30 People Are Sharing The Worst Tourist Attractions In Europe That Are 100% Not Worth The Hype
Nothing can ruin your holiday mood as much as becoming a victim of scammers. And they seem to be everywhere, in the history-old streets of Florence, the love city of Paris, the city of double-decker buses, and the city that never sleeps, the list is endless. And although there’s not much that we can do about it, we can arm ourselves with knowledge which, trust me, goes a long way.
So when someone asked Europeans “What are some major tourist traps in your country/region and what precautions can you take to avoid them?” on the AskEurope subreddit, it immediately turned into a read worth bookmarking.
From running away from Heathrow Express in London that costs an arm and a leg, to torture museums in Tuscany that will only torment you financially, these are some of the useful tips about avoiding the notorious red flags and plain tourist traps in order to keep your dignity, bank balance and high spirits with you.
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The Mona Lisa in Louvre in Paris. It's just a small painting hanging quite far away in a really crowded room full of tourists. Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful, iconic painting, but it's not worth visiting the Louvre only for the Mona Lisa. The majority of the other artworks in that museum are more impressive than the Mona Lisa.
I imagine that of you chose to go to a museum like "de Louvre" you're NOT ONLY going for the Monalisa the whole Museum has pieces of several French and other worldwide known painters as well as sculptures and many fixed and itinerant galleries
Greece is filled to the brim with islands, you don't have to spend a fortune on Santorini and Mykonos, there are literally thousands of islands just as good as those and you'll pay 1/5th of the price with just a fraction of the tourists.
I visited Santorini 20 years ago (and many other islands) and I don't agree that they are all the same and can just be interchanged... The view of the volcano/bay is something else. But I do get how there is probably nothing to enjoy these days if it got any busier than back then. That's the whole paradox, these are interesting and beautiful places, but they're not built for so many visitors. But all the islands in Greece cannot accomadate for everyone wanting to visit it anyway.
Tourist scams are not the prettiest side of traveling in Europe, but the more we know about them, the more prepared we can be. One such local from Brussels, Belgium, redditor Gregyoupie, shared a very useful tip in response to the thread saying: “In Brussels, avoid at all cost a neighborhood around a street named 'Rue Des Bouchers/ Beenhouwersstraat'. All tourists think it's a maze of cute pedestrian streets, but actually you will find the worst restaurants of the town there, with all typical red flags (photos on menus in 12 languages and waiters hailing you in a sort of Esperanto).”
According to Gregyoupie, money is the driving force of tourist scams. “Restaurants and tourist places in general are difficult businesses to manage, with high staff costs, a lot of unpredictability and a lot of competition. So making easy money with the least effort is tempting,” the local from Belgium shared his views with Bored Panda in an interview.
Romeo and Juliet's balcony in Verona. Like, 10,000 people all crammed into this tiny alleyway just to see a balcony that I found out was built after the play was written.
In Brussels , avoid at all cost a neighborhood around a street named "rue des bouchers/beenhouwersstraat". All tourists think it's a maze of cute pedestrian streets, but actually you will find the WORST restaurants of the town there, with all typical red flags (photos on menus in 12 languages and waiters hailing you in a sort of Esperanto).
Typical scam: they advertise on boards "Belgian menu - Belgian beefsteak with a Belgian beer for 15 euro". Then when you order it, it will always be "aaaah, we're sorry, we are out of Belgian beefsteak. But you can have maybe the Belgian mussels on the menu, that's our special too" - and guess what, they are much more expensive, and horrendous.
A couple of years ago, I was invited in last minute by foreign colleagues in a restaurant there, and it was worse than what I had imagined. They did not realize that I was actually a local (we were a fairly large group, and we spoke English), and I called them out when they tried to bullsh*t a colleague on how an (expensive) Belgian beer should be served. The Pikachu face by the waiter was priceless.
This ! But there are a few very good restaurants in (or very near) the historic centre of Bruxelles. Try the "Nüetnigenough", "Le marmiton" or "Fin de siècle". And for the fries, you can go to the very obvious "Fritland" just next to "La Bourse", or walk 100 meter to the even more delicious and less touristy "Friterie Tabora".
In Spain, if a restaurant is serving lunch at noon, chances are it's a tourist trap. Here we eat lunch between 2:30 and 4 pm. As a rule of thumb, look for locals. If no locals are eating there, avoid it.
The advice "avoid restaurants that don't have locals" is a very good advice for anywhere in the world! But i find the first part stupid!! In Greece we also eat lunch around 14.00 however if someone wants to eat earlier they can certainly do it!! What does it mean if they serve lunch? The other restaurants are closed at noon?
Gregyoupie also believes that “the reason why Europe is full of tourist traps has to do with the fact that the continent is very diverse, with different languages, habits, cultures, etc. So when Europeans travel across Europe, they will be a bit out of their comfort zone, even if it's not that far on a map, and this is where I think people are most vulnerable: you are away from your home, in another culture, surrounded sometimes by a language you barely understand.”
He added that at that point, it is then a very human and normal thing to seek easy solutions: “and this is where scammers are very good at picking that up and scamming you: they try to speak your language, gain your trust and pretend they will help you. These people are very good at selecting their targets.”
