I agree with the several votes for Shanghai as an overrated city from a visitor's point of view. It has the modern amenities of a large city, but seemed fairly thin on the cultural side. By contrast, Beijing has a high reputation for attractions, but it lives up to it.

I would defend my (new) home, Washington, D.C. I've been here for 9 years (relocated from SF Bay Area). There is a boggling amount of things to do here. The obvious tourist things can easily take up several full weeks--Smithsonian museums (there are a lot of them), government buildings, monuments, Mt. Vernon, Arlington Cemetery, etc. But there is a large collection of smaller museums and historical homes that could take up another few weeks to visit. Also, the embassies and international organizations have extensive public programs (yes, open to all, often free or for a relatively low price), not to mention the think tanks and associations. And within D.C. itself, within 5 miles of each other, there are 5 major universities with activities. There are a number of interesting day trips--Charlottesville, Fredericksburg, Baltimore, Virginia horse country, Annapolis...

Interesting...
 

how often LA and Sinney show up in this discussion, and how regularly each is reviled or defended. I was impressed with Sydney during the 5 days or so R and I walked around it--when we weren't on some day tour otherwise. But will we go BACK to Oz? Probably not, but then we also avoid LA except for access to LAX.
A Socal-er I might be expected to rave about "ellay," but even so, I feel no great compunction to do so.
And up until the exchange rate began to disfavor the GBP so dramatically, R and I'd bop off to The Big Lime and absolutely *live* in the theatREs, matinees and evenings. But with relative costs as they now are, "ROI" makes London seem disproportionately rated.
One man's meat is another man's posion? De gustibus? :eek:

Dublin. Overpriced, overrated and over here!! :mad:

I'd also add Montego Bay and Orlando. :td:

I can also see why New York and London are considered overrated by some. There's so much in them they overwhelm you as a tourist unless you live there so ^ :td: :) .

Underrated in that I enjoyed them far more than I expected : San Francisco, Atlanta, Lisbon and San Diego. ^

Galway

It's late but how could I forget this tip except it's not really big enough to be a city. Unfortunately it is and seems to be loved by practically everyone. :rolleyes: Always rains in it!

I think it's perfectly reasonable to "rate" a city, without having been there... just by reading guidebooks and bulletin boards. Guidebooks are like government tourist office brochures: they should tell you what's worthwhile to visit and see.

and after reading the guidebooks on Sydney, I was simply left with the thought, "i don't get it... there seems to be almost nothing of real interst here..." I'm not stupid... i'm well aware that Sydney ranks HIGH in most "city satisfaction" surveys... I simply don't get it. I don't think I have to have visited there to "NOT GET IT".

Conversely, I haven't been to Baghdad, but I believe I can tell there's nothing of interest there... one reason is the LACK of guidebooks on the place.

And to the earlier poster who commended my honesty in admitting I hadn't been to Sydney, these boards are mostly annonymous, which means people can be completely truthful and open. The beauty of these boards is everyone is free to really say what they truly feel. For example, I truly believe those that LOVE Sydney really do... when I go in a few weeks, I will have an open mind, but I have a hard time figuring out what to do with my time there.

maybe you should have waited until you have visited sydney before posting this topic.

Another defender of Sydney -- I'd say it's the greatest city on Earth to live in. Of course there's the typical tourisy icons (Bridge, Harbour, Tower, Opera House, The Rocks, Casino, Blue Mts), but a city is more than just about the inanimate objects -- it's also about the people and their lifestyle.

How about going to a Wallabies (rugby) game at the former Olympic Stadium, watching the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race on Boxing Day or having a barbie and counting down to New Years on Sydney Habour? There's a lot more than just the typical icons described by those guidebooks.

It really does depend on what you like and what you don't like... having said that:

Inside the US:
Phoenix and Orlando are specialist places. I golf, so I can endure one or the other of them for a couple of winter days per year. If I didn't, since I don't do the theme park thing, I'd want to hurl.
New Orleans in the early 90s did nothing for me but give me a mild case of food poisoning. But when I get drunk I get depressed... so that scene doesn't do much for me.

Outside the US:
I spent three days in Venice. Probably the biggest tourist trap I've ever visited. There were sights to see, but it was just awful, and I deliberately tried to get into the neighborhoods.
Frankfurt was so boring... How many banks and kabob shops can you see? We ended up going to an exhibit of Barbie dolls. Please, get on a train and go to Koln or Heidelburg or something.
My friends are split on Singapore, and both sides are incredibly vehement about it. The one side says it's a big Gap, and the other side just adores it. We're spending a couple of days there in two weeks, but from what I've read I think we'll like it because I like ending up in the neighborhoods of multi-ethnic cities such as Vancouver and London - probably because I live in one.
On the other hand, I hated Toronto. Part of it was probably because I was there for work for a week and staying in the suburbs, but going into the city just didn't do anything for me. It just felt dreary.
I was in Dublin at the FT Do in February. Very compact, not a lot to see. I think it gets overrated because the large Irish populations of New York and Boston have cheap flights there. If I hadn't been there with 30 people (including a couple of good friends), I'd have been miserable.

No, I disagree. Vacation time is a precious commodity for many of us. If you're unsure about a place and you think you might be wasting your time by staying too long just because the guidebooks tell you to stay that long, then you should ask around.

I think we're going to stay one day too long in Singapore (3 instead of 2) in a couple of weeks, but we've never flown 9500 miles one-way before and wanted to be able to go slow for a few days. But we talked about it with a number of people before purchasing our tickets.

Chicago!!!

My hometown, but I don't see what the charm is. A growing problem of violent homeless, most streets off the main tourist drags are just plain ugly, and it's a dangerous city. Sure, there are sights, and world-class architechture. But as far as charm - it blows.

Actually, I completely disagree, but I guess I would post on the other thread if I was too concerned. I've never even heard of the violent homeless, let alone seen them. But briefly, I think Chicago is underrated because first time visitors are usually blown away (figuratively ;) ) by the beauty, the food, the archtecture, the culture and the spectacular lakefront parks. It's one of the few cities in the world where almost the entire waterfront (20 miles plus) is reserved for public use only.

Anything in Switzerland

Another vote for Chicago -- I've been her for a couple of years already and do not find it amusing or entertaining. Don't know what's so good about it.

Maybe I'm missing something, but architecture, Lake Michigan and Michigan Ave are the same old stuff -- besides, it's only those few short summer months when it's warm enough to play around the lake.

To me, this whole thread is irrational. Funny as hell ;), but terribly stupid nonetheless.

The OP passes judgment on a city he hasn't even experienced, then tries to justify his opinion in later posts when others pass judgment on his original judgment. :p This is all quite amusing.

My $0.02, no city is over-rated if you've done the research to fit your interests, and you go open-minded.

And yes I live in LA (30+ yrs), don't understand why people would choose to vacation here, but somehow I keep myself preoccupied 26+ weekends every year around this vast metropolitan area without getting terribly bored or revisiting the same places. :cool:

As far as LA goes, I can see how some might feel the sum of it's parts is greater than the whole. There is quite a lot to see in the greater metropolitan area (very good museums, gardens/parks, beaches, and some beautiful residential areas). However, it is not a very tourist-friendly city because it is so spread out, and there's no good way to get around (inadequate mass transit and lousy traffic). If you only go to say, Anaheim, Hollywood and Beverly Hills and think you've "done LA", you are sorely mistaken.

My other favorite US cities are Chicago, Washington DC, NY NY, San Francisco, Seattle. Two cities I think are underrated are Milwaukee and Portland.

For most overrated int'l city, I'd probably have to go with Madrid, although my experience was somewhat colored by two attempted robberies in four days there!