Vacation Destinations Expectations Vs. Reality (40 Pics)
You know the feeling when you anticipate something so much that you tend to idolize the picture and when it actually happens, it turns that your expectations surpassed the real thing by miles? Yes, it's called a disappointment, and it happens way more often than it should when traveling to the most famous vacation destinations and places to visit. These days most people don't wear rose-colored glasses, they opt for an Instagram filter instead. Which is why traveling has become so disheartening—where are those idyllic beaches that you saw online? It was better when we could only read about those exotic places to travel and imagine them; now, ruined by Instagram, your travel ideas will never match up to reality.
So come, join us—pull back the veil and see the Truth of travel impressions for yourself. Bored Panda has collected this list of travel expectation VS reality. Which false advertising photo has the best let-down photo? You can also check out these famous places to go zoomed out to show their surroundings.
More info: (h/t: traveltriangle)
This post may include affiliate links.
Taking Photos With Leaning Tower Of Pisa In Italy
click to flip
Admiring Mona Lisa In Louvre Museum, Paris, France
click to flip
I was there, totally true There was people waiting only for the selfie, nobody was even looking Lisa :(
Having A Picnic Near The Eiffel Tower In Paris, France
click to flip
Sunbathing In The Famous Beach Of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
click to flip
that is not quite fair :-) that is during a concert on that beach :-)
Taking A Peaceful Gondola Ride In Venice, Italy
click to flip
Plus this costs you a whole fortune (as everything in Venice does)!
Relaxing On The Gorgeous Beaches Of Maldives
click to flip
Been to some islands in Maldives, you will be able to see trashes on those islands without high-end resorts. JUst like Maafushi, the island is beautiful but I hope that the local will do something to keep the cleanliness in their island. Only islands with expensive resorts maintain cleanliness all over the place.
Checking Out The Breathtaking Glory Of The Taj Mahal, India
click to flip
Enjoying Your Private Moments On The Beaches Of Thailand
click to flip
This place was way more crowded when I was there. And the petrol fumes were stifling... I was sooo upset.
Admiring The Trevi Fountain In Rome, Italy
click to flip
Watching The Stonehenge During Sunset, United Kingdom
click to flip
I agree with Debbie. I've been there and apart from the fact you can't enter so close to the monument the last few years -in the photo above it's an exception- and the museum is small, the whole area is basically empty even at the peak of it. There were even sheep starring at us from the neighboring fence!
Visiting Pyramids Of Giza In Cairo, Egypt
click to flip
Best to arrive either very, very early n the day, or later in the afternoon or evening. And bring a lot of bottled water, it's hot as blazes and waiting in one can be very overwhelming. Plus I wouldn't advise going up in the pyramid if you have any claustrophbia. It's hot, dark, and has no air flow.
Climbing Mount Everest, Nepal
click to flip
Hillary Steps always crowded , beside there is 4-6 weeks weather window and from it only 2 weeks for summit attack , as well sinc 90's commercial tour operators took over this rock , from first climb in 53 numbers of 'climbers' went ballistic , you have money , you go everest ... Fukcud up a bit
Enjoying St. Peter's Square Before Entering The Beautiful Basilica In Vatican City
click to flip
Walking In Sheep Meadow, In New York's Central Park, United States
click to flip
yeah, I've been to Central Park a couple times and it wasn't nearly that packed..
Visiting The Acropolis Of Athens, Greece
click to flip
That's basically a really bad photo of the building NEXT to the Parthenon called "Erechtheum"...
Visiting Hall Of Mirrors In The Palace Of Versailles, France
click to flip
I was there and hall wasn't full like that, just few groups of people
Admiring The Glorious Niagara Falls, Which Marks The Border Between Canada And USA
click to flip
Exploring Arashiyama Bamboo Forest In Japan
click to flip
Walking By The Howrah Bridge In Kolkata, India
click to flip
Exploring Antelope Canyon Arizona, USA
click to flip
I went there four times trying to get a perfect shot. Never gonna happen unless someone sneaks you in. Tour groups enter 24/7 from BOTH ends, ensuring foot traffic.
