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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To ask what tourist sites you’ve visited that met or exceeded expectations?

364 replies

VenerableFreed · 04/09/2025 23:33

AIBU to ask what tourist sites you’ve visited that have genuinely lived up to expectations and have gone beyond them?

For me, it was seeing Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper in person in Milan. I’m not particularly emotional, particularly about art, but it was genuinely moving to see the real thing. Visitor numbers were restricted, meaning you actually got a good look and there were no distractions. The setting, in a darkened room in an old convent, really helped too. It felt really intimate and special.

OP posts:
BeyondMyWits · 05/09/2025 12:09

Orkney... prettymuch all of it, but in particular, The Italian Chapel - built by prisoners of war out of a Nissan hut. Something so beautiful, from so little.

The Ring of Brodgar, and the new dig at the Ness. The tomb of the eagles. Maeshowe. And then over 300beaches.The Cathedral, the palaces...
Orkney has a huge number of tourist sites for such a small area. Well worth a visit.

Toddlerteaplease · 05/09/2025 12:08

The Sistine Chapel. Was totally non plussed by it. Though I was so knackered by the time I’d traipsed through the museum, I just wanted to sit down. It was actually pretty empty as it was January.

BauhausOfEliott · 05/09/2025 12:08

The Rocky Mountains in Canada. Just insanely beautiful and we saw bears, moose, eagles, beavers and elk just while we were literally just driving from place to place.

Another vote for Venice too. It's unique. Like no other city on Earth.

Sicily - Noto, Syracuse, Ragusa. All completely exceeded my expectations.

I also agree with the person above who said Salamis in Northern Cyprus. I hadn't even heard of it before I went there, but the ruins are incredible and it was almost deserted, plus you're left to wander round at will. Nothing was really behind any kind of barrier.

Also, the first time I went to the Western Isles of Scotland - Harris, Lewis, Barra, the Uists etc - my jaw basically dropped at how gorgeous it was. I knew it would be lovely but I wasn't prepared for it to be THAT lovely.

Bbq1 · 05/09/2025 12:07

Griffith

sheenaWild · 05/09/2025 12:05
  • Mont st Michel; beautiful, otherworldly and would love to go back. Also la Cité de la mer for la redoubtable
  • Isle of Skye, especially the fairy pools. We stayed at glenbrittle beach. Ullapool as well, fabulous
  • Alcatraz & eating seafood on pier 39 with a view of the sea lions!
  • durdle door, lulworth cove, new forest & exbury gardens
  • Conwy, llanberis, borth - all so gorgeous (rheidol railway and devils bridge a particular highlight), also tintern abbey (studied the poem at school!)
  • New Orleans, incredible, history round every corner
  • Orkney, everything about it. We seriously considered moving there!
  • Extraterrestrial highway & around Area 51 👽
  • Palatine hill was fab & I would like to do underground at the colosseum in rome
  • The Lorraine hotel/ MLK museum, I cried a lot embarrassingly
  • Cuba
  • St Patrick’s well in Orvieto, absolutely incredible
  • Kayaking under the pont du gard when the giant wooden marionettes were installed there (a man asleep in a deckchair!!)
  • Disney (US & Paris), dying to take my LOs as have great memories from when I was younger
  • eyam and crich are exceptional places (tram museum & lovers leap highlights)
  • the Alamo in Texas
  • The shoe installation at the Danube & the communist museum in Budapest

Disliked/ Wouldn’t go back to:

  • Sheikh zayed mosque in Abu Dhabi
  • Bayeux tapestry
  • Anywhere in Dubai (saw the shard/ palm etc)
  • Grand Canyon (but do go to the indigenous side rather than the vegas tour if possible)
  • Arizona was disgustingly hot and felt very barren and unfriendly in the town around horseshoe bend (unusual for USA)
  • The Spanish steps - rome
  • Most of London
  • turkey
  • Tunisia
  • menorca
  • yosemite
  • Lanzarote
newyearnoeu · 05/09/2025 12:02

Agree with venice. Also the first time I went to Rome, came out of the metro and the colostrum was Right There (and huge). Same with Trevi fountain - approached down a narrow alley and suddenly this massive fountain. Both were busy but nowhere near as busy when I visited again 15 years later - still beautiful but not the same wow factor.

Also in Rome, Case Romane del Celio. Frescos etc like pompeii but not cordoned off at all - you can just walk on the mosaics. Very quiet too.

Will try and think of some non Italy ones lol

BunnyLake · 05/09/2025 12:00

Lemonyfuckit · 04/09/2025 23:39

Sticking with the Italian theme, for me it was Venice. We expected super crowded, very expensive, too touristy. To be fair we were quite deliberate in our choices - stayed on Murano rather than San Marco (and every evening after tourists departed back to San Marco, Murano became beautifully peaceful), mainly stuck to back streets on San Marco rather than the tourist hot spots, and also spent a day riding the vaporetto between islands. Thought it was breathtakingly beautiful and an awesome feat to build this stunning city out of marshland. And by avoiding the tourist hot spots - literally by only a street or two, didn’t find it too hectic or crowded, found plenty of delicious and reasonably priced places to eat and drink.

Best food I’ve ever eaten was in a back street of venice. Cost me about €12. The islands are lovely.

Chemenger · 05/09/2025 12:00

The Vasa Museum in Stockholm is amazing. I also found the moment when they reveal the Shuttle at the Kennedy Space centre similarly breathtaking.

Every time I go through Glen Coe I am amazed by the scenery.

