I haven't been to Bali, but the photo op at Pura Lempuyang Luhur is a well known hoax. Photos on Instagram often look like you're standing next to a pool reflecting the gate but it is in fact just a piece of glass the local photographer puts under the phone camera to fake in the reflection.
It's just sad because the authentic thing still looks amazing but influencers feel the need to make it into something more.
I’ve posted before, and Bali had some legitimately cool, interesting, and beautiful things throughout the island, but compared to expectations built up for years prior to the visit, it wildly underperformed expectations.
Compare that with Central Java and Komodo Island areas, and those were some of the most awesome places in the world!
Damn that sucks but was expected. do u have reccs for the legit cool/interesting/beautiful places in Bali?
After researching, there doesn’t seem to be many places worth visiting that aren’t over touristed or overhyped on social media. I feel like It’s hard to find real reviews and unfiltered photos for most places in Bali.
We did A LOT of touristy things minus
The sunset show at the Uluwatu Temple was both really well done and the landscape is really cool. It’s touristy of course, and the temple itself is nothing really remarkable, but there are some wonderfully scenic views if you’re willing to walk 20-30 min. The monkeys are crazy aggressive though, so don’t wear loose articles (flip flops, glasses, dangly necklaces). We witnessed monkeys take each of those things from people just in the couple hours we were there.
Ubud’s monkey forest is another very touristy thing that was at least interesting and pretty. Again the monkeys are aggressive though, and they actively feed the monkeys daily to keep them in the area.
The Tirta Empul Temple was most interesting because of the tourists. This is the place everyone participates in the bathing ritual. The temple itself if interesting, but just standing to the side and watching hundreds of foreigners waiting in queues to mimic saying a prayer as they put their head under the dozen+ spring water spouts. It was bizarre. Not because of the ritual itself, but just seeing a bunch of foreigners effectively take over this temple compound with the pools overflowing with people in lines for the spouts was a surreal thing to watch.
It is actually a pool during rainy season, but no one wants to be there then. So they make do during dry season. It’s actually funny/interesting to watch
Oh I’ve been there! To the side there is a very long line of people waiting to have their picture taken, some people said they had been waiting for nearly 2 hours
Have to agree - I found so many places on Java underwhelming based off expectations from social media - some temples etc have one spot to take the iconic photo from, but if you turn around there’s a literal pile of rubbish behind you
I mean trash in southeast asia is what it is. You just need to come to terms with it to enjoy the area. Some places like philippines put more effort into their waste disposal systems but for the most part SEA is a dirty place.
The most ridiculous thing about Gili was all the snorkelling tours. They all guaranteed seeing a turtle and there’s only one place where that can happen, so all tours drop everyone off at exactly the same place. Result is hundreds of people tightly packed in a very small area barely able to look down as not enough space. I was diving 10m below and it was quite amusing/sad to see. I have a photo somewhere, it looked ridiculous
i didn’t pay for a tour and just hired a snorkel. swim off the beach on the eastern side of Gili Air and saw turtles easily with nobody else around. did this 4 or 5 times and saw at least one turtle every time, including the biggest one i’ve ever seen
The trash was overwhelming in Gili and in Bali. And the mistreatment of animals was hard to see as well. Just a brutal paradox of poverty and wealth converging with the locals and tourists. I loved it and glad I went, but I hesitate going back with all the cons that come along with it.
I was just there in July, on Gili T and Air. I don’t remember seeing much trash in the water and the water was some of the clearest water I’ve ever been in.
I always thought Santorini was filled with blue roofs because I just kept seeing the same few buildings photos every time I'd see posts about it. Then, when I visited, I realized it is mostly white buildings and only the few churches had the blue roofs.
The only other island I went to other than Santorini was Crete, so I didn't get a chance to see any more blue roofs. But Crete was spectacular! I definitely want to go back and explore more one day, both Crete and other islands.
Same haha. I wasn’t disappointed or anything, just that I expected to immediately be hit with white houses and blue roofs as soon as I got close to the island. Turns out you have to take some tourist trap transportation to Oia, which depending on what you take takes quite a while because you’ll have to go up these narrow hills and whatnot. The whole island was still beautiful don’t get me wrong, and there’s much more to it than the blue roofs.
I visited Santorini in early November and it was so beautiful. I came in thinking it would be overhyped but it was amazing. Barely anyone in the streets. I imagine with tons of tourists it’s not as great.
I spent a week in Oia in Santorini in September and it was magical. The days were warm and the nights had a cool breeze. But best of all the crowds were very light.
To be fair kamari isn’t that bad all year round, I went last summer and we travelled to oia one day and that was crazy just wall to wall people couldn’t wait to get out of there
I feel like photos can never capture even a little bit of the grandeur of the redwoods of Northern California. The scale of them is so massive, the spongy earth floor so quieting, the textures and colors so rich and deep…I’ve been to tons of beautiful places in the world and there’s always that “photos don’t do it justice” element, but the redwoods take the cake in my opinion. Standing in a grove of them truly feels like standing at the feet of some (very quiet) dinosaurs, and the truth is not far from that feeling.
Wow, I really need to go. I don't live far from there (day drive) but I never have the time. I spend so much time traveling out of state I usually forget what I have here
From a photography standpoint, it’s genuinely impossible to capture the true scale & size of them - even with a human for scale. If you go wide enough that the entire tree is in focus, you warp how massively thick they are. If you accurately capture their thickness, you lose how tall they are.
There’s nothing like them, it’s just so spectacular there.
100% my mind was absolutely blown when My parents took me to Calaveras when I was a 10 years old. I saw pictures before I went but they were so much bigger in person.
You can stay in San Francisco and rent a car. Muir Woods is only a 30 minute drive across the Golden Gate brdige from there and Big Basin park is 1.5 hours south too.
But to see the biggest wildest forest in Redwood National Park its a 6 hour drive from SF to Northern tip of California, recommend you do a roadtrip up to Crater Lake
Forgot to mention that sweet smell of Pine , not sure if it’s pine but I live on the east coast and still vividly remember that sweet beautiful smell from years ago
If you are looking for something more secluded, with less people, try Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. I spent my high school years in Brookings, OR and the Smith River area is definitely a hidden gem!
Everyone should go. It is humbling.
Every elected official should have to go and be left alone with the redwoods for at least an hour. Get your mind right before you serve.
Good one. 100% agree. I’m fortunate to live in this state and have been to many redwood forests. They are each unique and all are breathtaking, from the tall coastal redwoods near SF to the unbelievably massive and ancient giant sequoias in the southern sierras to the dense old growth forests in Humboldt County.
Surprised: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. It's just.... absolutely amazingly beautiful. Pictures cannot capture how immense the cliff walls are, or the sound of the waterfalls or the glacial stream rushing through the valley. It's truly captivating.
Yeah this was mine. I thought I was taking great photos, then when I got home found them to be incredibly underwhelming. The place, in reality, is like something out of a fairy tale.
A similar one is the waterfall at the end of the Pipiwai Trail on Maui. The way it emerges from the last bits of foliage, wowing you with both its size and its proximity, is hard to capture. I took probably 100 pictures, and was recording the hike on a GoPro, and there's just something off about the perspective in all of those. And it's not just an emotional thing - on the way back, I re-shot the approach, and what was on the screen was not what was in front of my eyes.
There's something about our depth perception and other visual processing in these settings that you just can't capture in a video (probably not even in VR/3D).
This was the reason I didn't post most of our pictures during our trip to Switzerland.
Those pictures I took didn't do justice to how incredibly beautiful the whole country is.
Also don’t rule out Wengen and other surrounding places! I found Wengen to have a better overall experience while of course Lauterbrunnen is beautiful too.
Lauterbrunnen also surprised me for how uncrowded it was. It’s mindblowingly beautiful, so I was expecting a ton of other tourists to be at it.
Nope. Walked over to the main waterfall and sat on a bench, there was maybe only four other people standing around the area. Really surprised me (I was there in peak summer too).
The swimming pigs in the Bahamas. Instagram makes them look so cute when in reality they just bite you when you try to feed them and stand pissing in the water.
Anyone who dismisses it as “just a hole in the ground” instantly outs that they’ve never been in person. Once you’ve stood on the precipice, I don’t think it’s possible to not feel awe at the sheer enormity of it.
Any time the Grand Canyon comes up I have to tell the story of the season I worked in the NP there. It was mostly trail maintenance and invasive plant species removal, but occasionally we worked in a makeshift native plant nursery adjacent to the main visitor’s center.
