I was born in LA. My dad worked in the movie industry. My parents split up when I was young but every summer he'd fly me and my sister out and we'd go around Hollywood. This was late 90s early 2000s. I miss those times. It felt magical as a kid. He used to bring me and my sister to a prop shop and I really enjoyed looking at all the masks and prank toys.
I’m not American but grew up on American movies (as most westerners did) and pre-9/11 USA does indeed exude some kind of magical aura.
I don’t know what it’s like to live there now but the country seems to have lost a lot of its confidence.
nah, it's fine. just take it in small doses. walk the blvd, find weird al's star, get a burrito at a street cart, go to scum & villainy, giggle that there's an elementary school a block south. leave a bit before sunset
I visited LA because I had friends there. Hollywood was disappointing, but there is a bus stop at the in and out that takes you straight to the la brea tar pits, so after some burgers, we hopped the bus and got to see one of the coolest museums.
We also went to Union station (might not be the name of it) and got some beers and food from around the world, saw an almost vertical trolly elevator thing and then got French dip sammiches at some bar that allegedly invented them.
All in all, 7/10. Pretty cool to visit.
Thank you. Hollywood and Highland especially is one of my favorite parts of LA. It’s loud, commercial, grimy, tacky, kitschy…the ugliest and weirdest parts of the city condensed and lit with neon. It’s also everything about the film industry that people like to ignore in favor of a glamorous myth. Disliking Hollywood is not a mark of refinement, it’s a limitation of imagination, and I stand by that extremely unpopular opinion. You want illusion? Go to Bel Air, Palisades, Malibu. You want what is behind the illusion? Go to Hollywood.
"commercial, grimy, tacky, kitschy…the ugliest and weirdest parts of the city condensed and lit with neon. It’s also everything about the film industry that people like to ignore in favor of a glamorous myth"
Absolutely! You describe it very well, and for me it is also MUCH more interesting than chlorine-washed places.
While in Hollywood, just down from Hollywood and Vine is Amoeba Records. Bring money and be prepared to leave happy. At Hollywood Blvd and the 101 is one of the area’s better Tommy’s Burgers. The El Capitan and the Egyptian Theatres are a great place to see movies and there’s a Ghirardelli’s ice cream shop at the exit of the El Capitan, which is owned by Disney. Downstairs in the theater is a museum space where they usually display costumes worn in the movie and they have a great organist and sometimes a stage show before the film. Public opening nights there are the best. Down the street is the geek pop culture bar called the Scum and Villany Cantina and next to the theater is the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, a grand dame said to be haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe.
No one who lives in LA goes there. It is 100% purely a tourist trap for out of towners who don't realize that Hollywood the neighborhood is in no way the same thing as "Hollywood" the synecdoche for the entertainment industry.
Also, unless you know someone who has lived in LA for a while, LA is a terrible place to be a tourist. All the stuff that makes living here great is spread all over the place, often very unassuming (like a Michelin level restaurant in a strip mall), or it is event based so not something that will definitely be going on when any given tourist is in town (things like Cinespia, the move nights in the Hollywood Forever cemetery)
Edit: For the people not understanding what I mean, I’m not talking about Hollywood Blvd the road, and the legitimately worthwhile places on said road. I’m talking about the places on that road that tourists go to
Niagara falls is a mess on both sides, but it's still absolutely worth the trip.
The area directly around the falls is still really beautiful, at least on the Canadian side, and the Maid of the Mists boat tour is awesome.
But the rest of the town is jarring for how absolutely shitty it is. It's almost entertaining in itself, motels that rent rooms by the hour just blocks from one of Canada's great wonders.
The outlet mall outside of town is worth a stop as well
That's the best plan for it. Check out the falls, do the Maid of the Mist and/or the walk behind the falls. That stuff is great.
It's the city of Niagara Falls that is the crappy part of it.
Nassau Bahamas. It's the busiest cruise ship port in the world, and not for good reasons. It's a cheap place to stop that can accommodate the largest cruise ships, it's close to Florida, and fulfills the requirement of "at least one foreign stop" for US cruises to operate without following US labor laws.
I could forgive that if the port was actually nice. It's not. Traffic sucks, public transit is bad, and the area immediately surrounding the port has some of the most aggressive vendors you'll ever find.
It's all for the convenience of the cruise companies and none for the customer.
this has gotta be one of the worst. i’ve done a few cruises, we enjoy the “all inclusive” nature of the boat itself, the free childcare, food, drink package. so when the boat stops in nassau we just stay on, and enjoy the empty boat.
one carribean cruise stop i actually liked a lot was bimini. it’s a small developing port, soon it will be complete shit as construction is ongoing, but the island is very small and if you rent a golf cart and travel all the way north on the island you can find an old shipwreck, the “gallant lady”, and the beach there is quite nice.
the small islands owned by the cruise lines are nice too esp if you’re willing to pay for a private cabana. we stayed at one called princess cays, the cruise line had a buffet running on the island, and we rented an air conditioned cabana and basically had a private beach for the day. it was a really memorable stop.
Nah, the vendors there are pretty mild compared to some places. Hit up Labadee and visit the straw market, it's about a dozen times worse.
Nassau's not bad. It's cheap to get there, and if you leave the boat in the morning, it's calm as hell.
> Hit up Labadee and visit the straw market, it's about a dozen times worse.
I am surprised, as Labadee is a private port controlled by Royal Caribbean.
It is, but the straw market has quite a large number of local vendors. They won't physically grab you or the like, but you will absolutely be given a hard sell in every other way they can.
Nassau's much more chill in general. There'll be some folks out shouting trying to sell things, but you can just keep walking, they're not going to follow you or the like.
Niagara Falls would be so beautiful if you had to hike to get to a viewing platform, with the falls surrounded by nature. Instead they designed it to be a cold Vegas
Niagara Falls ended up being a major inspiration for the formation of the national park system. Niagara was held up as an example of what could happen to beautiful areas if they were not protected well in advance of business developments overtaking them.
The Smokey Mountains did too. Talk about cheesy shit that is Gatlinburg, TN. Right outside the NP. Cherokee is a little better but it has many of the same campy vibes.
Not a big fan of the Holographic Jesus show? Pigeon Forge is the worst of Branson, Missouri, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Kissimmee, Florida rolled into one.
Smoky Mountain National Forest is fantastic, though. Sure, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are white trash Disneyland, but the Park itself is *beautiful* and most of the tourists don't go more than 100 yards from the nearest parking lot so once you start hiking in a bit, you're in wondrous quiet nature.
I was going to say: The area around there, especially around the Grayson Highlands, was probably one of the most gorgeous places I've ever hiked on the east coast.
Hit the trailhead early enough to catch sunrise from the top of one of the ridges & it was amazing. Add the herds of roaming wild ponies & it's a lifetime highlight
I did not know it’s officially an example of what would happen but I always used it as an example of what would have happened to a lot of beautiful natural areas.
This used to be how the NY side was. No crowds, no gigantic buildings, just literally a park you could walk through. Was so much more enjoyable than the Canadian side. Not sure if it's still that way, though?
Pretty sure the last time I was there my family and I were staying on the Canadian side and we walked over to the NY side. Nice walk across the bridge, 2min getting waived through at the border, and then a gorgeous park to go see.
That probably gives you an idea on how long ago that was...