Having Family Fun Time At The Water Park
click to flip
That's a water park somewhere in China...it's really that full. And while most water parks are crowded in the summe it's nowhere nearly that bad. xD
Admiring Wat Rong Khun Temple In Thailand
click to flip
We've been here on a touristy season and there's not this much people. Maybe it just depends on the time and season? These two photos are not even the same angles! lol. So one-sided.
Getting Goosebums In Front Of The Ancient Temple Of Abu Simbel In Egypt
click to flip
Walking Across The Capilano Suspension Bridge In Vancouver, Canada
click to flip
Visiting The Forbidden City In Beijing, China
click to flip
Tasting Thailand’s Exotic Food In Bangkok, Thailand
click to flip
These two photos are from different places, one photo is from a floating market outside of Bangkok way less crowded than the one close to the city.
Anytime You're Admiring The Blooming Sakura Trees
click to flip
These two photos are from different places, one in in Kyoto and the other probably Ueno park in Tokyo. This comparison makes no sense.
Exploring The Amazing Architectural Details Of Gaudi's Casa Mila In Barcelona, Spain
click to flip
Admiring The Breathtaking Machu Picchu Scenery, Peru
click to flip
GO EARLY! I was there before the influx of tour buses came in! And it was sooooo worth it!
Exploring The Pristine Temples Of Angkor Wat, Cambodia
click to flip
Enjoying A Hike In Yosemite National Park, United States
click to flip
Having spent considerable time at Yosemite I can say the second photo is of a very touristy 'scenic view', but there are plenty of places to be all alone, if you are willing to get out into the woods.
Come to Lithuania - there's a lot to see and like 14 people live here.
I love Lithuania! I was there last spring.
I've been there and enjoyed it! :D
Excellent comment, I was there Trakai castle was brilliant. Vilnuis beautiful city. The problem is that people is to lazy to innovate when selecting destinations...
These are funny, but not entirely accurate. Of course it will be more crowded during events. And does any tourist honestly expect to be the *only* one visiting a famous landmark?! I can also say from experience that it's possible to get that "perfect" shot, but you can't expect to do it at Noon. I have some great "quiet" photos, but I had to get up at 5am to get them!
exactly. and most times if you get up early the sights can be amazing. I was driving back to Telford after a holiday, and the sunrise at half four was stunning, just wish I had photos
you don't need photos all you need is to soak it in and make it a long lasting impression in your memory centers.
I live near Niagara Falls (#21). That's a picture from when Nick Wallenda walked across a tightrope from one side to another. It's never, ever that busy. At all. Never. Ever.
Most of them are true. Just the reality behind marketing.
If you look at lights, most of the expectation pictures are taken very early on morning... So yes, wake the f*** up and you'll enjoy nice places before the crowd...
If you wake up early, you really have gorgeous pictures! I have them! no people around.
I think these expectations are a bit far fetched, but the reality doesn't have to be as bad as they make out. For example - Yosemite - going in the summer, to the most popular viewpoint at sunset is going to be busy - but there's plenty of wilderness and other times of the year to feel like you're the last person on earth.
Thailand Floating Market it True. I was just there a week ago. Thailand still has many other Amazing places.
I've traveled to many of these places, and a lot of them were taken during festivals or tourist seasons. It's very misleading.
I have been to Greece and Paris, and some other European countries and can relate to all of these images. Great to be able to visit all these beautiful places and historic sites but love the take of this.
