What famous places have disappointed you?

[mouldyhousemouldylife]

Or a landmark, artwork etc.

I guess mine is Plitvice Lakes in Croatia and Lake Bled in Slovenia. I've wanted to go for years as they both looked unbelievable and magical on photos, but going there just felt pretty ordinary. Very nice looking but I wasn't blown away.

Anyone else been to either? What did you think?

Paris - dirty, overpriced and not at all 'romantic'.

The heavy-handed stewards shooing you in and out of the Sistine Chapel and making sure you don't sit on the chairs ruined it a bit for me, although St Peter's itself was breathtaking.

I went to Althorp recently and was expecting something like Chatsworth, which is lovely. It's quite dark and forbidding inside and not that interesting, apart from some of the artworks.

Nairobi is scary but I wasn't expecting much of it, to be fair.

@Fraxion I am neither French ,American or Chinese so 🤷‍♀️ I didn't notice any other tourists there . I wasn't exactly a tourist, more like a reluctant drag along with the folks.

TheSmallClangerWhistlesAgain Haha yes they’re a bit much. It’s a standing joke between me and DP now if we ever see anything arty or beautiful one of us goes ‘SHHHHH’ and the other responds ‘NO PICTURES’ in a terrible Italian accent. Gives us the giggles.

Lands End - I mean, wasn't expecting much, but it's very desultory.

This thread puts me in mind of a colleague of my DM's many years ago (mid 1980s or thereabouts). She went to Rome for a week (church related - she was a devout Catholic) and when she came back she was talking in outraged tones about it being a dreadful place because she'd witnessed some locals kicking their dog. 'I'd never go back to Italy. Italians are cruel, cruel!'

My DM wondered if that was all she'd seen. 'All that beautiful architecture and she doesn't notice any of it - she's obsessed with the dog that got kicked!' was the gist of what she told us.

I'm still a bit what to think about that to this day. My DM comes across as a bit of a snob, while the colleague was not too bright, and racist in a way that was acceptable back then. At the time I took my DM's point that this woman had kind of missed the point of visiting Rome. Ten out of ten for compassion to animals, though, I guess.

In addition to the above I also was underwhelmed by the Mona Lisa, it's titchy. Much preferred the Museum with the impressionist paintings.

I loved Barbados, but we stayed in an apartment and mixed with the locals who were so friendly. I wish I'd never left

Pompidou centre. Just didn't warm to it.
Eiffel tower, long queues and then more queueing for the central lift.
Fitzwilliam museum in Cambridge. Guards in every room staring at you.

I loved Barbados, but we stayed in an apartment and mixed with the locals who were so friendly. I wish I'd never left

Barbados is the only place we've been to where we were disappointed. It wasn't absolutely awful, it just wasn't for us. We couldn't believe we had to pay extra if we wanted the aircon on in a taxi! The Cliff restaurant was fantastic though, amazing cocktails.

Stonehenge- the museum was interesting, and the stones are sort of impressive in the marvelling at how they did it kind of way but there was no atmosphere other than hundreds of tourists taking selfies in the pouring rain. I've been to much smaller stone circles that had far more feeling to them.

Blenheim Palace- feels half empty and unloved and there is a weird animatronics 'story of the palace' thing that we didn't know was animatronic and scared the shit out of us.

Dominican Republic.
Aruba.
Greenwich.
Chichen Itza.

I am surprised at so many of these places being named.
I travel a lot, so have been to lots of the places mentioned, and apart from hating the smell in Paris (male piss) and Marrakesh (horse piss), I have always enjoyed the destination.

We live in Aus, so our school hols are different to the bulk of the world, and we always end up in places which are off peak. Thus not crowded...maybe that adds to our enjoyment?
Even Disney is good off peak (late Sept/Oct)

Stonehenge is just so amazing when you think back then, people did not even move village to village- the transportation of these stones over so many miles is mind blowing.
And I was sad to see Portmerion- we loved it.
Only place I can truly remember hating was Delhi- and we concluded that was just culture shock (first city we visited in India).

Chichen Itza

Wow. We were amazed by it.

My favourite one of these is being disappointed by Hong Kong due to there being no card shops.

Paris a complete dump of a place it stank the attractions including the Eiffel Tower was a complete let down wasn't as romantic as it's made out to be the city of loVe I think not 🤢 not to mention Mice in places you ate running past you never would set foot back there

I guess mine is Plitvice Lakes in Croatia and Lake Bled in Slovenia.

Noooooo! I loved Lake Bled. Loved Slovenia come to that. Lovely place, very niice people and food! Still waiting to get to Plitvice- will not be put off!!!

I think I went to a different Paris compared to some people's experiences on here!

Malta.

Now see I really enjoyed my time there. The old fashioned buses, the people, the festival/carnival/whatever - young guys dancing along with a can in their hand and no trouble making whatever. Loved the history. I know it is England 1950s with an Italian influence and not for everybody. My mum always sniffed at it (though she never went), said it was "cheap" (so how come we couldn't afford to go???!!).

Most places of interest are chock full of tourists so you cannot hear your own guide and have to wait until the other groups move on. This was certainly true of Vietnam - we kept seeing the same groups everywhere but I guess that is to be expected. I tell myself this so when I eventually get to Rome I won't be disappointed!!!

I'm not surprised that the woman who saw a dog being kicked was horrified. Why wouldn't you be horrified by seeing animal abuse? That'd stay with me more than any painting, though I wouldn't think it representative of all Italians.

The Trevi Fountain. I expected it to be all white and sparkly, like something out of a fairy tale. 😂

Mind you, the Sistine Chapel lived up to my expectations. So much so that it made me scream. 😂

I loved the Trevi fountain! You just turn a corner and it's there unexpectedly.