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International air travel now lets us go to so many places almost whenever we want, but this raises a very “first world problem” question, namely, where should one actually visit? So people tend to go online for inspiration and are often, unwittingly, bombarded with marketing material masquerading as genuine travel content.
Someone asked “Which city looks magical on Instagram but felt boring, overpriced, or exhausting in real life?” and travelers share their thoughts with the internet. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to add your own thoughts and experiences to the comments down below.
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#1
Lmao Dubai.
OP:
It has no natural beauty, everything is a man made attraction
RELATED:
#2
Vegas.
ratvespa:
It always cracked me up that ads and billboards makes it look like everyone is having fun while gambling. Then you get in the casino and it looks anything but fun.
Manos 1 month ago
I was there for a few days. Don't drink or gamble but I had fun.
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Billo66 1 month ago
I have been to a casino only once. I spent 10 dollars and won 300. I cashed out and left, I wasn't there 10 minutes. I figured I beat the odds, I won. No sense going back in hopes of a bigger prize. Just grateful for what I won.
moggiemoo 1 month ago
I've been twice, 40 years ago. Both times I lost £10 and wasn't remotely interested in what was going on.
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#3
Lol, Egypt by a pyramid.
Drak_is_Right:
Cairo traffic is exhausting, both literally and figuratively when you consider the car exhaust pollution.
Gebidozo 1 month ago
Cairo can get quite ugly, but at least it has flavor and atmosphere. Unlike Dubai.
roddy 1 month ago
There's culture, history and good food. But, yes, the traffic is nightmare inducing.
Load More Replies... L.V 1 month ago
There are many amazing things to see in Egypt. But I wouldn't want to live in Cairo, the traffic was mental
Farah (she/her) 1 month ago
Im Egyptian and even i dont wanna live in cairo
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GREYNOOK 1 month ago
they are always after your wallet, from the airport to the city center, always want something from your pocket or wallet😫🤦♂️
Farah (she/her) 1 month ago
Yeah, its sad that its like this. Truth is, if u want something done, you've GOTTA give them money. Otherwise it'll either not get done or they'll purposely try to stop it
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#4
Dubai. Wasn't that expensive actuallt, the things I tried (compared to Copenhagen) but it felt super shallow, exhausting and boring.
Robert van Deventer 1 month ago
See my previous comments but I do agree that Dubai is utterly exhausting. Especially traffic.
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
Copenhagen was surprisingly expensive. But there is an Irish bar that has won several awards for their irish coffee and I would give them more awards because that stuff was manna.
#5
Idk if it looks magical on Instagram, but Monte Carlo was so boring and overpriced. I’ve always wanted to go, and besides the Cousteau museum, everything was not for me, in every sense of the word$$$.
slashthepowder:
100% agree. Outside of the F1 track i had no interest in anything else. It just felt like a harbour compared to the other spots around the French Riviera.
L.V 1 month ago
The old town of Monaco is alright, but the rest is all money money money. And overpopulated due to the little space there is. Just stay in France or Italy, and go for a day trip!
Roberta Surprenant 1 month ago
Monaco is the country, not any single city
Load More Replies... KatSaidThat 1 month ago
It's a tax haven city for the uber rich, so yeah, it was always going to be expensive.
Roberta Surprenant 1 month ago
Monte Carlo is kind of creepy, cctv cameras everywhere, always watching the population.
#6
I live in Munich and really like it, but I'll point out that Oktoberfest is almost certainly not as good as you think it is. Basically, imagine way overpriced beer, way too many drunken tourists, bad music, and carnival rides.
Basically any other beer festival in Bavaria, or even just random biergartens, will be much more pleasant and a much better bang for your buck.
Ace 1 month ago
The only real point in going to Oktoberfest is so that in years to come you can say that you once went to Oktoberfest, with as many tall tales as you care to invent.
moggiemoo 1 month ago
I don't believe there is the remotest possibility that I would remember ever having been at Oktoberfest.
Load More Replies... Forrest McCanless 1 month ago
And the saddest thing is that since November second, you can no longer surf in Munich
#7
LA. You grow up watching Hollywood movies and then when you finally go... everything is far away, traffic is a nightmare and you realize your poor, so that LA lifestyle is just on TV. Lol dont get me wrong, I actually like LA and all the fun little food stops you can find, but d**n you need a car and paid parking everywhere.