In Spain, walk away from any restaurants that serve paella for dinner. We only eat paella at lunch, folks, and that is a sign of a tourist trap. And if there are photos of the food out front, that's a bad sign.
I think that "do not eat in restaurants that are really close to monuments" and "do not eat in restaurants that have a menu in more than 2 languages" is globally sound advice.
Italy specific: (as I was saying a few days ago in another thread) if your trip plan has more than 2 days in Venice and/or more than half a day in Pisa, use that extra time in other cities instead.
Venice in particular: overpriced as F**K. Don't plan on doing your shopping there, don't plan on eating out in fancy restaurants. DO NOT order fish or seafood a la carte - there have been a lot of cases of restaurants trying to scam tourists for hundreds of euros because in fine print the menu says the price is per 100g, not per plate.
Venice is so expensive that just walking on the pavement shakes the cash out of your pockets.
The Oktoberfest. Or generally thinking that traveling to Bavaria means having been to Germany. It's like going to Texas.
Anything Bavarian outside of Bavaria. Seriously the Hofbräuhaus in Berlin is a tourist trap. Sure the beer is good, but it's hard to get sh*tty beer in Germany anyway. Skip the Hofbräuhaus in Munich as well and travel to one of the smaller cities in Bavaria. From experience I'd suggest going to the Allgäu. There's a brewery in every village on average. I'm sure Bavarians will chime in.
Avoid Munich is what I'm trying to say (though it does have great museums).
If you must go to Bavaria, be aware that Schloß Neuschwanstein is not an old castle but from the 19th century. It is stupid beautiful though and I wouldn't fault anyone from going there.
Something closer to home: large flea markets in Berlin, especially the one at the Mauerpark. It's a hipster, expat, and tourist trap. Oh and most restaurants close to famous sights are also overpriced.
Everytime I pass that ridiculous Hofbräuhaus in Berlin, I shake my head. It's like walking past a rodeo full of cowboys in the middle of New York.
The Redditor who has also traveled out of Europe said that the amount of scams is not unique to Europe. “I guess there are two things to do; first, be prepared, read up on your destination, tourist guides will warn readers on the most common scams and second, always keep a critical eye,” Gregyoupie said and added that “if something is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.”
Temple Bar in Dublin is massively overpriced. Thankfully there's countless other pubs in the city, many of them even within walking distance.
Of course it's overpriced-it's a very well known tourist area. It is 100% worth at least one visit though. The staff is very friendly (gave my husband and I a few free drinks and were talkative even though they were busy) and the talent playing there is a joy to hear. I do prefer less busy pubs but the ambiance of this place is worth it (in my opinion).
The red light district of central amsterdam. The novelty of gyrating women in windows soon wears off, there's no comfortable place to chill out, lary groups of men everywhere, it all just feels a bit seedy. Especially at night. Plenty of lovely places to see in the rest of Amsterdam.
Do not go to a restaurant near touristic attractions in Paris. You will likely eat frozen food at an absurd high price.
Gregyoupie also shared an incident from a tourist trap cafe in his home town of Brussels that happened to him. “I was sitting in front of a foreign colleague, he wanted to try a strong Belgian beer and had chosen one sold in a large bottle, too large for one person. I said we could share it (no problem with that, that is common practice for such big bottles),” he recounted.
The Brussels local continued: “But in Belgian beer culture, just like for wine, you have different types of glasses for different kinds of beer (and yes, it does matter, the shape really gives a different flavor because of how the oxygen touches the surface, etc.). For major beer brands (like that one we were having), decent bars should serve it in a glass made for that brand, with the logo on it. It sounds silly, I know... but serving beer A in a glass with a logo of beer B is akin to a mortal sin…”
“Now, my colleague ordered that bottle, and the waiter brought it without the glasses. My colleague was closer to the waiter, so he asked him for two glasses... and the waiter answered we should drink it out of the small wine glasses that were set on the table. This is totally unacceptable... In Belgium, the country of beer?”
Poland. Girls with umbrellas. Avoid pretty, young girls with pink umbrellas in many popular tourist destinations in many cities. They will invite you to a strip club, where they will offer you the first drink for free, which will get you intoxicated and then rob you of your cash (credit card money too).
It's very kind of them to all use a pink umbrella so we can recognize them !
In England and Scotland (York, Edinburgh, London are the ones that spring to mind) there are these shops selling Harry Potter memorabilia, the shops are made out to look very oldy worldy but I can completely guarantee you that it is a total facade, unauthentic tourist trap selling overpriced tat
In Paris, don't pay to go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. You'll be shelling out 25€ and waiting when you can get the same view for free from the roof of Printemps Haussmann department store.
I kind of disagree... The view from the rooftop of Printemps Haussmann may be nice, it's still like 250 meters below the top of the Eiffel Tower. I agree on the fact that it's expensive, and you'll surely have to wait a more or less long time to get there. But come on, it's still pretty unique. Anyway, I don't regret doing it one bit.