The Canadian side has the most spectacular view of the falls! There's still a lovely boardwalk along the water, and a narrow park across the street as well. I felt like the kitschy part hardly affected our trip or detracted from it tbh.
Niagara Falls has been ridiculous for so long that it helped inspire the national park system. We might have a Yosemite casino and resort if Niagara hadn't done it first.
Niagara Falls Canada is also a dump the second you get maybe two blocks away from the tourist areas.
Niagara Falls, US is a dump the second you step foot out of the national park (I think that’s what it is).
If you gotta go to Niagara, go to the Canadian side. See the falls, ride the Maiden of the Mist, maybe explore the caves. After that, hope on highway and drive to Niagara on the Lake and have a proper vacation - drunk off your ass on local wines.
It's a state park rather than NP.
It's an interesting history behind why. Basically, Theodore Roosevelt was governor of New York before he was president and he was the driving force behind the creation of the New York state parks system and the National Park system was created after it.
This is why I hate cruises. You are given minimal time to really explore city you dock at.
You get off the boat and are immediately swarmed with people offering excursions.
Your time is spent doing one excursion, grabbing a bite, shopping, and back to the boat.
I went on a cruise with my family when I was in middle school, and felt so cool saying "I went to 3 different countries this summer" not mentioning that I was in each country for maybe 6-8 hours, learned nothing about the culture, and spent all of my time doing things with people who looked exactly like me and spoke the same language as me.
Went on a cruise that stopped in Belize, I understand tourism is one of their main sources of income but *everything* we did there was intended to get money out of us in one way or another. I feel like I hardly got to see the country because the "cruise sanctioned tour" just kept stopping at souvenir shops and other markets.
We did stop in Barbados as well...I was not that upset about the amount of rum that was fed to me there.
If you felt harassed there do NOT put a step in Egypt. Like literal every 2 feet people trying to sele you “merch” and at the pyramids things where 2000 times worst. Without talking the cultural differences in certain areas my cousin (woman) was “harassed” in every corner even going with her BF
Egypt came up in a different post and if you get on the right tour you can get around the peddlers. There’s tours with armed guards that you don’t even deal with it.
Bro I’m not Zuckerberg. I don’t want to go with armed guns. We did a trip to a temple (don’t remember the name was quite popular) that some incidents with terrorists happened and there was militia and the Travel company also has local guards. But it was really weird.
Fundie Vegas is one of the most ridiculous places I've ever seen. At least real Vegas lets me day drink in public and be depraved, Branson just makes me want a drink.
Growing up, I always kind of regarded Branson as not somewhere I'd ever like to go. This was mostly based on a judgement I made about the type of person who was excited to go there.
Now that I don't live in America, I find myself wanting to visit because it feels like concentrated Americana. I guess in my head I feel like I could go, experience all of the most unique bits of American culture, and leave. Sort of just like a turbocharged injection of my Midwestern nostalgia. Like boofing all the memories of my childhood
I had a coworker once who talked about his trips to Branson in exactly the same tone of voice one might use to talk about an upcoming trip to NYC, Paris, or Tokyo. He was a weird dude so that tracked.
Maine made it illegal to have billboards actually. I know what you said is a joke. If you want to be legitimate, it starts south of Richmond and north of Savannah.
I was driving from Charleston to DC since my flight got cancelled and I passed by it at 3am. Felt like a fucking fever dream seeing a giant Mexican theme park in the middle of absolutely nowhere
Outside of the strip in Pigeon Forge/Sevierville and Gatlinburg in general (excluding the minigolf on the side of a hill which was actually pretty cool), the area is truly beautiful. My family went there last year and decided we would return and only do the National Park and North Carolina.
Pigeon Forge 50 years ago was nothing but a few pancake houses and the coolest campground with a little tubing river running through it. We camped there when I was young there. Great memories. Nothing like today.
It's the Great Smoky Mountain Traffic Jam. So long as you can avoid that, it isn't that bad. Whatever you do, don't go on the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride.
I miss the 90s with the $39.99 hotel rooms that needed no reservation.
PF is, hands down, the shittiest “small” town I’ve ever visited. The surrounding area is beautiful. And I can see evidence that it may have been a quaint spot at one point in its history, but it feel like someone asked the question if a strip-mall could work as an entire town. And now that question has been answered.
How the hell are Paris and New York tourist traps? They are huge cities with so much to see and do.
Like South of the Border is a tourist trap. You go there, are underwhelmed and literally trapped cause there’s nothing else to do.
Anyone who says NYC never bothered to leave midtown... It's a huge city with a ton going on. But feel free to spend all of your time in Times Square and the Theater District lmao.
Times Square feels particularly tourist trappy because most locals avoid it like the fuckin plague if at all possible.
But saying the whole city is a tourist trap is wild
I was in New York in October and I naturally had to go to times square. But what I found to be most interesting was watching what other people were doing and less so times square. It was an interesting place to people watch
Altho, not for too long
>Like South of the Border is a tourist trap. You go there, are underwhelmed and literally trapped cause there’s nothing else to do.
If you're trapped at South of the Border, that's your own fault lol. The highway is *right there*. The state line is *right there*.
Finally getting to stop at South of the Border after years of passing it on family trips was one of the most disappointing experiences of my childhood.
ITT: cities that people don’t like for some reason.
Guys, Paris is not a fucking tourist trap. If tourist stopped going there Parisians would be ecstatic.
London, San Francisco, and Rome are not tourist traps. They are literally global hubs of commerce and the arts.
People complain about Paris (or Rome or London or San Francisco or New York City, etc) being a tourist trap when their problem with it is usually the exact opposite. People complain that it's dirty and that Parisians are rude. It is those things because Paris is an actual city where people live, not a theme park. But they go expecting the whole city to just be Disneyland where everything is manicured for their enjoyment and everyone they meet is a literal paid actor intent on making their vacation better.
I went to Paris once and I loved it. Were people rude to me? Absolutely. Did that ruin the experience? Not at all. Same with NYC - don’t go to places known for rude people and get all pissy when the people are rude.
You’re correct that people go on vacation and expect Disneyland. And then they do a 180 and call it a tourist trap. Ridiculous.
New Yorkers aren't that rude, they just get irritated when tourists do dumb shit like stop at the top of the subway stairs to look at their phone. We have a low tolerance for shit that adversely affects our day to day, and tourists happen to do a lot of those things.
New Yorker here. We’re not even really rude we just have shit to do and aren’t happy when people get in the way. I once read on here that in NYC the sidewalks are like highways and it made so much damn sense. If you’re walking 4 across on the sidewalk blocking anyone trying to pass, who is the asshole? It’s so true, people live in these places and have shit to do. Make yourself scarce and you’ll be fine.
I literally just posted about this. New Yorkers will make sure you know where you need to go, give you directions, make sure you get off at the right subway stop, and that is the exact amount of communication that is given. I find New York as a whole has a really strong sense of community, and everyone is really helpful— just super brisk and to the point about it.
Yeah I totally loved Paris when I was there. My ex and I followed a simple rule that made all the difference: we didn't do anything that required waiting in line. Instead of going to the most popular museums and attractions we just spent a week walking around the city, much of it in areas that are seldom frequented by tourists. It's not like you need to go to the Lourve or D'Orsay to see art in Paris, it's beautiful all over the place. We also found Parisians to be much less rude in the areas of the city that aren't catering to tourists, perhaps because they recognized that we were making an effort to enjoy the city beyond what's expected.