Patricia Steward 1 month ago
Interesting little specialty museums -- and don't they have a subway now?
Toni Ahlgren 1 month ago
They've had a subway for a long time but only POC uses it.
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Jerome Lenovo 1 month ago
" traffic is a nightmare and you realize your poor " ..... my poor ?
#8
Doha, Qatar.
Rollthembones1989:
I had a long layover in Doha and wanted to get out and see the city. There is literally nothing to do there.
#9
Pisa.
After looking at the tower for 5 minutes all that’s left to do is drink overpriced coffee.
L.V 1 month ago
Climb up the tower, walk along the city walls, visit the churches and museums, have a stroll in the city... If you went to Pisa and only looked at the tower, you definitely missed out!
Lee Gilliland 1 month ago
Wander away from the stupid tower. The houses are amazing and they have a lovely little museum.
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
Pretty much. There's also a cathedral. And instead of drinking overpriced coffee, drink freehand G&T...
#10
Vegas. Leaving now, likely won’t be back.
Giraffe Sitter 1 month ago
Could someone really not find a more current photo of Vegas? Some of those casinos closed 25 years ago.
#11
Miami is the best answer for the US.
bucknut86:
I had three days in Miami after a conference in Miami Beach. I rented a car and was meeting my wife in key west but since it was just me it was cheaper to just hang out at a hotel in Miami. There was some neat stuff and great food but honestly outside of downtown the city felt like one big rundown strip mall.
#12
Key West. Lot more run down and ugly than the highlighted pictures would have you believe. Also the coral bleaching is very bad.
The Majestic Opossum 1 month ago
We went to the Keys about 10 years back and loved every single one we visited - except Key West - it was dirty and gimmicky - very unlike the rest of the Keys.
#13
The Maldives. Cost is outrageous as everything needs to be flown in (think $20 OJ at breakfast). And at some resorts those overwater bungalows are pretty close together and not that private.
Annik Perrot 1 month ago (edited)
I was lucky going there 45 years ago, full board, didn't have to pay for breakfast. Accommodation would probably have been found à bit rough by nowadays tourists, but it had its own rustic charm, and I didn't care, I was there for scuba diving. And that was wonderful.
Jerome Lenovo 1 month ago
yeah, but its a better social marker than a iphone, and thats the important part /s ...... xD
#14
Nashville. Cowboy Vegas, basically.
PlanetStarbux:
I disagree with OP on this one. Nashville is pretty awesome. Literally walk into any joint on the main street and you'll see to much musical talent.
Food is awesome
Whiskey drinking everywhere
Plenty of historical stuff
Mountains not that far away
If you can't find something to enjoy in Nashville, you're the problem.
Billo66 1 month ago (edited)
Avoid Lishey street and 10'th and Jefferson. Dickerson road is interesting. Source: I grew up in east Nashville. Right off of Trinity Lane, next to the Diesel College on Gallatin Road.
Multa Nocte 1 month ago
I lived there in graduate school back in the 80s, but on the other side of town. I thought it was a lovely city.
Load More Replies... #15
Honestly? Paris. Besides going to the Louv...naw I'm just kidding Paris is amazing.
Lemurian_Lemur34:
To be fair, Paris has a psychological condition named after it for how disappointing it is to some people, especially Japanese tourists.
Gebidozo 1 month ago
Paris? Pff. Besides the magnificent architecture, the rich history, and the amazing culture, it’s just like any other city.
Ace 1 month ago
And the food. And don't forget the wine... Right... But apart from the magnificent architecture, the rich history, the amazing culture, the food and the wine, what has Paris ever done for us?
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Jerome Lenovo 1 month ago
ahh the dog sh1t .... the dog sh1t smells better in paris, its a well known fact, il y a les meilleurs crottes de clébards à Ripa, so step on it
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 month ago
Walk along the Seine instead of streets, it's so much more pleasant
#16
Dubrovnik in the height of the summer with cruise ships coming in, might as well be hell on earth.
I hear it's much nicer at quieter times and I can believe it.
Jack Lowry 1 month ago
I was there over Christmas and NYE. I think I was the only native English speaker in the city. No tourists, no lines. The people weren't tired of tourists. Loved it.