At that point, Gregyoupie had really had enough. “This is where I stood up and talked to the guy in French. I exaggerated my local accent so he understood I am a true local. He made this pikachu face. I told him something like 'hey, sorry, but I won't buy that. I am sure you have glasses for this brand. Or at least something more suitable than those cheap wine glasses.'” The waiter made a loud sigh and turned around.
“Then I saw the glasses I was expecting were behind him! He just did not want to do the effort of making a 180 turn and extending an arm,” the Redditor said about his experience in a scam cafe in Brussels where locals normally don’t go.
If you come to Portugal, my advice would be for you to avoid Albufeira at all costs!
Albufeira is nothing more than a british colony. You have british bars, british people, british food, etc.. I don't hold anything against them. But if you want to visit Portugal, you will get a completely wrong idea of what the country is about. A big big part of Algarve is like that. If you're coming to visit Algarve, try to avoid the bigger cities. I would recommend you to try Tavira, Aljezur or Sagres.
Visited Portugal once. We landed at Faro airport. A woman asked us, 'Where are you headed then?' and we replied, 'Just Faro.' She looked at us like we were mad. But we stayed in Faro for a week and enjoyed getting to know the town and the culture of the people. Nearby were tourist beaches full of drunk Brits. We avoided those and had a lovely time.
Throughout Italy, try to avoid restaurants on big, popular squares or near major tourist attractions. If the menu features multiple languages and/or photos of the food, that's another red flag. If there are waiters outside telling you to come eat, it's a universal sign that the restaurant in question is a tourist trap.
Surely this advice could be applied to virtually any tourist location across Europe? Or the world for that matter. Italy is not, I think, more culpable than anywhere else.
For Barcelona, avoid Las Ramblas. It's just a street filled with stereotyped shops that have nothing to do with us (Frozen paella places, Flamenco shops, overpriced stuff, etc.), us locals avoid them like the plague, and would never eat around a 1km radius around them, other streets are much nicer, such as Passeig de Lluís Companys or Carrer d'Enric Granados.
Also as an fyi: la Sagrada Família is barely a Gaudí building. He only completed one of the facades, so while nice, it's not really "his" building, and most of his other works are better and more representative of his style.
If buying fish and chips in a busy seaside town, go to a shop or cafe away from the seafront. In the quieter towns it doesn't matter as much, and the seafront ones can even be better, but you will get ripped off on the seafront in the busy towns.
If you want to ride the London Eye, go after sunset if possible.
If you want to see Stonehenge, combine it with a trip to Bath. It isn't worth seeing on its own.
York is less crowded and more atmospheric in the spring and autumn than in the summer.
If you're going hiking in the Lake District or any national park, dress in layers, take adequate supplies of water and snacks and wear decent boots. Many popular routes are harder than you think and dozens of people die every year in the Lake District in particular. It is also quite easy to get lost in the mist on moorland, so take the right equipment.
If visiting a major city at the weekend, check if there's a football match on, especially if it's a derby between local rivals. If you have to go near the football ground that day, check the time for 'kick off' and the match's end. You will be fine in terms of safety, but it will slow you down a lot and can sometimes be unpleasant depending on the match.
Madame Tussauds. I have never seen the appeal of the place yet tourists are (or at leased used to before the Bad Times) falling over themselves to get in.
Last time i visited london (2006), i wanted to visit the wax works, but then i saw the long queue, and noped back outside. Went to baker street, instead to the sherlock holmes statue. Much better, as its outside and free 😁
Pisa. It's basically just a photo opportunity, which is severely over-crowded by tourists and street vendors. Once you've taken the famous Leaning Tower of Pisa picture there's not much else to do. Sienna, San Gimignano, Monteriggioni and Lucca are all way better places to spend your time in the region.
Hmmmm . . . . . surely the Cathedral and the baptistery (should one be prepared to give them the time) are worth the visit in themselves. If you only go to see the tower then what can you expect? It's a tower and it is leaning - but it is certainly not the only thing of note that Pisa has to offer.
I lived in Berlin for a decade and while it's not as bad as some other cities, it has its tourists traps.
The biggest one I can come up with is Checkpoint Charlie: the museum is mediocre, the "actors" you can take photos with are incredible expensive and the fake Soviet merch you can find cheaper anywhere else.
Speaking of which: Berlin has a lot of flea markets not all of which are good or cheap. Especially the one at Mauerpark is mostly an expensive tourist trap.
I also really really dislike the area around Friedrichsstraße. I worked around there for a while and while they have good restaurants/bars/cafes around there, most of it is generic and overpriced. I'm especially mad that they replaced one of my favourite Currywurst stalls with some "Bio Currywurst" place that is not only way more expensive, but also the tastes much worse.
Similar and not too far away: Potsdamer Platz and the Sony Centre. Almost all bars and restaurants around there are tourist traps. You go there for the view, but that's about it.
Berlin, like many other capitals, has loooots of museums. Unfortunately, there are some that are not as great. I found both the Espionage Museum as well as the DDR museum to be well made, but pretty small - and as said before, I wouldn't recommend the Mauermuseum at Checkpoint Charlie (there are better museums about the same topic). I'd suggest getting the "Museum Pass Berlin" which is a shared ticket for most big museums in the city center. I can recommend all of the included ones.
