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Brussels. Not a bad city, it does have the architectually lovely Grand Place and the cute little statue of the boy urinating, and also pretty shops selling chocolates and lace. It's an important city in the realm of European government and finance. However ... compared to Paris, London, Rome, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Moscow, Istanbul ... it's just blah.
Yikes, I cannot agree with that at all! Not one bit! Bangkok is so filled with palaces, temples, shrines, monuments, villas, ethnic enclaves, restaurant and nightclub districts, cruises on the river, night markets and floating markets. The history and architecture is so much more splendid in Bangkok.
Okay, KL has the Petronas Towers which was - for like 3 months - the tallest building in the world ... but what else do tourists want to see? The pseudo "Indian Colonial" style train station (been there, done that!)????
KL does not have one tenth the number of museums and cultural sights BKK has.
Fact: BKK is the most tourist visited city in the world.
Your thoughts are well stated, ClarkPark.
I think our differing opinions lie deeper than which cities we enjoy or think are overrated. I think we travel with different goals in mind, and enjoy different pleasures from traveling.
In my younger years, I would have totally agreed with you. But now we don't spend much, if any, time in museums, churches, famous buildings, nightclubs, shopping malls etc. We tend to want to spend time learning and feeling the culture and people.
We visit grocery stores and street merchants and eat a picnic in the park. We get away from the tourists and walk the streets, drink in the bars, eat in the restaurants, with the residents. We do some touristy things, but nearly always enjoy ourselves in the smaller villages and towns versus the large cities.
Venice was over-rated but it is one of those places that you pretty much have to go to if you're anywhere near that area, sort of like Old Faithful or the Empire State Building. I would not recommend staying there for more than a day or two though.
Pisa, or more specifically its leaning tower, is also one of those iconic landmarks that few people would pass by and feel they really don't need to see it at all. But it has a lot less going for it than Venice even. The best way to see it is take a train that happens to transfer through there and quickly run over there and take your own corny picture in front of it. The most enjoyable part to me was doing the drawing below…
There are better beach-resort destinations that Cancun but considering it's relative cost and accessibility from he US mainland (particularly to the midwest, which it largely appeals to) I don't think it's really over-rates. But it's really just good for sitting on the beach at a resort eating and drinking. If you go there thinking you're going to have some grand Mayan adventure or some other exotic experience, you'll be disappointed.
The biggest tourist trap I've ever been to is probably 4-corners because its just some lines painted on the ground at a location of no real significance surrounded by nothing but souvenir booths and some pretty bland desert. Second to that is the Royal Gorge Bridge, which is even worse in some ways because you have to pay an exorbitant amount to get in and it seems like someone profiteering off a natural feature as if we're in some 3rd world country. It is a pretty sight though and taking the train through it (which is a separate attraction) is really quite enjoyable, that's why I made it 2nd and not first. And then third to me would be
As for some top destinations that really do live up to a lot of hype despite large crowds, I'd say: The Grand Canyon, Michelangelo's David (and Florence in general), parts of Hawaii, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Bali, Indonesia. Very developed and not as pretty as the images may have you believe. The best beaches aren't in Bali.
They are not talking all of Bali in the least bit. It's a beautiful island - but they are talking Kuta. If you go to Bali and never leave Kuta, you've essentially never been to Bali. Kuta is a tourist slum, full of drunken sunburned Austrailians that have no interest other then cheap booze and a beach vacation. In other words the equivalent of Cancun to North Americans. No mystery both make the list. Simple solution - if you travel to Bali, leave Kuta, as quick as you can. Also do not visit Cancun unless your goal is to drink and get sunburned (and you can do that in your back yard).
Amsterdam - no mystery there either. It's a dirty town and architecturally boring. Once you get past the novelty of the coffeeshops and red light district (or maybe the amazing Rembrandts), there is nothing else.
do not visit Cancun unless your goal is to drink and get sunburned (and you can do that in your back yard).
Because going sailing, diving, snorkeling, fishing and swimming there is completely pointless? I have a feeling you went there during spring break and chose a place that was part of the party scene. Because our experience was quite different. We went off-season and encountered no heavy partiers and didn't do much drinking. We did eat quite a bit of good food though, which was included. Honestly, if you want a vacation where you can just be on the beach and the water the whole time without having to drive back and forth each day, there are few better options for the time and expense to go there.
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Originally Posted by Dd714
Amsterdam - no mystery there either. It's a dirty town and architecturally boring. Once you get past the novelty of the coffeeshops and red light district (or maybe the amazing Rembrandts), there is nothing else.
Again I think you saw an entirely different version of Amsterdam than I did. The red light district and the pot bars made up about 1% of the whole experience, and that was at a time in my life where those things still had some measure of appeal to me. Now I'd just skip them altogether which is pretty easy with a little common sense. But even back then, the vast majority of my trip was made up of seeing some very nice architecture, pretty countryside and some of the world's greatest artwork, not just the Rembrandts. There are many other Dutch Masters and modern artists on display at the Rijkmuseum and elsewhere. Ever hear of Van Gogh?
It all comes down to personal preferences. Venice is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe and as such is crawling with tourists and suffers the high prices of a captive market.
But it is still stunningly beautiful and unique with amazing architecture and art. So it's hard to call it overrated regardless of the crowds.
Pisa is famous for one thing: the tower. It can be called overrated because the tower doesn't lean as much as people might expect, the rest of the city is generally unremarkable, so the hype doesn't live up to reality.
My suggested overrated destinations:
Bali, Indonesia. Very developed and not as pretty as the images may have you believe. The best beaches aren't in Bali.
Milan, Italy. Yes, it's a fashion capital of the world and yes, it has a lovely cathedral and is home to the famous Last Supper, but it's also a working city and hardly attractive when compared to Rome or Florence.