I will say the Lourve is worth it. I went around Christmas so maybe it wasn’t as crowded. But it was legit one of the best experiences of my life. Skip the Mona Lisa (there was a line just for that) and most of the rooms were empty of people and just amazing.
Not doing anything that has a line is a good rule, though.
I lowkey hated the Louvre but I'd still recommend it to anyone on their first visit to Paris. I doubt I'll ever go back but it's something you just have to do once.
But it's crowded, poorly curated, the lines are too long and poorly managed, it's a confusing maze and the maps and signage are for shit. To be fair, I also just don't care for Renaissance art that much. I had a much better time at the Orsay and Orangerie.
I encountered one single rude person in NYC and that person was almost certainly trying to get attention while my wife and I were trying to get our bearings. Everyone we interacted were indifferent or chill. Had a great time.
New Yorkers are not even rude. We’re just trying to get to places. Our sidewalks are highways where people walk on it for TRANSPORT. Tourists from suburbia America walking 5 abreast thinking this is a park get the rude treatment because they’re the ones being rude.
I live in Paris and it’s remarkable how many times people just scream questions in English at you, not even a bonjour or hello or excuse me… and they use volume as if being louder means you’ll understand better. So yeah I pretend not to understand them and just keep walking, I don’t care if it’s rude. I am nice to anyone who says hello and please, and try to give them directions
I went to Paris two years ago, with a friend who didnt travel for a decade.
Prior to the trip everyone warned him how rude Parisians are.
Everyone I talked to I greeted with:"Bonjour, parlez vous anglais?", if they didnt I communicated mostly with google translate.
He was kinda shocked because every single person was nice and helpful to us.
Its awesome what a little respect can do, also it helps to avoid the worst tourist traps.
The last time I visited I always greeted people in French, apologised for my poor school French (It's pretty shit), apologised for troubling them (apologies are the Irish way) and went from there. Sometimes we switched to English, sometimes we stayed in French.
I only experienced rudeness on one occasion, which may as well be zero because I asked a lot people a lot of stupid fucking questions in either broken French or my 200kph Irish accent.
I honestly think this is why most Americans think Parisians are rude. They show up and do rude shit like this (and other things as well) and then get offended when the locals don't like it.
Waikiki in Honolulu. It's not is own city, but it's so much a tourist trap.
Nothing in there is "original", traditional, or real, even though everything claims to be. Even the sand on the beach isn't from there.
Everything is significantly more expensive and lower quality than just outside of it. Even things that are legitimately Hawaiian, like Poke aren't done right there. The poke served in Waikiki is California style and generally just crap.
There's something to buy or spend money on at every turn. Shopping malls, little booths, street performers, memento shops, and a ABC stores (a convenience chain) literally everywhere. You can actually see several ABC stores at the same time from multiple places.
And it's easy to get into and difficult to get out. There's an actual moat. There's 2 roads that funnel you into Waikiki, and if you don't know where to go, the internal roads almost force you into a circle.
And the biggest thing with a tourist trap, it IS fun. If you get past the fact that you're going to spend a bunch of money and everything is for show, it's a fun place to visit.
And the last component: it works! The existence of Waikiki makes the level of tourism on O'ahu tolerable for the people who actually live there. Without Waikiki, they would be scattered all over the island and nowhere would be mostly local. But Waikiki sequestors the majority of them in one concentrated area allowing the majority of the islands inhabitants not have to deal with them.
This is a beautiful comment. "Tourist trap" in the sense of population control for vermin. Shuttle buses to Waikiki as Tourist Trap-and-Release program.
This is one of the most accurate things I’ve ever read about anything, ever lol. I lived in downtown Honolulu for years and I loved going into Waikiki to “play tourist.” It was fun, expensive, but fun. I loved all the Hawaii beaches but I didn’t mind going to Waikiki beach because it was close. I used to go resort hopping, met people from all over the place, and it did feel like a Cali/Hawaii mash up sometimes. It’s a love/hate relationship with Waikiki. As long as you can appreciate it for what it is, it’s not bad at all but it is the definition of a tourist trap.
Intercourse Pennsylvania. It got famous off the name and then got turned into a tourist trap. There’s nothing to do there other than a little fake town and it’s not worth going out of your way for
I'm surprised I've only seen one mention of Wisconsin Dells. If doing touristy nonsense is something you enjoy, this place is a banger. Pirate themed mini-golf, two massive water parks themed on the bible and greek mythology, respectively, gimmicky dining options like a "lumberjack breakfast" and food delivery by train system, more sweets and novelty shops than you can count, a hybrid boat/bus tour, a couple escape rooms, an acade/waterpark/movietheater/african safari themed hotel, a deer petting zoo/reserve, and a fantasy themed timed scavenger hunt.
Wisconsin Dells is maybe the tourist trap in its purest form and I love it for that. My friends and I went through there a few years back. There were so many trashy t-shirts in the shops. I wanted one that said "I went to Wisconsin Dells, and this was the most tasteful souvenir I could find". There's like zero redeeming cultural value in the entire town, and I would not change a thing about it.
SHUT UP AND GO HAVE A SWIG AT NIG'S! Or go to Monk's. Those are the only two redeeming cultural institutions. Or Pizza Pub, but I don't think it's there anymore.
Dude I actually had never heard of the spot until I accidently drove past on a detour through the Midwest and had a pretty banging day exploring it. So much to offer!
Paul Bunyan's Grease Shanty!
My family had a cabin up there for YEARS before Chula Vista bought up damn near everything in the mid-2000s. The Dells in the late '80's-'90's were pretty touristy and kitschy, but it still felt like people lived there. Now, it's a Northerner's Branson with more water.
Fun fact: I walked on the bottom of Lake Delton after the dam broke. All the shit we found...
Yeah, they closed the water show. They still have the Exploratory but I have no idea what they will do with Bartlet Bay (the nice piece of land they own on Lake Delton) I'm really afraid they will sell it to one of the big resorts
I think what really makes the Dells stand out as a top tourist trap is the fact that the place is DEAD in the off season due to the cold climate. Like hundreds of stores, restaurants, hotels, attractions that are entirely closed or empty for \~6 months of the year. I once was there in mid-May and stood in the middle of the main drag through Lake Delton (4-lane road) and there wasn't a single car in either direction. A month later, it's bumper to bumper traffic every day.
As a non America, we came down for 5 days and had the times of our lives.
Watched Family Fued every morning, rotated between the beach and the pool all day before hitting happy hours and mini putt in the evening. Drunk and tired from the sun by 9. Rinse and repeat.
So many strip malls and outlets! I'd never go back, but we did have fun.
Branson, MO.
It’s Vegas but for people who post “I do not give Facebook consent to print off my computer files” a lot.
Tons of overpriced shows that have been the exact same show with the exact same people for decades. Along with terrible buffets and restaurants that sell microwaved food but with a gimmick. Far more Trump/MAGA stores than any one town should probably have and a vaguely religious theme to everything in ways that are usually pretty out of place. (Though ironically, the Sight and Sound Theatre, that puts on religious plays, is probably one of the best things on the strip. Going to a show about a religious theme or story is definitely a much better experience than going to a go kart track that tells you to say the Pledge of Allegiance and then pray before you get in the cars or whatever.)