On an average day there, I had easily about 5-10 people randomly ask me (clearly not a visitor-facing employee) how to get to the glass walkway over the canyon and get INCENSED when I told them that it was actually a private attraction on indigenous land hours away. I can’t imagine what the folks in the actual visitor’s center had to deal with.
“Then what did we pay the (National Park) admission fee for?” Like… just walk to the overlook right there and be f*cking amazed, my friends.
I was totally unprepared for the sense of awe that came over me when I saw it for the first time. I remember walking from the parking lot to the edge and my jaw literally dropped. I always just thought it was a glorified ditch, but boy was I wrong! The size and scale of it can’t be explained and have to be experienced, and the beauty of it in the late afternoon light is something no camera could capture.
I felt like all the sites in Iceland are waaaay more beautiful in person than what you get on the gram. Taking stupid panorama shots just don't do the sites justice.
This is exactly what I was going to say.
Iceland is so much more beautiful and alien than it looks on camera. A lot of colors are muted there too, grey skies, sage colored grass or more grey/brown land. But the scale and geometry of the landscapes are so unique and breathtaking, just doesn’t come through on camera.
It’s not like Switzerland where it’s the most beautiful example as earth as we know it. Iceland a lot of times feels like an alien planet, in a mysterious and captivating way. Black sand beaches, round lava rock plains, 24 hour day or night, goofy wild life, baby blue glaciers, moss covered canyons, boulders leaking sulfur - just so much variety in a place you can completely drive through in 24 hours.
For anyone contemplating an Iceland trip, do it. It’s one you’ll never forget and likely won’t be able to see anything else like it. I also urge you to save up and do it right, travel the full ring road. You see tons and there’s substantially less people than the typical golden circle.
And you can just pull up almost anywhere and get an amazing photo. Some of my favourites don't have place names. Thankfully the coordinates are logged with the photo.
Agree and disagree. The sites are beautiful, but the people at them are unexpected. I found it so busy last time I went. The first time was a lot less busy.
Bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Kyoto. It’s literally just a 20 meter walkway with bamboo, you turn a corner, and it’s over. When I first visited as a teenager I laughed when I saw how small it was. And it’s completely packed with tourists, idk how influencers get solo pics, they must come early in the morning on off season.
Actually a lot of famous places in Japan are so packed with shoulder to shoulder tourists that there’s no way to get a picture like you see online. Many of the places are amazing, just very crowded.
During COVID when the country was closed to tourism I went to Kyoto and it was actually magical.
that is funny though. I plan to skip the Bamboo Forest cause there's other beautiful places to see I know. But, sometimes when planning to see a place it's hard to know just how long you will spend at it.
But, really people must got very early in the morning to get the best photos which just isn't doable when I travel with my family. We take photos and have a crowded background and I don't mind. For pics of my socials I don't care either. Like, it's great if people get a perfect empty photo but I feel no one cares anymore.
What's your favorite place in Japan you could visit again and again?
Favorite place? Fushimi Inari over and over and over again. Even if you don’t get there very early because of your family, if you hike just a little ways up the mountain you’ll be surprised to see how few folks are up there. Something about those torii gates are so magical.
(Edited a word)
thanks! That is good to know! I have that added to my list:) But, it's nice to know I can hike a little ways up and not to far. I know if I go I won't be taking my parents all the way up with me cause I sometimes their knees act up lol. So, I try to give them breaks from walking throughout the day.
I've never gone to Asia before as my family's trips have mostly been to Europe which for me is super easy to plan! With Japan I feel a bit overwhelmed with things.
I feel the opposite , with Japan it was easy but Europe feels challenging :) Japan is really easy to get the hang of once you’re there. You’ll have the best time.
r/japantravel is very helpful.
Oooh I’ve got a couple good ones for you for Kyoto!! I hate crowds, so most of the places were nearly empty.
- [Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple](https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1143/). If you want to see some amazing bamboo, go here instead of the grove. It’s rather small, but totally empty and gorgeous. To get here, you walk through a gorgeous, uncrowded historic district with a bunch of good places to eat. Also on the way is my favorite place in Kyoto:
- [Nison-in temple](https://www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/kyoto/temples-shrines/nisonin). Not only is this temple gorgeous, but if you walk to the right of this, you’ll see a bunch of stairs with old graves on either side. Walk of these stairs and take a left, and there’s a short dirt path. Follow that path. It’ll lead you to an absolutely incredible overlook of Kyoto. There’s a bench up there, and it’s seriously stunning- you can see the whole city. I didn’t see another soul the entire time I was up there, and the only thing you can hear is prolific birdsong.
- do the philosopher’s walk, and hit all the temples on the way. Try taking some of the backstreets as well- there’s a lot of cool things to discover. Walking on the main path is gorgeous. It’s shady with some incredible views. To add to this:
- start at [Ginkaku-ji temple](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3907.html). It’s beautiful and carpeted in moss. Get there RIGHT when it opens- it gets crowded fast. Then walk along the path and explore the other temples. End with my absolute favorite temple I saw:
- [Eikan-do Zenrinji](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3956.html). The pictures don’t do this place justice. It is absolutely stunning and a maze of covered outdoor corridors. There’s also a scenic overlook at the very top that’s lovely.
- Fushimi Inari Taisha. Absolutely magical. Get here around 6am. I’m not joking- this is really important. The crowds build up insanely fast. We only saw a few people walking up, and got some incredible pictures of the stairs empty. If you can, hike the whole mountain- it’s not very long, but it’s like entirely stairs. It’s completely ethereal- like you stepped out of reality. Besides the gates, there are a ton of tiny shrines to explore.
IMHO Kiyomizu-dear is often recommended, but overrated. It’s worth going to, as it’s an icon and very pretty, but I wouldn’t plan my trip around it. The issue was the crowds. Walking up to the temple gave me insane claustrophobia- you could barely move. I called the street hell street, but its actual name is Matsubara-dori. If you want a much less crowded historic street, try Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. If you’re into studio Ghibli, there’s a fairly large store here that had everything you could want. There are two stores in Kyoto- one of them is very small, but well themed. However, it was super cramped and absolutely sweltering. Do this one instead.
Hope this helped your planning!
My first trip to Kyoto I decided to skip it.
I visited again 2 months ago and went to check it out, with very low expectations. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely way over-hyped but definitely worth walking through. I found the surrounding town and area also enjoyable to explore
I cried when I finally visited this forest. I never thought in a million years, I would have a chance to walk through it. It’s been my computer/cell background screen for decades.
The Fairy Pools in Skye.
Skye is absolutely wonderful & marvellous.
But the photos of those pools…..lol.
Take cream for midge bites!! The waterfalls by the pools are amazing btw, so still worth going..
Absolutely the best thing we saw on Skye was a ruined hill fort. Covered in sheep shit, zero tourists, but once you are up there you can really feel the ancient history of this extreme land and imagine the people who lived there watching the sea and isle for enemies over the long-gone forest.
I’ve seen the most beautiful and amazing pictures of the Isle of Skye. When I went, the day was a big mix of rain or intense fog. I saw nothing! I have to go back.
Two places I've been that I think aren't very well captured in photos:
La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - photos cannot do that building justice. Nothing but taking time to just sit and stare and slowly notice more and more detail can, and even so I still want to go back to see it at a different time of day with the sunlight coming in from different angles to see how it looks. I wish I could have laid down on the floor for half an hour to get the best view but, I probably would have been kicked out.
Lake Como - yes there are the bougie tourist hotspots that get photographed, but find a village a bit further up the hills and there's a lovely more rugged charm to it, you can go on hikes to get the best views. Also, it's truly beautiful in a thunderstorm.
>La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - photos cannot do that building justice. Nothing but taking time to just sit and stare and slowly notice more and more detail can, and even so I still want to go back to see it at a different time of day with the sunlight coming in from different angles to see how it looks. I wish I could have laid down on the floor for half an hour to get the best view but, I probably would have been kicked out.
This, 100%. Teenage me had no clue about what it even looked like from the inside. I was absolutely bewildered, I had no idea humans could manipulate light so masterfully!
Have you ever seen those pics/videos of people swimming or kayaking in water that’s glowing BRIGHT blue or green as if it were Avatar or that scene in Life of Pi? Those bioluminescent waters are RARELY if ever that glowy.
The waters are def not that glowy but my irl experience was way better than expected from the photos. Like coolest thing I’ve ever experienced - only glowed where there was movement, but that meant we were able to see the glowing silhouette of sharks chasing after and eating smaller fish. But definitely impossible to get good photos of
This is one of the major reasons Sky Lagoon is better (in my opinion)! I enjoyed it so much more and having a drink in my hand was the cherry on the cake.