Not Berlin, but right next to it in Potsdam: Castle Sanssouci. While te castle is neat, it is also really small and doesn't have that much to show, but it's expensive nontheless. You can walk around in its famous gardens without paying anything. If you want to visit a castle around there, take the Neues Palais (new palace) which has amazing interior design and a lot of famous art in it. If you want to visit a castle, but stay in Berlin, go to Castle Charlottenburg.
Totally agree. Also, Konnopke's Imbiss at the u-bahn Eberswalder Strasse station, allegedly invented currywurst. Unfortunately, these days their currywurst is terrible. Curry 36 is a chain and theirs is absolutely delicious. (The one on Mehringdamm is close to Bergmanstrasse, a great walking street with a food hall on the other end.)
In Greece, any street with lots of "UK Pubs" and things like that, I never understood why anyone would come to Greece just to go to a traditional style UK Pub, but many do that.
Besides that, Greece is an open place to explore, tons of hidden gems
Believe it or not the Brits search for those pubs! When locals open a bar and have no customers because the tourists are running to the pub across the street then you close the bar and open a pub to survive!! I can't even count the times tourists have asked me where is the nearest Mc Donald's ( we don't have that many)
The Champs Elysées avenue in Paris. It's an impressively big street, but all there is there are overpriced shops, crowded sidewalks and pickpockets.
The only reason to stroll down that street is for the 14th of July military parade if you're into that sort of thing, and the only reason to go near it is to see the Arc de Triomphe.
In Copenhagen I would say Nyhavn. Not so much going to the area, that I always recommend, but eating there. It's expensive and you can easily find better not that far away. That being said, you of course pay for the privilege of eating at Nyhavn mostly, so if you are willing to do that, fair enough.
Also, the Little Mermaid is basically a joke among Danes by now. Every tourist has to see it, and every tourist will be disappointed.
In my hometown Randers, we only really have two tourist places. An indoor rainforest, which is totally worth the money. And an Elvis museum which is build to look like his home in Memphis, which is expensive and not worth the money.
I've seen the little mermaid, and she's tiny. Occasionally someone will put a bra on her or stick a traffic cone on her head. The traffic cone thing is an incredibly British drunken pastime antic, and if the mermaid is sporting a traffic cone hat, you can guarantee it was placed there by Brits on a stag weekend.
In Amsterdam, stay away from the 'smartshops.' They sell products that they claim contain THC, but the truth is smartshops do not sell weed. If you're not buying that THC from a coffeeshop, it's probably a scam.
For Iceland it’s the blue lagoon, it way too expensive 40-60€ (sure you can spend the whole day there) but everything is expensive there like food and massage! You can have avocado toast for 20€ (I’m not kidding).
Also to avoid are the Puffin Shops in downtown Reykjavik and other tourist locations, e.g. Geysir. Everything is waaaaaay overpriced. You could get everything they are selling in these stores a lot cheaper at the Fleamarket (Kolaportið) in Reykjavík.
Oh come on! Really? okay then Acropolis is also expensive guys! We have the nerve to ask for a ticket to go in and the restaurants have the nerve to charge you more because you have the view of Parthenon while you eat! Avoid it! There are plenty of restaurants with a view of j mall or a bank that are pretty much the same! (I hope my sarcasm is obvious)
Probably taxi drivers in Bucharest, it's like they are born to scam you. Instead of 7 euros, they will ask you for 20 euros from the airport if you're foreign.
Other than that, the Bran (Dracula) Castle is kinda overrated, it's just a normal castle somewhere near the mountains. At least that's how I remember it 5 years ago.
In istanbul, at touristy areas some “friendly” people will talk to you like a normal person. Than they will offer you to go a pub to drink.. do not ever go to that pub. They will be expensive af. Like 100 euros for a beer. Your new friend is working with them.
Do not look or answer to guy on the streets who are welcoming to you somewhere. Like it could be tshirt place or a pub.
Spend 1 hour in taksim and never comeback. Taksim sucks. Literally tourist trap. 60% of the people you see will be syrians that fleed from the war, 10% scammers, 25% tourists, 5% locals.
Hallstatt. If you‘ve seen photos of it online (from the same two angles) then you‘ve seen the town. It is pretty, but it is over run by tourists and cheap tourist shops. There are so many more „authentic“ villages by lakes in that region, you don’t need to go to Hallstatt to get the vibe.
Exept if you're interested in archaeology. Hallstatt gave its name to the 1st iron age wich is called "Hallstatt culture". The salt mines were exploited since the neolithic and you can visit them. Historicaly speaking Hallstatt is an amazing place! I keep great memory of that when I went there as an archaeology student. At the time I didn't even knew that Hallstatt was a touristic destination.
Literally ALL of Monastiraki Market, it's filled with tacky tourist shops with overpriced poor quality tourist cr*p about the Acropolis and the ancient greek world and poorly pressed T-Shirts with cringy Greek stereotypical one liners which are probably gonna fade after a few times in the washing machine, not to mention the huge amount of pick pockets in the square and the narrow roads.
