When it comes to bucket list tourist attractions, there are plenty of options: the Grand Canyon, the Eiffel Tower, Chichen Itza, and so on.
But which attractions don’t live up to the hype? Redditors had a few intriguing responses to the r/AskReddit question, ” What famous place is not worth visiting? ” After all, you want to know ahead of time, before committing to a visit that’s only going to be disappointing .
The Blarney Stone
“You have to hang upside down to kiss it which is very uncomfortable (can confirm, have kissed it).”
– u/tarpy
“The stone itself isn’t worth your time but the grounds and castle around it are very cool. I enjoyed myself a lot for the couple hours I was there.”
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen
“I saw it while we were there and it was incredibly underwhelming, if there was a lineup at all I would have skipped it for sure.”
– u/Lye90
“As a Dane, I came here to write just that. Utterly incomprehensible why it is so famous.”
Leaning Tower of Pisa
“Just a small town without much going on, then a ton of tourists pretending to hold it up. Go to Florence instead.”
“Pisa is a nice place, peaceful, but I definitely wouldn’t travel all the way from the US just to see the tower.”
Mall of America
“It’s literally just a giant mall with the same stores as a small mall. Sometimes even the same store twice!”
“The benefit of the Mall of America is that there is no clothing tax in MN, so if you’re going for a total wardrobe refresh it can really save you a lot of money.”
Venice
“Good god, the place is crushed with people. You can hardly move at certain times and you are always bumping into folks.”
– u/Book8
“Venice is great if you can get away from the core crush of like Saint Mark’s Square and the Rialto Bridge, where there are huge crowds of tourists and all the shops and restaurants are cheap stuff geared for people that’ll probably never come back anyway.”
The Empire State Building
“It’s $44 to $77 and you wait for like 90 minutes to get into the first elevator, then wait at LEAST another 90 minutes to go further up. (I gave up after 2 hours total and went and had fun in the city instead of spending 3-4 hours of my life standing in line).”
– u/bwave1
The Alamo
“It’s tiny but has a nice history lesson you can pick up just by reading a series of displays and you can walk right across the street to the riverwalk after. The Alamo is a tiny building, not imposing or beautiful or impressive in any way, but it’s a nice hour and plenty to do right next to it so totally worth going to if you are in San Antonio.”
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
“It’s a trashy party beach where you are more likely to get hepatitis from needles than actually have a fun time. You’re close enough to North Carolina to go to better places, or drive south to Charleston and see some cooler sights.”
Dubai
“Dubai is a twisted parody of everything wrong with modern society and I judge anyone who goes there for their insta pics.”
“Dubai is a Fyre Festival made into a city. The giant housing on artificial islands everyone sees are falling into the ocean and are an ecological nightmare.”
-u/ _Dague_
Niagara Falls, New York
“Niagara Falls is a really cool site, but it’s not worth a trip if you’re staying on the American side. The Canadian side is way better and has more things to do.”
“I live 15 minutes from Niagara Falls, and our family was talking about this just yesterday. There’s a major international tourist attraction right on their doorstep, but the city of Niagara Falls, NY, is a crime-ridden dump.”
Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin
“It used to be the border between the US and Soviet sectors, but all that’s left of it is a shack and a sign, and the only thing you can do is pay to get your photo taken with someone in uniform. There’s a frickin’ McDonald’s next to it.”
Centralia, Pennsylvania
“We got there, and there was just… nothing. All of the buildings are gone, the creepiest thing we found was a very-well-taken-care-of cemetery, and the only really ‘abandoned’ thing to see was the stretch of interstate that had been routed around (which had a little bit of fun graffiti on it back then, but in years since it’s become just a giant paint stain).”
Times Square on New Year’s Eve
“My mother said she did that once back in the ’70s. People peeing all over the place and beer getting thrown on you.”
“You’ll also never see the ball drop unless you’re willing to wait on day and risk soiling yourself in the freezing cold while you sober up too soon.”
Land’s End
“Heralded as the 4th most disappointing attraction in the UK. It’s not even disappointing enough to win an award.”
“I loved Lands End. But with that said, I arrived with my wife about an hour before sunset, walked straight through the touristy tat and sat nursing pints on the hotel bar terrace looking out to sea.”
Hollywood
“It’s seedy and disappointing.”
“I was especially disappointed that you can barely see the Hollywood sign from the Boulevard. Had to ask a tour guide and he send me to a specific intersection. When I got there the sign looked tiny.”
The Liberty Bell
“You can see it just fine from the sidewalk, and that’s about as close as you would get to it inside too.”
“My favorite thing about Philly is that every tourist stands in line to get a photo with a badly made Rocky statue prop.”
The Mona Lisa
“While the Louvre is amazing and can consume entire days of walking, don’t bother fighting the crowds to see the Mona Lisa. It’s tiny and has a crowd of tourists dozens deep all taking pictures. ‘No flash photography’ be damned, so all you see is flash reflecting off the protective glass.”
Atlantic City
“I had to work there and stay in a mostly abandoned hotel on the boardwalk for 6 weeks. Most depressing 6 weeks of my life.”
“If you just want to go on a boardwalk then Wildwood is the better bet.”
– u/Xaraxa
Egypt
“It’s like if phone scams were a materialized location. You get there an right away the airport is going to start scamming you, take your electronics away and tell you that you need permits for them (which they will gladly sell you, and then tell you that its the wrong one and have you buy another one), the hotel you stay at will check your bags again like the airport did and again tell you that you need permits or whatever random thing they decide they can get away telling you needs one.”
Plymouth Rock
“Have been to Plymouth many times, never bothered with the rock. The Plymouth Plantation however, was quite fun as a kid. (Replica village set up as the Pilgrims would have lived) More recently I was in Plymouth and went for a whale watching tour- very educational and we saw a ton of whales. TLDR- go to Plymouth, but skip the Rock.”