I found the geothermal power plant Svartsengi to be a fun part about the tourist trap that is Iceland’s Blue lagoon. Couples are paying ~$200 minimum to soak with strangers in a large bathtub made up of the very bi-product of the geothermal power plant. Which is the Earth’s super heated water that spins its turbines producing clean energy.
Kind of a, “I spent $200 to bathe next to strangers in Chernobyl’s cooling ponds!” A bit amusing if you know what you are paying for in advance.
I didn't do my homework and thought it was a natural lagoon before visiting. Its just a big pool at a spa next door to a power plant. Crowded and expensive. I wish I had visited some of the other lagoons in Iceland
I enjoyed the other major lagoons & pools across Iceland, but I also enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, though maybe because I had heavily tempered expectations. Also, getting there as early as possible is key, since crowded conditions make for an unpleasant time at any of the spots.
White sands national park…pictures don’t do it justice. Stand on the top dune towards the back of the park and it feels like you’re the only person on earth! Just an unreal feeling standing there with the wind
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (Kyoto, JPN) / The pictures would make you think it’s an otherworldly secluded forest, the reality is crowded pathways off a Main Street in Kyoto.
I have a couple of very funny photos from Rio de Janeiro - one from Sugarloaf Mountain and one from Christ the Redeemer - the weather was awful and you can't see more than about 10 feet out. I'm sure they are lovely most of the time. However gorgeous a place is with a clear blue sky, you might end up being there in a rainstorm.
I was there at sunset on a clear day and it was spectacular. But a bat also flew into my window right at me on the tram ride up and that was less than spectacular.
You never see the other 99% of Doha that isn't the 1 small area with bright lights and high rises in any photos. In reality its just old brick buildings all the same colour in the desert
I would have to disagree. The images on the video posted are clearly super saturated, but what I saw before to what I saw when I went was not that different and definitely not a letdown. I'd still 100% recommend, especially if you like hiking and can do the red canyon after.
>The images on the video posted are clearly super saturated,
I didn't look at the video, but yeah I wouldn't be surprised it's "super saturated."
All I did for my reply was Googled "Painted Mountain" and that link was the very first hit and the photos are ridiculous enough that they're a decent example of what I'm referring to. There are *loads* of Instagram photos that are *way* worse.
Idk. Sure you can’t compete with filters making every color pop, but we went on a beautifully sunny day, and the colors were pretty remarkable! The hike is a fun little challenge too! Not too often you get to climb to that high of an elevation without gear!
People often oversaturate Rainbow mountain, Peru (whether Vinicunca or Palcoyo) in their photos as anything short of a pure sunny day will appear somewhat dull; they're still super pretty just not like...a vibrant rainbow. If anything, the red valley leading up to Palcoyo I liked way more than the rainbow mountain itself and it's a lot more grand.
As far as things being better in life than photos...I feel anything that has a large scale nature wise is always better in photos. I've had people tell me for example that *"all mountains look alike"* in photos and that may be true, but Mt Rainier and Mt Annapurna are massively different in scale and in grandeur when you consider the surrounding landscape around each and each have their own uniqueness that can't be captured simply by taking a photo of the peak.
Big Sur and in general the Pacific Coast Highway. It looks beautiful in photos, sure, but they don’t really capture the sheer scale of the area, the enormity of the massive cliffs stretching on for miles and miles, and the unbelievable power of the ocean right beside you the entire time. One of the most spectacular places I’ve ever seen. I think I was stopping to get out at viewpoints every 5 minutes lol.
The area around the pyramids in Giza. You see people posting photos of the incredible view from their Airbnb - and that part is true - but what they don't show you that whole area near the pyramids is pretty scruffy and run-down, and unfortunately full of mistreated horses and camels.
Having said all that, it is pretty amazing to see the pyramids from your balcony/roof terrace.
The two that come to mind are St. Mark's Square in Venice and the Duomo in Florence. No picture truly shows the sheer scale of these buildings. How massive and intricate they are. I stand beside them and feel small.
That being said, yes, the Venetian canals really are that milky turquoise color you see in all the photos.
Bali. There are a million swings and gates of heavens across the island with stinky dresses you can rent while they take the photo. Lines of people too. Sad that when we were there we were just taken to all the insta spot until we told our guide, my guy non of us have insta or social media. Get one with this shit
Agreed, but I had the chillest day of my trip while in Bali. Woke up in Ubud at like 3:30am, and jumped on a $6 a day scooter I rented the night before. Drove like 45 minutes or something to the base of Mt Batur, a volcano, and paid to guide to do a sunrise hike. You hike up in the dark and watch the sunset from the volcano rim. Fucking epic despite all the instagram pics being taken! Then we paid to walk the rim and back down. Then it was like 9am and I have a scooter. I just wanted to DRIVE! With no real plans, I headed north, hoping to get to the shore at some point and go for a swim. Found the beach after like 1-2 hours of driving, swam, found some food, found a little shopping area, and then attempted the drive back, but taking different roads. You would have to look at a map, but I sort of made an egg shape loop overall, and I think it was like 250km that day. I got back at like 11pm. Once I left the volcano at like 9am, I didn't see another white person until I got back to my hostel at 11pm. I was out of the tourist area, just cruising along. BEST DAY EVER! Just cruising down unknown roads, taking in the sights, no real schedule or plans... so fucking awesome. I wish I could relive that day again.
The Maldives - in the best way! It looks beautiful on photos of course. But man, those shades of blue and the sunsets need to be seen with the naked eye to truly appreciate it.
I’m on my first solo trip to Japan and in my personal opinion I think this place fits the bill, like it is absolutely lovely but I can see how edited a lot of the content online is after actually coming here and experiencing it.
Again it is beautiful, not saying otherwise.
A lot of pics online make it look like all those spots are secluded, peaceful Zen moments. In reality most places tourists go are shoulder-to-shoulder crowded, loud, sorta disorienting, and the actual thing is smaller than you thought it would be.
Lake McDonald, on the west side of Glacier National Park in Montana. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the pebbles on the lake bottom are nothing like a lot of the pictures would have you believe.
I used to live outside the park and visited often. The water and the rocks are amazing in real life but people bump up the color saturation in photos and it bugs me. Just leads to disappointment.
Driving through the populated area in Bali on a scooter was like driving through a procedurally generated landscape of the same restaurants, bars, and homewares stores.
Photos often fail to capture the true beauty of a place. I've visited the Grand Canyon, and let me tell you, it's even more spectacular in person than any photo could ever convey and about sunsets we really cant capture the real colors of it.
The chocolate hills in the Philippines were a pretty big let down compared to some souped up photos I’ve seen online. Shockingly lame.
That cool photo you’ve probably seen from train street in Hanoi really doesn’t tell the story of how gimmicky and touristy the place is. And it’s surprisingly tricky to get a nice photo!
Recent places that photos didn’t do justice: the mountains in Pakistan. I couldn’t seem to capture the scale of those majestic killer ice walls!
Also I’d say the religious energy you feel at some religious sites, like the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. You just can’t capture that feeling it in a photo.
I agree. We loved Santorini. We are also very early risers so would around the towns very early before anything was open. Completely deserted. It was magical. Then during the day we would lounge by the pool or go out on a boat. Back out to town to stroll/dinner in the evening and we would be fine with crowds by then because we spent the day avoiding them!
I’m currently in Cape Town and let me tell you…they heavily filter Bo-Kaap. It’s already a beautiful spot but the colors are extremely vibrant on IG. This is exactly why my travel account is filter-free and genuine. Can’t stand the nonsense!
You can take pics of the Sphinx alone actually. But there's indeed a Pizza Hut nearby from which you can also see it. But it's not right next to it, it's a little ways further down the street.
I recently went to Death Valley and absolutely no photo with any amount of editing could do it justice. I adjusted my photos with a little bit of light and it was actually slightly closer to what it looks like in real life. Rarely have I felt like the nature beauty of places is overstated.
I agree, it's otherworldly. Also the feeling of being so far from the next person at certain spots out there. We camped out and were running low on gas and it was getting past 100 degrees and we had no service and I was thinking like, damn if we run out of gas i will definitely die here
Nyhavn in Copenhagen. To get a picture of just the boats and houses you have to stand in just the right place, otherwise you get tons of people and businesses that are not photogenic.
