Travel can be great, but hype isn’t your friend. When you stay grounded and realistic, you can be pleasantly surprised. But when you have huge expectations for how your adventure will turn out, you’re just waiting in line for disappointment.
The reality is that not all tourist attractions are all that they’re cracked up to be. So, locals took to a thread on the ‘Ask The World’ online community to share their words of warning about the tourist traps to avoid in their countries. Check out the places you might want to rethink visiting on your next journey abroad.
#21
This, Vinicuna or "color mountain".
It is one of those places that became a thing after instagramers started taking pictures in front of it.
However, on instagram, you can edit the color so it looks way more vibrant, and you can take it from an angle that looks like a huge mountain.
In reality, you need to take a bus ride that's far away and do a hike just to end up at this underwhelming hill with some colors caused by minerals.
It is one of those places that became a thing after instagramers started taking pictures in front of it.
However, on instagram, you can edit the color so it looks way more vibrant, and you can take it from an angle that looks like a huge mountain.
In reality, you need to take a bus ride that's far away and do a hike just to end up at this underwhelming hill with some colors caused by minerals.
Report
28points
#22
The book tower in municipal library in Prague.
Various guides mention it as a "hidden" or "secret" spot.
In reality there's always a queue where tiktokkers and instagrammers waits for hours to take the same picture.
Various guides mention it as a "hidden" or "secret" spot.
In reality there's always a queue where tiktokkers and instagrammers waits for hours to take the same picture.
28points
#23
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen...
MarketingNew5370:
I agree, it is an underwhelming statue with a boring Industrial background which is often marketed as the highlight of any trip to Copenhagen. The literal fortress right next, Kastellet, is infinitely more interesting.
MarketingNew5370:
I agree, it is an underwhelming statue with a boring Industrial background which is often marketed as the highlight of any trip to Copenhagen. The literal fortress right next, Kastellet, is infinitely more interesting.
Report
27points
#24
“Dracula’s castle”
Vlad Țepeș never even came near it in all his life. The castle is pretty, but cramped due to the sheer number of tourists.
Vlad Țepeș never even came near it in all his life. The castle is pretty, but cramped due to the sheer number of tourists.
Report
26points
#25
Mount Rushmore.
bluechickenz:
Mount Rushmore is so strange… the scale is pretty amazing and the monument is quite cool, but it just looks so small and underwhelming in person.
bluechickenz:
Mount Rushmore is so strange… the scale is pretty amazing and the monument is quite cool, but it just looks so small and underwhelming in person.
Report
25points
#26
Poverty stricken places. Just why?
Anonymous:
Came here to say 'slums'. Yall, I promise India has better places than Dharavi.
narvuntien:
It was actually in Busan, South Korea they painted a bunch of Poor peoples houses bright colours and called it a tourist attaction and the poor try to hawk you trickets from thier front doors. It was so exploitative for both the poor and the tourists.
Anonymous:
Came here to say 'slums'. Yall, I promise India has better places than Dharavi.
narvuntien:
It was actually in Busan, South Korea they painted a bunch of Poor peoples houses bright colours and called it a tourist attaction and the poor try to hawk you trickets from thier front doors. It was so exploitative for both the poor and the tourists.
24points
#27
I'm going to say the American side of Niagara Falls. Technically the more aesthetic half is on the US side, but you can only see it well from the Canadian side. Even our tourist trap attractions in the area are [worse].
Report
24points
#28
Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
An urban planning crime and a gathering place for poverty. A terrible place.
An urban planning crime and a gathering place for poverty. A terrible place.
24points
#29
Resorts. There is more to mexico than just the fancy hotels and beaches.
Report
23points
#30
Neuschwanstein, honestly, the castle is great from the outside, but save yourself the entrance fee. What you only find out after entering is that inside there are basically only a few truly finished rooms.
22points
#31
Moulin rouge.
skabben:
My experience is that all tourist spots in Paris is full of scammers and people trying to sell you [stuff]. Really ruins the experience.
skabben:
My experience is that all tourist spots in Paris is full of scammers and people trying to sell you [stuff]. Really ruins the experience.
22points
#33
The liberty bell in Philadelphia. Guys, it’s just a big bell that rang like, twice. Great symbol, underwhelming attraction.
Report
22points
#34
The underground path in Toronto. It's really just that, underground pathways between buildings and subway stations, with shops and food courts in them. It's also the path between the train station and the financial district so it's super busy with people traffic during rush hour in what truly feels like a rat race. It comes in super handy on cold windy winter days, but it has been sold as an 'underground city' as a tourist destination. I feel sooo bad every time a tourist stops me to ask me where is the underground city, and I have to tell them 'you're in it, this is it.' Uuuugh and it's usually super polite Japanese tourists that still proceed to take pictures of the glorified underground 2000's shopping mall.
21points
#37
I live in New York City… Times Square.
mikroonde:
When I went to NYC, I remember arriving there tired late at night, struggling to find our way to the hotel, and eating a disgusting sandwich before going back outside just to see Times Square before going to sleep. I was like... that's it? Thankfully the next days were less disappointing but honestly I expected Times Square to be a huge thing and I realised it was just a street and the screens were smaller than I imagined. Some people mentioned tourists experiencing a busy area of a big city for the first time but I grew up in Paris so I was unimpressed lol. I did find it cool to see that the streets of Manhattan were just like in the movies though lol.
mikroonde:
When I went to NYC, I remember arriving there tired late at night, struggling to find our way to the hotel, and eating a disgusting sandwich before going back outside just to see Times Square before going to sleep. I was like... that's it? Thankfully the next days were less disappointing but honestly I expected Times Square to be a huge thing and I realised it was just a street and the screens were smaller than I imagined. Some people mentioned tourists experiencing a busy area of a big city for the first time but I grew up in Paris so I was unimpressed lol. I did find it cool to see that the streets of Manhattan were just like in the movies though lol.
Report
20points
#38
The Inverness "it's nae a bonk machine".
Fuzzy-Gear1965:
I genuinely think one of the funniest things to come out of Scotland is a railing that's nae a bunk machine becoming a tourist destination.
Fuzzy-Gear1965:
I genuinely think one of the funniest things to come out of Scotland is a railing that's nae a bunk machine becoming a tourist destination.
Report
19points
#39
Oktoberfest. People fly here from all over the world to get wasted on overpriced mediocre beer and disgusting food, just to throw it all up again an hour later.
Report
19points
#40
Shilin Night Market, it is one of the most popular night markets in Taiwan and is shoulder to shoulder crowded every night, but the food [is bad] because the stalls prioritize volume over taste and ingredients, and it’s overpriced.
Report
18points