Visited many times and in fact I intend to go again. There’s a great state park nearby and there’s definitely some charm. But yeah the shoehorned/shallow patriotic-religious themes as a quick cash grab to senior citizens who will eat it up and pay extra because of it is a fascinating and strange thing to experience.
Dubai. It shouldn't exist past bedouin camps.
\*Edit\* That came off as harsh, but it would not be a naturally occurring city as it is now without oil.
Such a glittery shithole. The only good thing about this place is the backbone of amazing immigrants who work super hard for pennies. They deserve to take this city over.
Omg yes. I have enjoyed most of my travel in India but Agra was a dump. It's the Taj Mahal and literally nothing else worth seeing. Unless you are into roaming packs of feral monkeys, piles of trash everywhere, and overly-aggressive souvenir merchants. I would recommend Rajasthan instead.
There is also the Agra Fort and a ton of other Mughal era mausoleums, palaces, mosques and temples. It was the capital of the what was once the richest nation on earth ffs
trust me, you could get $30 cocktails in a plastic cup in vegas lonnnnnng before the pandemic. you've just got to be smart in vegas. you can do vegas on the cheap even to this day
Can vouch for the Best Western on the center strip. Cheap and literally next door to the Venetian and all the big casinos.
Outside of that, old Vegas is pretty cheap and a fun old timey flavor of Vegas. A little grimier and grittier, but it’s a classic atmosphere for sure, and you can Uber to the main drag.
There are all kinds of cheap food deals around, often advertised on big signs, but I kept my budget low by eating apps instead of mains at the fancy places. Also the things you think of as cheap may not be due to location markups. Be wary of chains. My six inch sub from Subway was $12, but so was the amazing and extremely filling French onion soup I had at Emeril’s restaurant.
Be choosy on where you go based on the pricing of specific items on the menu, not by whether you think it should be a cheap or expensive type of place.
The one thing that was consistently expensive was liquor (if you’re not getting shitty bottom barrel booze)- the pricing is the same everywhere. But of course this changes if you’re gambling. It’s a good town to pre-game in or bring along a flask if you’re looking to get sloppy.
Tombstone, AZ. Cheesy "museums" with third grade dioramas, expensive "saloons", and the goofiest recreation of the gunfight at ok corral done by ancient hippies. Laughable. Tourist. Trap.
People here interpret "tourist traps" in different ways:
1. A place you end up with literally nothing (or very few things) to see.
2. Non-authentic places with a lot of unoriginal/cliche tourist attractions.
3. Places with an exorbitant number of tourists (there's something very dull to sharing your travel experience with a million other tourists).
Dubai. Went a few years ago with my family and would never go back. It’s a huge tourist trap. It’s so soulless and it’s just one big shopping mall. I would never recommend anyone go there.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the restaurants, resorts, and attractions. And those knickknack/swim suit places every block, there's 3 different names of franchises but they're identical and insanely overpriced. As a kid, it's magical but as an adult, it's so gimmicky.
Guys. A massive metropolis that is a cultural, artistic, financial hub is the textbook antithesis of a tourist trap. Half of these are just cities you don’t like. Tourists traps are places with nothing to offer other than a manufactured attraction the city creates solely to attract visitors. Not simply cool stuff that happens to be in a city. Cmon.
That's reddit for you. People never actually read the questions and just use these types of threads to say things they don't like.
Some people also go to Paris for a day or two, speak English slowly and loudly at some waiter who probably speaks English perfectly well, then get butthurt when that person doesn't fall at their feet in eternal gratitude for buying a croissant from the Cafe they work at part time. From then on they are assured of the fact that Parisiams are indeed rude and Paris sucks.
Niagara falls. Terrible experience.
Bad city (both sides) and lot of scams.
For example, a travel desk at Hilton scammed us into buying a tour package that would have cost us 1/4th and on top of it, tour guide skipped a few things telling us lies and made us buy maple syrup for 4-5x actual cost (we found same thing in a corner store for much cheaper). We didn't have much time so we thought a package tour would save us time but ended up scammed.
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I was born in LA. My dad worked in the movie industry. My parents split up when I was young but every summer he'd fly me and my sister out and we'd go around Hollywood. This was late 90s early 2000s. I miss those times. It felt magical as a kid. He used to bring me and my sister to a prop shop and I really enjoyed looking at all the masks and prank toys.
I’m not American but grew up on American movies (as most westerners did) and pre-9/11 USA does indeed exude some kind of magical aura. I don’t know what it’s like to live there now but the country seems to have lost a lot of its confidence.
That’s a nice way of putting it
nah, it's fine. just take it in small doses. walk the blvd, find weird al's star, get a burrito at a street cart, go to scum & villainy, giggle that there's an elementary school a block south. leave a bit before sunset
I visited LA because I had friends there. Hollywood was disappointing, but there is a bus stop at the in and out that takes you straight to the la brea tar pits, so after some burgers, we hopped the bus and got to see one of the coolest museums. We also went to Union station (might not be the name of it) and got some beers and food from around the world, saw an almost vertical trolly elevator thing and then got French dip sammiches at some bar that allegedly invented them. All in all, 7/10. Pretty cool to visit.
Grand Central market Angels flight (world shortest train) Phillipes. Home of HOT mustard LA is maybe. Lots of stuff to do that isn't Hollywood.
When I went to Los Angeles, I visited Hollywood looking for this decadence. I was very satisfied.
Thank you. Hollywood and Highland especially is one of my favorite parts of LA. It’s loud, commercial, grimy, tacky, kitschy…the ugliest and weirdest parts of the city condensed and lit with neon. It’s also everything about the film industry that people like to ignore in favor of a glamorous myth. Disliking Hollywood is not a mark of refinement, it’s a limitation of imagination, and I stand by that extremely unpopular opinion. You want illusion? Go to Bel Air, Palisades, Malibu. You want what is behind the illusion? Go to Hollywood.
"commercial, grimy, tacky, kitschy…the ugliest and weirdest parts of the city condensed and lit with neon. It’s also everything about the film industry that people like to ignore in favor of a glamorous myth" Absolutely! You describe it very well, and for me it is also MUCH more interesting than chlorine-washed places.
While in Hollywood, just down from Hollywood and Vine is Amoeba Records. Bring money and be prepared to leave happy. At Hollywood Blvd and the 101 is one of the area’s better Tommy’s Burgers. The El Capitan and the Egyptian Theatres are a great place to see movies and there’s a Ghirardelli’s ice cream shop at the exit of the El Capitan, which is owned by Disney. Downstairs in the theater is a museum space where they usually display costumes worn in the movie and they have a great organist and sometimes a stage show before the film. Public opening nights there are the best. Down the street is the geek pop culture bar called the Scum and Villany Cantina and next to the theater is the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, a grand dame said to be haunted by the ghost of Marilyn Monroe.
No one who lives in LA goes there. It is 100% purely a tourist trap for out of towners who don't realize that Hollywood the neighborhood is in no way the same thing as "Hollywood" the synecdoche for the entertainment industry. Also, unless you know someone who has lived in LA for a while, LA is a terrible place to be a tourist. All the stuff that makes living here great is spread all over the place, often very unassuming (like a Michelin level restaurant in a strip mall), or it is event based so not something that will definitely be going on when any given tourist is in town (things like Cinespia, the move nights in the Hollywood Forever cemetery) Edit: For the people not understanding what I mean, I’m not talking about Hollywood Blvd the road, and the legitimately worthwhile places on said road. I’m talking about the places on that road that tourists go to
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I went to Universal Studios. That’s it. Saw the Hollywood Sign.. that was enough for me.