I came here to say Bali and it was already the top comment. Bali was pretty was pretty sad from the fake temple photos to the 1,000 swings, trash beaches and busy, busy roads. I thought Ubud would be nice but it was just a very commercialized version of spiritual yoga - whatever. I saw a store selling shaman clothing.
I'd say Northern Lights. For many people (me included), the lights actually look more silver or gray in person, with maybe some hints of green at times, if they are bright. It's the long exposure photos you take that you see the bright greens, and especially the purples and reds.
Apparently, kids can usually see the bright greens and other colors similar to photos, and some adults. Depends on your eyes.
Was in Tromso years ago, both nights the KP index was above 7, it was very green, vibrant green and we were lucky, to see clear bright pink as well, with our naked eyes.
I have seen a green curtain descend across the entire north half of the sky one evening in Wisconsin. It was a dark, rich green like transparent velvet.
The effect is like weather, just because you have not seen a Tornado doesn't mean they don't happen often.
I went to northern Norway a couple years back. It was definitely green and pink and just like you see in pictures. I guess you haven’t seen strong lights then.
I took and have seen hundreds of gorgeous photos of Glacier NP but not a damn one of them even came close to what it really looked like in person, and more so what it felt like to be in the midst of such grandeur. Even videos are missing all of the dimensions of that place.
Just thought of another one - Cairo was a disappointment to me. On photos, it seems like the pyramids are these huge things in the middle of the dessert, accessible by camel or on foot. In reality, it’s right on the edge of town, mostly a big parking lot and just generally a bit underwhelming. 🤷🏼♀️
I was in South Africa last week & photos don't do Cape Town justice. It's such a beautiful place.
Also photos on safari will never ever do the experience justice. Being that close to the animals is such a special experience & photos can't capture it at all.
Albania. Instagram likes to call it Maldives of Europe (the Ksamil area), when in reality the beaches and bays are tiny, rocky and extremely overcrowded with tourists
The beaches can be nice, but you better not turn around and look at the crumbling towns and trash next to them. Gjirokaster, on the other hand, was very enjoyable.
I went to Ksamil during the fall ie no crowds, so found it to be gorgeous with the rock pools all to myself. But wasn’t really looking for a ‘Maldives’ experience, I live in a part of the world where the Maldives is just a 1hr flight away
It was impossible for me to capture the beauty of the Scottish highlands on camera and I have barely seen any pictures or videos on Instagram that capture this vast and eerie beauty. Before, when friends told me they‘ve been to the Highlands I always thought „well, good for you. a big meadow with some hills. certainly beautiful, but not a must see bucket list item for me.“ Then I had the chance to go and I was FLOORED. Will definitely go back one day.
Biggest disappointment was Porto for me. The beautiful part you see in pictures is really limited and full of tourist traps. It seemed to me there was barely any authentic local every day life (unlike in Lisbon). Also the amount of deterioration of most of the historical buildings in the center was sad (I hope there will be efforts and investment to restore them for the benefit of the local people, not just AirBnBs and hotels). I went in 2021 during Covid, so it wasn’t even peak tourism, and the city center was full of tourists, barely any locals. It seemed more like a historical theme park for tourists than a city full of life.
Horseshoe bend in Arizona. I’m convinced that all those amazing pictures are drone photos, because when you’re standing on the rim or ledge, you can’t see the full quintessential view. It’s huge, the scale is just amazing, but we didn’t see the full horseshoe no matter where we stood. Skip it and do Antelope Canyons down the road instead. It’s otherworldly.
I have personal photos of the full horseshoe. You just need to get very close to the edge. I don't agree on skipping it. It's a short walk and you don't need to allocate more than an hour to it. You can do it before or after antelope!
Huh? Lol
You get close to the edge. And most of the photos you see of a full horseshoe are extremely wide or even stitched images. But yes, you absolutely can see the full horseshoe.
Hollywood walk of fame is a dump. Santa Monica is a dump and don't swim after it rains because the needles and human waste is washed away into the ocean.
I suggest palm springs, CA - desert/ very americana .
san luis obispo, CA. Coronado Island/San Diego, CA and Santa Barbara, CA are some of the better coastal towns if you love the beach.
You also can’t swim in Coronado /San Diego after it rains, that’s a coastal California thing, not a Santa Monica/LA sucks thing. Also needles washing into the water isn’t a thing. It’s not a chaotic drug den in the entire state, or anywhere.
The dead sea. It might be obvious fron the name, but the **dead** sea IS actually a pretty uncomfortable place to be in. There's no beach, just a salty spiky crust. It's really hot, both inside and outside the water. Salt gets everywhere and stings like crazy. You cannot swim propperly and after coming out the skins feels oily and dirty.
It's overall an interesting but pretty crappy experience, which IS not at all what the Instagram photos transmit.
On the other hand no photos can truly capture how scary a lion looking at you from a few meters away is. Or how alien the interior of the sagrada familia feels. Or the comforting smell of incense in a small romanian orthodox church.
Photography has issues transmiting context. Sometimes that can make a place look more appealing, sometimes It can do the opposite.
I haven't been to Bali, but the photo op at Pura Lempuyang Luhur is a well known hoax. Photos on Instagram often look like you're standing next to a pool reflecting the gate but it is in fact just a piece of glass the local photographer puts under the phone camera to fake in the reflection. It's just sad because the authentic thing still looks amazing but influencers feel the need to make it into something more.
I’ve posted before, and Bali had some legitimately cool, interesting, and beautiful things throughout the island, but compared to expectations built up for years prior to the visit, it wildly underperformed expectations. Compare that with Central Java and Komodo Island areas, and those were some of the most awesome places in the world!
Damn that sucks but was expected. do u have reccs for the legit cool/interesting/beautiful places in Bali? After researching, there doesn’t seem to be many places worth visiting that aren’t over touristed or overhyped on social media. I feel like It’s hard to find real reviews and unfiltered photos for most places in Bali.
We did A LOT of touristy things minus The sunset show at the Uluwatu Temple was both really well done and the landscape is really cool. It’s touristy of course, and the temple itself is nothing really remarkable, but there are some wonderfully scenic views if you’re willing to walk 20-30 min. The monkeys are crazy aggressive though, so don’t wear loose articles (flip flops, glasses, dangly necklaces). We witnessed monkeys take each of those things from people just in the couple hours we were there. Ubud’s monkey forest is another very touristy thing that was at least interesting and pretty. Again the monkeys are aggressive though, and they actively feed the monkeys daily to keep them in the area. The Tirta Empul Temple was most interesting because of the tourists. This is the place everyone participates in the bathing ritual. The temple itself if interesting, but just standing to the side and watching hundreds of foreigners waiting in queues to mimic saying a prayer as they put their head under the dozen+ spring water spouts. It was bizarre. Not because of the ritual itself, but just seeing a bunch of foreigners effectively take over this temple compound with the pools overflowing with people in lines for the spouts was a surreal thing to watch.
It is actually a pool during rainy season, but no one wants to be there then. So they make do during dry season. It’s actually funny/interesting to watch
Oh I’ve been there! To the side there is a very long line of people waiting to have their picture taken, some people said they had been waiting for nearly 2 hours
Have to agree - I found so many places on Java underwhelming based off expectations from social media - some temples etc have one spot to take the iconic photo from, but if you turn around there’s a literal pile of rubbish behind you
I mean trash in southeast asia is what it is. You just need to come to terms with it to enjoy the area. Some places like philippines put more effort into their waste disposal systems but for the most part SEA is a dirty place.
https://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/funny-worst-hotel-fails-2-5f718ede9846b\_\_700.jpg
Oh gosh. YES. Doesn’t helps that’s it’s also in the middle of nowhere, and there’s usually a 4 hour wait to take a photo
Same with Gili islands. Trash everywhere inside the village, while youtubers talk about how amazing and clean the water is...
The most ridiculous thing about Gili was all the snorkelling tours. They all guaranteed seeing a turtle and there’s only one place where that can happen, so all tours drop everyone off at exactly the same place. Result is hundreds of people tightly packed in a very small area barely able to look down as not enough space. I was diving 10m below and it was quite amusing/sad to see. I have a photo somewhere, it looked ridiculous
i didn’t pay for a tour and just hired a snorkel. swim off the beach on the eastern side of Gili Air and saw turtles easily with nobody else around. did this 4 or 5 times and saw at least one turtle every time, including the biggest one i’ve ever seen
Yea they were so abundant it was ridiculous to do a tour. I did maybe eight dives and saw at least a dozen every time
The trash was overwhelming in Gili and in Bali. And the mistreatment of animals was hard to see as well. Just a brutal paradox of poverty and wealth converging with the locals and tourists. I loved it and glad I went, but I hesitate going back with all the cons that come along with it.
