People Describe The Most Disappointing Tourist Attractions They've Ever Visited

Sometimes it's the hype behind the attraction that ends up killing it once you arrive. All the excitement builds, as the legends and the myths surrounding the place from media and people who have been begins to rise, so much so that when you arrive and see it's just a place...

...it's kind of a letdown.

The Truth Is Less Interesting Than You Think

"Roswell New Mexico. It was just a lame tourist trap area." ~ HG_Shurtugal

"Did you go to the UFO museum? They have an area with photos of "real" UFOs next to photos of non-UFOs. I swear, sometimes the same photo was in both sections. Just sad." ~ froglover215

"Sorry, are we not gonna talk about the life sized diorama of the aliens landing that lights up and makes whoosh noises every nine minutes? Or their in house theater that only plays "Fire in the Sky" on loop?"

"That place is a delight." ~ FeathertheSheepcried

When The Spinal Tap Stonehenge Looks Better

"Stonehenge. Literally drove past it and was like 'haha that looks like a lame version of Stonehenge' and dad was like 'thats Stonehenge'" ~ didnsignup4dis

You Possibly Set Your Expectations A Little Too High

"Statue of Liberty. Did not move like in Ghostbusters and there was next to no paranormal activity." ~ tykogars

"For real though, she is way smaller than I imagined" ~ Mech-Waldo

Bland, Bland, Bland

"Most of them honestly. Empire State Building, CN Tower, Luray Caverns (or Shenandoah, I don't even remember which ones they were, they were so bland), Navy Pier, Liberty Island were all just "meh"."

"I liked the Vietnam Memorial and the Washington Monument. I like the Met, the Guggenheim, and the Smithsonians." ~ BeckyDaTechie

South Beach, Bringing The Heat

"Maybe it's not an "attraction", but Downtown Miami killed my expectations of this roller-skating-art-deco-bikinis-and-white-beaches fantasy. I was hyped to relive Will Smith's "Miami" and instead I ended up in a grungy city with bumper-to-bumper a--holes that never stop HONKING at each other."

"Nobody f-cking told me by "Miami", they mean SOUTH BEACH." ~ a_pale_white_horse

Obscure Opinions People Are Fully Committing To | George Takei’s Oh Myyy

It's...A Street.

"Lombard Street in SF. When I went there with my wife there were dozens of cars waiting in line to drive down this famous street. Hundreds of tourists were taking pictures of this very famous street."

"It has some plants and bushes. It looks a bit whacky. It... is a street. It's just a street. Nobody famous lives there. It's not like they couldn't build that kind of street anywhere else." ~ IchEsseNurBrot

History! That all important thing we spend most of our school days studying and memorizing only to forget as soon as the year ends. Surely, something of historical significance must match the hype behind it.

Right?

But, The Pilgrims?

"Plymouth Rock was the dumbest thing I got taken on a school trip to see." ~ WanderingGenesis

"I literally scrolled down to find this. I live in the area, and went to downtown Plymouth a few years ago to drink with friends. Parking in the summer is a nightmare, so I parked near this weird colonnade thing. I wondered what it was and went to check it out...and it was Plymouth Rock. It's the saddest little rock, glued together and surrounded by trash and half in the tide. If I'm ever downtown in the summer I genuinely watching tourists visit and be disappointed."

"The worst part is that there is no real 'Plymouth Rock.' It was a legend and eventually locals decided to pick a rock near the original Plymouth colony settlement to play the part. And THAT rock is the one they picked!" ~ Witty-Message-2852

Not As Alien As You Think

"Not really disappointing but I think if people saw Mayan Pyramids in person they wouldn't be so quick to cry out ALIENS. Don't get me wrong they are cool but not as monolithically big as the photos make them look. That room on top is more like a shrine, a person could not fit in there." ~ Hermes_Domain

...It's Just A Picture Of A Lady.

"The Mona Lisa. Now, The Louvre is amazing. However, seeing the Mona Lisa is disappointing. You go to a relatively narrow hallway, and there is a pane of glass 15 feet in front of the painting. I understand that it needs to be protected and preserved." ~ case31

"I always find it funny seeing people hurry past exceptional works down that long hall to stand in a crowd and stare at a small dark painting." ~ Spotinella

When It's So Popular You Can't Get Around

"The Pyramids - not because they weren't amazing, just because of the sheer volume of tourists clambering up them like ants. That's the thing with these attractions. You always imagine them to be so stunning because they're pictured without crowds, but when you get there and it's crammed with thousands of people, it does feel like you imagine." ~ thegreatoutdoors79

And then there's these, the worst kinds of tourist traps. The ones which most likely know they're not worth the time or the investment, but do such a good job of making it seem like they're a good time you end up going.

What a waste of a day.

You Go Up, You Go Down

"Late answer, but definitely Jungfraujoch in Switzerland. Horrendous prices to ride on a train up there, just to get a view that is actually rather disappointing. Also do I see absolutely no point in going to a point 3500 metres above sea level in order to buy a watch or some chocolate. Luckily we only paid like one third (or even one quarter) of the regular price but even that was almost too much for what you get." ~ audi_r8_plus

Smaller Than You Think

"The Sphinx, always shown out in the desert but really tiny and a stones throw from Cairo itself." ~ Vixypixy

Working The Wrong Kind Of Hustle

"Fremont Street section of Las Vegas was disappointing. Place was filled with all types of d-bags trying to hustle you for your money." ~ Ibelieve008

Worse Than The Real Things

"They had this dinosaur park in South Dakota. I went there as a small child, in the prime of my dinosaur loving phase, my imagination fluttered with images of massive, lifelike dinosaurs. It was a few lame dinosaurs just covered in peeling green paint. My mom and I still laugh about it to this day." ~ PesticideDream

Just A Dirty Sidewalk

" Hollywood walk of fame. Bunch of scammers, homeless people, druggies, and random people trying to sell you their mixtapes and other random sh*t in the streets. And these mixtape/CD people literally shove the CD in your face as you're walking. It's so annoying."

"Oh and it's crowded as hell, so you're getting jostled and yelled at for getting into other people's pictures. And it's impossible for you to take your own pictures without getting bumped around. Or pickpocketed (happened to my cousin when we were visiting)" ~ SpiffyAssSam

"Hahaha when I lived in LA my office was nearby and I'd always marvel at the people that spent their vacation looking at dirty sidewalks. Go do a studio tour. Or better yet don't go to LA." ~ FeathertheSheepcried

When The Bare Minimum Isn't Being Done

"I went to a really sad aquarium in Seaside, Oregon. I was holding back tears due to the poor condition of all the creatures. Every tank was overcrowded, and everything looked absolutely miserable. There was an octopus in an open tank, barely any water. It was terrified, and the only protection it had was a sign telling people not to touch it. For comparison, I grew up in California and used to visit the Monetery Bay aquarium when I was younger, which is an amazing place where marine life is very well cared for." ~ lagFairy

Why Does Everyone Keep Going There?

"4 Corners Monument. It is the intersection of Utah, New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. It's just a sidewalk and a gift shop. I guess I don't know what I was expecting, but it's about 5 seconds of fun." ~ OttieandEddie

It's One, Big Living Commercial

"Times Square. It's been Disneyfied to holy hell. Who the hell goes to NYC to eat at a KFC and then go to the NFL store? There's this saying that Times Square is the one part of Manhattan actual New Yorkers never go and I totally get why." ~ Squirrels-Are-Jerks

Do your research ahead of time, talk to locals, and be open to going outside the beaten path. Maybe there's an authentic local spot you can find that contains as much history, relevance, and gorgeous scenery as a bunch of lit up advertisements on buildings.

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