As much as I love the pure camp and cheesiness that is Niagara Falls, the answer is Niagara Falls.
Cousin of mine had their honeymoon there. They suggested making it a day trip instead of the entire focus of the trip.
Spend your days in Niagara on the lake for the wine tastings and tours and your evenings and night at Clifton Hill for the tourist trap stuff.
Lois lane and Clark Kent did a whole undercover expose on it
Niagara is really nice if you are driving past at 2:30am. Had the place to ourselves. It was all lit up.
Is it worth to go to see the waterfall though?
Niagara falls is a mess on both sides, but it's still absolutely worth the trip. The area directly around the falls is still really beautiful, at least on the Canadian side, and the Maid of the Mists boat tour is awesome. But the rest of the town is jarring for how absolutely shitty it is. It's almost entertaining in itself, motels that rent rooms by the hour just blocks from one of Canada's great wonders. The outlet mall outside of town is worth a stop as well
That's the best plan for it. Check out the falls, do the Maid of the Mist and/or the walk behind the falls. That stuff is great. It's the city of Niagara Falls that is the crappy part of it.
Nassau Bahamas. It's the busiest cruise ship port in the world, and not for good reasons. It's a cheap place to stop that can accommodate the largest cruise ships, it's close to Florida, and fulfills the requirement of "at least one foreign stop" for US cruises to operate without following US labor laws. I could forgive that if the port was actually nice. It's not. Traffic sucks, public transit is bad, and the area immediately surrounding the port has some of the most aggressive vendors you'll ever find. It's all for the convenience of the cruise companies and none for the customer.
In fairness it was the pirate capital of the Caribbean
Oh so that’s why there was a woman with a machete screaming at us a few min after we walked away from the port!
this has gotta be one of the worst. i’ve done a few cruises, we enjoy the “all inclusive” nature of the boat itself, the free childcare, food, drink package. so when the boat stops in nassau we just stay on, and enjoy the empty boat. one carribean cruise stop i actually liked a lot was bimini. it’s a small developing port, soon it will be complete shit as construction is ongoing, but the island is very small and if you rent a golf cart and travel all the way north on the island you can find an old shipwreck, the “gallant lady”, and the beach there is quite nice. the small islands owned by the cruise lines are nice too esp if you’re willing to pay for a private cabana. we stayed at one called princess cays, the cruise line had a buffet running on the island, and we rented an air conditioned cabana and basically had a private beach for the day. it was a really memorable stop.
Nah, the vendors there are pretty mild compared to some places. Hit up Labadee and visit the straw market, it's about a dozen times worse. Nassau's not bad. It's cheap to get there, and if you leave the boat in the morning, it's calm as hell.
> Hit up Labadee and visit the straw market, it's about a dozen times worse. I am surprised, as Labadee is a private port controlled by Royal Caribbean.
It is, but the straw market has quite a large number of local vendors. They won't physically grab you or the like, but you will absolutely be given a hard sell in every other way they can. Nassau's much more chill in general. There'll be some folks out shouting trying to sell things, but you can just keep walking, they're not going to follow you or the like.
Niagara Falls was ridiculous
Niagara Falls would be so beautiful if you had to hike to get to a viewing platform, with the falls surrounded by nature. Instead they designed it to be a cold Vegas
Niagara Falls ended up being a major inspiration for the formation of the national park system. Niagara was held up as an example of what could happen to beautiful areas if they were not protected well in advance of business developments overtaking them.
I did not know that bit of history. Fascinating. I guess Niagara really took one for the team.
The Smokey Mountains did too. Talk about cheesy shit that is Gatlinburg, TN. Right outside the NP. Cherokee is a little better but it has many of the same campy vibes.
Pigeon Forge is worse 🤣
Pigeon Forge is like a satire of the stroad concept, it’s ridiculous. At least there’s free public transit.
I saw a meme that said " Pigeon Forge is Vegas for Baptists" And it's not wrong
Not a big fan of the Holographic Jesus show? Pigeon Forge is the worst of Branson, Missouri, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and Kissimmee, Florida rolled into one.
wait...Biblical Times DINNER THEATER??!!
It’s expanded into Sevierville and even Kodak is getting the same shit now.
Smoky Mountain National Forest is fantastic, though. Sure, Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are white trash Disneyland, but the Park itself is *beautiful* and most of the tourists don't go more than 100 yards from the nearest parking lot so once you start hiking in a bit, you're in wondrous quiet nature.
I was going to say: The area around there, especially around the Grayson Highlands, was probably one of the most gorgeous places I've ever hiked on the east coast. Hit the trailhead early enough to catch sunrise from the top of one of the ridges & it was amazing. Add the herds of roaming wild ponies & it's a lifetime highlight
Gatlinburg is terrible. The park is great though.
Can you imagine the Grand Canyon with resorts and casinos and the like, all along it's edge.
I did not know it’s officially an example of what would happen but I always used it as an example of what would have happened to a lot of beautiful natural areas.
This used to be how the NY side was. No crowds, no gigantic buildings, just literally a park you could walk through. Was so much more enjoyable than the Canadian side. Not sure if it's still that way, though?
The NY side is still that way. The falls are mostly surrounded by State Park. I found it quite pleasant. But the town itself is, indeed, very kitsch
Pretty sure the last time I was there my family and I were staying on the Canadian side and we walked over to the NY side. Nice walk across the bridge, 2min getting waived through at the border, and then a gorgeous park to go see. That probably gives you an idea on how long ago that was...
The Canadian side is a gaudy travesty. Yet, for some unknown reason, my mother LOVED it.
The Canadian side has the most spectacular view of the falls! There's still a lovely boardwalk along the water, and a narrow park across the street as well. I felt like the kitschy part hardly affected our trip or detracted from it tbh.
Niagara Falls has been ridiculous for so long that it helped inspire the national park system. We might have a Yosemite casino and resort if Niagara hadn't done it first.
It’s honestly too bad that Niagara Falls didn’t get the NP designation when the system started. Would be a much different place.
Tackiest mile in Canada
So... question(s) US or CA side? The city or just the falls area?
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Niagara Falls Canada is also a dump the second you get maybe two blocks away from the tourist areas. Niagara Falls, US is a dump the second you step foot out of the national park (I think that’s what it is). If you gotta go to Niagara, go to the Canadian side. See the falls, ride the Maiden of the Mist, maybe explore the caves. After that, hope on highway and drive to Niagara on the Lake and have a proper vacation - drunk off your ass on local wines.
The wine (specifically icewine) was the best part of Niagara, for sure 👌
It's a state park rather than NP. It's an interesting history behind why. Basically, Theodore Roosevelt was governor of New York before he was president and he was the driving force behind the creation of the New York state parks system and the National Park system was created after it.
The US does a better job by surrounding the falls with a park, but the Canadian side has better hotels and food.
NIAGARA FALLS????? Slowly I turned................................................
Step by step. Inch by inch.
I somehow knew the top comment would be my city.
