Overrated sights/destinations

Mister Vain · 05-11-2018 10:46PM

Dubai. A soulless cesspit of ostentatious wealth.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 05-11-2018 10:49PM

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

Belem in Portugal for custard tarts. I just had Lidl version. Just as tasty.

I could not believe anyone would queue for that long to buy a pastel de nata. Many tourists seem to view their holiday as a box-ticking exercise and don’t really seem to take anything in.

Mookie Blaylock wrote: »

Nah man, you're on your own there... nothing to touch the pastry there...even in other parts of Lisbon it's not a patch on Belems finest

The street where my hotel was in Lisbon had a cafe that was no.1 on various lists of best places to buy a pastel de nata (Belem was further down the top ten). It was in a business area so was just a normally busy cafe. Even if Belem had the best, there is no way I’d join the ridiculous queues. It’s just pastry and custard, people! I was seriously just aghast to see people queuing well down the street in August midday heat. What a waste of time when you could be exploring instead and when there are actually plenty of places to buy a nice pastel de nata.

TommyGun2017 · 05-11-2018 10:54PM

I’d have to say Helsinki. Place feels utterly vacant and this was on the main shopping street in the middle of the day. Even allowing for the small population I’d expected more of a buzz

retalivity · 05-11-2018 10:55PM

Halong bay in vietnam. I was so looking forward to it and i was so disappointed in it, didn't help that the days we were there were grey and overcast. And the sea was filthy.

RebelButtMunch · 05-11-2018 10:55PM

I'd agree with the Vegas posters. Horrible place. Crammed with tourists. Smelly. Full of hookers.

I'm glad I went at least to know what it's like.

Cloudio9 · 05-11-2018 10:59PM

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts wrote: »

Google Maps is saying it’s a 1.25 day drive. I know Maps isn’t always completely accurate when it comes to drive times but I doubt it would be out by that much! With an overnight stay, it shouldn’t be more than two days. Unless you did the drive a long time ago and the roads were worse?

That’s 30 hours of driving. You don’t do that in 2 days. I once did 10 hours in a day in Aus and I don’t think any longer would’ve been safe.

Rubberchikken · 05-11-2018 11:01PM

Id love to be able to see all tje places mentioned in tjis thread to be able to say whether i was unimpressed or not.
Havent travelled much but anywhere ive gone, paris London Edinburgh Munich ive really enjoyed them.
Saw the mona lisa. Yes its small but it was painted by leonardo da Vinci. That is wonderful.in my eyes. So yeah im easily pleased:)

Irishder · 05-11-2018 11:02PM

Grand Canyon. Big hole in the ground

mikemac2 · 05-11-2018 11:05PM

I was going to add Brussels to this list but nobody rates it anyway. Let’s go for an amazing weekend in Brussels said no one ever

LirW wrote: »

Another one I didn't warm with was Munich. It's this really super posh German City that has a few good museums but beside that it's actually quite boring if you aren't into boozing and all the typical places to drink are quite cringey and it's really expensive. So many German cities are way way nicer and better craic.

100% agree. Wasn’t a fan of Munich and I learned what a tourist in Templebar feels like. Service in the hofbrauhaus in Munich is horrendous, they tried to shortchange me twice and I should have known no locals go there.

Hamburg and Cologne are cool interesting cities and less expensive than Munich too

mfceiling · 05-11-2018 11:07PM

Stockholm...so bland and forgettable.

Pisa was a waste of a day. I love italy in general. The people, food, sights and smells are fantastic but Pisa was just a meh city.

Dubrovnik....constant hassle from vendors trying to get you into their restaurants.

I love getting on a plane to head away so I try to enjoy anywhere I go as much as possible but some places make that nigh on possible.

Tell me how · 05-11-2018 11:10PM

mfceiling wrote:

Stockholm...so bland and forgettable.

I'm sorry what now?

Can't agree. The harbour area and old town are beautiful.

And the people. Stunningly attractive with that seemingly effortless style.

Panthro · 05-11-2018 11:11PM

Mona Lisa was Shyte.

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 05-11-2018 11:12PM

endacl wrote: »

Have to disagree. I never 'went to see' Uluru, but did have an 8 hour stopover at the nearby airport. The rock is visible from the airport, and with little else to do, we decided to walk out and see if we could improve the view. It looked 'massively-tiny' on the horizon. Two hour's walking later, we were almost halfway there, and it still looked 'massively-tiny'. As if we'd got no nearer at all, although we'd covered about 10k of the 26k distance.

Couldn't help thinking of the effect that this constant massive presence in a landscape that was otherwise endless horizon might have had on the people of the land before roads and airports arrived.

Quite humbling.

Don’t laugh but I think the same about Croagh Patrick. From various angles and distances in Mayo and Galway, it looks like a perfect pyramid. No wonder people were drawn to it.

harry Bailey esq · 05-11-2018 11:14PM

The Holy stone of clonrichert was a bit of a anticlimax, considering it was upgraded to a class 3 relic...
*gets crombie*

Obvious Desperate Breakfasts · 05-11-2018 11:15PM

Cloudio9 wrote: »

That’s 30 hours of driving. You don’t do that in 2 days. I once did 10 hours in a day in Aus and I don’t think any longer would’ve been safe.

Fair enough. I don’t drive so I’m fairly clueless about driver fatigue.

Paully D · 05-11-2018 11:16PM

Hamburg was horrendous IMO.

If you had told me I had taken a wrong train or something and was in a random Turkish slum I’d have been hard pressed to disagree.

Streets upon streets full of unfriendly people, kebab takeaways, and sex shops.

Pherekydes · 05-11-2018 11:18PM

Of the places I've visited, Euro Disney. Soulless Americana.

