Most overrated tourist attractions in the world
#886
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: YVR
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Posts: 197
Leaning tower of Pisa. Not a whole lot going on and swarming with people. There is nothing else around and unless you are doing a trip around the rest of Tuscany, it is not worth it.
#888
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: Chicago, USA
Programs: TK Elite ...and blue, lots of blue...
Posts: 746
Manneken Pis in Brussels: it's a tiny statue of a boy peeing. Most people are disappointed when the see it. But as it's only a short walk from the Grand Place (definitely a must-see) most people go anyway, only to see what costume it is wearing (if any). So go see it, but expect to be disappointed
Few people know that he has a female counterpart, hidden in a small dead-end street on the other side of Grand Place. A statue of a peeing boy is regarded as funny but many tourists feel different when being confronted with a peeing girl, so the tourist office doesn't promote it.
Few people know that he has a female counterpart, hidden in a small dead-end street on the other side of Grand Place. A statue of a peeing boy is regarded as funny but many tourists feel different when being confronted with a peeing girl, so the tourist office doesn't promote it.
#889
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC, IHG Plat Amb, Le Club Accor Plat.
Posts: 48
Little Mermaid in Copenhagen.
I love Copenhagen I really do and there are a multitude of things to do here but give the little mermaid a miss - 'little' doesn't justify the word. Location is a bit out of the way and you can do alternative things in your time rather than visit this statue.
I love Copenhagen I really do and there are a multitude of things to do here but give the little mermaid a miss - 'little' doesn't justify the word. Location is a bit out of the way and you can do alternative things in your time rather than visit this statue.
#891
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: California
Posts: 2,731
Disneyworld (or -land, etc.). Perhaps I would have appreciated it had I not gone for the first time in high school on a school trip. However, I am mystified by the fact that Disney has been marketing their parks--successfully!--to childless adults. What's the appeal?
#892
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: CLE/CAK
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Posts: 593
Athens and the Acropolis
Yes, the Parthenon is amazing in many ways and I am glad that I did see it ... once.
But once you get there you realize that the place is not very well maintained, the most recent restoration effort goes unfinished after 30+ years, and the grounds are inhabited by dozens of feral dogs who have discovered that wherever the tourists roam, food waste can't be far behind.
I'd contend that it is worth a trip to take it off your bucket list but, if planning a vacation to Greece, I'd spend much more time on the islands and far less time in the city.
But once you get there you realize that the place is not very well maintained, the most recent restoration effort goes unfinished after 30+ years, and the grounds are inhabited by dozens of feral dogs who have discovered that wherever the tourists roam, food waste can't be far behind.
I'd contend that it is worth a trip to take it off your bucket list but, if planning a vacation to Greece, I'd spend much more time on the islands and far less time in the city.
#894
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: London
Programs: BA Silver, Marriott Platinum, IHG Platinum
Posts: 567
I'm surprised no one has so far mentioned the Sphinx.
The Pyramids at Giza are impressive and worth visiting (if you can overlook the rubbish, flies, over pricing, over crowding and the close proximity of a KFC) but the Sphinx is so disappointing. For something that is so often photographed and so famous, in reality it is a tiny pile of rubble with only the face now resembling anything that it once was. Definitely not worth bothering with.
The Pyramids at Giza are impressive and worth visiting (if you can overlook the rubbish, flies, over pricing, over crowding and the close proximity of a KFC) but the Sphinx is so disappointing. For something that is so often photographed and so famous, in reality it is a tiny pile of rubble with only the face now resembling anything that it once was. Definitely not worth bothering with.
#896
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Posts: 14,707
#897
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: DFW
Programs: AA 1M
Posts: 31,475
I am thinking of making a trip there next month and so would like to hear what others. have to say about the Alamo.
#900
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Tainan, Taiwan
Posts: 14,707
I thought it was a rip-off at $13 a decade ago. Only paid it because it was my colleague's first visit to NYC, and he really wanted to go up.
Can't remember what I paid to go to the top of the WTC back then, but I remember the view was much more impressive.