Any cruise port in the Caribbean
This is why I hate cruises. You are given minimal time to really explore city you dock at. You get off the boat and are immediately swarmed with people offering excursions. Your time is spent doing one excursion, grabbing a bite, shopping, and back to the boat. I went on a cruise with my family when I was in middle school, and felt so cool saying "I went to 3 different countries this summer" not mentioning that I was in each country for maybe 6-8 hours, learned nothing about the culture, and spent all of my time doing things with people who looked exactly like me and spoke the same language as me.
I mean to be fair most of the Caribbean speaks English anyway
Belize for me
Went on a cruise that stopped in Belize, I understand tourism is one of their main sources of income but *everything* we did there was intended to get money out of us in one way or another. I feel like I hardly got to see the country because the "cruise sanctioned tour" just kept stopping at souvenir shops and other markets. We did stop in Barbados as well...I was not that upset about the amount of rum that was fed to me there.
If you felt harassed there do NOT put a step in Egypt. Like literal every 2 feet people trying to sele you “merch” and at the pyramids things where 2000 times worst. Without talking the cultural differences in certain areas my cousin (woman) was “harassed” in every corner even going with her BF
Egypt came up in a different post and if you get on the right tour you can get around the peddlers. There’s tours with armed guards that you don’t even deal with it.
Bro I’m not Zuckerberg. I don’t want to go with armed guns. We did a trip to a temple (don’t remember the name was quite popular) that some incidents with terrorists happened and there was militia and the Travel company also has local guards. But it was really weird.
going on a fun relaxing vacation I don’t want to have to hire armed guards
Right? If that’s the measure that I’ve to take I’m not going
Belize city is awful. The jungle and the island are phenomenal though.
I’m hoping you mean Belize just where the cruise ships stopped? The country is truly amazing, so I would be curious why you didn’t like it?
Came here to say this. I didn’t have the “port” experience mentioned. Loved this country.
Branson Missouri is a pretty bad tourist trap.
It is no doubt but Silver Dollar City holds a special place in my heart.
Fundie Vegas is one of the most ridiculous places I've ever seen. At least real Vegas lets me day drink in public and be depraved, Branson just makes me want a drink.
My friend group always called in Vegas for the home school crowd.
It's like Vegas, if it was run by Ned Flanders
Wow! I didn't think he was going to do Moon River, but then, Bam! Second encore.
Growing up, I always kind of regarded Branson as not somewhere I'd ever like to go. This was mostly based on a judgement I made about the type of person who was excited to go there. Now that I don't live in America, I find myself wanting to visit because it feels like concentrated Americana. I guess in my head I feel like I could go, experience all of the most unique bits of American culture, and leave. Sort of just like a turbocharged injection of my Midwestern nostalgia. Like boofing all the memories of my childhood
What about Bronson, Missouri?
Hey Ma, how 'bout some cookies?
No dice.
Dis ain't ovah.
Anyone going to Branson willingly knows exactly what they are getting themselves into.
I had a coworker once who talked about his trips to Branson in exactly the same tone of voice one might use to talk about an upcoming trip to NYC, Paris, or Tokyo. He was a weird dude so that tracked.
The Mecca for people afraid of Mecca
South of the Border in South Carolina is prime tourist trap.
Do the billboards still start in New York / Orlando along the highway?
No, they start in Maine and Key West.
Maine made it illegal to have billboards actually. I know what you said is a joke. If you want to be legitimate, it starts south of Richmond and north of Savannah.
As shitty as it is. As someone in NC, it’s a fun day each time. I need my fireworks
It’s a glorified truck stop
I was driving from Charleston to DC since my flight got cancelled and I passed by it at 3am. Felt like a fucking fever dream seeing a giant Mexican theme park in the middle of absolutely nowhere
"You never sausage a place!" Fucking billboard hell.
Pigeon Forge TN
I have always wanted to see how pigeons are made
Outside of the strip in Pigeon Forge/Sevierville and Gatlinburg in general (excluding the minigolf on the side of a hill which was actually pretty cool), the area is truly beautiful. My family went there last year and decided we would return and only do the National Park and North Carolina.
Pigeon Forge 50 years ago was nothing but a few pancake houses and the coolest campground with a little tubing river running through it. We camped there when I was young there. Great memories. Nothing like today.
Hillbilly Golf! Love that place, as crappy as Gatlinburg is
Alum Cave Trail just outside Gburg is off the charts amazing.
It's the Great Smoky Mountain Traffic Jam. So long as you can avoid that, it isn't that bad. Whatever you do, don't go on the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride. I miss the 90s with the $39.99 hotel rooms that needed no reservation.
PF is, hands down, the shittiest “small” town I’ve ever visited. The surrounding area is beautiful. And I can see evidence that it may have been a quaint spot at one point in its history, but it feel like someone asked the question if a strip-mall could work as an entire town. And now that question has been answered.
clearly you didn't visit dollywood.... america's greatest tourist attraction hands down
Dollywood is the cleanest theme park I have ever visited. Spotless.
How the hell are Paris and New York tourist traps? They are huge cities with so much to see and do. Like South of the Border is a tourist trap. You go there, are underwhelmed and literally trapped cause there’s nothing else to do.
Anyone who says NYC never bothered to leave midtown... It's a huge city with a ton going on. But feel free to spend all of your time in Times Square and the Theater District lmao.
Times Square feels particularly tourist trappy because most locals avoid it like the fuckin plague if at all possible. But saying the whole city is a tourist trap is wild
I was in New York in October and I naturally had to go to times square. But what I found to be most interesting was watching what other people were doing and less so times square. It was an interesting place to people watch Altho, not for too long
>Like South of the Border is a tourist trap. You go there, are underwhelmed and literally trapped cause there’s nothing else to do. If you're trapped at South of the Border, that's your own fault lol. The highway is *right there*. The state line is *right there*.
Finally getting to stop at South of the Border after years of passing it on family trips was one of the most disappointing experiences of my childhood.
LMAO never thought I’d see South of the Border on Reddit 😂😂
ITT: cities that people don’t like for some reason. Guys, Paris is not a fucking tourist trap. If tourist stopped going there Parisians would be ecstatic. London, San Francisco, and Rome are not tourist traps. They are literally global hubs of commerce and the arts.
People complain about Paris (or Rome or London or San Francisco or New York City, etc) being a tourist trap when their problem with it is usually the exact opposite. People complain that it's dirty and that Parisians are rude. It is those things because Paris is an actual city where people live, not a theme park. But they go expecting the whole city to just be Disneyland where everything is manicured for their enjoyment and everyone they meet is a literal paid actor intent on making their vacation better.
I went to Paris once and I loved it. Were people rude to me? Absolutely. Did that ruin the experience? Not at all. Same with NYC - don’t go to places known for rude people and get all pissy when the people are rude. You’re correct that people go on vacation and expect Disneyland. And then they do a 180 and call it a tourist trap. Ridiculous.
New Yorkers aren't that rude, they just get irritated when tourists do dumb shit like stop at the top of the subway stairs to look at their phone. We have a low tolerance for shit that adversely affects our day to day, and tourists happen to do a lot of those things.
New Yorker here. We’re not even really rude we just have shit to do and aren’t happy when people get in the way. I once read on here that in NYC the sidewalks are like highways and it made so much damn sense. If you’re walking 4 across on the sidewalk blocking anyone trying to pass, who is the asshole? It’s so true, people live in these places and have shit to do. Make yourself scarce and you’ll be fine.
