I'll add my vote for LA, but I'd completely disagree on New York.
I think its one of the best cities.

Haven't really done LA to have a vote. Call me unpatriotic my hometown of Washington DC is overrated.

Yes the Smithsonians are great and free, but most tourists in my experience aren't interested in the museums other than Air and Space, American History and Natural History- I always have ever other museum in town to myself in tourist season as long as there is no blockbuster exhibit.

The monuments are way overrated in my mind.

Couldn't find anything to do in Sydney?????
 

Get a new guidebook - I find Sydney and its environs one of the most exciting places to visit.

Visit any reasonable hotel concierge and tell him I have X days to spend and they'll probably hand you over a number of booklets with enough tours to spend twice as long there.

I suppose if a good climate, friendly locals, great hotels, great restaurants, loads of museums, a casino, a fantastic and extensive waterfront, a bridge climb(!), Sydney Opera House, The AMP tower, The Rocks, The weekend flea market, Good shopping, The blue mountains, Manley, Harbour cruises, local wineries, a great botanical garden, great and varied transport, interesting waterfront houses are not your thing then Sydney won't be for you ;)

As for my most overated cities Los Angeles and New Orleans would feature high up there. Went to New Orleans 10 years ago - flat, boring, some nice architecture to look at for a day, otherwise I don't get it. A city that markets itself as been one of the few places where you can walk from bar to bar with your booze has problems!! :(

Shanghai.

It is a business town, period, nothing of historical or cultural significance.
Oh and it's way over-priced considering the average income of the population.

Singapore, LA, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver. All way over-rated.

Barcelona? I don't like the place, but I can see it appeals to others hugely.

I'll have to defend the great Los Angeles!

Actually, downtown LA and Hollywood are indeed dumps, but there are tons of hip and happenin' places in Los Angeles area. There are tons of things to do.....from popular dining and shopping at Larchmont Village, to artsy Pasadena with fantastic coffee houses and restaurants to galaries and electic cafes on Abbot Kinney in Venice to eye candies watching in Laguna Beach. Don't forget the clubs in West Hollywood. The only thing is, they are all 10-30 miles away from one another. (instead of 2-3 miles away like other big cities) I guess LA is special the fact that it isn't a cramped area with everything in it (like New York City--Manhattan, or even San Francisco, Chicago, etc). LA is very spread out and I think that's what makes it unique.

I think the most overrated city in Honolulu. It's crowded, its dirty, and its old. I did not like it at all the first time I was there (maybe it was the fact that we went to Maui (paradise) right before Honolulu). It was nothing like how I had envisioned Hawaii to be (Maui was, however).

Agreed, and SIN.. Boooooooooooooooooooooring...

Dublin. Only a few interesting sites, which can all be seen in a day. For the most part I found it grim and dull. And expensive! Unfortunately, I was expecting an Irish version of London and was disappointed. My favorite day was the trip out of town up into the bog and mountain lake areas.

Waikiki. Arrived here after a week on the Big Island and Maui and was absolutely horrified. It's one big gross shopping mall with gross hotels and gross restaurants. And why do all those people crowd onto Waikiki Beach when idyllic spots like Lanikai Beach are only a half-hour drive away?

Toronto. I found this city so boring I could barely keep my eyes open.

San Diego. See review of Toronto.

On the other hand, I love NYC, Berlin, LA, London, Paris, Madrid.

I'm w/ WHarvey and gleff (and the others) in supporting Sydney.

Bangkok. A dump filled with Thai's delighting in extracting every $ than can legally or ilegally from drunken idiotic westerners.

Venice.

My vote for most overrated goes to... Shanghai.

Most underrated... Ubud, Indonesia

Philadelphia. Run away.

I'd say Madrid. Compared to other cities in Spain it seemed dirty, with mediocre food, and not much to do.

oldandslow,

Why Venice?

I just returned from living near there for 3 years, and can;t get enough of the city. I discover something new about it every time I go there!