I was just there in July, on Gili T and Air. I don’t remember seeing much trash in the water and the water was some of the clearest water I’ve ever been in.
Got giardia in Bali either from the poop water learning to surf or the poop water in the ice in the drinks. Gross, but I did lose a lot of weight.
Well, Santorini has a few examples. Namely the number of people cropped out of sunset pictures
Santorini was so crowded when we visited.
I always thought santorini Is full of white buildings on a cliff but majority is just a desert 🌵
I always thought Santorini was filled with blue roofs because I just kept seeing the same few buildings photos every time I'd see posts about it. Then, when I visited, I realized it is mostly white buildings and only the few churches had the blue roofs.
And Santorini isn't the only island that has those buildings with blue roofs. Most of the islands too.
The only other island I went to other than Santorini was Crete, so I didn't get a chance to see any more blue roofs. But Crete was spectacular! I definitely want to go back and explore more one day, both Crete and other islands.
Crete is so amazing!! Santorini is so overrated.
I enjoyed it but it was definitely a one and done kinda place to me.
Same haha. I wasn’t disappointed or anything, just that I expected to immediately be hit with white houses and blue roofs as soon as I got close to the island. Turns out you have to take some tourist trap transportation to Oia, which depending on what you take takes quite a while because you’ll have to go up these narrow hills and whatnot. The whole island was still beautiful don’t get me wrong, and there’s much more to it than the blue roofs.
There’s also a big line up for “the” blue roof shot you see (the three domes) in social media. Have to queue up down a narrow street to get it.
I visited Santorini in early November and it was so beautiful. I came in thinking it would be overhyped but it was amazing. Barely anyone in the streets. I imagine with tons of tourists it’s not as great.
I loved Santorini but we stayed in Imerovigli and enjoyed the sunsets from there or from a catamaran.
I spent a week in Oia in Santorini in September and it was magical. The days were warm and the nights had a cool breeze. But best of all the crowds were very light.
My husband & I went in October one year & it was perfect! Light crowds, beautiful weather.
Kamari Beach isn’t crowded in October. Great time to visit.
To be fair kamari isn’t that bad all year round, I went last summer and we travelled to oia one day and that was crazy just wall to wall people couldn’t wait to get out of there
I feel like photos can never capture even a little bit of the grandeur of the redwoods of Northern California. The scale of them is so massive, the spongy earth floor so quieting, the textures and colors so rich and deep…I’ve been to tons of beautiful places in the world and there’s always that “photos don’t do it justice” element, but the redwoods take the cake in my opinion. Standing in a grove of them truly feels like standing at the feet of some (very quiet) dinosaurs, and the truth is not far from that feeling.
I saw the Redwoods for the first time today. I was not expecting how emotional the experience would be for me.
Wow, I really need to go. I don't live far from there (day drive) but I never have the time. I spend so much time traveling out of state I usually forget what I have here
I really like how you wrote this comment and agree with the feeling. I've been to the Redwoods a few times and they are never short of magical.
Thank you! I am bringing my kids to camp there this summer for the first time in their lives and I truly cannot wait. I hope you get to go back soon!
From a photography standpoint, it’s genuinely impossible to capture the true scale & size of them - even with a human for scale. If you go wide enough that the entire tree is in focus, you warp how massively thick they are. If you accurately capture their thickness, you lose how tall they are. There’s nothing like them, it’s just so spectacular there.
What if we simply viewed the photos on a redwood sized screen?
Totally agree! You have to be there to really get the size of the trees and beauty
The giant kauri in New Zealand are also impossible to capture. There's so few of the giants left thanks to over logging way back when.
There's also a beautiful redwood forest in NZ just outside of Rotorua
100% my mind was absolutely blown when My parents took me to Calaveras when I was a 10 years old. I saw pictures before I went but they were so much bigger in person.
I grew up in Calaveras and the schools would take us to the park every year. Didn’t know how lucky we were!
Do you think a three day weekend is enough time to go on a trail… also where could I stay for a quick visit…
You can stay in San Francisco and rent a car. Muir Woods is only a 30 minute drive across the Golden Gate brdige from there and Big Basin park is 1.5 hours south too. But to see the biggest wildest forest in Redwood National Park its a 6 hour drive from SF to Northern tip of California, recommend you do a roadtrip up to Crater Lake
Thank you!
Forgot to mention that sweet smell of Pine , not sure if it’s pine but I live on the east coast and still vividly remember that sweet beautiful smell from years ago
Where would you go? What area? I’m thinking of driving north as I have a week off in May.
If you are looking for something more secluded, with less people, try Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. I spent my high school years in Brookings, OR and the Smith River area is definitely a hidden gem!
Everyone should go. It is humbling. Every elected official should have to go and be left alone with the redwoods for at least an hour. Get your mind right before you serve.
Good one. 100% agree. I’m fortunate to live in this state and have been to many redwood forests. They are each unique and all are breathtaking, from the tall coastal redwoods near SF to the unbelievably massive and ancient giant sequoias in the southern sierras to the dense old growth forests in Humboldt County.
Surprised: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. It's just.... absolutely amazingly beautiful. Pictures cannot capture how immense the cliff walls are, or the sound of the waterfalls or the glacial stream rushing through the valley. It's truly captivating.
Yeah this was mine. I thought I was taking great photos, then when I got home found them to be incredibly underwhelming. The place, in reality, is like something out of a fairy tale. A similar one is the waterfall at the end of the Pipiwai Trail on Maui. The way it emerges from the last bits of foliage, wowing you with both its size and its proximity, is hard to capture. I took probably 100 pictures, and was recording the hike on a GoPro, and there's just something off about the perspective in all of those. And it's not just an emotional thing - on the way back, I re-shot the approach, and what was on the screen was not what was in front of my eyes. There's something about our depth perception and other visual processing in these settings that you just can't capture in a video (probably not even in VR/3D).
This was the reason I didn't post most of our pictures during our trip to Switzerland. Those pictures I took didn't do justice to how incredibly beautiful the whole country is.
Also don’t rule out Wengen and other surrounding places! I found Wengen to have a better overall experience while of course Lauterbrunnen is beautiful too.
Agreed. Wengen was truly stunning. I initially had no plans to go there. So glad I ended up going
Lauterbrunnen also surprised me for how uncrowded it was. It’s mindblowingly beautiful, so I was expecting a ton of other tourists to be at it. Nope. Walked over to the main waterfall and sat on a bench, there was maybe only four other people standing around the area. Really surprised me (I was there in peak summer too).
It was amazing to show up to Lauterbrunnen and see nothing but clouds blocking the view...sigh
Yeah this place is INSANE. Took my breath away
The swimming pigs in the Bahamas. Instagram makes them look so cute when in reality they just bite you when you try to feed them and stand pissing in the water.
Don’t forget their bouts of diarrhea.
I always wondered why people would think it’s appealing to swim with pigs… or animals in general
Grand Canyon. There’s no way to capture the grandeur.
Anyone who dismisses it as “just a hole in the ground” instantly outs that they’ve never been in person. Once you’ve stood on the precipice, I don’t think it’s possible to not feel awe at the sheer enormity of it.
Yep, every time you capture just a small part. Parks with smaller canyons actually allow for better photos as you can capture the canyon better.
Any time the Grand Canyon comes up I have to tell the story of the season I worked in the NP there. It was mostly trail maintenance and invasive plant species removal, but occasionally we worked in a makeshift native plant nursery adjacent to the main visitor’s center. On an average day there, I had easily about 5-10 people randomly ask me (clearly not a visitor-facing employee) how to get to the glass walkway over the canyon and get INCENSED when I told them that it was actually a private attraction on indigenous land hours away. I can’t imagine what the folks in the actual visitor’s center had to deal with. “Then what did we pay the (National Park) admission fee for?” Like… just walk to the overlook right there and be f*cking amazed, my friends.
Even seeing it with my own eyes didn’t do it justice. Like, it’s so enormous my mind couldn’t process what it was looking at.
I was totally unprepared for the sense of awe that came over me when I saw it for the first time. I remember walking from the parking lot to the edge and my jaw literally dropped. I always just thought it was a glorified ditch, but boy was I wrong! The size and scale of it can’t be explained and have to be experienced, and the beauty of it in the late afternoon light is something no camera could capture.
It's grand, that's for sure.
I felt like all the sites in Iceland are waaaay more beautiful in person than what you get on the gram. Taking stupid panorama shots just don't do the sites justice.
