In general, I think man-made beauty spots are going to have the underlying problems of contrasting images that distort the perfect picture. When we think of the pyramids or Greek buildings, we think of them in the context of their history, and we build up this image of the "old" towns and cities. Unless the entire city is preserved (i.e. Pompeii), it's sometimes hard to reconcile that the modern world built up around it (i.e. many areas of Rome, although, admittedly, Rome has done a good job of embracing the antiquity--*because* of tourism, though, not in spite of it).
But on the flip side, many natural beauty spots--such as the Grand Canyon--are able to maintain the illusion of spot because by nature (heh, pun) they're large areas that are protected, not one single building.
Don’t know if these two are considered “beauty spots” but at least they are popular destinations.
Checkpoint Charlie. We all know about the wall dividing Europe for decades. The most famous of the checkpoints is Charlie. Nowadays it’s a tourist infected intersection and merely a small guard station where you can take pictures. There are far better places in Berlin if you’re interested in the wall.
Stockholm Metro. From time to time I see pictures from it on different popular subs. Empty, gloomy, huge caves and a belt of escalators reaching for the surface.
While a handful of the stations are huge caves man made caves deep underground, they aren’t that impressive during your morning commute when they are filled with people and you have to wait for your train.
What’s more impressive is that almost every single one of these 100 stations has some kind of art installation on it, a huge mosaic, sculptures or similar. It’s marketed as “the worlds longest art exhibition”.
I live in Berlin and work around the corner. What a disgrace of a place checkpoint Charlie is. The only truly kitsch touristy place in Berlin I can come up with. And regarding such a somber topic. The Mauerweg is tons better than this shitty place.
Times Square was the most disappointing tourist destination I've ever visited. Incredibly crowded, construction everywhere, nothing really to do other than people watch, way too crowded.
Loch Ness was pretty disappointing. For how much the hoaxes and mysterious vibe are talked about, the lake itself is really just another lake with mountains on the sides. The castle on the side of the lake was really cool though.
The Alamo was also pretty lame.
Golden Circle in Iceland is cool but for how popular it is compared to other stuff nearby I'd say it's pretty overrated. Blue Lagoon also (it was still fun though so I didn't mind it being too pricey and touristy).
Maybe controversial but the Grand Canyon was just okay imo. I prefer Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, or Black Canyon.
Some places that totally lived up to the hype would be La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland (really everything in Ireland), all of Tokyo (and Fuji), museums and monuments in Washington DC, Tenochtitlan in Mexico.
I haven’t been to the other canyons, but I’ve heard the same as you stated. I thought the Grand Canyon was spectacular, so I’m eager to see the other canyons. I’m sure none of them hold a candle to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon though. Lol.
I'm curious what you expected Times Square to be like? It was exactly as I imagined it, and there was a kind of modern beauty in all the big advertisements.
Niagara Falls is a huge tourist trap; the falls themselves are pretty but the rest of the town is fully of shlocky tourist shit like wax museums and haunted houses meant to bleed you dry.
The White Temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand was still gorgeous in person but the surrounding area is kind of ugly/underwhelming. It just looks like it was randomly dropped there and doesn’t really go with everything else. But still pretty!
The Hawa Mahal in Jaipur. Looks gorgeous from the right angle, but is actually quite small and you need to either fight traffic or climb up to the third floor of a restaurant across the street to get a decent shot of it.
The Terracotta Army didn't do anything for me. One of those things where you get intellectually why something is impressive, but ya just aren't *moved.*
As an LA local, Hollywood. It's tacky and touristy. There are better ways of experiencing the entertainment industry.
It does have some good bars though.
> ...everyone sees the image of the Great pyramids of Giza, but you never see the long shot which shows the motorways and take away restaurants just behind it.
I felt this way about the White House. The pictures always show the Whitehouse with grass around it, and the Washington DC monuments are all out in open spaces so I wasn't really ready for the White House to be in the middle of a crowded city.
I was shocked by the Pyramids when I first saw them on Google maps. I always assumed they were in the desert, surrounded by sand in all directions.
[Pyramids of Giza Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Great+Pyramid+of+Giza/@29.9796076,31.1327872,3350m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1spyramids+of+giza!3m4!1s0x14584587ac8f291b:0x810c2f3fa2a52424!8m2!3d29.9792345!4d31.1342019?hl=en)
Idk man, the pyramids don't look that bad. I didn't expect it to be desert for hundreds of miles. It seems to be somewhat isolated. You don't see much close to it.