Travelling Stranger 1 month ago
in the height of season Dubrovnik's Old Town is hell - masses of tourists, all those narrow streets around the Stradun impossible to pass and absorb the atmosphere as all of them are jam-packed with "konoba" outside seating.. the walk around the old city walls mostly underwhelming, exorbitant prices at the restaurant at the top of the hill over Dubrovnik.. unironically and honestly - the most interesting part of visiting the old city is seeing signs of ordinary people's lives in all this tourist hellscape = a modern basketball court somewhere along the old city walls, drying laundry hanged between buildings (apparently, it's the most photographed feature of Dubrovnik's old town).. also, Dubrovnik is fun to try to leave or find some other specific place in the town itself - popular satnav apps on smartphones make you go around in circles or go further down south (Cavtat and beyond)..
OneHappyPuppy 1 month ago
Another overpriced tourist trap, especially since GOT. It's beautiful yes, but the influx of tourists has made it unbearable
#17
Bangkok. It feels like one giant cruise port in the worst way, and I say this as someone who likes cruising. Also the traffic is insanely, almost comically, bad. Like to the point you don't even want to bother going anywhere around the city that isn't within walking distance.
Also all those pretty temple pictures? They leave out the fact that the rest of the city is a concrete, semi-brutalist hellscape of air pollution and minimal green space.
Oh and the waterways all smell like sewage. But hey at least the food is amazing.
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Tbf its been a few years since my last trip but Its worth a day or two visit. Walk about the palace, trip along the river etc but I prefer to head up to Chiang Mai.
#18
MIAMI.
Everyone thinks it's all Miami Beach, and it's not. It's super overpriced everywhere, and the beach moreso. Burgers and fries for two at a restaurant on beach will easily cost you $100, no alcohol, no parking.
L.V 1 month ago
That picture looks sad. Just a bunch of high rise building crowding the beach. Is the rest of the city nicer?
UnicornSnotRules 1 month ago
I'm glad that I wasn't the only one that wasn't impressed with Miami.
#19
Istanbul. I did LOVE and appreciate the history (Hagia Sophia, Grand Bazaar, Galata Bridge/Tower..) but it was just a tough city for me to connect with. Most of the “authentic” places didn’t necessarily feel safe to me as a solo female traveler, and I often felt like I had to have my defenses up more than usual to avoid being scammed or robbed, which is very unusual for someone that has lived in NYC for 10+ years and seen a lot of s**t here. The economic situation there is pretty dire and I don’t fault people for trying to simply make a living, but my expectations didn’t match reality.
Although I have no plans to return to Istanbul, I’d explore other places in Turkey with someone who is familiar with it more than I am, and I think that’s part of why I didn’t enjoy it - I just stayed in Istanbul (it was a few days stop-over after 2+ weeks in Central Asia)
On the bright side, I learned some new street scams I was completely unaware of!!
roddy 1 month ago
Like any place that has a tourist industry, you need to get off the beaten track a bit. Take a ferry and check out the surrounding area. Great food and friendly people.
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
The pertinent part of her post is "solo female traveller" - it's harder for us just kick back off the beaten track.
Load More Replies... Jack Lowry 1 month ago
Turkey, outside of Istanbul, is great. So much history and the people are much friendlier.
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
Cappadocia is stunning. Also a hot air balloon ride from Istanbul is a great thing to do.
Janissary35680 1 month ago (edited)
Huh? I don't think there are any direct hot air balloon flights from Istanbul to Cappadocia or to anywhere else for that matter. (Bob, in Izmir, where there also no hot air balloons rides so far as I know.)
Load More Replies... #20
Honolulu, Waikiki in particular. Not easy to get around without a car, and nothing I couldn't find on an East Coast beach - all outposts of chain bars and resorts. Plus the people working at the resorts seemed exhausted from tourists.
Hugo 1 month ago
Had an overnight stop in Honolulu once. Just time for a quick walk along part of Waikiki beach before breakfast and then back to the airport. I would say we have beaches just as nice in Ireland; admittedly without the palm trees, but also without the backdrop of high-rise buildings. Also without the piles of litter.
#21
Gary, Indiana.
idkwhattowriteee:
You can literally smell Gary from the highways yuck.
Ripley 1 month ago
Why is Gary always on these lists? It's on *nobody's* bucket list. As a non-american, I've only ever heard of it on lists of overrated cities.
Angie 1 month ago
I am an American and I have in a state that is adjacent to Indiana. I have never been to Gary or been told that I should go there.
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Roberta Surprenant 1 month ago
Gary is fine if you like old steel towns. My memory as a seven year old riding through on a night train was flames from tall chimneys.