When visiting Athens, do yourselves a favour and after visiting the Acropolis dont bother with the tourist shops of Monastiraki, if really you want to buy some souvenirs, just enter one they are all exactly the same anyways, then go eat in one of the tavernas in Monastiraki or something, (except Bairaktaris, somehow this is an unpopular opinion with some Greeks, but their food is cr*p, and their restaurant is filthy, dont @ me), and then leave.
Monastiraki is one of the most beautiful areas in Athens and don't avoid it! Besides the monuments there are not many nice areas in Athens and Monastiraki is one of them! Worth to visit even if you don't buy anything because yes it is overpriced! You can look for cheaper souvenirs in other areas indeed! Taverns around are also touristic yes and as for the quality of the T-shirts i would really like to know which T-shirt costing 5-10 Euros from a souvenir shop is good quality! Don't you know that already?
If you ever come to Barcelona, you can totally go for a walk to La Rambla. It's a nice walk from Plaça Catalunya down to the old port. It's full of life and people. Maybe too crowded, but still. But never, ever, ever, for f*ck's sake, please, never eat there. There are tons of restaurants with nice terraces where they will serve you cheap fast-food dressed as typical cuisine and you will notice too late that the only people seated around you are tourists who made the same mistake.
I agree with that. Going downhill, just take a turn left at any street at Ramblas and enter Gothic Quarter...way more nice, small, sometimes family run, restaurants with better prices and way better food.
The Manneken Pis in Brussels. The thing is known for being underwhelming. I knew that, I prepared myself and I was still uderwhelmed.
However, it's right next to the Grand Place which is a sight to see.
Oh come on, he's funny, and it's like a 1 minute walk from the Grand Place, like said in the post. Don't miss on it ! If you're lucky, he'll even been wearing one of his many costumes ! (That you can discover in his very own museum, situated at the Grand Place : https://www.mannekenpis.brussels/en/)
Leicester Square in London. It's not just touristy... it actually is a tourist trap designed to rip you off. Most of the bars are very expensive, the restaurants are horrible, and you can find higher quality versions of everything sold in the area for a lower price elsewhere. Sure, it might be nice to walk through, but just don't spend any money there.
In Budapest, never ever hail a cab from the street. Instead go with a ridesharing app like Bolt and use that. I've gotten into a lot of uncomfortable and shady situations by hailing street cabs.
In Budapest just use the public transport. It's cheap and takes you to every possible location where as a tourist you may want to go.
Prague is one giant tourist trap but I think it is pretty easy to avoid them with a little research. There is so much information online so if you are willing to spend a few minutes to look stuff up you should be fine. You can buy a great, tasty beer in a Prague pub for 1-1.50 USD, but also for 6 USD.
The "problem" is that 6 USD for one beer is somewhat normal for tourists from Scandinavia, USA etc., so they don't care.
Same goes for food.
If you wanna visit Prague I very much recommend going through Honest guide channel on youtube. You´ll get to know everything you need.
Not too many tourist traps in Dublin like I’ve seen in other European cities but here’s a few.: 1. The book of Kells, not so much a trap as it’s only 13€ but usually there is a long line. You can see a replica of the book in “the bank” a pub around the corner, it looks identical and you can spend your 13€ on two pints while you’re there. 2. Temple bar (this is an area not a single bar), the drinks are over priced. But if you can afford to drink there you’ll have a good time. The quays is probably the best pub there with great music usually. 3. The wax museum. It’s pointless, they’re basically the same world wide. 4. You can take the bus/Luas/dart basically anywhere in Dublin and it’s suburbs so don’t bother with taxis they can be expensive but they’re not trying to scam you, it’s just cheaper to take public transport. 5. Don’t forget to go the national museums, they’re cheap and very good, just not hugely advertised. Collins barracks is great if you like military stuff, natural history (colloquially known as the dead zoo), archeology museum at Leinster house, National Gallery of Ireland.
In Portugal , when in a restaurant the bread and butter and sometimes other small things like olives and such that they serve before the plate comes, how does one say 'are not free' , as soon as you touch them youre paying. Also private boat taxis to islands in the southern part where i'm from are not worth it youre literally paying 25 for a ticket that cost 1,5 in the public sector (example in my city)
Ayia Napa. I hate that place with a passion.
Cr*ppy and overpriced food, adulterated drinks, loud, overcrowded beaches and mafia rings selling "protection" to bar owners. Its sole purpose is to get tourists to part with as much cash as possible for a subpar experience. The quintessential tourist trap.
It's a real shame, because it was one of the most idyllic places in Cyprus.
As a child my family lives in Famagusta, we would go to Ayia Napa regularly, it was the most beautiful, unspoilt place in the world. So sad to hear how it is now :-(
In Portugal, the Algarve can be very touristy. As someone who is from there, here's what to avoid and what to seek out instead. Stay away from the main towns, especially Albufeira, which is full of crowded beaches, tons of British tourists, and bars. Instead, visit the area around Sagres and the Vicentina coast, which are dotted with castles and gorgeous scenery. Monchique, Aljezur, Loulé and Tavira are great places to visit for nature and small, traditional villages.