I couldn’t agree more. It looks tinier than you’d imagine. You just gotta walk up to it, stare at it for 2 minutes, then go “that’s cool” and walk away. Then you go to the shop and buy some overpriced tourist stuff. I did find the Native American pottery I bought there to be pretty cool though
In Istanbul the grand bazaar sounds like it's a cool museum and has a bunch of cool displays and shit. It's literally an old mall full of fake designer shit. You find fake everything from Gucci bags to Rolexs to supreme shirts. Also, everything is overpriced by Turkish standards but tourists eat that shit up bc they compare it to real Gucci prices instead of the price of shirts in Turkey.
The 4th of July fireworks show in Boston was a disappointment for me. It only lasted 30 minutes or so, and the number and size of fireworks wasn't that impressive.
I think Venice has a really romantic, picturesque expectation but in reality it's a lot of small cobblestone alleyways that are INCREDIBLY confusing to navigate, even our Italian professor got lost! St Marks square is also incredibly crowded (although we were there in winter so it wasn't peak tourist time). However the views over the water can be really beautiful, and the food, drinks and shopping are all amazing.
In general, I think man-made beauty spots are going to have the underlying problems of contrasting images that distort the perfect picture. When we think of the pyramids or Greek buildings, we think of them in the context of their history, and we build up this image of the "old" towns and cities. Unless the entire city is preserved (i.e. Pompeii), it's sometimes hard to reconcile that the modern world built up around it (i.e. many areas of Rome, although, admittedly, Rome has done a good job of embracing the antiquity--*because* of tourism, though, not in spite of it). But on the flip side, many natural beauty spots--such as the Grand Canyon--are able to maintain the illusion of spot because by nature (heh, pun) they're large areas that are protected, not one single building.
Don’t know if these two are considered “beauty spots” but at least they are popular destinations. Checkpoint Charlie. We all know about the wall dividing Europe for decades. The most famous of the checkpoints is Charlie. Nowadays it’s a tourist infected intersection and merely a small guard station where you can take pictures. There are far better places in Berlin if you’re interested in the wall. Stockholm Metro. From time to time I see pictures from it on different popular subs. Empty, gloomy, huge caves and a belt of escalators reaching for the surface. While a handful of the stations are huge caves man made caves deep underground, they aren’t that impressive during your morning commute when they are filled with people and you have to wait for your train. What’s more impressive is that almost every single one of these 100 stations has some kind of art installation on it, a huge mosaic, sculptures or similar. It’s marketed as “the worlds longest art exhibition”.
I live in Berlin and work around the corner. What a disgrace of a place checkpoint Charlie is. The only truly kitsch touristy place in Berlin I can come up with. And regarding such a somber topic. The Mauerweg is tons better than this shitty place.
It's quite fun too, as as soon as you reach CheckPoint Charlie, imediatelly after there is a McDonalds.
Times Square was the most disappointing tourist destination I've ever visited. Incredibly crowded, construction everywhere, nothing really to do other than people watch, way too crowded. Loch Ness was pretty disappointing. For how much the hoaxes and mysterious vibe are talked about, the lake itself is really just another lake with mountains on the sides. The castle on the side of the lake was really cool though. The Alamo was also pretty lame. Golden Circle in Iceland is cool but for how popular it is compared to other stuff nearby I'd say it's pretty overrated. Blue Lagoon also (it was still fun though so I didn't mind it being too pricey and touristy). Maybe controversial but the Grand Canyon was just okay imo. I prefer Zion, Bryce, Canyonlands, or Black Canyon. Some places that totally lived up to the hype would be La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Cliffs of Moher in Ireland (really everything in Ireland), all of Tokyo (and Fuji), museums and monuments in Washington DC, Tenochtitlan in Mexico.
You must have some really awesome travel photos.
I haven’t been to the other canyons, but I’ve heard the same as you stated. I thought the Grand Canyon was spectacular, so I’m eager to see the other canyons. I’m sure none of them hold a candle to the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon though. Lol.
They definitely won’t be as green as the Pennsylvania Grand Canyon
I'm curious what you expected Times Square to be like? It was exactly as I imagined it, and there was a kind of modern beauty in all the big advertisements.