I love Venice, sitting people watching with an Aperol Spritz in St Marks square or just wandering through the quiet back streets.

The elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai (the one where you walk among the elephants but don’t touch them) was absolutely wonderful, such amazing animals.

Sagrada Familia when the evening light shines through the stained glass windows, beautiful.

SEPMum · 05/09/2025 11:58

Skellig Michael
Pompeii
Sacre Coeur
Cloisters, Manhattan
Chaozhou, China

OriginalSkang · 05/09/2025 11:55

Where is the poster who was thrown out of the sistine chapel for swooning/wailing?

Paetina · 05/09/2025 11:55

A few already mentioned - Vasa museum, Venice, Matera and everything in Iceland exceeded expectations. Others:

  • Syria - Aleppo and Krak de Chavaliers (pre war).
  • Thailand - Cheow Lan Lake
  • Bosnia - Mostar and the Sarajevo-Mostar train journey.
raabbgghhrbb123 · 05/09/2025 11:53

David in Florence was awesome, I was transfixed.

Arrivist · 05/09/2025 11:48

The Burren in Ireland. Bizarre and spectacular.

Priorlake · 05/09/2025 11:47

SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter · 05/09/2025 11:44

Eibsee in Bavaria.

Ooh yes, Eibsee is wonderful.

SnugglyJumpersMakeItBetter · 05/09/2025 11:44

Eibsee in Bavaria.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 05/09/2025 11:38

The Treasurer’s House, in York.

In particular the cellar, where a tradesman working down there decades ago was petrified on seeing a line of Roman Soldiers - from the knees up only - appearing through one wall and disappearing through another. There was an old B&W film of him recounting his experience.

The house was later found to be directly on the path of a Roman route.

user1476613140 · 05/09/2025 11:38

Calton Hill after the Festival is over!

InMyOpenOnion · 05/09/2025 11:37

The Lion Monument in Lucerne. It's so poignant.

Alltheburpees · 05/09/2025 11:34

Iguazu Falls. The most breathtaking sight I’ve ever seen. The falls go on forever, and you are permanently soaked by the mist all around. The bridge taking you over the Devil’s Throat was awe inspiring as to the power of nature. We toured both the Brazil and Argentina side.

NeedthatFridayfeeling · 05/09/2025 11:33

Lake Tahoe, every bit as beautiful as it looks in photos. Likewise Peyto Lake in Canada.

LancreWowhawk · 05/09/2025 11:32

SirHumphreyRocks · 05/09/2025 08:26

A common denominator seems to be places when they’re quieter with fewer tourists (either because of the timing or because numbers are restricted).

I've been to so many it's hard to pick one, but I agree with this. Dawn at Machu Picchu for example - very quiet as most tourists haven't arrived yet. But one of my favourites was Abu Simbel, which most people see at a time overrun by tourists. But we were on Lake Nasser and the only boat tied up at the dock overnight there. Went to the sound and light in the evening, but next morning we got on the site as it opened. Literally the 40 of us were swamped by the place and we got to wonder through the chambers and corridors at liberty pretty much alone. Magical.

Abu Simbel was mine too, and in absolutely identical circumstances (small boat, docked overnight, only ones there). I'll never forget it.

LindorDoubleChoc · 05/09/2025 11:30

La Sagrada Familia but in 1998, we didn't even need tickets.

When we went again about 20 years later it was too overrun with tourists to enjoy the experience.

rainylake · 05/09/2025 11:30

Delphi. If you stay in the village, you can go in as soon as the site opens, and most tourists come on day trips from Athens so don't arrive till later. The setting is incredible in the morning light and you can understand why the ancients believed it was a holy place.

I've been to lots of classical sites in Greece/Turkey/Italy but Delphi has an atmosphere which is genuinely magical.

NeedMoreTinfoil · 05/09/2025 11:29

So many of these I recognise and agree with, so many many more I haven't seen and would love to. I agree (with one exception) the quieter the place the better the experience. Some of the best are those stumbled on by chance and completely unexpected.

Throwing what I hope are some different ones into the mix:

Flodden battle field - utterly deserted when we visited on rainy afternoon - the landscape that shaped the outcome of the battle was still very clear.

Eastern State Penitentiary. We learned of this place from a flyer in the hotel lobby, wandered the neighborhood, had lunch at Jack's Firehouse and then went to one the creepiest places we have ever visited. It's in a state of eerie semi-ruin and was very deserted. Horrifying and very educational.

Vasa Museum in Stockholm. The sight of the looming ship as you walk in. Wow!

Delphi in Greece. Wow again. All those famous historical figures who visited, and the epic decisions they made based on the oracle. A stunning setting too.

Not really a tourist thing but an amazing experience - the botafumeiro at the Cathedral in Santiago de Compostela. A huge censer weighing over 50 kilos, full of burning incense, swung on a thick rope by 8 men across the transepts during some pilgrim masses and other services. Since it doesn't happen every day it is really quite special to see it, we were lucky as someone had paid for it to be swung the day after we finished our camino. It gets fairly low at times and is a wee bit distracting as it whooshes over your head in the packed congregation. It's been done since the 12th century, and has only fallen off the rope a couple of times over the centuries.....

Ostia Antica near Rome. Like Pompeii, but without the tragic end and all the crowds. Has whole streets with blocks of flats still standing with corner cafes. The merchants' bourse, a theatre. Fascinating and almost empty when we went.

Espressoicecream · 05/09/2025 11:28

I'm a Rome afficionado and the Pantheon, Forum and Colluseum blow me away. But yes it's very very busy!