Vietnam. Currently a popular and hip destination but the hassles were tiresome, Ha Long bay is heavily polluted and frequently foggy, Hanoi is a near nightmare and Saigon is more bustling than attractive. The food, however, is excellent but the overall hassles of travel in Vietnam is enough to discourage us from going back.
Agree with Venice. Definitely not one to miss, but a day or two there and I felt like I'd seen all there was to see there. I do like the fact there are almost no cars there.
Yeah I could have missed Pisa, it's another sight to be ticked off I find...people just go there to take 'that' photo lol.
Bali - yes and no. Kuta, yes, but Bali is more than the tourist-infested beach resorts. There's cultural Ubud, and you can climb volcanoes. I find the unique culture interesting.
Milan usually isn't on the tourist trail but we visited on the way to Como. It's an alright city, some nice spots, but nothing of great interest.
I've thought the same about Vietnam in my 3 weeks there. Hassles from xie om drivers did get tiresome...Halong is pretty but yeah, dirty and once you've seen a few limestone karsts you've seen em all. Highlight there was the cave way up in the limestone karst. Hanoi and Saigon have crazy traffic, but Vietnamese food is good and the markets are interesting. Only place I went to I really would go back to is Hoi An for it's rustic charm. I'd also see Phong Nha cave, which I couldn't see last time around due to flooding.
Again I think you saw an entirely different version of Amsterdam than I did. The red light district and the pot bars made up about 1% of the whole experience, and that was at a time in my life where those things still had some measure of appeal to me. Now I'd just skip them altogether which is pretty easy with a little common sense. But even back then, the vast majority of my trip was made up of seeing some very nice architecture, pretty countryside and some of the world's greatest artwork, not just the Rembrandts. There are many other Dutch Masters and modern artists on display at the Rijkmuseum and elsewhere. Ever hear of Van Gogh?
I've seen about as much of AMS as a non resident can. I go to Amsterdam about 3 or 4 times a year for work, attended Queen's day, the whole bit. I can get into the Rijk free and have been there at least 3 times (two since they reopened it this year). Love the museam.
But what do they say? - familiarity brings contempt. I've been there too much perhaps, there is no wonder left in it anymore.
For the next poster - Bali - Ubud was exactly what I was talking about when leaving Kuta. And, Bali is a huge island, they have some amazing remote beaches and little communities there.
We never saw Kuta or Seminyak save for whatever we saw to/from the airport. We spent two weeks on Bali and were in Nusa Lembongan, Ubud, Amed, drove through the rice terraces around Sideman and eventually made it over to the Gili Islands.
There are pretty parts to Bali and the sunsets were lovely, but the island didn't live up to its reputation as we'd seen much prettier equivalents elsewhere. Tropical beaches and snorkeling? Go to Thailand or Tahiti or Fiji. Culture? Go to Thailand or Vietnam. Rice terraces? Vietnam or China. We also found Bali fairly dirty as so much litter mars the island, especially in Amed and Nusa Lembongan.
An overrated place will have hype that causes expectations to exceed the reality, which was certainly the case for Bali.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dd714
They are not talking all of Bali in the least bit. It's a beautiful island - but they are talking Kuta. If you go to Bali and never leave Kuta, you've essentially never been to Bali. Kuta is a tourist slum, full of drunken sunburned Austrailians that have no interest other then cheap booze and a beach vacation. In other words the equivalent of Cancun to North Americans. No mystery both make the list. Simple solution - if you travel to Bali, leave Kuta, as quick as you can. Also do not visit Cancun unless your goal is to drink and get sunburned (and you can do that in your back yard).
Amsterdam - no mystery there either. It's a dirty town and architecturally boring. Once you get past the novelty of the coffeeshops and red light district (or maybe the amazing Rembrandts), there is nothing else.
As for some top destinations that really do live up to a lot of hype despite large crowds, I'd say: The Grand Canyon, Michelangelo's David (and Florence in general), parts of Hawaii, and the Golden Gate Bridge.
I was about to say San Francisco is over-hyped. I do not get what's so great about the Golden Gate Bridge. I guess if you love bridge architecture, then sure. But otherwise, it's just an orange bridge. And the part of SF that is most visited (downtown area) is chilly and foggy, dirty, doesn't smell good, has homeless people everywhere (including peeing off buildings, which is just super), and there's not a whole lot you could get there that you couldn't get in any major US city. I don't get it. Then again, I grew up across from it in Oakland, and always thought it was a chore to go into SF, so there you go.
So far the only international destination I've been to that was awful was Valencia, Spain. And I was only there for a day, thank goodness. The people were rude, and coming from Barcelona, where so many people were friendly, it was a shock.
We never saw Kuta or Seminyak save for whatever we saw to/from the airport. We spent two weeks on Bali and were in Nusa Lembongan, Ubud, Amed, drove through the rice terraces around Sideman and eventually made it over to the Gili Islands.
There are pretty parts to Bali and the sunsets were lovely, but the island didn't live up to its reputation as we'd seen much prettier equivalents elsewhere. Tropical beaches and snorkeling? Go to Thailand or Tahiti or Fiji. Culture? Go to Thailand or Vietnam. Rice terraces? Vietnam or China. We also found Bali fairly dirty as so much litter mars the island, especially in Amed and Nusa Lembongan.
An overrated place will have hype that causes expectations to exceed the reality, which was certainly the case for Bali.
Yeah I made it to Gili as well, and tried the snorkeling and was disappointed as well. That and the touts were even a problem in Ubud. So I would agree with your assessment. I enjoyed it, but it's not necessarily on my "return to before I die" list.
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