So true about Roma and Vatican, I con confirm at least that with one exception. At Vatican, the people standing in line are a lot fewer then what I experienced when I was there. In the picture the line is composed of a row of 2 people, well when I was there that row had 8 people. Ofc I said 'fuck this', I wasn't going to wait like 4 hours to visit the Vatican church. Instead I went to the Vatican museum and it was awesome, spent like 4 hours there and didn't manage to visit all the museum. Also as a tip if you ever want to visit places that require a ticket, "BUY THE TICKET ONLINE". The best example I can give you is when we went to visit the Coloseum, and there was a huge, huge, bloody monstrous line for people who wanted to buy a ticket, and the line for the people who already bought their ticket online was empty :D. Imagine I just passed by a 1km + line to visit the Coloseum :)
Some "before" pics, like being alone on the Spanish steps here in Rome, are kinda silly.. So it makes look the "after" pic worse.. Not agreeing with half of these.. Mona Lisa is true tho.. You have to push people to come to see it near..
We don't need anyone More,two babies and end!!!!
Welp, sorry, but we are on a heavily populated planet. There are... Get this... PEOPLE here. You may actually see them enjoying the same things as you, at the same time. If you want to go somewhere and enjoy things alone, maybe you should go hang out where not nearly everyone in the world has heard of and would want to visit?
I wanna visit tokyo the expectation and reality should be the same
Well duh, all touristic places have tourists.. Did anyone expect to be at the Eiffel Tower all alone?!
Sad but I think many could be pics taken during "tourist season"
oh I get it - these places are more crowded than you think. nice.
Just go in the low season, half the prices, 1-8 the people...
Making photographs vs taking snapshots
9. Black Magic Specialist In vadodara Black Magic Specialist In patna Black Magic Specialist In jaipur
It’s a very informative and innovative post, thanks for sharing. If you are looking for a perfect Kids' birthday party place in Delhi, then you may visit our website and book a dream party destination for your kid. https://www.bumbleboom.in
Thanks for given information about above Article all the details are very useful.
You can take the nice photos with no people, you just have to time your photos and get there before the tourists, thats what makes a good photographer, someone whos willing to go the extra mile
So the takeaway from this article is that people=ugly photos and a good camera angle and filter=pretty photos?
I've been to most of these places, some with very few people around such as the Great Wall. If you go to the busiest pass, Beidaling, you go at dawn. Or go to one of the other passes such as Jinshanling that group tours are not taken to. High season should be avoided in cities like Venice and Rome. Summer weekends are not the time to go to popular beaches. And never go anywhere on a holiday, especially in China.
Informative post..http://zellmeonline.com
Goos post..Zellmeonline
Good post..Zellmeonline
You show the glass half empty. It is your vision I saw several of this place half plain. Tku for keeping it free by your Work
Most of those pictures of a "reality" are exacerbated bullshit taken out of context. You can do better Panda. Having said everyone with a bit of brain should realize that.
Why I always travel during Off Seasons...and get up before Opening times.
So, basically, almost all of them are that "it's actually really crowded". Got bored by about the fifth image.
Hello sir, can you tell me what plug-in do you use in the image? so it can flip like that.. Best regards
So the lesson is never go in peak season, right? :D
dfdf
fdfdfd it_bagans1.jpg
So many butt hurt folks here LoL Why so serious? Obviously some photos were taken at peak season or just happen to have tour buses flocking in at the same time. It's all in the name of fun. But the leaning tower is very true, alright. Lol
So many butt hurt folks here.
One word: overpopulation
Y u no objective?
this article/gallery is utterly stupid. I can't even begin to tell why.
this gallery si utterly stupid. find something more interesting
Lucky to have been in some of these places, the post is very accurate. But ok what can you hope for when visiting a popular destination in hot seasons? Smart tourism nowadays is all about exploring any city that can give you access to it's local people, off season, if you are trully interested in knowing more and exploring the beauty. Last, as a photographer I gotta say that it has to be sunrise for a magnificent capture.
hello, popular holiday destinations, please, just get over it. it's immature to think that old photos are what reality is. reality is a distortion of dreams and dreams distort our reality... honestly. how immature. I think that we need to stop distorting reality with our dreams. I keep a low standard so I'm always going to be impressed by anything.