Czech Republic. Don't exchange money from random people unless you want to buy overpriced money from some former soviet state. Exchange offices rates can be unclear or sh*tty.
Bergen is probably the biggest tourist destination in Norway, and Fisketorget should be on top of the list of tourist traps
It is marketed as an 800 year old market for fresh seafood, but in reality it consists of tents placed in a prime location. The sea food isn't really fresh, and anything is insanely overpriced. You can buy a seafood platter for €60, served in a tent on paper plates with plastic utensils. Twice the price in a decent restaurant. You can buy a can of sardines for €6 euro, 6 times the price of the supermarket. And of course, the ever present souveniers.
All staff is multilingual, and no locals shop there.
Zakopane. We don't have much mountains and this is our only large-ish resort in them, and while it's cool to see once, try oscypek, see the unique architecture, you basically get lightly scammed on everything, everything is either not authentic, overpriced or both. Still nice to visit once I guess.
I'm surprised to see Zakopane here. How is there not a lot of mountains? Zakopane is in center of High Tatras despite bigger part is in Slovakia. Plenty resorts on Polish side and while I'm from Slovakia Polish resorts are so much better /nicer / way more entertaining. And still price wise a lot cheaper than Slovakia or anywhere else in Europe. And it lives there all the time,plenty of activities, parties, for families or for adults only, all year round.
I probably shouldn't say this, since it is a large part of our tourist economy...
But Lapland "Safaris" are a total ripoff. The money they spend to create such activities like "skiing" and "campfire experiences" can be achieved just by renting your own skis and heading to the nearest trail.
Hell, even an acquaintance of mine (who used to work in the industry) has laughed how their special safari experience basically was an expensive trip to nearby forest to eat some cheap sausages.
Yes they are. But just renting own skis and hitting the nearest trail could also be a bad idea if you have zero experience on skiing and nordic winter and yo do not know your own limits and for example how to select proper clothing. Hint: if you feel nice and warm when starting your trip you likely have too much clothing on and you end up slowly but surely soaking wet from your own sweat and when you then stop, then the cold starts to really creep in.
The London Aquarium. 15 quid for a really average experience mainly spent dodging people ignoring the "do not tap the glass" and "do not put hands in the tanks" signs. Even worse when you see how good the free places are (Science museum, Natural History Museum etc) but I guess they don't need to feed their exhibits as often.
I'm from Antwerp: generally you want to avoid most of the restaurants in the historical centre, especially those that hail you in and have pictures of foods etc, the usual thing. HOWEVER there are actually some very good restaurants there too with nice and cozy terraces / views, but they tend to be more hidden from sight and only known by locals. I think it's ok to check on Tripadvisor and google reviews. last I checked those they seemed accurate & honest. (even tho I know sometimes restaurants do scummy things in tripadvisor).
I consider pretty much entire Bruges to be a tourist trap. It's probably still worth going but as far as I know everything there in the centre is overpriced and catered to tourists...
For entire belgium: avoid shops that loudly advertise 'belgian beers' or 'belgian chocolates', if you want either of those to take with you, you go to a specialty drinks store (like Drankgigant) for beers, or to a well reviewed bakery/chocolaterie for chocolates.
Lake of the Ozarks here, don't spend all your time on the north shore and in Osage Beach, check out "the quiet side" of the lake. Cheaper beer and less crowded.
It's not a tourist trap per se, but Venice can be a VERY different experience from what people think because of the amount of people. All. The. Time. Takes ages to walk anywhere because of the masses. It's also an open museum as very few people actually live there, so you don't get to "experience the city" like in other places.
If you're planning a trip to Croatia, don't bother with Dubrovnik. It's extremely pretty from afar... but far from pretty. The Old Town is just one mess of tacky cafes, restaurants catering to tourists, and tour agencies. People almost had to line up to navigate their way through the narrow streets because so many cruise ships were docked. And it was even a struggle to see the landmarks because crowds of people were hovered around with selfie sticks in the air.
London: "Avoid the Heathrow Express. You pay a lot more for only a slightly faster journey to the airport. Just look online or ask a staff member how to get to the airport another way. They will help you get the right and much more affordable ticket.
Wrong! I live in London and always use the Heathrow Express. Expensive sure, but avoids the butt-clenching anxiety of being hopelessly stuck in London's congested traffic in a car or taxi and is way faster. The tube stops at every single station, takes forever and one of you has to stand by the luggage in case someone picks up a bag and leaves just as the doors are closing. A good economy choice if you are prepared to do that though.
Legoland in Billund, Denmark. Expensive as heck, rides are half assed. Honestly only good part of it is going to the mini world and seeing all the small lego houses, but even so, the price is way to expensive for what you get. Food is not great either.
Yet. With all this said, I go about once or twice a year.. Because honestly, we don't have a lot of other things around, and friends visiting from other countries really want to see it. You still get a fine day. It's always a bit pretending to have fun. In my childhood it was the greatest thing ever, but I've been in load of parks now that does theme parking way better. Like Disneyland. But to be fair, I haven't really been in that many other Danish parks, so can't even tell you which one you should rather go to.
