40 Disappointed Tourists Share Travel Destinations From Around The World That Aren't Worth The Hype

Well, lots of people say the United Arab Emirates, and I'll agree. It held my interest for a while with the craziness of its modern elements, and I saw quite a lot of it, enjoying the rural places like Liwa and Al Ain, but it really gets tired quickly. The facilities just don't stack up to western cities and they always seem like a pastiche, with the repressive undercurrent throughout the place never fully hidden (did you know they had a spate of foreign maids falling out of apartment windows?).

Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because, for a better Arab experience, you can go next door to Oman. Old forts, dramatic mountains, dunes, beaches, souqs, old men drinking tea and playing chess on the corniche, it has it all and feels much more authentic and friendly than Dubai. It's certainly not as advanced and easy to visit but the roads are good, crime is low, and English is widely spoken, so it's actually not that difficult a place for tourists.

LA.

Lots of stuff to do, but it takes forever to get there. I feel like I spent my whole LA stay in the car, stuck in traffic.

The rest of California that I saw was great, I'd do any part of it again, but not LA.

Boise Idaho, I know what you're thinking "It's hot, brown, nothing really interesting about it, and it's full of crazy mormons and republicans and spiders." In real life it's actually slightly worse

Times Square is the most overrated tourist spot on the globe. New York is an incredible, wonderful city but Times Square is its nadir

The Mall of America, its just like any other mall. There's just 4 Victoria's Secrets instead of 1.

I used to live and work in Waikiki. A lot of people don't know this but if you leave Waikiki there's a whole bunch more island to explore with more beaches and more food and more authentic culture than what you get in just one tiny area.

The number of tourists I used to meet out there who would spend thousands of dollars and travel thousands of miles to come to Hawaii only to never leave their resort, much less the area it's in, never ceased to disgust me.

I present you the most overrated/underwhelming tourist attraction in the world...

Editor's note: It's Manneken Pis in Brussels.

PyongyangJim added:
If you find yourself in this situation, turn around, go into The Poechenellekelder across the street. Grab some nice Belgian beer and watch the people.

Don't go the Empire State Building. Instead, go to 30 Rock - the view is better, it's cheaper, it's bigger, and the wait times are 5 minutes instead of 5 hours.

I’m not sure if it’s really globally critically acclaimed, but Sunset Blvd in Hollywood.

It is literally just a rundown street with dingy storefronts and the Church of Scientology trying to rope you into joining their cult. But oh! There’s plaques set into the sidewalk for celebrities or celebrity-adjacent people you may or may not recognize that paid for them to be there. Seriously. There is nothing to see there.

I’m sure people more familiar with LA can give better suggestions (I’m partial to Venice Beach, but that is rough around the edges too), but I say, just go to San Diego.

Most underwhelming/overrated one I can think of is the Mona Lisa. It is quite small, with a 10 foot barrier around it and about 1000 asian tourists snapping photos at any given time.

Bourbon Street. Happy I did it once but it smells of garbage, is crowded, sketchy, and did I mention the smell?

Niagara Falls on the American side was not so great. The falls you always see in the movies are Horseshoe falls, and you can barely see those from the US. And in reality, there are like 20 "Maid in the Mist's," and you pay like $30 for a 10 minute boat ride, and to get drenched in stinky water. And there is nothing else to do in the area unless you go into Buffalo.

I found Pisa to be overrated. It’s small and was extremely crowded when I went.

There are definitely some things worth seeing but I wouldn’t go back again. A day trip was plenty.

captainmagictrousers added:
The Leaning Tower of Pisa is great, if you want to see 500 people posing like they're mimes trapped in a box.

If you want to see Redwoods or just Nature and you are in San Francisco, do not, I repeat, do not go to the Muir Woods. The traffic and congestion going over the Bridge to Marin County is horrible. The woods are packed with noisy people and there is no parking. Instead go hike amongst the trees at Henry Cowell State park instead. It's in Santa Cruz and the drive is almost as lovely as the hike.

Mount Rushmore was much smaller IRL than I expected

Rainbow Mountain in Peru. First time I realised just how much some photos on Google are photoshopped

The entirety of Orange County, CA. Rich and vapid; where creativity and personality goes to die. I drove all the way across the country to visit the OC and ended up having more fun in Des Moines.

Honestly I think NYC is overrated (and I'm an American from the East Coast). I've been probably 8-10 times in my life, and different stages of life (kid, teenager, adult, seeing friends who live there) and every time I go I feel thankful I don't live there and I'm happy to be gone. I've visited a fair number of neighborhoods and off the tourist track sights, restaurants, etc. and I still feel the same way. It's worth visiting and it's certainly diverse but it's just exhausting and kind of faceless in my opinion.

Being from Miami I can truly say Miami is a bit overrated. True the beaches are nice, we have beautiful weather compared to other states, and especially S.Florida is a melting pot of exotic people. Other than that..there is a lot of crime and snobby people. The club scene is nice, and shops are nice (if you have the money to spend on ridiculous over priced items). Don't get me wrong, I have lived in other states and even in Europe and I Love living in Miami, but for an average Joe, its not what people make it out to be.

I can't believe I'm saying this (Because.. it's in WACO), but: Magnolia Silos.

We have people from all across the country DRIVING to Waco, TX, to see the magnolia silos thanks to fixer uppers.

It's not that great, people. Please do not drive for 30 hours to see this place.

It has food trucks, a vastly overpriced store, and an "okay" bakery. You get about an hour out of it, max.

Stop.