with people

no way. I saw Mona Lisa for first time only recently and was blown away by the painting as its so beautiful. The crowds swarming around it adds to the experience especially when you look from the painting back out to them.

Dog Man Star · 05-11-2018 03:40PM

Sirsok wrote: »

Ayers rock...four day drive from Sydney with not much to see around you only to go see a big red rock, four day back.. waste of holiday from work

I knew it! Glad I didn't bother with that.

LirW · 05-11-2018 03:40PM

I do like Venice, it's really beautiful but that's where it ends, it's always crazy busy and really overpriced.

Dj Stiggie · 05-11-2018 03:40PM

Dog Man Star wrote: »

Little Mermaid in Copenhagen is pretty underwhelming.

Yeah but it's a standing joke. Like it's called the Little Mermaid, you go there and that's literally all it is. What else were you expecting?

ohnonotgmail · 05-11-2018 03:41PM

BailMeOut wrote: »

no way. I saw Mona Lisa for first time only recently and was blown away by the painting as its so beautiful. The crowds swarming around it adds to the experience especially when you look from the painting back out to them.

This just confirms what others are saying. People looking at a painting they cant get within 20 feet of and ignoring other works that are right next to them.

alan partridge aha · 05-11-2018 03:41PM

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Very un-impressive. The drive around that area was nicer than the destination

Agreed and that cost was around €30 for 2 adults. I didn't pay and when leaving told car park attendant I'd must have lost the receipt. Absolute Rip off

The Pheasant2 · 05-11-2018 03:42PM

LirW wrote: »

I think we all had that moment to go and see a world famous sight or visited a must-see destination and you were nothing but disappointed or didn't get what the fuss is about.

I'll start: Stonehenge. It's literally a bunch of really boring rocks. Now I'm very into prehistoric sights and all but that one is pretty underwhelming.
Also Denmark, this is a really boring country to visit (except Copenhagen which leaves you bankrupt).

While Stonehenge may not be much to look at surely much of what makes it so impressive is how they must have transported and raised those ENORMOUS lintel stones.
If I recall correctly the type of rock from which the Lintel stones were carved could only be sourced from a a quarry over a hundred miles from Stonehenge. These stones weigh multiple tonnes...how in God's name did they transport these huge stones all those thousands upon thousands of years ago before we even had pack animals?!

And more to the point, why!?!

Dog Man Star · 05-11-2018 03:43PM

Dj Stiggie wrote: »

Yeah but it's a standing joke. Like it's called the Little Mermaid, you go there and that's literally all it is. What else were you expecting?

A bit of effort maybe, considering it's plastered over all their tourist advertising.

It's a very poor sculpture.

Dog Man Star · 05-11-2018 03:43PM

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

While Stonehenge may not be much to look at surely much of what makes it so impressive is how they must have transported and raised those ENORMOUS lintel stones.
If I recall correctly the type of rock from which the Lintel stones were carved could only be sourced from a a quarry over a hundred miles from Stonehenge. These stones weigh multiple tonnes...how in God's name did they transport these huge stones all those thousands upon thousands of years ago before we even had pack animals?!

And more to the point, why!?!

Loads of them have fallen down, it's shoddy workmanship.

valoren · 05-11-2018 03:44PM

I thought the American Museum of Natural History was very underwhelming.

LirW · 05-11-2018 03:45PM

The Pheasant2 wrote: »

While Stonehenge may not be much to look at surely much of what makes it so impressive is how they must have transported and raised those ENORMOUS lintel stones.
If I recall correctly the type of rock from which the Lintel stones were carved could only be sourced from a a quarry over a hundred miles from Stonehenge. These stones weigh multiple tonnes...how in God's name did they transport these huge stones all those thousands upon thousands of years ago before we even had pack animals?!

And more to the point, why!?!

You know it's a pretty irrational thing, I'd like to love it a lot more because of the history attached to it but I simply didn't feel it.
There are places out there a lot of people love yet you stand there wondering why oh why you don't like it or why everyone else is mad about it.

eviltimeban · 05-11-2018 03:45PM

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

tower of pizza

I'd be on for that!

babydream · 05-11-2018 03:46PM

Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, it has been touched up and now looks nearly 3D. Rome in general was very underwhelming.

Zaph · 05-11-2018 03:46PM

Sirsok wrote: »

Ayers rock...four day drive from Sydney with not much to see around you only to go see a big red rock, four day back.. waste of holiday from work

The Grand Canyon is a bit like that. Essentially it's a big hole in the ground, and it's so big that walking a mile further along the edge doesn't change the view. It is very impressive, but after 10 or 15 minutes looking at it you're left wondering what you and the rest of your tour group are going to do for the rest of the four hours you're there.

iamwhoiam · 05-11-2018 03:48PM

Venice. Smelly , tacky and overcrowded . They allow far too many huge cruise ships dock and spill thousands into Venice at the same time .
Huge ugly advertising hoardings on buildings and generally very disappointing

LirW · 05-11-2018 03:49PM

Zaph wrote: »

The Grand Canyon is a bit like that. Essentially it's a big hole in the ground, and it's so big that walking a mile further along the edge doesn't change the view. It is very impressive, but after 10 or 15 minutes looking at it you're left wondering what you and the rest of your tour group are going to do for the rest of the four hours you're there.

I'm planning a trip to the states in March and everyone says we need to go there. Of course we do now but in the back of my head I'm just worried that it's gonna be lame and we paid the park entrance for nothing!

eviltimeban · 05-11-2018 03:49PM

babydream wrote: »

Rome in general was very underwhelming.

You've got to be kidding.

Ragnar Lothbrok · 05-11-2018 03:51PM

Bali.

Didn't live up to my expectations at all, sadly. Quite dirty and unhygienic outside of the hotels too. Fairly squalid outside the main tourist centres. Humidity unbearable (although at a different time of year it may be bearable, obviously).

Pretty enough place, and the locals were amazingly polite and friendly, but it just wasn't the paradise I'd been led to believe it was.

billyhead · 05-11-2018 03:52PM

Niagara Falls. I was bored after 15 mins.

NIMAN · 05-11-2018 03:53PM

babydream wrote: »

Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, it has been touched up and now looks nearly 3D. Rome in general was very underwhelming.

I thought Rome was among the real gems I have visited.

Place just reeks of history. So many things to see. Probably best city I was in, along with Havana.

Wibbs · 05-11-2018 03:54PM

Dog Man Star wrote: »

Loads of them have fallen down, it's shoddy workmanship.

Funny enough it was mostly rebuilt in the 1950's.

0753c-stonehenge_104.jpg?w=450&h=447

Made it more picturesque.

Our own Newgrange, old again than Stonehenge was also rebuilt from the ground up and couldn't have looked like that when it was built(they required concrete to keep the white wall at the front from falling over).

Before all that it looked like this;

I do find Newgrange and the surrounding monuments pretty cool mind you. TBH I can't recall if I was ever really disappointed at a sight or destination. I'm easily pleased.

Mac-Chops · 05-11-2018 03:57PM

alan partridge aha wrote: »

Agreed and that cost was around €30 for 2 adults. I didn't pay and when leaving told car park attendant I'd must have lost the receipt. Absolute Rip off

Re Giant's Causeway, if you're up for a bit of walk you can get there for free. Pretty spectacular walking route at that.

But yes agreed that the tourist attraction spot itself is overrated in comparison!

Overrated sights/destinations

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