Comments on: 9 Overrated Tourist Destinations (and 9 Great Alternatives)

By: Casey

Casey — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 10:37:44 +0000

As our RTW winds down (SE Europe, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, SE Asia, now South America), of all the places we’ve been over these months we’d say without a doubt that Egypt was the place we could have skipped. Seeing the big points of interest did have a degree of coolness attached to them but the environment that has built up around them detracts in a big way. Granted, when 25% of your GDP comes from mass tourism things are going to get a bit over the top when it comes to milking that opportunity. But Egypt has gone too far.

By: Marian

Marian — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 17:57:32 +0000

I agree with some names in this list.

Been to Las Vegas. Love it for the night life, strip clubs, and best poker tournaments, awesome Cirq du Soleil Shows. But the city its fake and life isn’t like that.

Never wanted to check Niagara, the pyramids. Instead of Dubai I’d rather go to Maldives.

By: John

John — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:58:27 +0000

Barcelona is way, way overrated. It is expensive, dirty and full of thieves and aggressive prostitutes. It has some redeeming features – architecture and (over-priced) nightlife – but a better alternative would be Madrid, which has equally-good architecture and better food and shopping, or Budapest which is fantastic to visit in late summer. It has lots of wonderful, family-run restaurants dishing out exquisite dishes, plenty of sights to see and a large, efficient transportation network. It also has many decent bars.

Other great cities; London, Klaipeida and Vilnius in Lithuania, Krakow in Poland, Ho Chi Minh, Hong Kong, Phmom Penh, Aqaba, Cairo, Rome, Marrakesh, Helsinki, Tallinn, Palermo, Amsterdam.

By: Z

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 08:36:58 +0000

I can see where you’re coming from about the overrated-ness. BUT, there are other places within the Bahamas that are not touristy places that are really worth the visit. Islands beside the capital island which have a smaller population are good places to visit. And like a lot of things, travel is one of those things which is based on personal taste and can not be subject to generalizations.

By: Bindi

Bindi — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 18:08:29 +0000

Just got back from a month in Spain and highly recommend it as a great country to travel. Madrid, Seville, Granada and Barcelona are all amazing cities with unique offerings in each one. Barcelona is a crazy, noisy place somewhat overrun by commercialism (unlike what is portrayed in the Woody Allen movie) but the architectural wonders will knock you out, and there are some interesting out-of-the way sights that make up for the rough edges (just don’t go there in the summer– way too crowded).
I agree that traveling to Bali is an amazing cultural experience, one that you and thousands of tourists will all be having simultaneously. Kind of takes the fun out of it.

By: Katie

Katie — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 19:48:01 +0000

I am currently studying abroad in Barcelona, Spain (one of the greatest cities in the world and DEFINITELY not overrated). On the weekends, my friends and I have been avid European travellers, striving to pack as much sightseeing into our four short months outside the US as possible. We have seen some really great underrated cities (Chefchaouen, Morroco). I would say at the top of my list for overrated cities would have to be Milan. It was one of the sketchiest cities I have ever been too, the Italian men are extremely aggressive on the streets. Furthermore, the realy impressive historical stuff was limited to one area of town, and it takes only 10 minutes to see just about all you need to see there. In my short stay there, I also witnessed a woman’s bag being stolen and a man beggar using puppies and other small animals to attract funds his way … sad and not that exctiting. I’d skip it and go back to Morocco if I had to do it all again

By: Michela

Michela — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 12:22:54 +0000

If someone has not visited Italy yet, I am sure they will definitely start form the major attractions like Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan and so on…if you have been to a country yet, you tend to focus on the major places of interest and what attracts you most. The fact that something could be overrated or not is at that stae, in my opinion, unrelevant…but when it comes to a second, a third visit than you want to discover the most hidden and secret places, which most times turn out to be more fascinating and memorable ones…

By: lilybeth

lilybeth — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:04:39 +0000

And if you are a back packer adventurer and love surfing you may want to discover the little hick town of LANUZA, of The Philippines. See if you like it. The people are friendly, the town has an amazing surfing ground, water falls and caves and beaches,and still not infiltrated with a lot of tourists. See their site google under Lanuza Surf.

By: Daniel Saranda

Daniel Saranda — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:32:53 +0000

I would add Vancouver to the list of overrated. If you can get anywhere because of the horrid traffic, the weather will likely drive you back to your hotel. It can be pretty when the sky is clear but head into the interior of the province and see the Shuswap lakes in the summer where the weather is much better, the views are spectatacular and it is infinitely less crowded. Long gone is the Vancouver of the 1980’s before it was “discovered”. BTW, the skiing at Whistler is very good, but again skiing at a Sunpeaks in Kamloops or any of the bigger resorts in the Okanagan will give you a better ski experience. Though Whistler has the apres ski life.

By: Becky

Becky — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:06:50 +0000

I’m more of a fan of “natural” sites or archaeological things than cities like Paris, London, or Warsaw (where I live) or Krakow. BUT

I loved Egypt. Went three times in one year (different parts). I’d highly recommend it. Fascinating.

I enjoyed the Grand Canyon. Didn’t go in the summer, though. Been two times with the kids.

Not mentioned: Petrified Forrest in AZ. Spectacular because I had no idea what to expect. Driving around that area of the desert was gorgeous because I didn’t think I particularly liked the desert colors. Also driving through Monument Valley, UT was nice.

Swimming in Hot Springs in Northern British Columbia in late Sept. (when there’s snow) is a great experience.

One of the most memorable things I’ve ever seen was watching the little penguins come on the beach in southern Australia.

Still want to see…South America, Kenya, Victoria Falls, Morrocco…