Warwick Castle, it's not any better than any other castle you could see in the UK but the tickets are so expensive. Also, if you change the language at the top of the website to anything other than English the discount tickets suddenly disappear and it costs nearly twice as much. It also tends to be filled with Chinese tourists who are on a London-Brighton-Bath-Oxford-Stratford trip because it's not far from the latter and don't seem to realise how much they're being ripped off.
If you're visiting Tuscany, avoid the torture museums that are scattered around the various Medieval towns. They are poor attempts to scare (and scam) tourists. If you've seen one, you've seen them all.
Triberg in the Black Forest. It has "Germanies highest WaterfallS" (mind the plural) but only because they fall in many steps like this. They also have the "Biggest Cuckoo clock" which might be true (it is a house), but the complete place is still a huge tourist trap full of tourist shops and fake facades.
In Vienna there are disguised Mozarts in front of sights selling concert tickets to tourists. I have no idea how good these concerts are, but the fact is: the concerts in the renowned houses usually sell very well, they don't need Mozart sellers. So if you want quality, better just buy through the website of a renowned house. You can get standing tickets for as little as 6 euros or so, in world-renowned houses. However, I would definitely recommend a seat, standing room is uncomfortable and packed with tourists.
There is a train connection from the airport, the CAT. It's expensive as hell (12 euros), the normal train connection costs much less (4.2 euros) and takes only a few minutes longer. The only advantage is that you can check in your flight luggage at the CAT station in Vienna.
Tourist souvenirs in the tourist areas can be very expensive relative to the quality.
In Graz you can see inside the clock tower, the city landmark. However, this is much too expensive for what is offered, you only see the clockwork, the majority of the building you are not allowed to enter at all and you pay 3 or 4 euros for it. Not worth it at all. Just enjoy the view from outside, that's free and way better.
Munich: Skip the Hofbräuhaus. It's really just for tourists. Try any other Wirtschaft. Also Löwenbräukeller is awfull. I would recomend Augustiner Bräustubn.
Most of Amsterdam really. The museums are nice, but you get way better and cleaner canals in Utrecht; if you want to experience really Dutch culture go to the southern parts of the country. Go to Scheveningen for the beach. Dont come to the country in search of weed and hookers. Yes, its legal, but its not going to be a marijuana utopia you imagine. Most people I know don't smoke
Excuse you? "Really Dutch culture" is not just found in the Southern part and it's very different from other parts of the country. Experiencing The Netherlands completely is going to Friesland and Groningen, the Waddeneilanden, the beaches of South and North Holland, Twente and Drenthe in general. The beautiful green parts of Utrecht, the cities of Utrecht, Leeuwarden, Groningen, Alkmaar, Leiden, Rotterdam, Maastricht, Venlo, Eindhoven, Middelburg etc to appreciate the differences, visit the large port of Rotterdam, the many, many children museums if you actually want to enjoy yourself in stead of just walking around and pretending to understand :) ). Even the differences between Zeeland, Brabant and Limburg are very noteworthy, so just assigning the Southern part as "dutch culture" is a blasphemy. I take offence for every Dutchy that gives a crap!
Edinburgh:
the Castle - not sure if it's worth the price to go inside. You can get decent views of the Mile facing down, or of the rest of the city from the parking lot.
Elephant House - it's just a coffee shop. That's it, Potterheads. And for crying out loud George IV Bridge is a very busy road so please don't stand on the road to take your "perfect picture" of the outside. Drivers do not appreciate it, especially if they're driving massive buses. At least stand on the island.
The castle is quite amazing. It has a fascinating history. If you want Disney World go to Disney World.
Białowieża sure does have a great national park on the UNESCO list, but ultimately... it's just a forest. I don't really know what else I expected, but while it's a nice neighborhood if you're already in Białystok, it's not really worth a trip from anywhere else in my opinion. It's not like you're gonna accidentally see local bisons in the park (unless you're on a special trip, which gives you a chance), so unless you just like trees, there are better places to visit while in Poland.
Funny, that's exactly what people from Białowieża told me: some tourists come here thinking they will see massive, gigantic trees or something. Don't expect that, but go for a tour with a guide and learn why the forest is so precious (they will teach you what to look for), let yourself to feel relaxed in this awesome place and just go for walks or ride bike, eat some nice local food and maybe try to talk with people - I'm speaking from my own experience. Just don't expect Avatar trees or something. P.S. In this "just a forest" live over 12 000 animal species.
The Royal Mile during the Edinburgh Fringe. There is so much going on all over the city and everyone flocks to the super overpriced bars and restaurants on the top third of this one street to be mobbed by hipster students flyering for really bad theatre. The circus performers are fun but I don't know many Edinburghers who really bother with the Royal Mile during the festival - wander around the Meadows, go down to Quartermile or the Cowgate, the cool hidden bars in the West End or George Square Gardens, just don't spend a fortnight being jostled around (usually by a gazillion Americans sporting bootcut jeans with running shoes - sorry but it's not a good look) on the Royal Mile and thinking it's all that awesome city has to offer! A five minute walk away from the Royal Mile and there's some of the best, cheapest middle Eastern and Indian food that you could hope to find plus loads of awesome little places that do insanely good and cheapish pub lunches and yet so many people in Starbucks or the Whisky places on the Mile.