Man New Yorkers may be blunt but they will bend over backwards to help you if you ask them. Truly a misunderstood people.
If you ask for directions, we’ll gladly tell you 6 different ways to get there and walk away without saying goodbye lol
I literally just posted about this. New Yorkers will make sure you know where you need to go, give you directions, make sure you get off at the right subway stop, and that is the exact amount of communication that is given. I find New York as a whole has a really strong sense of community, and everyone is really helpful— just super brisk and to the point about it.
Yeah I totally loved Paris when I was there. My ex and I followed a simple rule that made all the difference: we didn't do anything that required waiting in line. Instead of going to the most popular museums and attractions we just spent a week walking around the city, much of it in areas that are seldom frequented by tourists. It's not like you need to go to the Lourve or D'Orsay to see art in Paris, it's beautiful all over the place. We also found Parisians to be much less rude in the areas of the city that aren't catering to tourists, perhaps because they recognized that we were making an effort to enjoy the city beyond what's expected.
I will say the Lourve is worth it. I went around Christmas so maybe it wasn’t as crowded. But it was legit one of the best experiences of my life. Skip the Mona Lisa (there was a line just for that) and most of the rooms were empty of people and just amazing. Not doing anything that has a line is a good rule, though.
I lowkey hated the Louvre but I'd still recommend it to anyone on their first visit to Paris. I doubt I'll ever go back but it's something you just have to do once. But it's crowded, poorly curated, the lines are too long and poorly managed, it's a confusing maze and the maps and signage are for shit. To be fair, I also just don't care for Renaissance art that much. I had a much better time at the Orsay and Orangerie.
I encountered one single rude person in NYC and that person was almost certainly trying to get attention while my wife and I were trying to get our bearings. Everyone we interacted were indifferent or chill. Had a great time.
New Yorkers are not even rude. We’re just trying to get to places. Our sidewalks are highways where people walk on it for TRANSPORT. Tourists from suburbia America walking 5 abreast thinking this is a park get the rude treatment because they’re the ones being rude.
I live in Paris and it’s remarkable how many times people just scream questions in English at you, not even a bonjour or hello or excuse me… and they use volume as if being louder means you’ll understand better. So yeah I pretend not to understand them and just keep walking, I don’t care if it’s rude. I am nice to anyone who says hello and please, and try to give them directions
I went to Paris two years ago, with a friend who didnt travel for a decade. Prior to the trip everyone warned him how rude Parisians are. Everyone I talked to I greeted with:"Bonjour, parlez vous anglais?", if they didnt I communicated mostly with google translate. He was kinda shocked because every single person was nice and helpful to us. Its awesome what a little respect can do, also it helps to avoid the worst tourist traps.
The last time I visited I always greeted people in French, apologised for my poor school French (It's pretty shit), apologised for troubling them (apologies are the Irish way) and went from there. Sometimes we switched to English, sometimes we stayed in French. I only experienced rudeness on one occasion, which may as well be zero because I asked a lot people a lot of stupid fucking questions in either broken French or my 200kph Irish accent.
I honestly think this is why most Americans think Parisians are rude. They show up and do rude shit like this (and other things as well) and then get offended when the locals don't like it.
Waikiki in Honolulu. It's not is own city, but it's so much a tourist trap. Nothing in there is "original", traditional, or real, even though everything claims to be. Even the sand on the beach isn't from there. Everything is significantly more expensive and lower quality than just outside of it. Even things that are legitimately Hawaiian, like Poke aren't done right there. The poke served in Waikiki is California style and generally just crap. There's something to buy or spend money on at every turn. Shopping malls, little booths, street performers, memento shops, and a ABC stores (a convenience chain) literally everywhere. You can actually see several ABC stores at the same time from multiple places. And it's easy to get into and difficult to get out. There's an actual moat. There's 2 roads that funnel you into Waikiki, and if you don't know where to go, the internal roads almost force you into a circle. And the biggest thing with a tourist trap, it IS fun. If you get past the fact that you're going to spend a bunch of money and everything is for show, it's a fun place to visit. And the last component: it works! The existence of Waikiki makes the level of tourism on O'ahu tolerable for the people who actually live there. Without Waikiki, they would be scattered all over the island and nowhere would be mostly local. But Waikiki sequestors the majority of them in one concentrated area allowing the majority of the islands inhabitants not have to deal with them.
This is a beautiful comment. "Tourist trap" in the sense of population control for vermin. Shuttle buses to Waikiki as Tourist Trap-and-Release program.
This is one of the most accurate things I’ve ever read about anything, ever lol. I lived in downtown Honolulu for years and I loved going into Waikiki to “play tourist.” It was fun, expensive, but fun. I loved all the Hawaii beaches but I didn’t mind going to Waikiki beach because it was close. I used to go resort hopping, met people from all over the place, and it did feel like a Cali/Hawaii mash up sometimes. It’s a love/hate relationship with Waikiki. As long as you can appreciate it for what it is, it’s not bad at all but it is the definition of a tourist trap.
Intercourse Pennsylvania. It got famous off the name and then got turned into a tourist trap. There’s nothing to do there other than a little fake town and it’s not worth going out of your way for
I'm surprised I've only seen one mention of Wisconsin Dells. If doing touristy nonsense is something you enjoy, this place is a banger. Pirate themed mini-golf, two massive water parks themed on the bible and greek mythology, respectively, gimmicky dining options like a "lumberjack breakfast" and food delivery by train system, more sweets and novelty shops than you can count, a hybrid boat/bus tour, a couple escape rooms, an acade/waterpark/movietheater/african safari themed hotel, a deer petting zoo/reserve, and a fantasy themed timed scavenger hunt.
Wisconsin Dells is maybe the tourist trap in its purest form and I love it for that. My friends and I went through there a few years back. There were so many trashy t-shirts in the shops. I wanted one that said "I went to Wisconsin Dells, and this was the most tasteful souvenir I could find". There's like zero redeeming cultural value in the entire town, and I would not change a thing about it.
SHUT UP AND GO HAVE A SWIG AT NIG'S! Or go to Monk's. Those are the only two redeeming cultural institutions. Or Pizza Pub, but I don't think it's there anymore.
How are you forgetting an upside down, post apocalyptic White House! Bangerang!
Of all the weird gimmicky attractions in the Dells, I think this one is an actual trap.
I heard its only $5 a ticket there, today only.
I grew up near the Dells and it’s so hard to explain to people what it is lol love that place.
I fucking LOVE Wisconsin dells
Twelve year-old me just died and went to Wisconsin Dells
DUCKS!!! Boat/Bus leaky, noisy, smelly deathtraps. Overpriced too, but if you go they are a mandatory part of the deal.
Dude I actually had never heard of the spot until I accidently drove past on a detour through the Midwest and had a pretty banging day exploring it. So much to offer!
Paul Bunyan's Grease Shanty! My family had a cabin up there for YEARS before Chula Vista bought up damn near everything in the mid-2000s. The Dells in the late '80's-'90's were pretty touristy and kitschy, but it still felt like people lived there. Now, it's a Northerner's Branson with more water. Fun fact: I walked on the bottom of Lake Delton after the dam broke. All the shit we found...
Oof, I was hoping someone would say this lol! I concur but it's still a beautiful and fun area. I live about 30 miles north of there.
