Most overrated tourist attractions in the world
Feb 14, 2011, 7:12 pm
#106
In memoriam
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 4,020
Singapore in particular--exceedingly boring--and, in Singapore, the "Fountain of Wealth" which is really remarkably uninteresting and unattractive.
Come on Singapore, you can do better! At least improve the Singapore Slings at Raffles!
Come on Singapore, you can do better! At least improve the Singapore Slings at Raffles!
Feb 14, 2011, 7:23 pm
#107
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: East Coast USA
Programs: United MileagePlus
Posts: 81
If you don't like Mount Rushmore (actually I rather enjoyed it, but I was there for a band concert (AF band)), check out Crazy Horse Monument a few miles away. Definitely worth the visit and for a good cause, too.
About Hawai'i: I'm a Big Island fan -- volcano junkie and love the down-home feel to it all. I get enough city crap on my business travel.
Most overrated tourist attraction: probably Stonehenge the second time. First time I went was in the mid-80s and it was not this overbuilt thing.
Agree that Salisbury Cathedral is amazingly and heartbreakingly beautiful. We were there for Vespers one day... sublime.
About Hawai'i: I'm a Big Island fan -- volcano junkie and love the down-home feel to it all. I get enough city crap on my business travel.
Most overrated tourist attraction: probably Stonehenge the second time. First time I went was in the mid-80s and it was not this overbuilt thing.
Agree that Salisbury Cathedral is amazingly and heartbreakingly beautiful. We were there for Vespers one day... sublime.
Feb 14, 2011, 8:22 pm
#110
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Brisbane Australia
Programs: Singapore, Cathay, QANTAS, Delta, Velocity, Etihad
Posts: 429
The so-called "Little Italy" tourist traps of Lygon Street in Melbourne and Leichardt Street in Sydney. Cheap and nasty pizza and pasta joints. Not a decent Italian restaurant within miles of either.
Feb 14, 2011, 8:48 pm
#112
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newport Beach, California, USA
Posts: 36,062
I was there a few months ago and wanted something to eat. I saw the likes out TGIF's, Outback Steakhouse, and all sorts of other low-end chain restaurants, and had to struggle to find what may have been the last pizza-by-the-slice holes in the wall left in Times Square. It used to be there were a couple on every block.
And a word about the Mona Lisa. The problem with the Mona Lisa is not the painting, which remains a major masterpiece, but the way it is curated. Because of the crowds, it is placed high AND behind glass, which makes it nearly impossible to appreciate it. I avoid any museum that places the art behind glass (LACMA has done that for a couple of special exhibitions). Fortunately, most everything else at the Louvre is displayed as it should be.
Feb 14, 2011, 9:22 pm
#114
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 4,449
New Yawk City. Except for three things: food, especially when enjoying it with friends, the Museum Mile and going out somewhere nice with good music. Other than that, can't imagine wanting to be there.
The Grand Canyon - taking the bus on the tourist trap side - no different than being stuck in a traffic jam in a big city. I will never set foot there again. I like to enjoy my nature in peace and quiet, thank you.
The Grand Canyon - taking the bus on the tourist trap side - no different than being stuck in a traffic jam in a big city. I will never set foot there again. I like to enjoy my nature in peace and quiet, thank you.
Grand Canyon: great place to see. Once.
Feb 14, 2011, 9:25 pm
#115
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: SFO
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 5,270
Feb 14, 2011, 9:36 pm
#116
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: SEA
Programs: DL Gold, Marriott Gold
Posts: 207
South of the Border in the Carolinas. 
Padro says every ten miles from Richmond, VA, it's a "must stop" on the way to Florida.
It was a bit of a let-down when my dad stopped there on our family trip in 1990.
Padro says every ten miles from Richmond, VA, it's a "must stop" on the way to Florida.
It was a bit of a let-down when my dad stopped there on our family trip in 1990.
Feb 14, 2011, 10:00 pm
#118
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota,USA
Programs: UA, NW
Posts: 3,752
My votes would be for Tokyo Tower and Ginza in Japan. Tokyo Tower you go to, spend money to go up top for a decent view but not much else. Ginza is an upscale shopping area but unless you plan on shopping for high-end merchandise (which you can find many places in Japan), there's not much else to do. With the strong yen, everything is so much more expensive there also.
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I also enjoy Hawaii, especially off Oahu. Just experiencing the variety of climates on an island like Kauai (25" of rainfall per year on the southern coast, over 300" of rainfall a year just a few miles inland) and seeing the variety of cultures is fun. You have to get away from Waikiki, though. The Bishop Museum in Honolulu is a must for anyone interested in the natural history or anthropology of the Pacific.
As a resident of Minneapolis, I am puzzled by the fame of the Mall of America. It's just a big mall, and not a very attractive one. The idea that people travel from all over the world just to spend three days shopping astonishes me. What's the attraction, unless you don't have major retail chains and "family restaurants" and Hollywood blockbuster movie theaters at home?
Last edited by ksandness; Feb 14, 2011 at 10:05 pm
Feb 14, 2011, 10:12 pm
#119
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: MEL
Programs: QF, VA, VN, BA, SQ, KC - all reds and blues.
Posts: 3,205
Papik Tatik in Stepanakert. This is supposed to be the symbol of Nagorno-Karabakh Republic – it is on their visas, their government issued documents, in their guidebooks. It looks as though it is in some remote, windswept field.
Then you get there and it’s right next to a housing estate, a short walk off the main road, and very much smaller than you'd think.
Then you get there and it’s right next to a housing estate, a short walk off the main road, and very much smaller than you'd think.