Of the places I haven't visited, Vegas. Just why?

byhookorbycrook · 05-11-2018 11:21PM

"The Dark Hedges"- a line of trees. Meh. For me, the best part of the Giant's Causeway lies beyond it, there are great walks along the pathway that will bring you to other rock formations not over-run with Americans with loud voices in even louder trousers.
Kinsale- over priced, over hyped.

Gavlor · 05-11-2018 11:30PM

Naples- dirty kip
Venice - beautiful from the sea but it’s horrible, overcrowded and dirty once you get there
Miami - Miami Beach is akin to costa del sol and downtown is akin to tallaght!
Rotterdam - boring and dreary
<snip>

05-11-2018 11:33PM

Roadtoad wrote: »

Bruges, especially the Belfort tower. Full of fat Americans threatening to have a heart attack!

Been up that. Had a stent put in 2 months earlier. It got a good test......

Cazale · 05-11-2018 11:38PM

Teyla Emmagan wrote:

A bit closer to home, I bought some visitors to the Guinness Store House a few years back. Wow, is it useless. Half of it is empty and the exhibits just aren't that good. The Heineken brewery in Amsterdam is way better. And this is Ireland's most popular visitor attraction!! It is rubbish!!

I'm a long time Guinness drinker and can safely say it was the worst pint of Guinness I've had in Ireland. Cost me and the missus â‚¬50 for the privilege too.

Mena Mitty · 05-11-2018 11:52PM

The Irish National famine museum attached to a big house ( Strokestown house ) down in Roscommon wasn't very impressive.

The National Country Life museum, attached to another big house down is Castlebar is well worth a visit if you're into that kinda thing.

Capt'n Midnight · 05-11-2018 11:52PM

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

The Holy stone of clonrichert was a bit of a anticlimax, considering it was upgraded to a class 3 relic...
*gets crombie*

Ah , you were lured there ...

05-11-2018 11:56PM

mikemac2 wrote: »

I was going to add Brussels to this list but nobody rates it anyway. Let’s go for an amazing weekend in Brussels said no one ever

Brussels is an absolutely great spot for a session, cheap, delicious beer and great pubs, once you stay away from the Grand Place.

mammajamma · 05-11-2018 11:57PM

Paully D wrote: »

Hamburg was horrendous IMO.

If you had told me I had taken a wrong train or something and was in a random Turkish slum I’d have been hard pressed to disagree.

Streets upon streets full of unfriendly people, kebab takeaways, and sex shops.

Similar experience, but of course not everywhere. Varied between drab and utilitarian, to the lively immigrant parts (lively = watch your back every second, talk about slums created overnight)

Strangely, not every city is like that over there. Some seem to have escaped that cultural dressing-down. I went to hamburg to see germany and the german way of life, not large parts that look transplanted out of the middle east. Wont be going back

Also found the Turkish there to be particularly sneering, even when youre buying stuff off them.

Muahahaha · 06-11-2018 12:00AM

For me most underwhelming was the Taj Mahal. On first viewing from a distance it is impressive but up close its not, there is not much skill in the stonework and most of it is just flat marble slab without any carvings. Also the city it is in (Agra) is an absolute hellhole. Another bit of a let down was the Terracotta Army in China. This was because on the road leading to the site there were loads of shops all along the route selling life sized fake replicas of the statues. So before you even got there you had it ruined for you !

Mac-Chops wrote: »

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!

Another trick with the Causeway is to check out the time the ticket office of the National Trust closes at- iirc we arrived at 8.30pm in the summer and it was closed. We just walked in for free and had the whole place to ourselves- the hoards of tourists had long gone and it was completely empty. Fantastic sunsets there too, all the rocks light up orange.

retalivity · 06-11-2018 12:03AM

Iirc, you pay for entry to the interpretive centre at giants causeway, not the actual rocks. Although they would never tell you that. Park a bit further away and literally walk over the center (theres a path over the roof) or round the hotel and down the road to the rocks

rossie1977 · 06-11-2018 12:04AM

Can't think of anything that's really bad I visited.

Vegas you either love it or hate it but there is nowhere else on Earth like it and that includes Macau which doesn't have the same buzz at all. The de-theming of the resorts and removal of some of the best attractions has hurt Vegas no doubt as it feels more corporate these days. Was lucky enough to have been there during the second (maybe 3rd?) Vegas boom of the late 90s.

Bondi beach is quite small but the cliff-walk to Bronte makes up for it.

Copacabana beach is insanely busy with every inch taken up with people selling stuff. Leblon and Ipanema nearby are nicer areas/beaches imo.

Grand canyon is spectacular, one of the most amazing places on the planet. Hiking down into the canyon even if only for 30 minutes-1 hour is something everyone visiting should do.

wakka12 · 06-11-2018 12:12AM

Tbh Prague. Visually an amazing city but it was so dead and soulless, and even a bit seedy at night. I dont know if it was because I was there in the heart of winter in early january or not but there was just nobody about, main square almost completely empty, bars at night empty, it was like nobody lived there other than a few tourists wandering about in the daytime..thankfully I was there with a large group

appledrop · 06-11-2018 12:23AM

Venice!

I love Italy + was so excited about visiting Venice. It was horrible. Tacky souvenir shops everywhere, smelly, overcrowded. About €20 for 2 coffees + you have to share gondola with 5/6 others + still costs a mad amount.

I actually cried was so disappointed. Thankfully had an amazing experience watching opera in Verona in outdoor arena. Never seen others before but this setting was unreal.

Mona Lisa is a joke. I was lucky that my friend warned me before we went so prepared but still a let down.

Overrated sights/destinations

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