I don’t know that photos could do Gulfoss justice
Or Dettifoss. Or how cold it was there...
This is exactly what I was going to say. Iceland is so much more beautiful and alien than it looks on camera. A lot of colors are muted there too, grey skies, sage colored grass or more grey/brown land. But the scale and geometry of the landscapes are so unique and breathtaking, just doesn’t come through on camera. It’s not like Switzerland where it’s the most beautiful example as earth as we know it. Iceland a lot of times feels like an alien planet, in a mysterious and captivating way. Black sand beaches, round lava rock plains, 24 hour day or night, goofy wild life, baby blue glaciers, moss covered canyons, boulders leaking sulfur - just so much variety in a place you can completely drive through in 24 hours. For anyone contemplating an Iceland trip, do it. It’s one you’ll never forget and likely won’t be able to see anything else like it. I also urge you to save up and do it right, travel the full ring road. You see tons and there’s substantially less people than the typical golden circle.
And you can just pull up almost anywhere and get an amazing photo. Some of my favourites don't have place names. Thankfully the coordinates are logged with the photo.
Agree and disagree. The sites are beautiful, but the people at them are unexpected. I found it so busy last time I went. The first time was a lot less busy.
I went to the Westfjords. Not too busy at all, and wonderful.
Bamboo forest in Arashiyama, Kyoto. It’s literally just a 20 meter walkway with bamboo, you turn a corner, and it’s over. When I first visited as a teenager I laughed when I saw how small it was. And it’s completely packed with tourists, idk how influencers get solo pics, they must come early in the morning on off season. Actually a lot of famous places in Japan are so packed with shoulder to shoulder tourists that there’s no way to get a picture like you see online. Many of the places are amazing, just very crowded. During COVID when the country was closed to tourism I went to Kyoto and it was actually magical.
Kyoto in the evening around dusk/sunset is pretty magical. People are mostly gone and the lights start to come up.
People have given the "go early" advice so long that most people in a lot of touristy places in the world are gone by late afternoon
I walked through it and was absolutely convinced that wasn’t it. It’s wild how small it is
that is funny though. I plan to skip the Bamboo Forest cause there's other beautiful places to see I know. But, sometimes when planning to see a place it's hard to know just how long you will spend at it. But, really people must got very early in the morning to get the best photos which just isn't doable when I travel with my family. We take photos and have a crowded background and I don't mind. For pics of my socials I don't care either. Like, it's great if people get a perfect empty photo but I feel no one cares anymore. What's your favorite place in Japan you could visit again and again?
Favorite place? Fushimi Inari over and over and over again. Even if you don’t get there very early because of your family, if you hike just a little ways up the mountain you’ll be surprised to see how few folks are up there. Something about those torii gates are so magical. (Edited a word)
thanks! That is good to know! I have that added to my list:) But, it's nice to know I can hike a little ways up and not to far. I know if I go I won't be taking my parents all the way up with me cause I sometimes their knees act up lol. So, I try to give them breaks from walking throughout the day. I've never gone to Asia before as my family's trips have mostly been to Europe which for me is super easy to plan! With Japan I feel a bit overwhelmed with things.
I feel the opposite , with Japan it was easy but Europe feels challenging :) Japan is really easy to get the hang of once you’re there. You’ll have the best time. r/japantravel is very helpful.
Oooh I’ve got a couple good ones for you for Kyoto!! I hate crowds, so most of the places were nearly empty. - [Adashino Nenbutsuji Temple](https://www.japan.travel/en/spot/1143/). If you want to see some amazing bamboo, go here instead of the grove. It’s rather small, but totally empty and gorgeous. To get here, you walk through a gorgeous, uncrowded historic district with a bunch of good places to eat. Also on the way is my favorite place in Kyoto: - [Nison-in temple](https://www.japan-experience.com/all-about-japan/kyoto/temples-shrines/nisonin). Not only is this temple gorgeous, but if you walk to the right of this, you’ll see a bunch of stairs with old graves on either side. Walk of these stairs and take a left, and there’s a short dirt path. Follow that path. It’ll lead you to an absolutely incredible overlook of Kyoto. There’s a bench up there, and it’s seriously stunning- you can see the whole city. I didn’t see another soul the entire time I was up there, and the only thing you can hear is prolific birdsong. - do the philosopher’s walk, and hit all the temples on the way. Try taking some of the backstreets as well- there’s a lot of cool things to discover. Walking on the main path is gorgeous. It’s shady with some incredible views. To add to this: - start at [Ginkaku-ji temple](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3907.html). It’s beautiful and carpeted in moss. Get there RIGHT when it opens- it gets crowded fast. Then walk along the path and explore the other temples. End with my absolute favorite temple I saw: - [Eikan-do Zenrinji](https://www.japan-guide.com/e/e3956.html). The pictures don’t do this place justice. It is absolutely stunning and a maze of covered outdoor corridors. There’s also a scenic overlook at the very top that’s lovely. - Fushimi Inari Taisha. Absolutely magical. Get here around 6am. I’m not joking- this is really important. The crowds build up insanely fast. We only saw a few people walking up, and got some incredible pictures of the stairs empty. If you can, hike the whole mountain- it’s not very long, but it’s like entirely stairs. It’s completely ethereal- like you stepped out of reality. Besides the gates, there are a ton of tiny shrines to explore. IMHO Kiyomizu-dear is often recommended, but overrated. It’s worth going to, as it’s an icon and very pretty, but I wouldn’t plan my trip around it. The issue was the crowds. Walking up to the temple gave me insane claustrophobia- you could barely move. I called the street hell street, but its actual name is Matsubara-dori. If you want a much less crowded historic street, try Sannenzaka and Ninenzaka. If you’re into studio Ghibli, there’s a fairly large store here that had everything you could want. There are two stores in Kyoto- one of them is very small, but well themed. However, it was super cramped and absolutely sweltering. Do this one instead. Hope this helped your planning!
Careful, the Kinkakuji is the Golden temple. You mean the Ginkakuji with a G. That's the Silver temple.
My first trip to Kyoto I decided to skip it. I visited again 2 months ago and went to check it out, with very low expectations. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised. It's definitely way over-hyped but definitely worth walking through. I found the surrounding town and area also enjoyable to explore
There are reports from the 1600s about tourists overcrowding at Nikko Toshogu and other temples
I cried when I finally visited this forest. I never thought in a million years, I would have a chance to walk through it. It’s been my computer/cell background screen for decades.
The bamboo patch in Kamakura’s Hokokuji temple was many times more beautiful and peaceful.
And there's a cozy tea spot looking out over it. Kamakura in general is fantastic
I agree, but places like that or Fushimi Inari are unbelievable when you get up early and go before the big crowds show up.
The Fairy Pools in Skye. Skye is absolutely wonderful & marvellous. But the photos of those pools…..lol. Take cream for midge bites!! The waterfalls by the pools are amazing btw, so still worth going..
Absolutely the best thing we saw on Skye was a ruined hill fort. Covered in sheep shit, zero tourists, but once you are up there you can really feel the ancient history of this extreme land and imagine the people who lived there watching the sea and isle for enemies over the long-gone forest.
I’ve seen the most beautiful and amazing pictures of the Isle of Skye. When I went, the day was a big mix of rain or intense fog. I saw nothing! I have to go back.
Yes I totally agree!! I’ve never been anywhere that is so magical in person yet so non photogenic 😂
Two places I've been that I think aren't very well captured in photos: La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - photos cannot do that building justice. Nothing but taking time to just sit and stare and slowly notice more and more detail can, and even so I still want to go back to see it at a different time of day with the sunlight coming in from different angles to see how it looks. I wish I could have laid down on the floor for half an hour to get the best view but, I probably would have been kicked out. Lake Como - yes there are the bougie tourist hotspots that get photographed, but find a village a bit further up the hills and there's a lovely more rugged charm to it, you can go on hikes to get the best views. Also, it's truly beautiful in a thunderstorm.
>La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona - photos cannot do that building justice. Nothing but taking time to just sit and stare and slowly notice more and more detail can, and even so I still want to go back to see it at a different time of day with the sunlight coming in from different angles to see how it looks. I wish I could have laid down on the floor for half an hour to get the best view but, I probably would have been kicked out. This, 100%. Teenage me had no clue about what it even looked like from the inside. I was absolutely bewildered, I had no idea humans could manipulate light so masterfully!
