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!!!

I saw the statue of liberty on entering New York after an Atlantic crossing by ship and was very disappointed as it seemed so much smaller than I imagined.
OTOH - loved the Empire state building!

Almost all the tourist traps in London. Madame Tussaud's is the worst of the lot. Queued for hours, paid a fortune to get in and had seen enough in 15 minutes.

I thought the planetarium was good though.

Birmingham

MumBod I agree about Epcot. We all found it really disappointing.

Moist I wouldn't call Brum a landmark or a must-see though.

Love the comment that the Mona Lisa looked just like the postcard- what did you expect??

We went to Birmingham on holiday this year actually!

Oi - Birmingham's great

Mine is the Mona Lisa; was expecting some huge awe inspiring masterpiece and it was tiny, surrounded by mean looking security guards and crowded with people.

Eiffel Tower. I think some of that though is I knew what it looked like it is an amazing piece of engineering but it really is a once you've seen it you've seen it kind of place. Dh and I did go up it and I was glad I did but I've done it now.
I really enjoyed Paris itself overall though and loved the buildings and the food and just walking around taking it all in.

MIL throws in another vote for the Pyramids in Egypt. Getting up at God Awful O'Clock and hours on a bus (she went on a trip from Sharm or while on a cruise), to get off and go 'oh yes, the Pyramids' for about 10 minutes and then spend the rest of the time fending off beggars and hawkers while tripping over McDonalds wrappers.

I've got one but I can't think of it now, so I'll say Puerto Pollensa Mallorca for now. Of all the places I've visited in Mallorca it's my least favourite, it was just so Meh (Paguera, Cala Fornells, Cala Lombards, Mondrago national park and especially Puerto Soller are all much nicer) but we did find a bar with a Gin Menu, which perhaps explains the popularity with Mumsnetters.

I am amazed by those who say they were underwhelmed by or actually disliked an entire country. i.e; Australia and Republic of Ireland.
Really, there was absolutely nothing of interest and/or not one friendly person or non-racist in the entire place?

The places I have been underwhelmed by were the Pyramids and the Amalfi Coast, mainly due to the traffic, heat and crowds on the day/s I chose to go. They are both still well worth seeing though imo.

The Leaning Tower of Pisa was a bit disappointing - I was expecting it to be much bigger and more imposing!

How can people complain about heat? (unless it was mid winter and unexpected)

The Little Mermaid is so tiny! Very disappointed.

2 places I've loved is Wave Rock in Australia and the Terracotta Warriors in China - amazing.

Hollywood generally, the Chinese Theatre in particular. On a hot, sunny afternoon it's not that glamorous. The area is full of fried chicken shops and tat (although the fried shrimp in some of those shops was good- more memorable than the theatre actually). Finding the handprints was fun, staying in the same hotel as Marilyn Monroe was quite interesting- the rest of it not so thrilling.

Yes to the Pyramids - tacky and scruffy and Great Barrier Reef - So much dead Coral I left there quite depressed.

(A great reef is Sipadan in Malaysia - really well cared for and the hanging gardens are amazing)

I'm so surprised at the comments about Burj Khalifa - but I went at night and the views were spectacular.

Mine would be "Liverpool One". All outdoors and it's a nightmare in the rain. Epic fail.

Sistine chapel, Taj Mahal, Empire State building, Eiffel tower, Notre Dame, were all disappointing.

Yes came on to say Sistine Chapel - there are endless queues in the Vatican anyway and they hype it up by making you walk through an endless maze of Etruscan pots, then try to make it very reverent in the chapel with the constant calls for silence - massive anti climax!!

Mine is the Mona Lisa; was expecting some huge awe inspiring masterpiece and it was tiny, surrounded by mean looking security guards and crowded with people.

It looks exactly like he image everyone has seen a thousand times already, reproduced in posters, postcards etc.

When we went it was mobbed, didn't even bother trying to join the scrum to try and get a closer view. The upside was you could enjoy the rest of the collection free from the presence of loud dickheads who were swarming around the Mona Lisa.

Plymouth Rock in Plymouth, USA. The famous picture shows the pilgrims stepping out onto a huge rock when they landed. In reality it is a very ordinary seaside boulder maybe 4 or 5 feet at its widest point at the most. Not only that it has been broken at some point and stick together with cement. There is a Grecian style temple affair built over it to add to the surreal effect. Literally everybody's first words on seeing it were "is that it?". There are bigger rocks in a garden feature in our small village.
The Grand Canyon in full sunshine is hard to appreciate, but see it at sunrise or sunset as the light changes and the canyon glows and it is breathtaking.

York Minster is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen. How could anyone be underwhelmed?

Westminster Abby on the other hand is pretty awful. There's no cohesion to it and it all looks rather ugly imo.

Another vote for The Mona Lisa. Probably the least impressive painting in the Louvred. I don't get why it's so famous.

Ben Nevis didn't impress. I probably sound mad saying that but it's a very small mountain

Visited the Acropolis in July however and I was blown away by it. Found it totally awe inspiring. Everyone should go!

Cairo for me...I always was so very desperate to go (childhood love of Indiana Jones and all things Egyptian) DH surprised me on our honeymoon to Sharm. The pyramids were overcrowded and full of hawkers and the museum made me want to cry as it was in such a state. The whole place was so awful we went back to the airport 4 hours early as it preferable to being in the city. I was devastated and my DH was upset as he thought it would be a great surprise.

I was completely overwhelmed by Jerusalem though...I even got a bit teary in the Church of Holy Sepulchre. In my defence I was 17 and was in the throes of a passionate summer with an Israeli lad and it was all very emotional. His family (and him) were lovely and they spent the summer giving me a road trip around the country. It was fab. Dead Sea, Sea of Gallilee, River Jordan, Masada, Golan Heights. I loved it, and Tel Aviv had loads of nightlife and was really fun. We are still friends 20 years on. I would never go back though as I do not want to taint my rose tinted memories!

Other worthwhile landmarks:

Venice when it is flooded - strangley exciting

Bayeaux Tapestry

The Coa Dai (i just know this is spelt incorrectly sorry) Temple in Vietnam - very colourful and chanty but no loos

Oh and dont ever go to Saigon Zoo, the elephants were chained up when I went it was harrowing. We left straight away and to visit the American War Atrocities Museum (this has changed its name to a more capitalist friendly War Museum i believe) The tunnels at Cu Chi are interesting too and they let you go in them...also used to let you fire a real gun i didnt do this as i thought it was dangerous bf at the time though thought it was fab

The Prague astronomical clock. Yes, it is a nice looking clock but at the end of the day that's all it is, a clock!
People crowd round excitedly every hour waiting for it to go off, and to watch a few little men and skeletons to come out a little trapdoor. There is a more interesting one in my local shopping centre.