New York City. (JFK)

Singapore, New York, Los Angeles, Rio De Janeiro :td:

Chicago, London, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, Sydney, Auckland, Santiago ^

Most overrated city imho? LA AND Burbank. Too commericalized those days now.

Sanosuke!

Bangkok gets my vote

Sorry, you need to return. Sydney is AWESOME!!!! It is a wonderful place to visit. It's beautiful, the people are cool and so many fun things to do. Don't sell it short. Sydney is tremendous...

*in aussie voice* Yar! Come on back, to Sydney! :P *off aussie voice to normal voice*

I loved my stay in Australia - stayed 1 month -- 2 weeks in Sydney and 2 weeks over in Adelaide. Was there in January. I went dirtbiking too on the outskirts of Sydney in Maroota. :) I will be back in Sydney in 2007!

Sanosuke!

Miami gets my vote

In defense of Cape Town...
 

I think its physical setting compares quite favorably to both Rio de Janeiro and San Francisco. In fact, Cape Town and San Francisco are quite similar in both scenery and interesting things to do and see.

Both cities have rocky beaches and ice cold ocean water (Pacific in S.F., Atlantic in Cape Town). That is one reason why the most popular attraction in each city is an island prison (Alcatraz near S.F., Robben Island near Cape Town) where tours are booked weeks in advance. Both cities have unusual microclimes (Fog in S.F., the "Tablecloth" in Cape Town). Both cities have chintzy waterfront developments (Fisherman's Wharf in S.F., the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town). Both cities are close to wine growing areas that can be a wonderful day trip (Napa Valley near S.F., Stellenbosch near Cape Town). Both cities have a recognizable landmark that offers a wonderful view of downtown (Golden Gate bridge in S.F., Table Mountain in Cape Town). Both cities have a pleasant park in which to relax (Golden Gate Park in S.F., the Company's Gardens in Cape Town). Both cities have a reputation for being liberal and tolerant. Both cities have a former military installation that merits at least a half day tour (the Presidio in S.F., the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town). Both cities have a downtown that can be frightening after dark (Civic Center in S.F, Grand Parade in Cape Town). The two cities are so similar that I am surprised that someone could enjoy one but not the other.

P.S. As long as we are dragging the name of former Olympic sites through the mud, let us not forget some of the past hosts of the Winter Games. I vote for Salt Lake City as one of the most overrated. If anyone can name three things there worth seeing, I would happily eat my words. :p

I also think Sydney is one of the best places I´ve ever been too. I spent there 5 days and did lots of things. Many of the nice places were maybe a bit far from the city centre but still worth going, an example would be Watson´s Bay.

London and New York are by far the most overrated cities. I kind of like New York but I am not a fan of London at all. I´ve been there around 5 times and only once I kind of liked it.

Don't knock LA. All you have to do is buy a star map and drive thru the hills. Best is to do it on Sunday and looksie in some open houses at the same time.
Not much high (or even medium) brow, though. Good restaurants and nightlife. A chance to be treated like a nobody.

Can't think of any good-reputation city that has disappointed me unless the weather was really bad. e.g., last visit to Toronto. But, as I know from previous visits, I love this city.

The Lake, the Temple, the Jazz, the choir, Trolley Square, Clark Planetarium - I guess you would say they're not worth seeing....could still be overrated, though

You are correct, sir!! (Partially)
 

Since you are also based near ORD, you may realize that a large lake (Michigan), a planetarium (Adler) and an inadequate basketball team (Bulls) are not necessarily unique to SLC. However, I don't think the Temple is overrated. I merely count the entire Temple Square complex and the choir as one worthwhile attraction. :D

Alright, yesterday I bought TWO Sydney guidebooks... read through them both, just to see if I was crazy, and if I was all wrong about Sydney.

VERDICT: there is still virtually NOTHING of interest in Sydney. No magnificent buildings, no great museums worthy of a 10 hour flight from Bangkok, no great shopping, no real historic great hotels, no real attractions, no great neighborhoods to wander through, nothing really truly historical that I could find ... When I looked at the list of the "top 10 tourist sights in Sydney", there wasn't ANYTHING that looked even remotely interesting, except a view of the harbor. The beaches nearby look like city beaches, so there's no interest there either. I'm sure there is good food there, I'm sure the people are nicer than the message boards indicate, I'm sure you can get a nice hotel, but I am truly at a loss to understand what the attraction of SYDNEY is. I just don't get it.

The only thing that seemed nice was the setting around the water. Even the day excursions outside of Sydney seemed truly AWFUL. Didn't seem like there was anything scenic until you go to the Great Barrier Reef, which I admit I would LOVE to visit.

IN DEFENSE OF LOS ANGELES: If you have a car, and a little initiative, you can visit great ethnic neighborhoods in L.A. And as difficult as it may be for some to admit, we all love to see celebrities, where they live, where they eat and play. One time I drove a friend past the original studio in L.A. where the t.v. show "I LOVE LUCY" was filmed in the 50's... now a run-down shack of sorts... my friend was so moved, really moved to tears just to see it... and it was really a dumpy nothing of a building. And there are lots more locations like that in/around L.A., like scenes from movies, or even where movies were made, that people LOVE to see. But it does take a bit more time and research to visit.

I hardly think anyone is going to see anything in Sydney, and be moved to tears.

Alta, Snowbird and Park City :p I ski, few of them would be overrated destinations to me ;)

Many of the "overrated" cities captured their aura in/ market to us an earlier era when the things they offered: good food, abundant nightly, quality museums, "exotic" or erotic entertainment were rare. All of those have spread much wider in the past 10 years, leaving the gap between the great and not so great smaller.

I was pleasantly surprised at L.A., perhaps because I took a different approach to it and didn't rent a car. I was there for a convention downtown, and on the advice of an online friend who has lived there voluntarily car-free for decades, I took the "DASH" buses to Chinatown, Olvera Street, and Little Tokyo.

That evening, we met for dinner in an Ethiopian neighborhood and walked to the Farmers' Market, where a corny but fun talent show was in progress.

I went back to the hotel by bus, and I was the only white person on the entire bus, but everyone was friendly.

Another evening, I went with some fellow conventioners by subway to a jazz club.

On my last day, I took the express bus down to Santa Monica and had a great time walking on the beach and strolling on the Third Street Mall.

Admittedly, there is a lot of ugliness in L.A., and it epitomizes car-worship gone wild, but I would never have guessed that I could spend such an enjoyable weekend there without ever driving or even riding in a car.

About New Orleans--it was a unique city, an organic (sometimes REAL organic, as in swampy miasmas) outgrowth of a cultural mix and history not found anywhere else in the continental United States. My impression from postcards and coffee table books was that the French Quarter was a couple of blocks in area and a total tourist trap. I was surprised and pleased to see that it was much larger and home to many people. I'm glad I went in the early spring--even the locals told me that summers were unbearable--and I'm glad I saw it before it was ruined.

On a related note, I absolutely despise fake cutesy tourist traps. While they're not major air destinations, Frankenmuth, Michigan and Leavenworth, Washington have each restyled themselves as "Bavarian villages." In Frankenmuth, the original settlers at least came from Bavaria, but Leavenworth has no ethnic German connections. It was a total Chamber of Commerce scheme.

In my most frequent destination of Japan, I love Tokyo (perhaps because I lived there and got to know its neighborhoods), but I am mystified by all the tourists who want to see the Ginza. It's just a street of expensive stores, and it's not even the only shopping area that's blocked to auto traffic on weekends.