piper28

I don't know about the Sistine Chapel, since we didn't make it there, but without trying to make a political statement, I was just personally completely turned off by St Peters, feeling it was a monument to everything wrong with the Catholic religion. Just far too much a monument to excess. And I'm not someone that would normally make any effort at all to bash a religion.

The Hoover Dam has been ruined by the security theater that you have to deal with nowadays. Was more interesting when you could take some of the better tours they used to offer.

Also ruined by security theater. Security there was even more of a joke than the Hoover Dam is. It was far more interesting to me as a kid when I was able to walk up it. (I know they do limited amounts of that again finally, but the security even to get into the base is just plain ridiculous, and at least the day I was there the security guards were more obnoxious than the average TSA agent.)

Jailer

Likely the most impactful building every built: construction cost overruns bleed the Catholic kleptocracy which lead to wide scale sales of indulgencies which lead to Martin Luther which lead to the Protestant Reformation which lead to capitalism (and deregulated airlines and the invention of frequent flyer programs) which lead to communism which lead to the overthrow of communism which returned to kleptocracies.

littlesheep

deleted

cloudcuckooland

Under those conditions I'm sure she's pretty. Cruising by on the Staten Island Ferry by day and seeing her --almost missing her-- for the first time and seeing how small it is . . . kinda deflates. It does go to show how things look bigger and better on camera, though.

sonofzeus

We took the guided tour of the basements.

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/in...040112_en.html

Saw all the dead Pope's crypts.

Worth the price of admission.

grlmopz

I've really enjoyed most of the places I've been, including Wall Drug, Mount Rushmore and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. Two places, however, that I thought were awful, awful places were:

1. Casablanca. Awful, dirty, unfriendly city. Several people screamed obscenities at us on the street. Even the Hassan II mosque -- the largest in the world -- wasn't really that great. Worst place I've been by a large margin.

2. Nassau, Bahamas. What a miserable, dilapidated town.

bcbailey64

Summer might work!

dkc192

The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. Hoards of people crowding around a minuscule mermaid, impossible to get close up and not worth the trek from downtown.

The Mona Lisa, for the same reasons above.

The Taj Mahal (sort of). The exterior was pretty filthy (you could see the gray on the marble), and just overall not quite worth the drive out from Delhi (we did it as a day trip; perhaps we should have stayed longer to see other parts of Agra).

The Millennium Dome in London when it was around. IIRC it was rather underwhelming and none of the exhibits were anything special.

Jennifer Strbac

+2

MastaHanky

I may catch some flak for this, but we drove the Garden Route in South Africa last month, and it was completely underwhelming. A few nice views didn't make up for horrendous traffic and miles and miles of roadside "attractions".

VivoPerLei

The exhibits were indeed rubbish, however, the show with the acrobats flying around on wires was awesome.

MSchott

Can you explain why you feel this way about the Statue of Liberty? I can't fathom why anyone would feel it is overrated. I was there about 15 years ago and even though the climb to the top was slow and laborious, just being there was a breathtaking experience.

Edit: Sorry I missed your post above with your explanation. It's not exactly tiny. I think it's an impressive size and of course the emotional impact should be huge. Being on the island and reading Emma Lazarus' poem is enough to affirm the spirit of the statue and the great promise of the United States (here's an excerpt):

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

DrMaturin

For all those who are citing the Grand Canyon as overrated may I suggest viewing it from the bottom rather than the top. My son and I rafted through the Canyon with a company called Western Rivers Expeditions a few years ago. We rafted the rapids by day and slept outdoors by night. The Canyon is awesome from that perspective. I still remember sunrise, with part of the wall being lit up. The quality of the light was really amazing ^

Gregory Nelson

15 pages and no one has mentioned ...

Mont St. Michel ?

Avoid at all costs. Fortunately, since it's so far off the beaten path, this is easy to do.

I went there expecting a castle full of the magic and majesty that was described in the guidebooks and pictured in my French textbooks. I found a dirty, crowded dump full of tacky souvenir shops and hot dog stands. The Wisconsin Dells has more class than this place.

I turned around after less than half an hour and headed back to town. While waiting for the next train, I got to chatting with an older British couple.

"Tran .. por .."
"Uh, I speak English."
"Oh, thank God! Bloody hell, this trip has been a nightmare!"

Followed by tales of car troubles, etc. Long story short, the husband had seen it while serving in WWII, and drove here to show it off to his bride, after decades of telling her how beautiful it was. His quote: "I tell you, lad, I had tears in my eyes after seeing what they've done to this place. Tears, I tell you! It's a bloody crime! It's worse than the moneychangers in the temple!"

flightjunk

I think Manneken Pis in Brussels in number 1 of the most overrated tourist attractions for sure! Total waste of time. Brussels in general is overrated!