52 Shocking Travel Destinations That Failed to Impress Even the Most Eager Tourists
we have a tourist attraction about 2 hours away from me called “Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu” which is famous for being the longest place name in the world. People drive there to take photos with the sign of the name. I drove to it and it turns out its literally just a hill. Not even a special hill or anything, not like a tourist attraction type hill, just a normal a*s hill. the bit i hated though? no bloody sign lmao. they removed the long a*s sign everyone took pictures with, so now its literally just a two hour drive to see a hill. I dont even know why that hill even has a name in the first place tbh lol.
“One of the most common issues,” Raj explains, “is that travelers often forget to factor in time, budget, or actual feasibility.” They’ll spot a cool cliff or beach and assume it’s an easy detour. “But the reality can be hours of travel, steep costs, and maybe even a permit to get there,” he adds. Expectations are high, but reality often brings them crashing back to earth.
Bali is a very popular place for Aussies to visit. I went for four days at the end of my honeymoon. It was hot and sticky, hard to breathe, I’m s**t at haggling prices, shopkeepers and taxi drivers constantly hassling you, got food poisoning first day (ate at Pizza Hut the rest of the time out of fear), saw cats jumping up and licking spoons and the servery at a buffet, can only drink bottled water, and when I went to the men’s room at (what I was told was) an up-market shopping location, I had to flush the toilet with a bucket, and then when I went to wash my hands, I saw a guy next to me washing his balls in the sink.
Nice beaches though…
For me it’s not really a destination so I’m gonna be “that guy” it’s more cruises.
I’ll never do a cruise again.
Too many people
Too many disgusting people
Too expensive.
We did a long day trip from Rome to visit the Amalfi Coast. My wife wants to go back and spend more time there, I can’t think of a less pleasant vacation.
It’s absolutely packed wall to wall with humans and the prices are outrageous.
Crowds are another major letdown. “People imagine they’ll be alone on this scenic cliff,” Raj says, “but then there are a hundred other tourists with tripods.” The charm fades fast when you’re packed elbow to elbow with selfie sticks. “And sometimes,” he sighs, “clients come back asking why we didn’t tell them. But we did.”
Unfortunately, Santorini. I went 7 years ago and it was horribly crowded, tour buses everywhere. My hotel was lovely, had the classic view out the Caldera thing and was tucked away and hard to find, but not so hard that I didn’t have tourists coming onto my deck and taking engagement photos my entire three days there. The archaeology museum was nice, and I asked someone there if they felt like tourists were ruining their island. She agreed. I cannot even imagine how bad it is now with cruise ships. Cruise ships ruin everything in my opinion.
There have been places I’ve gone to 5 yrs ago off season in Europe that were lovely and you could have an authentic experience. Nowadays they are just packed and miserable with obnoxious tourists.
I would add Iceland to this list too- another place I went in winter about ten yrs ago and had a great time, very few tourists, lovely. I went last February again and wanted to scream with the mass hordes of tourists, many of whom were just terrible. I love you Iceland, but I just can’t anymore. I had thought about coming back in summer to do the West part of the island, but no.
Icelandair has done a fantastic job of selling Iceland to Americans, but at what cost? The airport is also now a nightmare to use for connections to other places in Europe – it is too small for all that traffic flowing through there now.
I traveled to Paris in December, not my first time in Paris but my first time guiding myself. Paris is dense with worthwhile. Keep in mind that I have lived in cities like Denver, D.C., and NYC and have traveled to a handful of other major capitals in Europe so this isn’t necessarily some scared, naive travelers take.
Parisians are gross. It is the only major city I’ve ever seen so covered in dog feces, because people don’t pick up after their dogs nor do they guide them out of the walks; lots of people walk around with it on their shoes evidently because it is often stepped in.
Paris also smelt a lot like NY in the summertime with the scent of p**s wafting up in the evenings, but somehow it was just as pungent in the cold of December as NY’s is in July.
And a lot of Parisians, not most by any means but more than you would expect in most western cities, smelt of trailing body odor.
It is also the only place I’ve ever had to exit multiple Ubers because the cars were filthy and 2 out of 3 times smelt like cigarette ash. All but two of the rides we took didn’t smell of cigarettes in some way, but some were so bad I couldn’t breathe.
