While some Travel writers might be crabby, my Tourism suspicions are confirmed with this list

[UTUSN]

And from a separate list, "Overrated Destinations" : "#1 MOST OVERRATED destination: Austin, TX This too-often celebrated hipster mecca is one of those unfortunate places that seems really smashing on paper. Better to not ruin things by actually going."


*********QUOTE******** (Lots of beautiful pics, below: )

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/21/overrated-places_n_4283402.html?utm_hp_ref=world&ir=World

[font size=5]The 25 Most Overrated Places On Earth[/font]

We wish these places were all that the travel blogs crack them up to be… but they’re not.

1. Milan
You know Milan as the capital of high-end fashion, so it sounds like there'd be lots to see. But if you can’t afford the Prada flagship, you’re outta luck.

2. The Golden Gate Bridge
It’s foggy up there. And cold from the wind and loud from the cars. The ubiquitous suicide call boxes don’t lighten the mood, either.

3. Loch Ness
If nobody’s told you yet, the monster is not real. We repeat: he is NOT going to emerge from the dreary gray waters of Loch Ness. Save yourself the three-hour drive from Edinburgh.

4. The Empire State Building Observation Deck
You can’t really see Central Park from the top, because that other building called 30 Rock is in the way. You also can’t see New York’s other greatest landmark -- the Empire State Building -- because you’re, well, inside the Empire State Building.

5. Athens
There are four buildings you knew of before you came here, and they’re all nestled on a magical, hilly oasis called the Acropolis. The streets beyond it are notoriously dirty and crowded.

6. The Hollywood Walk of Fame
If you look at the ground, you’ll see the names of a few famous people underneath dirty napkins and crumpled hot dog wrappers. You probably won’t look at the ground, though, considering how many street performers in Elmo costumes there are.

7. The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Since when does it cost $24 to ascend a bell tower? Plus, it’s not even leaning as much anymore.

8. Miami
In America’s third-most expensive city, a $20 cover charge is no big deal. But even the most neon-lit of nightclubs won’t take your mind off the humidity.

10. Stonehenge
You can’t even get up close to them-- most of the time, rope barriers make you stay about 10 yards away. They’re also 90 miles from London, right next to a freeway. And they’re also just rocks.

11. The Champs-Elysee
It looks très beautiful from an aerial viewpoint, but unfortunately you’ll be on the ground when you visit. It’s a street of shops… with lots of pickpockets.

12. Niagara Falls
First, you will pay tons of money to sleep in a motel simply because it's within a 10-mile radius of this waterfall. Then, you will navigate a labyrinth of casinos and Hard Rock Cafes and Guinness World Records Museums on your way to the waterfall. Then, after purchasing a souvenir poncho, you will see the waterfall.

13. Rome
The historical sites are astounding. They’re just permanently buried under masses of tourists and trash.

14. Dublin
To many Americans, Ireland is traditional bagpipes and rolling green hills and cuddly sheep. Dublin - where the biggest attraction is the Guinness beer museum - is NOT Ireland.

15. Mount Rushmore
It's even tinier than the picture in your history book.

18. London
Nobody really acknowledges that London is kinda the Seattle of Europe-- it’s quite frequently gloomy. And with the dollar-to-pound exchange rate hovering around 1.6, simple afternoon tea becomes a bank-breaking bonanza.

19. The Grand Canyon
Seriously… it is very hard to find the canyon from the parking lot. And once you do, you may only stare at it from the rim. Unless you called 13 months ahead to book a 48-hour mule ride along the cliff path that's about three feet wide.


21. Venice, Italy
Those canals are adorable, but they make for narrow, winding streets with lots of dead ends. The tiny alleys overflow with tourists and pigeon poop.


24. Las Vegas
The clubs look awesome in the movies, it’s true. But you’ll stand in line for hours before entering in real life… and there won’t be a tiger in your bathroom the next morning.

25. The Blarney Stone
...more like the Bacteria Stone.

********UNQUOTE********

[Aristus]

1. Depends on the reason for rating the attraction in the first place.

Loch Ness may not have a monster for real, but the whole region is just stunningly beautiful, especially in Spring and Summer when I went.

