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Overrated sights/destinations

LirW

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).

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jmayo

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

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

Leaning tower is interesting from engineering perspective, well that is the engineer in me I guess.

The church the other side was pretty amazing, but most people seem to ignore it.
Barcelona is over hyped, some areas are nice like up near Olympic stadium, but Las Ramblas area is to be avoided like the plague.

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

And did you walk right round it ?
A three mile walk around a big rock in searing heat with loads of fecking snakes waiting for you if you wander off the path.
Even if you start early it is boiling by the time you finish.

And as for the cr** about it changing colour at sunset.

Yep it does get darker alright.
But that is because the fooking sun is going down and everything is getting dark.

Myself and this English guy turned away from it and start taking pictures of the opposite view only to realise a bus load of Japanese tourists were copying us because they thought they were missing something.

Ursus Horribilis

Barcelona. I thought it was a bit sleazy.

Itssoeasy

I don't get when people are disappointed or underwhelmed by these things. Most of these attractions are telling you what they are simply by their name.

It reminds me of the episode of fawlty towers where the guest wasn't satisfied with the view out of the window of a Torquay hotel. Basil fawlty then asks what she expected to see out of the window, the hanging gardens of Babylon or herds of wildebeests ?

Harry Palmr

Ladies View on the Ring of Kerry, I drove right past it then realised 'that was it'

Greyfox

CrankyHaus wrote: »

New York. Expensive, unfriendly, uncomfortable.

I completely disagree, new Yorkers are very friendly and theres about 1,000 interesting things to do in n York. My best holiday ever

Squatter

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Leaning tower of pizza, not that impressive.

Love it. Although it's not a patch on the Leaning Tower of Calzone!

Working class heroes

Rockall, feck all to do and woeful hard to get a decent pint.

[Deleted User]

Deleted User wrote:

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.

+1
If someone hadn't told you that this was a famous painting you'd walk right past.

Hurrache

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

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.

Skyfloater wrote: »

It's funny how few of them bother to look over their shoulder to the 3 Da Vincis' in the next room.

How do you know they didn't look at the other works once they finished with, or prior to, the Mona Lisa? It's a still photo, not a moving picture.

LirW wrote: »

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!

I've been a few times, it's been amazing each visit. But if you're not into the outdoors or scenery, it's not for you.

Skyfloater

The hill of Tara would get my vote. A hill with a couple of small ditches on it, wow.
BTW, could someone remind me how to directly insert an image into a post please.

Skyfloater

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.

It's funny how few of them bother to look over their shoulder to the 3 Da Vincis' in the next room.

Afollower

I visited Venice in October some years back - major disappointment. It was cold, wet, dirty and smelly and vastly overpriced.

The Blue Mosque in Istanbul was another disappointment - very uderwhelming!

My favourity Cities, so far, Moscow, Krakow, Paris, Rome

ArnoldJRimmer

LirW wrote: »

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!

Ah the grand Canyon is spectacular, definitely go and visit, and give yourself time for a hike too. Monument Valley on the other hand is not really worth it, and the roads are really cr@p to get there

As for other over-rated destinations, New York is a ripoff, its dirty and its extremely unfriendly

eviltimeban

ford2600 wrote: »

The Grand Canyon takes a bit of effort
*a really early start to see sunrise.
*hike down to river and back

If you are just going to have a gawk from sky bridge with hordes don't bother.

Also Rome is brilliant city to visit.

Giant's Causeway was worth seeing for me and I don't agree with Ben Johnson.

But that fcuking Rope Bridge. Sweet Jesus

Carrick-a-rede? I thought it was cool. Short, but cool.

ford2600

LirW wrote: »

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!

The Grand Canyon takes a bit of effort
*a really early start to see sunrise.
*hike down to river and back

If you are just going to have a gawk from sky bridge with hordes don't bother.

Also Rome is brilliant city to visit.

Giant's Causeway was worth seeing for me and I don't agree with Ben Johnson.

But that fcuking Rope Bridge. Sweet Jesus

CrankyHaus

New York. Expensive, unfriendly, uncomfortable.

donegal_man

Well I guess the clue about Ayer's Rock is in the name, best time to visit is early morning or dusk when the silence and play of shadow is really affecting. Same goes for Stonehenge.
Most disappointing for me was probably Manneken Pis in Brussels. As well as being a fairly dull statue it's not even the the original but a copy from the mid 1960s. You have to visit the city museum to see the original.

Mac-Chops

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!

Wibbs

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.

NIMAN

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.

billyhead

Niagara Falls. I was bored after 15 mins.

Ragnar Lothbrok

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.

eviltimeban

babydream wrote: »

Rome in general was very underwhelming.

You've got to be kidding.

LirW

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!

iamwhoiam

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

Zaph

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.

babydream

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

eviltimeban

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

tower of pizza

I'd be on for that!

LirW

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.

valoren

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