A great one would have been Dunns River Falls you climb in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. In every brochure or photo there's like 3 couples walking up it. But it was PACKED you could barely see the falls and everyone holds a rope and it's like a giant human centipede walking up the falls.
Makes me sad seeing what us humans are doing to the natural attractions :-(
Victor Vakaras your comment on this is just hilarious. Best laugh i have had in a while. thanks.
you have forgotten Machu Picchu: that site is Always in my nightmares
As a brazilian I can say: Rio is ANYTHING like the pictures. It's crowded and insecure
Vous auriez pu mettre le Mont Saint Michel. ça ressemble à la murail de chine. If you go to the Mt Saint Michel, you'll think you are as the China wall.
I like to travel off peak for peace and quiet!
I like all of the tips like go at 6 am or autumn etc. I will bookmark this page for when we travel. :-)
I loved this - was very interesting, even if the 'reality' pics weren't taken on typical days
Weeeee
Terrific , too much , awful,
XD... and what about all those fucking selfies!?
Talking about wrong timing for holidays. That's all.
This photos not only show places in different seasons, but they show them from different angles. It's not the same to take a picture of Niagara falls behind the sidewalk, where there are all the tourists, and from the handrail. In the first one it's obvious you're going to have people in your photo, while in the second one, you probably won't.
I live in Salem Massachusetts, and have taken photos from the same vantage point on October 31st (Halloween), and November 1st, when the masses of people have magically faded away!
I usually love BoredPanda articles, but I have to disagree with this one. Really, whoever goes to Greece in summer, or choses to visit a metropoli like Rome or NY City, and excepts to find no traffic is beyond naivety. Come on guys. Be realistic. If you want isolation, you don't go to most of these places. It's as simple as that. That said - I don't like crowded places too, but I don't expect to find empty beaches in Thailand either.
These shots was taken by me at Santorini in July 2013 at peakhour... More on my blog http://www.shoponista.ru/2013/09/santorini-probably-in-recent-years-this.html If you want to see or imprint the beauty of any place you'll do it ))) Never mind ;) IMG_05181.jpg
Even if all of those were actually realistic, I'd still love doing all those trips. Just because I really wanna meet new places.
wow this is sooo true ~ I have been like this before , exactly how the picture look like hahaha
Load of crap. I've been to a large number of these locations. I was in the military overseas and served as an attache' and advisor during a large portion of my 24 year career. Yes, if you visit Pisa at the peak time in August, it will be more crowded, but come mid-day in June and it's much more like the first picture. I dined in a restaurant on the edge of a canal in Venice, and in the hour and a half that sat there, only one gondola came into view. I visited the Eiffel three times, and never saw the crowds you see in that picture. Can it happen? Sure, if you go at the wrong times, during the peak months. That's when it pays to do your research. Don't pay these pics too much mind.
I've been in most of thees places and I can say that most of this photos are exagerated. However you miss Aurora borealis Photo.
most of the "expectation" pics are HDR, reality almost N E V E R looks like HDR. and stop bitching about too many tourists when beeing a tourist.
Most of these are nonsense. Taken during special events or peak times. You can usually see many of these without the crazy crowds shown here. Either way just take it as it comes. It's all part of the experience :)
Well those landmarks are FAMOUS and tourist must check-list so what do you expect? private and intimate?
This post is very misleading! WTFudge boredpanda!
it all depends on the seasons, still it is pretty amazing
So basically if you don't like people don't go to any of the big tourist spots.
The only place that disappointed me in Rome was the Sistine Chapel. I expected a crowd, but for them to be standing there in hushed reverence and awe at the beauty of the place. Instead, it was SO noisy! Even with guards telling everyone to be quiet in a sacred place...they'd quiet for a moment then get loud again. So rude.
what do you expect from some of the biggest tourist destinations in the world? you think are going to be the only one there and able to take a photo that almost replicates what is obviously an istock image? lol come on.