In Austria every Hofbräuhaus which isnt the original. there are some "Hoofbräuhaus" and such which try to lure tourists in
Stonehenge. Bunch of rocks.
Also to some extent the White Cliffs of Dover- it's a very culturally boring part of the world to travel to, quite a long way from London where most tourists would be travelling from, you take a few pictures of the cliffs and you're done.
"Stonehenge. Bunch of rocks". Well yes, like a lot of archaelogical sites! I mean if you follow this reasoning cathedrals, castles and any monuments really are just bunches of piled up blocks. And of course megalithic sites are just plain old rocks... I mean the exploitation of Stonehenge is not great, there are always too much tourists, you can't go too close to the megalith (because of preservation reasons though) and the audioguide speech is ridiculous but come on, if you're into archeaology, it's completely impressive!!
Another post with useless advices from people that don't know how to travel! The general rule is avoid all places because they ask for your money! Stay at home and see those places on your smartphone!
you people who wrote this are pathetic... do you realize how fortunate you are to get to go to any of these places? And then you gripe and whine with great distress about how terrible it all is??? You should count yourself blessed, highly favored, glad, and then feel good about yourself that you have had any of these experiences at all. Most of us regular people don't get to see or do any of these things. The best quote I ever heard about something like this was about the touristy Brighton Beach seaside port in the UK.... One lady wrote after spending her holiday there, "Enormously tacky... but loads of fun. Had a great time, will be back"... Enjoying the tackiness & silliness of tourist traps is part of the fun! You people really missed the program and missed out on a lot of the fun you could have had. Poor you! Poor little rich boys & girls who are never never satisfied.
I completely agree with you. I consider myself very fortunate to have traveled quite a bit, with more travel to come in the future (post-Covid!). There is nothing worse than being in a beautiful and/or interesting place and hearing some idiot whine about the fact that it's "not like home". Or, even worse, that it's "boring". If you find any situation in life boring, that's on you - only you can take the necessary steps to make something NOT boring! Sure, not everything is going to be to your personal taste, but that's no reason to completely trash a place (verbally). Every town or city in the world has its good and bad points - it's up to you whether you choose to focus on the positives or the negatives!
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When traveling, enjoy the journey, not some "destination". If you are enjoying the journey, you see lots of small things that people focused on guidebooks miss, IMO.
Very true. When I was able to do a study abroad program with my college—they had a sister college in Austria, we were given 3 day weekends for travel, a few sponsored trips, and a 10 day break on our own. One sponsored trip was Rome and Assisi (loved the village best), and we had some free time and stumbled onto the prettiest cemetery I had ever seen. Flower lined walkways, a random pyramid monument for some wealthy family in Rome. Lots of fascinating ruins everywhere. Assisi was in the hills with stairs leading to each level of town. It was quiet and beautiful
Load More Replies... Another post with useless advices from people that don't know how to travel! The general rule is avoid all places because they ask for your money! Stay at home and see those places on your smartphone!
you people who wrote this are pathetic... do you realize how fortunate you are to get to go to any of these places? And then you gripe and whine with great distress about how terrible it all is??? You should count yourself blessed, highly favored, glad, and then feel good about yourself that you have had any of these experiences at all. Most of us regular people don't get to see or do any of these things. The best quote I ever heard about something like this was about the touristy Brighton Beach seaside port in the UK.... One lady wrote after spending her holiday there, "Enormously tacky... but loads of fun. Had a great time, will be back"... Enjoying the tackiness & silliness of tourist traps is part of the fun! You people really missed the program and missed out on a lot of the fun you could have had. Poor you! Poor little rich boys & girls who are never never satisfied.
I completely agree with you. I consider myself very fortunate to have traveled quite a bit, with more travel to come in the future (post-Covid!). There is nothing worse than being in a beautiful and/or interesting place and hearing some idiot whine about the fact that it's "not like home". Or, even worse, that it's "boring". If you find any situation in life boring, that's on you - only you can take the necessary steps to make something NOT boring! Sure, not everything is going to be to your personal taste, but that's no reason to completely trash a place (verbally). Every town or city in the world has its good and bad points - it's up to you whether you choose to focus on the positives or the negatives!
Load More Replies... When traveling, enjoy the journey, not some "destination". If you are enjoying the journey, you see lots of small things that people focused on guidebooks miss, IMO.
Very true. When I was able to do a study abroad program with my college—they had a sister college in Austria, we were given 3 day weekends for travel, a few sponsored trips, and a 10 day break on our own. One sponsored trip was Rome and Assisi (loved the village best), and we had some free time and stumbled onto the prettiest cemetery I had ever seen. Flower lined walkways, a random pyramid monument for some wealthy family in Rome. Lots of fascinating ruins everywhere. Assisi was in the hills with stairs leading to each level of town. It was quiet and beautiful
Load More Replies...