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If You Don’t Want To Visit Places That Are Simply Overrated, Here Are 25 To Steer Clear Of
Interview With Expert
When we travel to different places, some simply latch on to us and refuse to ever leave our memories. However, there are also some spots that actually leave you questioning why you ever even visited them in the first place, right?
Well, there are many people who feel such disappointment, so when Reddit user TurbulentAir asked, “What is the most overrated travel destination?” folks were quick to name a lot of places. We have compiled a list of these spots for you, so if you are planning your next trip, make sure you take a look at this first!
More info: Reddit
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#2
Dubai. It sucks so bad, there is nothing to do, and no culture. Unless you like gaudy designer b******t or laying by the pool.
The thing about traveling is that it needs prior planning and bookings and reservations and all that jazz. However, after so much effort, when the destination itself disappoints you, you might wonder what's even the point of it all.
Well, to understand more about such overrated places, Bored Panda interviewed Saee and Nikhil—avid travelers who document their travel stories on their Instagram account, apparentlytrippy. While they have traveled to over 22 countries, the number of destinations is too many to count, as every country has multiple wonderful spots.
They told us that Luxembourg City was one such place they had visited and had been quite excited to go to. However, they felt disappointed after reaching it because it was way too expensive, lacked landmarks to explore, and the weather was very gray.
#4
I live in Nashville and I think that’s my answer. Tourists only go on Broadway and watch the same lame cover bands at the same lame overpriced bars. Go outside the Broadway strip ffs. Nashville has so much else to offer.
#5
Cancun, it's a shady town. Everybody is out to rip you a new one, from the taxi drivers to the waiters, you go to a fancy steak house order a bottle of wine they bring you a more expensiveone, you go to a taco stand the price on the board don't match the one on the ticket.
#6
Not sure if it's a huge destination. But the '4 corners ' in the southwestern US sucks.
There's nothing culturally, geologically, or environmentally interesting or significant there.
Is just an area where a cartographer drew two intersecting lines in a map years ago. And due to a surveying error, it isn't even in the right place.
One important point that we discussed with them was the impact of social media on travel destinations. Saee stressed that social media plays a huge role in overhyping certain travel spots as influencers always tend to show idealized versions of these places, like the picture-perfect sunsets, empty beaches, dreamy cafes, and dramatic drone shots.
"What you don't see are the crowds, long lines, entry fees, trash, or how small that 'epic' spot actually is in real life. As people only see the aesthetic version of the place on Instagram, TikTok, or Pinterest, it leads to overcrowding, and Venice and Rome are probably the best examples of this," Nikhil explained.
#7
Can't believe no one has said Mount Rushmore. It's hours away from any sort of other entertainment or lodging. You have to enter through the gift shop. Then you finally get to the viewing spot and it's underwhelming to say the least. Then the kicker is that it is on Religious Holy Land seized from the Sioux is the big middle finger of it all.
#8
Branson. I do not get it. It's about 4 hrs from me and literally everyone I know goes there on vacation. It is the go-to vacation destination for like 75% of people I know. They go there at least once a year. If they only can take one vacation, they go to Branson. I do not get the appeal at all. Everything there just feels incredibly fake.
Speaking about how tourists throng to places they see on social media, the couple also narrated how over-tourism simply damages the charm of a place. Nikhil said, "Just like every tourist, we were looking forward to visiting the Trevi fountain in Rome, and making a wish by throwing in a coin. We wouldn't deny how breathtakingly beautiful it was to stand there and just gaze at it wholeheartedly."
"But then, we snapped out of the charm when people kept moving past us, so much so that we couldn't even stand in one place. In fact, it was difficult to even get a decent picture there!" Saee added. They also expressed that while over-tourism is an issue, some people just don't know how to act like 'tourists,' and they go about littering and ruining places.
#10
Santorini, Greece. Go to one of the smaller islands. Paros, Naxos. Anything not touristy. Paros was beautiful, wonderfully clean and everyone was so nice. Santorini was a tourist trap. Dingy, lots of harassing peddlers. Crowded. Nah.
#11
The whole Pigeon Forge area in Tennessee
I hope you like sitting in traffic for hours on end. If it was up to me, I'd save my money and go literally anywhere else.
Out of all the hyped-up places that they have visited, the couple felt that Cologne was the most overrated. "Apart from the Cathedral, which was quite impressive by the way, there was nothing picturesque about it. We honestly couldn't figure out why people are so fascinated by it, as there was nothing much to do over there," Saee narrated.
"Moreover, it might be a decent place to live in, but it is definitely not a touristy spot as it lacks the things we expect from a place when we travel," Nikhil added. They also strongly believe that there are a lot of underrated places out there worthy of a once-in-a-lifetime visit, like the High Tatra Mountains or Banská Štiavnica in Slovakia or the whole of Slovenia in general, which is like a fairytale.
#14
I'm gonna say it, Amarillo. That d**n horse museum is so darn alluring, but it isn't all it's chalked up to be! To think, I said I'd be there by morning!
#15
Morocco. Very cool city and shops but every time we stepped outside there’s like 30 grown men just staring at the women in the group and following us around. Also tons of kids everywhere trying to sell you stuff aggressively.
Well, that was definitely enlightening, wasn't it? Next time I plan a vacation, I would definitely love to visit a place that actually looks just as appealing in reality as it looks on social media. Wouldn't you want to visit such a place, too? Let us know your dream spots in the comments below. Also, if our list has missed any overrated places, feel free to share them with us!
#16
Honestly, Los Angeles. But not because it sucks - I love LA. I just think you need to live here to truly get what the city has to offer. If you come as a tourist you squeeze in a bunch of random touristy things and don’t get to really experience the city for what it is.
#17
Lake Havasu, AZ. It's a s****y lake in a s**t town that everyone has convinced themselves is a nice place to be because they live in the desert and it sucks there.
#18
Scottsdale - my hometown, will always be home but I can’t believe people go there as a destination.
#21
Atlanta. Don't get me wrong. I live here and I love this city. But Atlanta is, as many say, a great place to live but you wouldn't want to visit. As a tourist, it sucks. There are few interesting things to do and see as tourist that you couldn't get elsewhere, apart from some more niche interests. Living here is great, and there's so much the city has to offer to its locals in terms of quality of life, but I always tell my friends in other states/countries to skip Atlanta and just go to NYC or Chicago for the big city tourism experience.