Hah funny!
People here have a hard time getting jokes
Indeed...
well this isn't a very funny joke - just ignorant whining
The one from Santorini Island is NOT from a usual day but from the Red Bull Art of Motion (e.g. Parkour championship). Get your facts straight!
Come to NZ where the pictures match the reality...
Okay so I'm one of those who adore BoredPanda.. But this new clip to flip/slide to flip.. It does not allow me to look at both photos at the same time.. Fine use new controllers.. But keep two windows side by side for comparison.. Takk
I think someone did not read the title and just posted a load of holiday pics.... Supposed to be Expectations vs Reality , not just someones reality.
Lol, FUCK OVER POPULATION, KILL THEM ALL!!!!
You people are taking this post so seriously. Can't anyone see this is just poking fun at tourist and tourism? It's just making fun at travel agencies photos or instagram profiles who post these awesome photos about their trips, but when one experiences it is nothing like those pictures. It's just an ironic post, gee. It's like the dog post where you see your Facebook profile picture is awesome and your ID photo is really ugly. It's just a joke. Chill.
This is really quite disappointing to find that a traveller has purposefully mislead the audience. If you're silly enough to travel in peak.
Totally disagree. I've been to loads of these and they've been great. Clearly these were taken peak time peak season or just as a bus arrive
The Rio one is just not true at all. You can see by the many stages set in the sand it was a festival, usually it's not that crowded. I've been there many times and it usually looks like the first pic
well..this post did`n ruin my dreams at all...i still want to go around the world,doesn`t matter what it takes ! <3
Hahaha what a bad article. Really really bad paper. And the writer knows why! Shame. Lies. Easy way to make fun, worst one. Keep going...
WHO WROTE THIS ? How can you pretend to be a journalist ?
This article is so misleading on almost every single one of them... You need to get up really early before everybody wakes up, just need to go at the right time of day and year.
So the problem is too many people, when was the last time you thought I wish it'd be more crowded here...
I don't see anything wrong with the before or after on this photo. This is why people hate tourists. It's called living and culture not going somewhere just because you want your life to feel like a postcard. This is one of the most ignorant posts I've ever seen from you guys.
These are humorous exaggerations of a common tourist's reality, not some infographic to plan your holidays or something. Take it easy, people. Of course these are adverts vs. the most crowded experience pics.
You just chose the moment and the place and most of the time you can have perfect places everywhere! Of course it's rare to have a place with nobody...but don't visit it at rush hours during hollidays and it will be fine!
Good luck convincing your boss to give you days off when s/he needs you the most. Well, depends on your work, but you should get my point....
Couldn't agree more. As a satirical piece I think it's a roaring success :)
Indeed depends of the work...but most of corporate allow holidays outside official holidays. It depends more on the kids holidays than anything else ;)
i have been in many of these places and sadly it's true the expectations vs the reality
Too many fake pictures.
These are examples of what people never plan for. You plan your trip thinking you'll be the only one(s) on the premises, and a romantic image emerges of the wonderful time you'll have, the beautiful sites and the perfect weather. Your mind gives you the "real" trip of the gorgeous scenery, and then things happen that you never expect. I remember researching motorhomes for five years before my husband retired, trying to get the perfect model for us, plus I received all of the travel brochures of the places we'd go and the fun we'd have. On our first trip, we nearly froze to death until we found the right switch for the furnace; on the second trip, we drove into a massive hail storm, with hail the size of softballs. They cracked the windshield, tattered the rubber roof, dented every part of the front of the truck. I never once thought of the bad weather we might encounter as we were planning. Still, it did not deter us a bit, and we visited all 48 contiguous states joyously!
No Aussie spots? Bah.