#22
Zurich. No reason to visit, literally. Just go straight to proper tourist traps in the alps or ignore the „influencer“ stuff and go hiking somewhere less touristy like the locals do.
Ace 1 month ago
If you want a Swiss city on a lake with some genuine character, Luzern is only an hour or so away. Much smaller centre you can walk round, much less busy, much more beautiful.
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 month ago
But banks. They do have all the banks you'll ever need! JK, they have superb restaurants too. Great wine if y know where.
Chich the witch 1 month ago
Had the most expensive piece of pie and coffee ever in Zurich. Did not stay long in the city.
#23
Marrakesh
Harassed by aggressive by jerk vendors at the medina for looking.
Also, went on a tour to the film studios (which are just sad, derelict left-behind film props that Moroccans decide to turn into an attraction) and the male tour guides spoke only to my partner and not to me.
The only good part was a cooking class I took at the Amal Center, which is a women's foundation, food was great but even then the people who hosted the class were racists. A tourist asked where Morocco's tea come from and the host made a face and said most of Morocco's tea is from China. I mean, where do you think tea originated? Do you think Morocco's climate can grow enough tea to sustain itself?
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
Marrakesh another major city I will never visit - but Agadir is good if you want a flavour of morocco but without the major touristy hustle.
#24
LA. It’s is one of the most iconic and well known cities in the whole country, but when you get there, it is really just crazy traffic, rude + superficial people, and dirty beyond belief. Been there multiple times, and every time I struggle to see the appeal.
#25
Da Nang, Vietnam, felt like the whole city was built to be a tourist trap. On Instagram I could see so many reels calling it ‘The Miami of Asia’, but besides the few high-rise buildings in front of the sea, I couldn’t see it one bit.
KatSaidThat 1 month ago
Da Nang was there long before tourists though. Like centuries before tourism was even a thing.
#26
City? The region of The OBX and SOBX of North Carolina and all points at/above the 34° parallel North as it extends westward to roughly High Point/Burlington, NC is absolute garbage land. People rent one house for one week at a price they could rent two homes with all utilities covered for an entire year less than 4 miles from the water to “vacation” at. And let’s not speak of the land and ground water being toxic and unfit for cattle, hogs or even commercial chicken “farms” but is now littered with subdivisions from Rocky Mount to Oxford, South to Wendell and on down to Burgaw. It’s a chemical soup from Duke Energy coal ash, hog lagoons, decades of agricultural pesticides, herbicides and US Army, US Air Force And US Marines dumping endless toxins - Its unfit for animals.
A drop in the bucket compared to US military ongoing seepage by Kitty Hawk into the sea.
Skara Brae 1 month ago
OBX = Outer Banks, the string of long sandy islands along the eastern coastline.
#27
Oxford, UK. Maybe because I’ve just started living here, but a lot of people are just plain rude and entitled and there is not a lot to do. I much prefer northern England, eg Liverpool, where people are friendlier and the vibe is more chill.
Giraffe Sitter 1 month ago
I found Cambridge more pleasant than Oxford, but really there are better English towns than either one.
Wyrdwoman 1 month ago
My mother lived in Oxford for many years and I agree with the OP. The only place where the locals walk AT you so you have to dodge out of the way. Rude doesn't cover it.
#28
Pretty much every city, tbh. If you let IG dictate your travel plans and life, you are missing out on the whole point of Travel. Put the phone down.
But to answer your question, I personally love Iceland, and have been there many times, but it doesn't look anything like Instagram.
Jack Lowry 1 month ago
Yep, Iceland is amazing but you need to get out to the country to appreciate it.
#29
Bali. Beautiful place but you can’t smell through Instagram and my partner and I both got ill twice from the sheer quantity of burning trash, plastic, and motorcycle exhaust. Basically gave us strep throat. Plus the locals just steal from the reserves so the wildlife is completely tarnished.
#30
Denver disappointed me. It felt like a big college campus, mostly designed for transplants working in tech. Homogenous. So many high rises and concrete, a lot of "things to do" when you've got money and don't mind the color gray. Seems walkable so long as you stay within the transplant campus areas, otherwise you run into displacement and poverty among the native population (I've read up on the Colfax stuff and seen it for myself too).
Some of the culture and history is preserved, but those things feel like islands and it's hard to shake the bleakness even while exploring the botanical gardens or art museum. I got to meet and chat with some people who grew up there and wished things were different. It isn't all bad, but I wasn't expecting the imbalance.
