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!!!

Mass tourism is evil, it destroys cities and natural habitats and only serves to build up inflated expectations of "holiday of a lifetime" which then bust in pieces and tears and leave behind the plastic detritus of everyday banality

And what do you do on your holidays? Alternate between basking in your own self righteousness, sneering at the proles who go to a mass market destination and composing pretentious and overwrought prose?

For one I'm not whinging that everywhere is overcrowded.

I also think that mass tourism destroys the places it touches, especially when so much of it is people mindlessly ticking things off a bucket list. The Giants Causeway would be magnificent if it wasn't for hundreds and hundreds of people on it. It's like an anthill.
Popular art galleries are the worst for this. The Prado is full of people taking selfies of themselves with famous pictures - and hardly glancing at the pictures.

Popular art galleries are the worst for this. The Prado is full of people taking selfies of themselves with famous pictures - and hardly glancing at the pictures.

So what? If they want to merely tick off the famous pictures and pose for pictures that's their look out. It doesn't hurt you.

But many of these famous places are overcrowded now - it does affect the experience, the enjoyment factor. I went to Rome 25 yrs ago in August so peak season. Were able to easily get into the Coliseum with no queuing- same with the Vatican - just wandered up the steps and in. Went a few years ago in May and they had a huge queue snaking through the square.

Hadrian's Wall. We had to walk quite a way to get to it and the weather was drizzly and miserable.

It's a wall. The UK has loads of them. By the time I got to this particular wall, I was cold, wet, fed up and my legs ached. And I had to walk all the way back again.

Sorry to read about how the pyramids are a disappointment, 30 years ago they were still in the middle of the desert, no litter, no crowds, just a few locals offering camel rides.

I've been fortunate enough to go to a lot of places that haven't been crowded. Or got round it by going at 'off-peak' times, eg Ephesus in the evening was breathtaking.

But I agree, mass tourism can ruin lots of gems. I hated Venice purely because of the crowds and the tackiness. And I avoid the Giant's Causeway because the crowds - there are amazing places that are just as spectacular literally round the corner.

Taj Mahal, yes was touristy but it can't be denied it's a stunning building. Same for the Blue Mosque.

Niagara falls. Looks amazing on the television but very underwhelmed when we visited

Ashamed to say La Sagrada Familia - to me it looked like it had once been a lovely stone building and then 50 years ago lots of birds shat on the stone daily and it all ran down from the top, so someone said ooh lets pretend its meant to look like that..........

We cycled along Hadrian's wall a few years ago. I tried to get the kids excited about it and all the old forts along the way, but it's hard to imagine how it was when it's just rocks and trenches now. The best thing we saw were hundreds of Roman shoes in one of the museums, that moved me the most.
I was bored on the London eye too. Too slow, all I can remember seeing after Westminster was the hospital.
My number one hated tourist attraction though is Warwick castle, it's a massive money making tackfest and it made me really really mad.
My favourite awe inspiring place I've been to this year was staffa, amazing rock formations you can walk on right next to the sea and then up the rock stairs to sit with puffins. It was wonderful

Yes...staffa has the same rock formations as the giants causeway, and puffins (in season) and no massive crowds because of course its an island, that you get to by boat from another island (Mull, which is an awesome place if you're into wildlife).

"My number one hated tourist attraction though is Warwick castle, it's a massive money making tackfest and it made me really really mad."

Ha, we really enjoyed Warwick Castle - i fact i really recommend it.

Great Barrier Reef. Not all its cracked out to be. Photos make it look amazing. In reality, its basically sand, and sandy coloured coral. Nothing amazing about it at all. Probably all dead.

Re a place being crowded, I visitedMont Saint Michel last year, in august. In the third week of August.
It was an utter, utter zoo. I didn't care though, we knew it would be like that so I was prepared for the crush (though even as a pedestrian it was like queueing to get onto a freeway in a traffic jam; you had to slot yourselves into the stream.).

I think it's expectations. (Well, obviously)

Those saying the Astronomical Clock in Prague do you actually know anything about it? It was made in 1410 and is the third oldest astronomical clock in the world and the oldest one still operating.

Yes, I'd read about it, which is why I wanted to go and see it! Maybe I'd built it up in my mind which is why I was disappointed. I was fascinated by Prague castle, though....maybe because I hadn't given it much thought before I visited. St Nicholas church in Prague blew me away...I only went in because I was passing.

I agree factors such as the weather, who you are with and even how hungry you are can affect your experience of visiting somewhere.

Stonehenge and Giant's Causeway. The National Trust has taken some perfectly nice attractions and completely overwhelmed them with monolithic 'visitor's centres' featuring overpriced cafés and shops selling pointless tat.

The Cutty Sark

Does anyone like anything ?
Spoiled twats

Be fair, thats not what this thread is supposed to be about (someone started another for that) and even on this one there's lots of posts putting the opposite view on places like the Grand Canyon.

Unfortunately not everyone has the time or money to do things in the optimal way or at the best time. And in my case I've got a DH who researches holidays (not excessively, its always good to leave space for serendipity). So - I've liked many of the places others have been disappointed by, but I wouldn't want to call others 'spoiled'.

I was underwhelmed by Milton Keynes. I was expecting to love a place planned on ultra-modern new town principles, but it was just like driving around one gigantic out of town retail park interspersed with collections illustrating the worst of modern mass housebuilding. Meh. Bletchley Park made up for it, though.

The new Design Museum is amazing as architecture but a hot mess as a museum.

The Eden Project. Hated it.

Probably already mentioned but the pyramids were very overwhelming and that bit of Cairo is a total dump!

So much is to do with knowledge for me

A trip to Italy 25 years ago as a not overly informed person but with a guidebook came up with a few experiences.

There was a statue of a guy on a horse, it was big and well done , yes great, but we have a lot of statues in the UK ( slight underwhelm) why is it so famous? We look at the guide book it's Roman! (equestrian statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius from 175 AD.) Amazing!

See from the guide that in one room the museum highlight is a mosaic from an imperial luxury getaway on Capri. Doesn't seem to be there, not much happening at all in here , all underwhelming smallish paintings, is it on loan? Look again at guide and decide to go back and check. One of the pictures is the right subject matter..oh Christ, it's made up of the tiniest mosaic pieces you have ever seen! Bloody amazing.

Final one was the Pantheon. Mmm. Looks like a classically inspired church from the Renaissance. Bit tatty the way it's been done up round the back, is that like concrete? (Honestly? Prefer St Pauls in London.)

We went inside which is just a perfect space, and read the guide book. It's Roman! And the concrete's original. Blown away!

Which also makes me think too much knowledge might have left me a bit disappointed.

I loved the Giants Causeway. But I went a long time ago during a flare up of "The Troubles", and tourists were staying away. There was me, my DP and 2 other people.