Oh my, all the places in the world we can go. I'm currently putting together my travel bucket list. I'm not often attracted to the normal destinations.
I'd rather hit up the places people aren't always aware of. My least favorite place in the world is Times Square and that is only rivaled by Herald Square.
So you can imagine my thoughts on the crowd congested areas of the world. Most of the time the destinations we flock to tend to end up being a disappointment. All that hype and no payoff.
That's my everyday life already, vacation should be more grand.
Redditoru/qsauce6 wanted to know which hotspots really aren't all that... "hot." They asked:
What popular tourist attraction can you not understand the hype around?
I'm always surprised when I go to Disney world. Like, what is sooo amazing about standing in line for hours in the blistering sun while some loon in a Mickey costume tries to make you smile? The amount of over attendance just doesn't make sense. But... I'm old.
Nothing Special
"The very first Starbucks at Pike Place. It's crowded as hell, it's just a regular Starbucks. I understand getting a picture standing out front or something, but people actually wait in a super long line when there's another one like two blocks away."
No Madame...
Arnold Schwarzenegger Prank GIFGiphy"I was dragged round Madame Tussaud's as a kid and I still can't understand the appeal. You shuffle round looking at mannequins which like a bit like famous people. The queue always seems to stretch down the street."
Pee?
"The Manneken Pee in Brussels. It gave me my user name, but I understand that people are often very disappointed when seeing it. Apparently the most disappointing point is its size (24 inches). But honestly, what do people expect when they are to visit something whose name literally is little boy peeing?"
Selling Hollywood
" Hollywood walk of fame. I don't really get what's exciting about seeing famous peoples' names in the ground to begin with, but the street itself is pretty grimy and dirty and full of homeless people and aggressive street "vendors."
"For me it was exciting because it's something you hear about all the time and I got to see it for real. The tour peddlers were something else, though. I was with my American friend and about 14 people heard my accent and tried to sell me those tours."
Kiss this...
Drunk St Patricks Day GIFGiphy"I can't understand why people are bending over backwards to kiss the Blarney Stone."
I'm not kissing a stone, they're dirty. Also, is anyone cleaning that rock after it's been kissed by masses? Hello COVID. I hope y'all are wishing for penicillin.
I'll Skittle Away
Giphy"M&M World. Literally you're paying extortionate prices for M&Ms which are sold for retail price in a shop across the road."
Bad Rock
"In Canada, there is a small town on the west coast called white rock. The only thing that the town has is its pier, which is the largest one in Canada. Other than that it's all just 50 dollar fish and chips."
"White Rock is a cool little town though."
"I wasn't aware it was any sort of tourist destination (in which case, I do not understand why). But I've stopped by there on my way to Vancouver. It's nice. It kind of reminds me of Danbury, Connecticut. Not in a "these towns are similar" way, but they're both towns that I find quite charming when I stop in along my way to big metro areas."
Just Mona
"Everyone flocking into the Louvre and directly heading to see the Mona Lisa, barely stopping to look at anything else before leaving. It's not even the most impressive painting in that corridor. Don't get the hype at all. I spent hours in there and barely scratched the surface of what it has to offer. And this is coming from someone who, admittedly, knowing little to nothing about art."
- f1manoz
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At the Beginning...
"Plymouth Rock. There's no parking lot for it. You have to find a spot and walk to it. The area surrounding it isn't that great to look at either. It's literally just a rock. Plymouth the town looks like a nice, quaint village on the other hand."
"I had a very lovely long weekend in Plymouth MA a few years ago. It was July 4th and there was a parade and fireworks and a concert playing John Williams. I also had some tasty seafood and a corn dog. 8/10 would recommend!"
Too Sticky
"Honestly probably the gum wall In Seattle, Washington. I've personally never seen it, but my sister showed me pictures and explained from her trip there. She said it was really dirty, ill-kept, gross, and that honestly there was nothing really special about it. Even when I looked at the pictures all I thought about was all the possible germs that could be on the wall."
Poor Unfortunate Visits
the little mermaid ariel GIFGiphy"The Little Mermaid. It's a small statue of a mermaid on a rock. People flock to it, and I have never understood why. I know the story, and Hans Christian Anderson is a famous writer, but the hype around that statue is beyond me."
Fake Worlds
"Dubai. I feel it's one of the fakest city in the world."
- Lis_9
"Built with slave labor to be the biggest, glitziest, most over-the-top freaking places ever. A place built to try to make Las Vegas blush except for the fact that it's located in one of the most socially oppressive regimes on the planet. Simply disgusting."
Down the Road
"Penny lane (famous road due to the beetles) i live down the road and have to cross penny lane everyday and it's filled with tourists taking pictures of the sign and it makes it difficult to cross the road due to it being busy."
"All those poor sods just trying to get home after work being held up by idiots walking back and forth across the street. Source: I was one of those idiots and still cringe in embarrassment."
Gumped
Tom Hanks Running GIFGiphy"Bubba Gump shrimp in Hawaii. It's disgusting."
"Yes! Just go across the walkway to that open air bar. Enjoy some live local music, poke tacos, and lava flows for half the price of that corporate tourist trap."
In Singapore
"Posting something non-American: The Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore, specifically the rooftop infinity pool. It's super expensive (because the only way to access it is by booking a room), smaller than it looks in the pictures, and full of crying children and 'influencers' taking selfies."
Bad Sands
"Venice Beach. It's filthy and is full of people selling garbage."
"My grandparents moved to Venice a few years ago, and we always go to other beaches when we visit them. There are much nicer beaches if you know where to look. And no, I won't say where. Gotta keep my secret spots secret!"
The Bean/Cloud Gate...
"The giant metallic bean here in Chicago. We were once known for the world's tallest building. Now, I'm always asked about the 'bean'."
"I dunno. Maybe i'm in the minority, but I was prepared for The Bean/Cloud Gate to be underwhelming, but I was much more impressed than I expected."
"Maybe I hit it on a day when they'd just cleaned it, but I was blown away by how the Chicago skyline is continuously reflected and and warped a bit in the smooth curved surface. It must have been a pain in the butt to make and install."
A Hellscape
times square GIF by Ski Mask The Slump GodGiphy"Times Square, NYC. It's a dystopian nightmare of consumerism and sensory overload filled with people in filthy cartoon character costumes extorting money from children's parents and crappy chain restaurants."
Views
"Niagara Falls on the US side. You're fine as long as you stay in the park area but don't go further than that. Smells, depressed, and dirty. Plus, you don't even get a good view from the US side."
"The views from the Canadian side are gorgeous but once you leave that tourist area it's not too dissimilar from how you described the us side."
I've never even heard of some of these places. And now I have no interest in leaving home any sooner. Who makes a pilgrimage to Ariel's house? She's not real. They are better things to do with your time and money.
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