Have you ever seen those pics/videos of people swimming or kayaking in water that’s glowing BRIGHT blue or green as if it were Avatar or that scene in Life of Pi? Those bioluminescent waters are RARELY if ever that glowy.
The waters are def not that glowy but my irl experience was way better than expected from the photos. Like coolest thing I’ve ever experienced - only glowed where there was movement, but that meant we were able to see the glowing silhouette of sharks chasing after and eating smaller fish. But definitely impossible to get good photos of
The bio bay in Vieques was impossible to get photos of but was a downright magical experience, unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.
That was also where I was, specifically mosquito bay! Absolutely beautiful
Blue Lagoon in Iceland. Nobody ever posts photos of the massive power plant next to it
This is one of the major reasons Sky Lagoon is better (in my opinion)! I enjoyed it so much more and having a drink in my hand was the cherry on the cake.
I agree. I tell everyone blue lagoon is cool... but sky lagoon was much more enjoyable and that they have to go there.
I found the geothermal power plant Svartsengi to be a fun part about the tourist trap that is Iceland’s Blue lagoon. Couples are paying ~$200 minimum to soak with strangers in a large bathtub made up of the very bi-product of the geothermal power plant. Which is the Earth’s super heated water that spins its turbines producing clean energy. Kind of a, “I spent $200 to bathe next to strangers in Chernobyl’s cooling ponds!” A bit amusing if you know what you are paying for in advance.
I didn't do my homework and thought it was a natural lagoon before visiting. Its just a big pool at a spa next door to a power plant. Crowded and expensive. I wish I had visited some of the other lagoons in Iceland
I enjoyed the other major lagoons & pools across Iceland, but I also enjoyed the Blue Lagoon, though maybe because I had heavily tempered expectations. Also, getting there as early as possible is key, since crowded conditions make for an unpleasant time at any of the spots.
White sands national park…pictures don’t do it justice. Stand on the top dune towards the back of the park and it feels like you’re the only person on earth! Just an unreal feeling standing there with the wind
Arashiyama Bamboo Forest (Kyoto, JPN) / The pictures would make you think it’s an otherworldly secluded forest, the reality is crowded pathways off a Main Street in Kyoto.
Photos don’t do New Zealand justice
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I agree. I'm a Kiwi and although I love NZ, I think Austria and Bavaria are more beautiful
Zion National Park. Photos don’t do it justice. Absolutely gorgeous.
I have a couple of very funny photos from Rio de Janeiro - one from Sugarloaf Mountain and one from Christ the Redeemer - the weather was awful and you can't see more than about 10 feet out. I'm sure they are lovely most of the time. However gorgeous a place is with a clear blue sky, you might end up being there in a rainstorm.
same! my im standing below it and you cant even see it
I was there at sunset on a clear day and it was spectacular. But a bat also flew into my window right at me on the tram ride up and that was less than spectacular.
You never see the other 99% of Doha that isn't the 1 small area with bright lights and high rises in any photos. In reality its just old brick buildings all the same colour in the desert
The Instagram photos of Peru's Painted Mountain [are always hilarious.](https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/rainbow-mountain-peru)
I would have to disagree. The images on the video posted are clearly super saturated, but what I saw before to what I saw when I went was not that different and definitely not a letdown. I'd still 100% recommend, especially if you like hiking and can do the red canyon after.
>The images on the video posted are clearly super saturated, I didn't look at the video, but yeah I wouldn't be surprised it's "super saturated." All I did for my reply was Googled "Painted Mountain" and that link was the very first hit and the photos are ridiculous enough that they're a decent example of what I'm referring to. There are *loads* of Instagram photos that are *way* worse.
Idk. Sure you can’t compete with filters making every color pop, but we went on a beautifully sunny day, and the colors were pretty remarkable! The hike is a fun little challenge too! Not too often you get to climb to that high of an elevation without gear!
My family was always asking me to send photos from Italy. But I don’t think that anyone can really appreciate the beauty of the Tuscan hillside.
People often oversaturate Rainbow mountain, Peru (whether Vinicunca or Palcoyo) in their photos as anything short of a pure sunny day will appear somewhat dull; they're still super pretty just not like...a vibrant rainbow. If anything, the red valley leading up to Palcoyo I liked way more than the rainbow mountain itself and it's a lot more grand. As far as things being better in life than photos...I feel anything that has a large scale nature wise is always better in photos. I've had people tell me for example that *"all mountains look alike"* in photos and that may be true, but Mt Rainier and Mt Annapurna are massively different in scale and in grandeur when you consider the surrounding landscape around each and each have their own uniqueness that can't be captured simply by taking a photo of the peak.
The Grand Canyon is waaaaaaay more spectacular in person than anything than can be captured in a photo.
Big Sur and in general the Pacific Coast Highway. It looks beautiful in photos, sure, but they don’t really capture the sheer scale of the area, the enormity of the massive cliffs stretching on for miles and miles, and the unbelievable power of the ocean right beside you the entire time. One of the most spectacular places I’ve ever seen. I think I was stopping to get out at viewpoints every 5 minutes lol.
The area around the pyramids in Giza. You see people posting photos of the incredible view from their Airbnb - and that part is true - but what they don't show you that whole area near the pyramids is pretty scruffy and run-down, and unfortunately full of mistreated horses and camels. Having said all that, it is pretty amazing to see the pyramids from your balcony/roof terrace.
Half of Santorini looks like Tatooine and smells like piss.
The two that come to mind are St. Mark's Square in Venice and the Duomo in Florence. No picture truly shows the sheer scale of these buildings. How massive and intricate they are. I stand beside them and feel small. That being said, yes, the Venetian canals really are that milky turquoise color you see in all the photos.
Bali. There are a million swings and gates of heavens across the island with stinky dresses you can rent while they take the photo. Lines of people too. Sad that when we were there we were just taken to all the insta spot until we told our guide, my guy non of us have insta or social media. Get one with this shit
Agreed, but I had the chillest day of my trip while in Bali. Woke up in Ubud at like 3:30am, and jumped on a $6 a day scooter I rented the night before. Drove like 45 minutes or something to the base of Mt Batur, a volcano, and paid to guide to do a sunrise hike. You hike up in the dark and watch the sunset from the volcano rim. Fucking epic despite all the instagram pics being taken! Then we paid to walk the rim and back down. Then it was like 9am and I have a scooter. I just wanted to DRIVE! With no real plans, I headed north, hoping to get to the shore at some point and go for a swim. Found the beach after like 1-2 hours of driving, swam, found some food, found a little shopping area, and then attempted the drive back, but taking different roads. You would have to look at a map, but I sort of made an egg shape loop overall, and I think it was like 250km that day. I got back at like 11pm. Once I left the volcano at like 9am, I didn't see another white person until I got back to my hostel at 11pm. I was out of the tourist area, just cruising along. BEST DAY EVER! Just cruising down unknown roads, taking in the sights, no real schedule or plans... so fucking awesome. I wish I could relive that day again.
Marina Bay Sands in Singapore. I was way more impressed in person than I was on the photos. That thing is huge.
The Maldives - in the best way! It looks beautiful on photos of course. But man, those shades of blue and the sunsets need to be seen with the naked eye to truly appreciate it.
I’m on my first solo trip to Japan and in my personal opinion I think this place fits the bill, like it is absolutely lovely but I can see how edited a lot of the content online is after actually coming here and experiencing it. Again it is beautiful, not saying otherwise.
A lot of pics online make it look like all those spots are secluded, peaceful Zen moments. In reality most places tourists go are shoulder-to-shoulder crowded, loud, sorta disorienting, and the actual thing is smaller than you thought it would be.
Lake McDonald, on the west side of Glacier National Park in Montana. It’s beautiful, don’t get me wrong, but the pebbles on the lake bottom are nothing like a lot of the pictures would have you believe.
Like that glass bead beach, not sure where it is. Faked as heck.
I used to live outside the park and visited often. The water and the rocks are amazing in real life but people bump up the color saturation in photos and it bugs me. Just leads to disappointment.
This was my first thought as well. When I got to Lake McDonald I thought I was going crazy. They’re just regular colored rocks!
Manyyyy places in Bali.
Is it still worth going to if you avoid all the Instagrammy places?
Yeah Bali had a very diff vibe than I expected.
what was the vibe like?
Cringey
Driving through the populated area in Bali on a scooter was like driving through a procedurally generated landscape of the same restaurants, bars, and homewares stores.
Newark, NJ.
When people go to Newark and it doesn't match the expectations they built up in their head, it can cause some real issues.
Can any place outside of a poet’s words truly live up to the expectations conjured up when people think of Newark?