I grew up reading books about the Loch Ness Monster, and every one of them described the Loch itself as gray, gloomy, sinister, and uninviting. The authors must have all gone there in, like, November or something.

The area, as I said, is amazingly beautiful, the Monster culture is fun, even if there really is no monster, and the Scots people are very nice and hospitable. And deeply patriotic in a way Americans can't comprehend. No bellowing, no chest beating, no flag-flailing. Just a quiet: "This is Scotland. And we are proud to be Scots."

[UTUSN]

2. Good point. I've just got my rut in my DNA, don't like big disruptions to it.

From a sequestered youth during which I went NOwhere, I plunged into first college, then the military, then work when it was all move-it-out all the time, and my military stops were not the high end: Vietnam, pass a spot in Japan, a spot in Hong Kong, the Philippines, Guam, later a spot in Acapulco, Panama Canal, Haiti, Guantanamo, while my (now) elderly schoolteacher sister would take tours every summer almost all to Europe except some South America, so we got a different birdseye.

The one time I finally did go to Europe, it was one of those every-morning-a-new-packing, and running through stupendous buildings that became meaningless really fast.

I love TWAIN's Innocents Abroad, with the Look-UP, Look-THERE, paintings of Saints-Looking-UP/DOWN, etc. I checked out of the tour at 5 P.M. and would find a watering hole with the very low end locals.

[fizzgig]

4. i loved loch ness

took a tour boat up the river from inverness, then a short bus tour of the area and then to the loch. beautiful country there and wonderful people.

i have some amazing pictures of that trip, i need to get them scanned in some day.

[Aristus]

14. I would have posted these earlier, but I was at work.

This was summer, 1993.

[greatauntoftriplets]

13. Who cares about the monster.

I agree that Loch Ness is lovely and the Highlands are gorgeous.

So what if Dublin doesn't have cuddly sheep and hills. It's a vibrant city full of Dubliners and good craic. Don't get me started on London, Venice or Rome.

To whoever compiled that list...

[geek tragedy]

3. Some of these make sense, but dissing Rome and Venice

as overrated for superficial reasons is really stupid.

Rome is not a particularly trash-covered city, and well duh there are going to be lots of tourists at the numerous 'must-see' places like the Coliseum. Since when did being popular make a place automatically overrated.

And, complaining about Venice's "narrow, winding streets with lots of dead ends" can only mean that the author has missed a great deal of the point of visiting Venice. Also, it's quite easy to wander off on these side streets and not see a single other tourist.

[UTUSN]

5. There seems to be a strain unto itself of crabby Travel writers, THEROUX...

Somebody pressed the Pillars of Hercules on me, and contempt was his operative experience. But I'm just not a good traveler, prefer staying in one place and talking with fairly much the same people, no hopping and skipping.

Plus, the link/list in the o.p. contains links for scads of other Worst and Best lists. Prince Phillip's, "There's no accounting for taste" can be rephrased, "Everybody's got a taste."

[geek tragedy]

7. At some point, writers like to differentiate themselves.

It's easy to be the person who gushes about a place. Hey, why not be the person who tells people to avoid Venice because it's got those little alleyways. Plus, not a Starbucks to be seen (actually ran into a Canadian tourist in Venice who made that complaint about Vienna).

[Boom Sound 416]

15. +1 for Venice

That's the whole point. Your supposed to be making out in those dead ends.

Plus that's where the best restaurants are

[petronius]

6. My reactions are a combination of:

1) "Never been, so I don't know."

2) "Never been, but you're^* probably right - that's why I've never been."

3) "Fuck you^*, you^* blithering ignorant jackass^*!! You're^* completely wrong about this one, and thus everything you've^* ever said, written, or thought in your^* entire life is likely wrong."



* Addressed to the writer, not to the OP himself. Nothing in response #3 should be construed as a statement toward, about, or even tangentially in reference to UTUSN.