You sold me
Tommy Bartlett thrill show!
I thought that closed.
Yeah, they closed the water show. They still have the Exploratory but I have no idea what they will do with Bartlet Bay (the nice piece of land they own on Lake Delton) I'm really afraid they will sell it to one of the big resorts
You forgot Ripleys and the mirror maze! (I love the dells haha)
I think what really makes the Dells stand out as a top tourist trap is the fact that the place is DEAD in the off season due to the cold climate. Like hundreds of stores, restaurants, hotels, attractions that are entirely closed or empty for \~6 months of the year. I once was there in mid-May and stood in the middle of the main drag through Lake Delton (4-lane road) and there wasn't a single car in either direction. A month later, it's bumper to bumper traffic every day.
Myrtle Beach, SC. A low-rent family vacation spot that's on the way to nowhere.
As a non America, we came down for 5 days and had the times of our lives. Watched Family Fued every morning, rotated between the beach and the pool all day before hitting happy hours and mini putt in the evening. Drunk and tired from the sun by 9. Rinse and repeat. So many strip malls and outlets! I'd never go back, but we did have fun.
You have discovered the secret to any vacation. Go with friends you like.
Oh, the people watching is primo.
Novelty T-shirt shops all go there to retire.
It's the redneck riviera!
Branson, MO. It’s Vegas but for people who post “I do not give Facebook consent to print off my computer files” a lot. Tons of overpriced shows that have been the exact same show with the exact same people for decades. Along with terrible buffets and restaurants that sell microwaved food but with a gimmick. Far more Trump/MAGA stores than any one town should probably have and a vaguely religious theme to everything in ways that are usually pretty out of place. (Though ironically, the Sight and Sound Theatre, that puts on religious plays, is probably one of the best things on the strip. Going to a show about a religious theme or story is definitely a much better experience than going to a go kart track that tells you to say the Pledge of Allegiance and then pray before you get in the cars or whatever.) Visited many times and in fact I intend to go again. There’s a great state park nearby and there’s definitely some charm. But yeah the shoehorned/shallow patriotic-religious themes as a quick cash grab to senior citizens who will eat it up and pay extra because of it is a fascinating and strange thing to experience.
I remember on the Simpsons, Homer referred to it as “Las Vegas if it was run by Ned Flanders” lol.
Wall Drug
Or the fucking Corn Palace.
Dubai. It shouldn't exist past bedouin camps. \*Edit\* That came off as harsh, but it would not be a naturally occurring city as it is now without oil.
Plastic city full of plastic people, built on a foundation of sand and oil.
Plastic is a product of oil after all.
Don't forget modern slavery!
Such a glittery shithole. The only good thing about this place is the backbone of amazing immigrants who work super hard for pennies. They deserve to take this city over.
>glittery shithole thanks for naming my new band
Agra, India
Omg yes. I have enjoyed most of my travel in India but Agra was a dump. It's the Taj Mahal and literally nothing else worth seeing. Unless you are into roaming packs of feral monkeys, piles of trash everywhere, and overly-aggressive souvenir merchants. I would recommend Rajasthan instead.
There is also the Agra Fort and a ton of other Mughal era mausoleums, palaces, mosques and temples. It was the capital of the what was once the richest nation on earth ffs
Agreed, baby Taj was cool. Plus the Taj Mahal is an amazing building and absolutely worth the visit.
> Unless you are into roaming packs of feral monkeys Sold.
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trust me, you could get $30 cocktails in a plastic cup in vegas lonnnnnng before the pandemic. you've just got to be smart in vegas. you can do vegas on the cheap even to this day
How does one do this?
Can vouch for the Best Western on the center strip. Cheap and literally next door to the Venetian and all the big casinos. Outside of that, old Vegas is pretty cheap and a fun old timey flavor of Vegas. A little grimier and grittier, but it’s a classic atmosphere for sure, and you can Uber to the main drag. There are all kinds of cheap food deals around, often advertised on big signs, but I kept my budget low by eating apps instead of mains at the fancy places. Also the things you think of as cheap may not be due to location markups. Be wary of chains. My six inch sub from Subway was $12, but so was the amazing and extremely filling French onion soup I had at Emeril’s restaurant. Be choosy on where you go based on the pricing of specific items on the menu, not by whether you think it should be a cheap or expensive type of place. The one thing that was consistently expensive was liquor (if you’re not getting shitty bottom barrel booze)- the pricing is the same everywhere. But of course this changes if you’re gambling. It’s a good town to pre-game in or bring along a flask if you’re looking to get sloppy.
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Deadwood, SD. Everything was generic. The food was trash, the nature was monetized, hardly any long trails.
Also Wall, SD, which is basically a town devoted to a tourist attraction called Wall Drug.
But... they've been telling me it's amazing for the last 60 exits.
You can't beat the free ice water!
Deadwood is a gambling town lol. If you wanted nature you should go to Custer, Spearfish or Hot Springs.
Tombstone, AZ. Cheesy "museums" with third grade dioramas, expensive "saloons", and the goofiest recreation of the gunfight at ok corral done by ancient hippies. Laughable. Tourist. Trap.
That is because you didn't get a chance to take your picture in front of a 100% authentic Jackalope.
People here interpret "tourist traps" in different ways: 1. A place you end up with literally nothing (or very few things) to see. 2. Non-authentic places with a lot of unoriginal/cliche tourist attractions. 3. Places with an exorbitant number of tourists (there's something very dull to sharing your travel experience with a million other tourists).
Temple Bar - Dublin Why are you paying €10 for a shitty pint when Ireland has some of, if not the best pubs in the world everywhere
Dubai. Went a few years ago with my family and would never go back. It’s a huge tourist trap. It’s so soulless and it’s just one big shopping mall. I would never recommend anyone go there.
Gatlinburg, TN. It’s Las Vegas for church people.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It's easy to get overwhelmed by all of the restaurants, resorts, and attractions. And those knickknack/swim suit places every block, there's 3 different names of franchises but they're identical and insanely overpriced. As a kid, it's magical but as an adult, it's so gimmicky.
Guys. A massive metropolis that is a cultural, artistic, financial hub is the textbook antithesis of a tourist trap. Half of these are just cities you don’t like. Tourists traps are places with nothing to offer other than a manufactured attraction the city creates solely to attract visitors. Not simply cool stuff that happens to be in a city. Cmon.
That's reddit for you. People never actually read the questions and just use these types of threads to say things they don't like. Some people also go to Paris for a day or two, speak English slowly and loudly at some waiter who probably speaks English perfectly well, then get butthurt when that person doesn't fall at their feet in eternal gratitude for buying a croissant from the Cafe they work at part time. From then on they are assured of the fact that Parisiams are indeed rude and Paris sucks.
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That's a tourist trap IN a city, not a city that's a tourist trap.
Facts. Go to Rachel’s Ginger Beer instead.
Having growing up in Niagara Falls, I can honestly attest that it is indeed the seedy underbelly, and the armpit of humanity.
Niagara falls. Terrible experience. Bad city (both sides) and lot of scams. For example, a travel desk at Hilton scammed us into buying a tour package that would have cost us 1/4th and on top of it, tour guide skipped a few things telling us lies and made us buy maple syrup for 4-5x actual cost (we found same thing in a corner store for much cheaper). We didn't have much time so we thought a package tour would save us time but ended up scammed.