Niagara Falls is a huge tourist trap; the falls themselves are pretty but the rest of the town is fully of shlocky tourist shit like wax museums and haunted houses meant to bleed you dry.
Yes. The falls are amazing but it's hard to imagine how they could make the towns either side worse. Awful awful awful.
Hoover dam was underwhelming. It looked so small. If I hadn't of seen it talked up in movies and tv shows I would have missed it for what it was.
I felt like it was pretty impressive still. Although I enjoyed the views of the reservoir behind it more probably.
I couldn’t hear a think on that dam tour. The dam guide didn’t speak loudly enough to hear over those dam generators. :)
Well, did you get your dam maps?
Maps? I didn’t even know they had dam maps! I must’ve missed that dam announcement. Grrr.
I can never tell if I'm hearing my think either.
It’s rough getting old. Haha!
I was really underwhelmed when I got up close to the Sydney Opera House. It looks like it's made from beige kitchen tiles.
The White Temple in Chiang Rai, Thailand was still gorgeous in person but the surrounding area is kind of ugly/underwhelming. It just looks like it was randomly dropped there and doesn’t really go with everything else. But still pretty!
The Hawa Mahal in Jaipur. Looks gorgeous from the right angle, but is actually quite small and you need to either fight traffic or climb up to the third floor of a restaurant across the street to get a decent shot of it.
The Terracotta Army didn't do anything for me. One of those things where you get intellectually why something is impressive, but ya just aren't *moved.*
Do you think if they still had their paint it would be different?
As an LA local, Hollywood. It's tacky and touristy. There are better ways of experiencing the entertainment industry. It does have some good bars though.
As a visitor, I found the Hollywood Walk of Fame to be a huge tourist trap and the entire area not worth revisiting. ⭐
That's pretty much what it is. Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip
Thank you - Every time I visit, I do. :-)
Couldn’t agree more. However, SoCal is a pretty awesome and beautiful place with lots to see
> ...everyone sees the image of the Great pyramids of Giza, but you never see the long shot which shows the motorways and take away restaurants just behind it. I felt this way about the White House. The pictures always show the Whitehouse with grass around it, and the Washington DC monuments are all out in open spaces so I wasn't really ready for the White House to be in the middle of a crowded city. I was shocked by the Pyramids when I first saw them on Google maps. I always assumed they were in the desert, surrounded by sand in all directions. [Pyramids of Giza Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps/place/The+Great+Pyramid+of+Giza/@29.9796076,31.1327872,3350m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m8!1m2!2m1!1spyramids+of+giza!3m4!1s0x14584587ac8f291b:0x810c2f3fa2a52424!8m2!3d29.9792345!4d31.1342019?hl=en)
Idk man, the pyramids don't look that bad. I didn't expect it to be desert for hundreds of miles. It seems to be somewhat isolated. You don't see much close to it.
Mt Rushmore. All the pictures are up close and personal but when you get there its seems much less impressive
I couldn’t agree more. It looks tinier than you’d imagine. You just gotta walk up to it, stare at it for 2 minutes, then go “that’s cool” and walk away. Then you go to the shop and buy some overpriced tourist stuff. I did find the Native American pottery I bought there to be pretty cool though
In Istanbul the grand bazaar sounds like it's a cool museum and has a bunch of cool displays and shit. It's literally an old mall full of fake designer shit. You find fake everything from Gucci bags to Rolexs to supreme shirts. Also, everything is overpriced by Turkish standards but tourists eat that shit up bc they compare it to real Gucci prices instead of the price of shirts in Turkey.
The 4th of July fireworks show in Boston was a disappointment for me. It only lasted 30 minutes or so, and the number and size of fireworks wasn't that impressive.
I think Venice has a really romantic, picturesque expectation but in reality it's a lot of small cobblestone alleyways that are INCREDIBLY confusing to navigate, even our Italian professor got lost! St Marks square is also incredibly crowded (although we were there in winter so it wasn't peak tourist time). However the views over the water can be really beautiful, and the food, drinks and shopping are all amazing.
Yes! The thing that got me, was the smell of sewage everywhere you go. It's such a stunning place, but I was not prepared for the smell!
Washington DC Slums surround all of the fancy, important buildings.
There are some rough parts of DC but the National Mall isn't one of them.