[UTUSN]

21. Bwah-HAH!1 "Nothing in response#3 should be construed as a statement toward, about, or even tangent"

Apparently, the severed horse's head in the bed got the message across.

[blueamy66]

8. Disagree.

Niagara Falls is unfuckingbelievable. The Grand Canyon is unfuckingbelievable. London is divine.

[taterguy]

9. Only been to 2 places on that list and I really liked both of them

Dumbass travel writer

[tanyev]

10. Grew up near Austin, went to college there--loved it, would love to live there again.

But, yeah, I've never thought of it as a good tourist destination.

[nolabear]

11. Rome and Venice are both AMAZING. London is AMAZING.

Jesus, what do these people want? In one it's the modernity, one the age, one the gloom, one the heat.

I'll give them the Walk of Fame. It's a...sidewalk.

[UTUSN]

12. My elderly sister has seen all these amazing thing: Stonehendge, MOZART's bedroom,

just me, all I saw was Vietnam and the pisspour armpits of the world.

[ThoughtCriminal]

18. I think what the writer is really looking for

Which destination has the best "Applebees"?

[mainer]

23. Totally agree with you. I keep returning to Venice and Rome.

I love both cities, and I love London too. How can anyone not love them?

Sounds like that travel writer just needs to stay home with his TV.

[Solly Mack]

16. Venice and Dublin are wonderful.

Walk around both and get lost. You'll find the best of each that way. Lovely, out of the way, dining spots. Far fewer tourists.

[ThoughtCriminal]

17. Grand Canyon

"Overrated". Said the tourist who spent less time there than the Griswolds.

[alarimer]

19. Austin is not overrated

There is plenty to do there that has nothing to do with hipsters. There's music, for one thing, which transcends any accusations of hipsterism. There are wineries in the Hill Country not far from Austin. BBQ. Barton Springs. The LBJ Ranch (also not far from Austin), wildflowers in spring, good restaurants.

Oh, and bats.

[distantearlywarning]

20. I dunno. Have to disagree with some of them.

Loch Ness - true, no monster, but that part of Scotland is very pretty and wild. I didn't think going there was a waste of time (but it was part of a longer tour of the area - we didn't drive there just to see Loch Ness).

Champs-Elysee - TOTALLY disagree with this one. It is just as beautiful on the ground as from the air, especially at night when the trees are lit. Almost everything in Paris is beautiful. The part about the pickpockets is true, though. Now, if that's the ONLY thing you're going to see in Paris, ok, it might be a bit overrated. But who goes to Paris just to see the Champs-Elysee? It's part of the overall experience, and from that perspective it's great.

Grand Canyon - used to live in the area, think it's actually really cool. It's better if you are in shape to hike some of the trails, but the visitors centers actually have some great viewing areas and the whole area is gorgeous.

Las Vegas - depends on what you expect to get out of the experience before you go there. If you like to gamble, hit the clubs, and experience lots of loud, touristy stuff, you'll get exactly what you pay for. If you want something else, then yes, you might be disappointed. The LV strip is actually quite impressive in it's own bizarre way - huge hotels, so many people, it's like being inside a giant adult amusement park. If you hate amusement parks, you will think LV is overrated. But who goes to LV and doesn't know it's all about gambling and noise and huge hotels? (this travel writer, apparently...)

I do agree with him about Niagara Falls and the Four Corners Monument, however. Niagara Falls is like a seedy, cheap Las Vegas with a waterfall attached, and there is literally jack shit to see at Four Corners (and it's way out in BFE, Nowhere).

[mainer]

24. The Canadian side of Niagara is so much nicer.

Cleaner and purer. The US side is a dump.

[hunter]

22. I've been to more than half those places and enjoyed them all.

Wherever you go, there you are.

I've kissed the Blarney Stone.

I've touched the stones at Stonehenge.

I've run nearly naked down the streets of Fresno.

But I've never been to Miami.

[mainer]

25. I've been to all those places except Pisa and Mt. Rushmore

Loved some, liked others, didn't hate any of them.

This travel writer should just stop traveling since he seems to grouse about every place he goes.