According to some guys on the Internet, the ten most overrated tourist destinations in the world are:
Of the ones I’ve been to (all but three), I’d agree with the inclusion of NYFC, Los Angeles and Rome, all of which are the dregs.
However, when you look at the reasons for said reactions, “long queues to get into museums” ranks really high — so, not of much interest to me then, because I’m a traveler, not a tourist, and other than a very few exceptions*, museums are not high on my list of things to do.
I have little of no interest in visiting Istanbul or Anatolia, unless the current crop of Muslim assholes in Turkey’s government moderates their stance towards Westerners.
I desperately want to see Milan at some point, but not for the usual “tourist” reasons; I wanna eat the food, drink the wine and imagine what it would be like to actually live there (which is the main reason I travel at all).
Then there’s this, about Paris:
The city has even coined its own syndrome, Paris Syndrome. The condition is described as a sense of extreme disappointment experienced visiting Paris if the city doesn’t live up to expectations.
I went to Paris expecting to hate it, and came away completely in love with it. (NB: that was well over a decade ago; what Paris may have become since all the North Africans have arrived may change my opinion.)
I’ve been to London so many times that I’ve become tired of life, because as Johnson added, “…for there is in London all that life can afford.” The key word here is “afford”, because London is spendy, Bubba. The only reason I’d go to London anymore is to hang out with the dreaded Mr. Free Market (when he’s there and not away in the West Country, flogging the staff at Free Market Towers), with visits to such places as John Rigby and Wm. Purdey & Son as well as the usual places where one may destroy one’s liver (of which Mr. FM has a seemingly-endless list).
Putting my beloved Vienna on the “overrated” list makes me want to have another breakfast gin lest I be tempted towards violence.
And Rome sucks green donkey dicks. The food is mediocre, the place overrun with tourists and African criminals (and I was there in winter), and were it not for the excellent Vatican tour, I cannot think of any reason to go there.
One last note: I asked New Wife where in Europe, if we won the lottery, she would like to visit (either for the first time, or a return trip).
“Amsterdam” (she’s been there before) “…Barcelona, and the French Riviera.”
No argument from me on any of them.
*Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Kunsthistorischesmuseum in Vienna, both of which I’ve already visited anyway.
Hmmm. I’m the exact opposite, I guess. When I vacation, I try to get as far away from big cities as possible. Camping, staying in a national or state park, being out in the middle of nowhere. Renting a small cabin in a beach town in the off season when no one else is there. If I could go a week without seeing another living person, that’d be the best vacation ever. Going to a big city sounds like hell and damnation to me.
I’m your typical American nobody who’s never made it outside of the America’s. But add Las Vegas to this list. For the life of me I cannot see the appeal.
I prefer getting out of cities. I’ll go in to see the sights and museums, get a meal or two and then get the flock out of Dodge.
My wife and I prefer road trips, rarely spending more than one night in a hotel. we see more of the country and try different regional dishes. We’ve been visiting distilleries, historic sites, museums, and so on.
JQ
NYFC is 45 minutes away for me and I can barely stand to be there for any longer than I gotta be. But with that said, looking at it through the eyes of a tourist, walking through Times Square or Rockefeller Center, especially in the runup to Christmas, even I can see the appeal. It’s the Anti-Vienna, but that’s OK. It’s big and boorish and loud and smelly and in your face and quite unlike any other city I’ve visited. I’ve lived there too (Queens, for five years) but I’d rather eat my spleen than live there again. It’s saying something when someone would prefer to live in New Jersey by way of comparison.
NYFC may be an overrated tourist trap, but nevertheless it’s worthy of being visited, even now in the criminal cesspit it’s become, at least once, and I would argue than even lowly L.A. (ewwww) is worth at least a two-day visit to understand *why* it’s a hellhole on earth (and ditto San Fransicko once they power-wash the excrement off the streets).
There’s a young French youtuber that I follow who is based out of Tours. She occasionally goes to Paris for some of her videos and to me it looks like a city with French architecture. She has noted in some of her videos that Paris is generally ragged on by people who don’t live there as an over-rated place, but that it’s more of a gentle ribbing, not really true animosity or anything. Still and all, she makes her videos by traveling all over France to “show what it’s like here” and she generally avoids Paris since “everyone already knows about it, so I’ve got nothing to add.”
So our gracious host made a distinction I found rather interesting that I’d like him to expand up on if possible. I recently started working for a travel company and we get some interesting international travel benefits as part of our compensation package so international travel is likely in my future.
What do you define as the difference between being a tourist and being a traveller? More importantly, how does one actually be a traveler rather than a tourist?
With regard to museums, some of the best are outside the major cities. In 2019, I spent a delightful two weeks in France – part business, but I was able to hit the Musee des Blindees (Tank Museum) in Samur, several of the chateaux along the Loire (which are gorgeous), Versailles…and the Paris Air Show (bucket list item if you’re in aviation). And, of course, Les Invalides.
The military museum in Vienna is off the beaten path a bit…but well worth visiting.
Stay away from Barcelona: the thieves are rampant.
I had a great time in Amsterdam. I went out of tourist season and the museums were mostly queue-free. I also enjoyed the architecture and the food, though I’m no gastronome. Indeed, you might call me a gastrognome.
With regard to your distaste of big cities, I wonder if it’s a Beltway / M25 / Peripherique thing?
It’s been a long time since I was in Italy, so I suppose this may have changed, but when I went the secret was to find out where the locals eat. The trattoria on the main tourist drags uniformly reminded me of school cafeterias.
It also helped that I had acquired (and, sadly, have since lost) a pocket glossary of Italian menu terms, with translations to English, with notes on regional variations.
Got it at The Travel Bookstore in Silver Spring MD, just outside Wonderland On The Potomac. No idea if they’re still open