Tourist sites ‘prove turn-offs’
MOST DISAPPOINTING SIGHTS
UK:
- Stonehenge
- Angel of the North, Gateshead
- Blackpool Tower
- Land’s End, Cornwall
- Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, London
OVERSEAS:
- The Eiffel Tower, Paris
- The Louvre, Paris
- Times Square, New York
- Las Ramblas, Barcelona
- Statue of Liberty, New York
Well good. Maybe more of them should stay home then . . .
Living in the centre of Sevilla, tourists are regarded as a kind of necessary evil. Sure they bring in lots of cash but tourism is also responsible for my neighbourhood changing from a barrio with family run corner shops and bars, greengrocers, bakeries, bookshops and newsagents, to chain-run ‘typical tapa’ bars and practically every storefront selling exactly the same crappy souvenirs. And every day I have to plough my way through herds of tourists blocking the sidewalks and even the entrance to my front door.
Anyhow, what did you think of the article? Have you ever been disappointed by a world famous tourist attraction? What are the most impressive sights you’ve ever seen while travelling?
casa azahar 
Reading that article just confirmed how stupid and uninformed ‘typical tourists’ often are. Take this quote…
Well, duh! Personally, I never go anywhere that has a two-hour long queue just to get in.
But I found this quote especially annoying…
One can perhaps forgive a tourist for not knowing about the history and significance of a historical monument, but a travel writer ought to know better.
I also took umbrage that Las Ramblas in Barcelona was considered one of the ‘big disappointments’ for those travelling abroad. I mean, what did they expect? I was there in January and loved Las Ramblas.
Here are some pics I took (photos 14-28)
Las Ramblas
Does it look disappointing to you?
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First of all, your market photos are amazing! I love public markets like that!
I agree with you re. the Stonehenge quote from that stupid woman…I’ve only ever driven by the monument (on that highway mentioned in the article) but it was still a sight to behold.
My one disappointment has to be the night we went as a family to Niagara Falls to see the light show they had on the falls itself. Very disappointing, and we waited forever for it to start. Of course, then there was the time my dad dragged us all off to the wilds of Wyoming to visit a famous fort, but neglected to tell us the fort had burned down in 1871…
The most impressive sights I’ve seen: Roman Forum and Colosseum, Venice’s Grand Canal, Cathedral Grove.
Tourist season can be a piss-off, as you described. I’d much prefer to travel in the off season if possible; not only is it cheaper, but you tend to avoid crowds that way. Unfortunately, if you have kids, you’re kinda stuck with the holidays they get, which are the holidays most people get.
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I guess I haven’t lost my sense of wonder. Very rarely have I been disappointed by a famous tourist attraction. We took Jesse to NYC just a few months after we got him as a foster child. He wanted to go to the top of the Empire State Building, so we did. It involved an hour long line to get tickets follwed by another hour to wait for an elevator. But once we were up there, it was amazing. and it was particularly amazing to see his reaction to it.
The absolutely most amazing thing I have ever seen or done was rafting in the Grand Canyon and it was every bit as amazing as I knew it would be.
and Cathedral Grove: spectacular. Now that was a spiritual experience (for me, anyway).
I still want to see Machu Picchu.
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Az’s photos are always intimate and revealing.
hmh: you were at Cathedral Grove? That’s practically in my neighborhood! It is awesome, but if you were there, you must go to…(and I wouldn’t say this to just anyone; hell, I make up names when tacky people are around, so they don’t go there) Tofino. You stand on the beach there and you can hear the voice of the Divine. It’s amazing.
Unfortunately, I don’t travel enough to have seen any world-famous tourist destinations, but I can tell you as someone who lives in a town with a lot of tourism that I HATE TOURISTS. I normally punch/run into half a dozen over the summer. I understand being new and clueless about which side of the seawall is for pedestrians and which is for wheels, but after I say EXCUSE ME twice, I’m coming through, whether you’re ready or not.