Other parts of Colorado were nice. I loved CO Springs a lot, especially with the immediate exposure to nature and the diversity of age and class within the area. People actually warned me about it because of the military base and religious population (I'm visibly very androgynous, and in an interracial lesbian marriage) but I felt so much more comfortable there than in Denver.
Papa 1 month ago
Someone is getting carried away with the down vote button. This is at least the third post in this article I've seen downvoted for no reason that I can see, and I'm only at #15. I got you back to zero.
Load More Replies... #31
Venice. To be fair, it was stupidly hot when I was there, so that might negatively impact my memory. But I found it to be crowded, dirty, and nowhere near as beautiful in person. Very overhyped in my opinion.
Iron Tyrant 1 month ago (edited)
Italian here. I had the privilege of visiting Venezia, for the umpteenth time, the day after they took away covid limitations so almost no one was there except for locals and very, very few tourists. To say it was insanely beautiful is an understatement. We're talking Stendhal syndrome level here.
Eastendbird 1 month ago
I went there 20+ years ago so I'm sure much has changed. We stayed in Venice for a week in May. The key seemed to be to get off the beaten track and away from the super touristy areas. It was also much nicer in the evenings when the day trippers had departed. As I said though, this was years ago so...
Christian Homuth 1 month ago
It´s one of the most insanely beautiful cities in the world, but it is horribly overcrowded
Janissary35680 1 month ago
I spent two weeks there in October 1969 and practically had the whole place to myself. I don't suppose that would be true any more.
Load More Replies... #32
If your entire Instagram image of Agra is the Taj Mahal, that is the answer. I enjoyed every other city I visited when I spent a month in India for work back in the day, but Agra was gross.
#33
Helen, GA.
kuhplunk:
Lmao.
The Walmart of north Georgia.
Mike F 1 month ago
That's about 25 minutes from my mom's house. It was really a sweet little place when I was last there (20 years or so). You can tube the Chattahoochee river there and it's a blast.
CA Hyde 1 month ago
Yes, 20 years ago it was nice. We recently went back, seemed kind of run down - and the shops were just generic tourist c**p you could get anywhere!
Load More Replies... #34
Surprised I haven't seen Tulum here.
kennycakes:
I though Tulum was great, the archeological zone with El Castillo, the separate little downtown nearby, and the natural areas (beaches, cenotes, jungles) were fun to explore. I went 20 years ago, has it changed that much?
DreadedLaramie:
Massively. Do yourself a favour and don’t go back, keep the nice memories :)
Scott Rackley 1 month ago
Shame to hear that. I visited like 30 years ago, it was nice. There were iguanas everywhere and the beach was awesome.
#35
Atlanta is actually pretty beautiful and the food is great but it was tough to get around without driving and everything was so expensive.
They tried to charge me $40 cover at the club and after I walked away they dropped it to $20 and the vibes in there ended up being terrible.
Multa Nocte 1 month ago
From the photo, this must have been at height of Covid. I NEVER saw less than a trillion cars on the road there.
CA Hyde 1 month ago
That's a fact, 12 lanes wide, bumper to bumper- and don't even talk about ATL, that airport is a hub and crazy!
Load More Replies... #36
To be super honest, I was somewhat underwhelmed by Cesky Krumlov. Many Asians evidently fly around the globe to visit it, but I did not think it is special compared to hundreds or thousands similar other towns in Europe. Which are much less crowded and cheaper to visit.
#37
I lived in Paris for almost two years as a foreigner. It’s beautiful and I love it but most tourists only see what they want you to see.
The is bureaucracy is exhausting but worth it for the health care. There are a lot of racism issues bubbling under the surface but most visitors are woefully ignorant and only see shiny things there.
It’s 10 years since the Bataclan and associated shootings and I lived there when it happened. My best friend had to hide in our favorite bar and just hope they don’t come there.
#38
Colmar, France
I'm eastern european. I can handle cold, rude people. But France is so next level rude I went back to my room and cried and didn't go back out again until it was time to catch my train.
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What do you think ?
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 month ago
So few interesting places. I imagine instagram is a pretty dull experience, but happy never to have seen it!
Zig Zag Wanderer 1 month ago
So few interesting places. I imagine instagram is a pretty dull experience, but happy never to have seen it!
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