To ask what famous landmark or must visit place/thing were you secretly underwhelmed by?

[Midge1978]

I went to stonehenge this year and whilst I was trying to get in touch with my inner druid, trying to project historical importance and mystery onto the place, I just couldn't escape the feeling that I was just looking at some very old stones and it was actually (whisper) a little bit boring!! Dh thought it was all marvellous though so I have never told him!!!

Basilica of the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I might go back in 2028 when it's finished and all the scaffolding has gone.

Stone henge. But to be fair after waiting ages for the bus I only looked for 5 seconds at the stones and had a terrible bout of ibs so had to run back to the bus and sit with a Chinese lady telling me about her 'experience' whilst trying not to shit myself kind of spoilt it but I don't feel the need to go back. DH stayed to look at the stones in more detail and loved it! He wants to go back another time

Graceland was pretty underwhelming. Not in it's tackiness - that certainly didn't disappoint (shag pile carpet on walls & ceiling of the "Jungle Room" ). But it isn't as imposing as you might think.

Milan was pretty disappointing with the exception of the La Scala & the Duomo.

I am astounded that others have found Athens meh - particularly the Parthenon. I felt totally overwhelmed by the history & magnificence of the Parthenon. Breathtaking.

And seriously, "the whole of Australia" . It's such a varied country that surely something must have been pleasing? Granted, places like Surfer's Paradise & Bondi are meh. However, Uluru is majestical & the surrounding land with it's epic red earth, wild horses, lizards & King's Canyon are phenomenal. The Whitsunday Islands? Noosa? Kosciuszko National Park?

Not very exotic but the Eden Project in Cornwall.

Just remembered another one: The Great Ocean Road in Victoria, Australia. I imagined a road hugging the cliffs and dramatic scenery. Most of the time, the road is nowhere near the sea, and even when it is, the scenery is quite drab.

I am not one putting the whole of Australia down though. I thought the Sydney Opera House was fascinating, and the Great Barrier Reef was pretty good - the tiny bit I saw. Ayres Rock - only flew over it in a jumbo jet, but it was as the sun was setting and it looked stunning - a sight I will remember all my life. And my personal favourite corner of Australia is Tasmania.

But the Great Ocean Road? Not a patch on the Cornish coastline.

The Mona Lisa, expected it to be bigger

Macchu Pichu. I walked for three days to get there, vomiting all of the way as I was actually sick with altitude sickness (much to the bafflement of the guides leading us). Got up ridiculously early to see the sunrise except it was an overcast day so the sun didn't really rise, it just got marginally lighter. And then all I could think was "it just looks like the picture in the guidebook". I think I was expecting some uplifting moment of connection. The best thing about it was watching some hummingbirds on day two of the trek & how good the hot shower was when we got back
The pyramids were also underwhelming but I expected that.
On the other hand, I was amazed by Chichen Itza.

The Eiffel Tower for me. I was so excited to go to Paris for the first time, and I was so underwhelmed with the Eiffel Tower. It's just a bloody great pylon Although admittedly, very pretty at night when lit up. I loved Notre Dame though and the Lourve.

Venice. Might be quite nice if it weren't chockablock with tourists

I find the key with Venice is to go low season ... that's when you can really appreciate the sheer beauty of the place

everyone says that about the Mona lisa ( ive never seen it) - still pulls in the tourists though! ( i will go and see it one day)

For those of you dissing the White House. It's not supposed to be grand; it was designed to be elegant in a restrained 18th century way: a house for a republic and for a nation that was rejecting monarchy.

Like many others here, I found Stonehenge vastly underwhelming. The Grand Canyon though? I find myself wondering if those who were disappointed actually only saw the part the tourists from Vegas are drawn to by relative proximity and the number of rip off coach tours heavily promoted in aforesaid Sin City to Peach Springs and the Skywalk which are part of the local tribe reservation lands and wholly and extortionately operated by the tribe. The reservation is not in the GC National Park itself, you have to drive for several more hours to get to the more spectacular view points which are anything but a letdown.

I agree about the British Museum, it's about the dullest place I've been. And Disney, my goodness, the hype for the rundown funfair that is the Magic Kingdom and Orlando, such a horrible place with absolutely no soul, never again

I do love New York though, I've been many times and don't feel like I've even scratched the surface.

Sydney. Everybody I know who went before me made it feel like I was off to some magical, wondrous place. It's a city. And I've been to far more interesting and attractive cities.

Stonehenge. Though to be fair when i first went you just turned up and walked amongst the stones.

Oh, just thought of another.
Castle Ward in Northern Ireland which is the setting for Winterfell in Game of Thrones. The whole Game of Thrones tour was fantastic on the whole and I would recommend it but when they're filming they add another layer of buildings and CGI more turrets so that the actual place looks nothing like it does on the show.

Knossos. Crete.

Badly 'restored' pile of shite. And 17 bazillion tourists tripping over each other ooooh-big at fake frescos dreamt up by a particularly stupid Victorian.

The colosseum in Rome

I've been to quite a few of the places mentioned here and not been disappointed in the way that other posters have been. But Hadrian's Wall truly was shit. At least when looking at a "pile of bricks" like the Forum, you can see the beauty and elegance of design that was originally there.

But Hadrian's Wall really is the pile of bricks without the beauty. That was such a long drive, for barely 10 minutes' of sightseeing.

I found the Acropolis underwhelming, but that was probably because it was baking hot and absolutely heaving with people off the cruise ships. About as much atmosphere as a MacDonalds. By contrast the infinitely less hyped old Agora was quiet and peaceful, shaded with olive trees, and very atmospheric. You could really imagine all the old Greeks gathering there to hear the news.

Forget who mentioned Cheddar Gorge, but I found it very interesting, and even more so later, after having ancestral DNA done and finding that I (and 11 % of other native Europeans) share the same direct maternal line as the old Cheddar Gorge man of 9000 years ago. Apparently the line can be traced back to NW Greece, 45000 years ago.

The thing I remember being most disappointed by was Buckingham Palace. In my defence, I was very young and for some reason imagined a palace like the Disney palaces. Only saw Buck Palace from the outside & didn't realise I was looking at it. I thought It was a posh block of flats!
Loved the Grand Canyon, Jordan and most other things though I agree that Vegas in incredibly seedy. Only stayed there one night before moving on.

Definitely the Giants Causeway. The name would suggest somewhere ... well ... giant. It's pretty small. That's how I felt the first time I saw it, but I've been back a few times and really love it now. Especially on an off peak day. Bleak, beautiful and atmospheric.

The Grand Canyon took my breath away. I remember we parked up in the dusty car park, got our water and passes and I thought "where is it then?". Then we walked through some trees and I went "oohhhhhhhhhh". Just stunning, and vast, and an incredible geographical feature. We hiked down and slept overnight under the stars at the bottom, hiking out the next morning. To paddle in the Colorado river and touch rocks that are millions of years old is amazing. The colours change as you hike down, and as the light changes. Just breathtaking.

I was totally underwhelmed by Paris and Athens. Dirty, packed and IMO really overrated. I liked Venice but wouldn't go back. Stonehenge is dull because you can't get near it - Avebury is better.

Rome.
The whole city was really underwhelming and overcrowded and overpriced and just frankly dull. We do historical monuments better!!

And yy to Sistine chapel. Overcrowded and really unremarkable. The guards bark at you to shut up sit down and stop taking photos...but there is no seats because it's so crowded...