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“Revealing”? How so, Rain? Sounds like we have the same tourist revulsion thing happening. Yes! It’s that clueless way they wander around, seeming to not realise that people actually live there and are coming home with their shopping or on their way to work, making them a real nuisance as they mindlessly mill about getting in everybody’s way. Grrr…
WC, I wouldn’t say I was disappointed by Niagara Falls, but it looked much smaller than I thought it would. Has it been dammed up somewhere for hydro-electric power? In any case, the town was deliciously tacky and even had two Elvis museums, which made up for the lack of water. 😉
And yes, that market on Las Ramblas was amazing. We almost walked right by it as it’s set back a bit from the avenue. And coming across it at twilight – around 6pm on a January evening – added to the beauty of it, with all the stalls lit up.
We also saw a fabulous ‘water show’ there called the Magic Fountain – here are some pics of that. It was quite breathtaking, and also had music.
Magic Fountain
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Okay, probably the only thing that would make me wait in a queue for two hours would be in your situation, hmh, having a kid with me who was dying to see the place. And yes, watching the kid’s reaction would make it all worthwhile.
I’m not a very good tourist in the sense that, although I’ll go to see a special tourist site or two, my favourite thing is just to walk the streets, find a nice outdoor terrace to have a drink and people watch … also look out for great places to eat.
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TWO ELVIS MUSEUMS?!? Hell, I’m going to Niagara. Couldn’t care less about the waterfalls…And when we go back to Vegas in 2010 I WILL be going to the Liberace museum.
I think a lot of this is not about aesthetics per se, but about the way people expect information/entertainment to be presented to them these days.
It’s very similar to the way some people can’t take ‘live’ sport. They want commentaries, analysis – a context, if you like. They are so used to people telling how and why to enjoy things that they have forgotten how to do it themselves.
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Oh, and we did the 2 hour wait for the Empire State without a child in tow.
Wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
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Yes, two Elvis museums, and as I recall they both had an exhibit showing the first dollar Elvis ever made … can’t get much tackier than that!
New York is on my wish-list … one day.
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Hi Azzie 🙂
Stonehenge on a frosty December dawn, with the weak sun rising over the hills is beyond magical.
The stones seem to shimmer in the growing light, the gentle chanting of the attending druids rises upon the cool dawn breeze and carry the thoughts, prayers and hopes of the small crowd.
As the sun moves higher in the sky the stones glisten and begin to mist as frost evaporates. Odd reflections appear between the stones, particularly the Trilithons giving the appearance of spirits, something that often fools newcomers.
The dusty summer days when tourists are forced along a distant path around the stones to the constant roar of traffic of the A303, or the sweaty rave that English Heritage have allowed the Summer Solstice to become, do put people off.
You need to go there out of season, when the Rooks are cawing into a stiff North Wind. You can even walk amongst the stones if you arrange it in advance as a group.
My only concern is that Stonehenge is just one of our magnificent ancient monuments and not the largest or most magnificent by far. There are others that are completely accessible, rarely full of busloads of Japanese or Americans doing the one day tour of England (Stonehenge, Stratford and back to London for a Show and dinner).
Matholwch .
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I’m rarely disappointed by the sights themselves, but pretty often disappointed by the reactions of people around me.
I would like to share with you all my favourite “Overheard Comment by a Stupid Tourist”…
While standing on the Royal Mile in historic Edinburgh, in front of the ancient Edinburgh Castle:
“Well, yeah, its big, but why’d they have to build it so close to the train station?”
Sheesh.
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I’d like to see Macchu Picchu, too. And Karnak (rather than the pyramids). And the Grand Canyon, and Ribbon Falls, and, and, and…
But apart from that I do like to just get the atmosphere of a place rather than sight-seeing.
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the Louvre? how could anyone be disappointed with all that great art?
my personal pick would be flying over the remarkables in new zealand or the borghese gardens and museum in rome with the statue of apollo and daphne
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Math, your gorgeous description of Stonehenge totally puts that idiot travel writer to shame. Well done!
Nothing like a bit of stupid tourist humour, eh truce? I’m generously giving them the benefit of the doubt that they were joking.
“the Louvre? how could anyone be disappointed with all that great art?”
Shocking, isn’t it, nursemyra? Perhaps there was noone there to tell them exactly how to appreciate what they were looking at. 🙄
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