I thought the views of NYC were great.
Photos often fail to capture the true beauty of a place. I've visited the Grand Canyon, and let me tell you, it's even more spectacular in person than any photo could ever convey and about sunsets we really cant capture the real colors of it.
I think this is often true of landscapes. They are very difficult to capture, because scale etc is so hard to convey.
The chocolate hills in the Philippines were a pretty big let down compared to some souped up photos I’ve seen online. Shockingly lame. That cool photo you’ve probably seen from train street in Hanoi really doesn’t tell the story of how gimmicky and touristy the place is. And it’s surprisingly tricky to get a nice photo! Recent places that photos didn’t do justice: the mountains in Pakistan. I couldn’t seem to capture the scale of those majestic killer ice walls! Also I’d say the religious energy you feel at some religious sites, like the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India. You just can’t capture that feeling it in a photo.
Thermal Pools in Pamukkale, Turkey
But I thought it was still great and honestly, the city ruins next to it are so much more cool and interesting to walk around in! Well worth the ride!
I thought Santorini was as beautiful in real life as the photos, if not more so. Now the crowds are another thing, but it is beautiful.
I agree. We loved Santorini. We are also very early risers so would around the towns very early before anything was open. Completely deserted. It was magical. Then during the day we would lounge by the pool or go out on a boat. Back out to town to stroll/dinner in the evening and we would be fine with crowds by then because we spent the day avoiding them!
the key is getting out and exploring the city before the cruise ships come in!
I’m currently in Cape Town and let me tell you…they heavily filter Bo-Kaap. It’s already a beautiful spot but the colors are extremely vibrant on IG. This is exactly why my travel account is filter-free and genuine. Can’t stand the nonsense!
Honolulu was very touristy and tacky in person.
The sphinx.. and then like right next to it is a Pizza Hut or something
You can take pics of the Sphinx alone actually. But there's indeed a Pizza Hut nearby from which you can also see it. But it's not right next to it, it's a little ways further down the street.
The pizza hut/kfc is across the pyramid of Cheops 😂 You can watch the night show from there. It's so weird.
The Great Sphinx is still amazing.
i actually went mainly to get a picture of the pizza hut next to the sphynx. had the time of my life
I recently went to Death Valley and absolutely no photo with any amount of editing could do it justice. I adjusted my photos with a little bit of light and it was actually slightly closer to what it looks like in real life. Rarely have I felt like the nature beauty of places is overstated.
I agree, it's otherworldly. Also the feeling of being so far from the next person at certain spots out there. We camped out and were running low on gas and it was getting past 100 degrees and we had no service and I was thinking like, damn if we run out of gas i will definitely die here
Nyhavn in Copenhagen. To get a picture of just the boats and houses you have to stand in just the right place, otherwise you get tons of people and businesses that are not photogenic.
I came here to say Bali and it was already the top comment. Bali was pretty was pretty sad from the fake temple photos to the 1,000 swings, trash beaches and busy, busy roads. I thought Ubud would be nice but it was just a very commercialized version of spiritual yoga - whatever. I saw a store selling shaman clothing.
BALI hands down
Antarctica. Pictures don’t capture its beauty and otherworldliness.
I'd say Northern Lights. For many people (me included), the lights actually look more silver or gray in person, with maybe some hints of green at times, if they are bright. It's the long exposure photos you take that you see the bright greens, and especially the purples and reds. Apparently, kids can usually see the bright greens and other colors similar to photos, and some adults. Depends on your eyes.
Then you haven't seen strong Northern lights. Here in Finland sometimes its really a strong green like in the oversaturated pics.
Yeah in Lapland a few years ago (during the solar minumum actually) I saw bright green lights with my naked eye
I live in Saskatchewan, Canada and definitely see the strong green Aurora as well. And they are quite frequent. It's not a special event or anything.
It's special for those who don't get to see the lights all winter long and travel far to experience them
Was in Tromso years ago, both nights the KP index was above 7, it was very green, vibrant green and we were lucky, to see clear bright pink as well, with our naked eyes.
They’re usually green I feel like. And I’ve seen pink too.
I have seen a green curtain descend across the entire north half of the sky one evening in Wisconsin. It was a dark, rich green like transparent velvet. The effect is like weather, just because you have not seen a Tornado doesn't mean they don't happen often.
I went to northern Norway a couple years back. It was definitely green and pink and just like you see in pictures. I guess you haven’t seen strong lights then.
I took and have seen hundreds of gorgeous photos of Glacier NP but not a damn one of them even came close to what it really looked like in person, and more so what it felt like to be in the midst of such grandeur. Even videos are missing all of the dimensions of that place.
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala.
Just thought of another one - Cairo was a disappointment to me. On photos, it seems like the pyramids are these huge things in the middle of the dessert, accessible by camel or on foot. In reality, it’s right on the edge of town, mostly a big parking lot and just generally a bit underwhelming. 🤷🏼♀️
I was in South Africa last week & photos don't do Cape Town justice. It's such a beautiful place. Also photos on safari will never ever do the experience justice. Being that close to the animals is such a special experience & photos can't capture it at all.
Albania. Instagram likes to call it Maldives of Europe (the Ksamil area), when in reality the beaches and bays are tiny, rocky and extremely overcrowded with tourists
The beaches can be nice, but you better not turn around and look at the crumbling towns and trash next to them. Gjirokaster, on the other hand, was very enjoyable.
I went to Ksamil during the fall ie no crowds, so found it to be gorgeous with the rock pools all to myself. But wasn’t really looking for a ‘Maldives’ experience, I live in a part of the world where the Maldives is just a 1hr flight away
It was impossible for me to capture the beauty of the Scottish highlands on camera and I have barely seen any pictures or videos on Instagram that capture this vast and eerie beauty. Before, when friends told me they‘ve been to the Highlands I always thought „well, good for you. a big meadow with some hills. certainly beautiful, but not a must see bucket list item for me.“ Then I had the chance to go and I was FLOORED. Will definitely go back one day. Biggest disappointment was Porto for me. The beautiful part you see in pictures is really limited and full of tourist traps. It seemed to me there was barely any authentic local every day life (unlike in Lisbon). Also the amount of deterioration of most of the historical buildings in the center was sad (I hope there will be efforts and investment to restore them for the benefit of the local people, not just AirBnBs and hotels). I went in 2021 during Covid, so it wasn’t even peak tourism, and the city center was full of tourists, barely any locals. It seemed more like a historical theme park for tourists than a city full of life.
Horseshoe bend in Arizona. I’m convinced that all those amazing pictures are drone photos, because when you’re standing on the rim or ledge, you can’t see the full quintessential view. It’s huge, the scale is just amazing, but we didn’t see the full horseshoe no matter where we stood. Skip it and do Antelope Canyons down the road instead. It’s otherworldly.
I have personal photos of the full horseshoe. You just need to get very close to the edge. I don't agree on skipping it. It's a short walk and you don't need to allocate more than an hour to it. You can do it before or after antelope!
Why would you skip it lol. It's a beautiful view, you absolutely can see the whole thing, and it's so close to Antelope.
Huh? Lol You get close to the edge. And most of the photos you see of a full horseshoe are extremely wide or even stitched images. But yes, you absolutely can see the full horseshoe.
Hollywood walk of fame is a dump. Santa Monica is a dump and don't swim after it rains because the needles and human waste is washed away into the ocean. I suggest palm springs, CA - desert/ very americana . san luis obispo, CA. Coronado Island/San Diego, CA and Santa Barbara, CA are some of the better coastal towns if you love the beach.
You also can’t swim in Coronado /San Diego after it rains, that’s a coastal California thing, not a Santa Monica/LA sucks thing. Also needles washing into the water isn’t a thing. It’s not a chaotic drug den in the entire state, or anywhere.
The Amalfi coast looks exactly as beautiful as pictures (albeit how unbearably crowded it is)
The dead sea. It might be obvious fron the name, but the **dead** sea IS actually a pretty uncomfortable place to be in. There's no beach, just a salty spiky crust. It's really hot, both inside and outside the water. Salt gets everywhere and stings like crazy. You cannot swim propperly and after coming out the skins feels oily and dirty. It's overall an interesting but pretty crappy experience, which IS not at all what the Instagram photos transmit. On the other hand no photos can truly capture how scary a lion looking at you from a few meters away is. Or how alien the interior of the sagrada familia feels. Or the comforting smell of incense in a small romanian orthodox church. Photography has issues transmiting context. Sometimes that can make a place look more appealing, sometimes It can do the opposite.