Sidney. # 37
Load of crap. I've been to a large number of these locations. I was in the military overseas and served as an attache' and advisor during a large portion of my 24 year career. Yes, if you visit Pisa at the peak time in August, it will be more crowded, but come mid-day in June and it's much more like the first picture. I dined in a restaurant on the edge of a canal in Venice, and in the hour and a half that sat there, only one gondola came into view. I visited the Eiffel three times, and never saw the crowds you see in that picture. Can it happen? Sure, if you go at the wrong times, during the peak months. Same goes for Giza, the Acropolis and Stone Henge. The Everest pics are a joke. That second location is near Hillary Step, which has only one way up or down. Consequently, crowds of climbers gather there to await their turn. It pays to do your research prior to your vacation!
These are very famous tourist spots. So it makes sense that what you think you should expect could be very different than when you get there
Thank you for sharing realistic images of what it could be like to travel. I think a lot of people do expect it to be quiet. But in reality.
I think we should go ahead with the American dream.............kill every body untill there is only 500,000,000 people on earth. then the elite and high sociaty can vissit all these places without a problem of us poor bastards that also just want to see it. 1 Flying over FEMA site - YouTube 2 NASA_ The End Of Mankind _Leaked Document_ 2013 3 The Illuminati And The Depopulation Agenda part 1 - YouTube_3
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Poor bored little petty bourgeois, incapable of an original thought...
Come to Lithuania - there's a lot to see and like 14 people live here.
I love Lithuania! I was there last spring.
I've been there and enjoyed it! :D
Excellent comment, I was there Trakai castle was brilliant. Vilnuis beautiful city. The problem is that people is to lazy to innovate when selecting destinations...
These are funny, but not entirely accurate. Of course it will be more crowded during events. And does any tourist honestly expect to be the *only* one visiting a famous landmark?! I can also say from experience that it's possible to get that "perfect" shot, but you can't expect to do it at Noon. I have some great "quiet" photos, but I had to get up at 5am to get them!
exactly. and most times if you get up early the sights can be amazing. I was driving back to Telford after a holiday, and the sunrise at half four was stunning, just wish I had photos
you don't need photos all you need is to soak it in and make it a long lasting impression in your memory centers.
I live near Niagara Falls (#21). That's a picture from when Nick Wallenda walked across a tightrope from one side to another. It's never, ever that busy. At all. Never. Ever.
Most of them are true. Just the reality behind marketing.
If you look at lights, most of the expectation pictures are taken very early on morning... So yes, wake the f*** up and you'll enjoy nice places before the crowd...
If you wake up early, you really have gorgeous pictures! I have them! no people around.
I think these expectations are a bit far fetched, but the reality doesn't have to be as bad as they make out. For example - Yosemite - going in the summer, to the most popular viewpoint at sunset is going to be busy - but there's plenty of wilderness and other times of the year to feel like you're the last person on earth.
Thailand Floating Market it True. I was just there a week ago. Thailand still has many other Amazing places.
I've traveled to many of these places, and a lot of them were taken during festivals or tourist seasons. It's very misleading.
I have been to Greece and Paris, and some other European countries and can relate to all of these images. Great to be able to visit all these beautiful places and historic sites but love the take of this.
So true about Roma and Vatican, I con confirm at least that with one exception. At Vatican, the people standing in line are a lot fewer then what I experienced when I was there. In the picture the line is composed of a row of 2 people, well when I was there that row had 8 people. Ofc I said 'fuck this', I wasn't going to wait like 4 hours to visit the Vatican church. Instead I went to the Vatican museum and it was awesome, spent like 4 hours there and didn't manage to visit all the museum. Also as a tip if you ever want to visit places that require a ticket, "BUY THE TICKET ONLINE". The best example I can give you is when we went to visit the Coloseum, and there was a huge, huge, bloody monstrous line for people who wanted to buy a ticket, and the line for the people who already bought their ticket online was empty :D. Imagine I just passed by a 1km + line to visit the Coloseum :)