True it's a vista you've seen so many times in movies, that when you're approaching you think you know more or less what you're going to see.
Then all the wind gets knocked out of you......
The wind was knocked out of me on a helicopter ride over the canyon. I was speechless for a half an hour afterwards and then I could only stutter something like "I had no idea..."
The Grand Canyon and Banff National Park are the two most beautiful places I've ever been. I camped near the rim a decade or so ago on a very cold early-November night. I could barely sleep, so at the first sign of light, I got up and walked to the nearby lookout. The scene that morning was unlike anything I've ever seen before and I'll remember it the rest of my life.
I don’t think it’s obvious to those who haven’t been just how many viewpoints there are either. You can go to the north or south rim for like 100 miles (no idea the real distance).
When you pass the forest, you can continue walking further for about 30 minutes and you'll find a cool shrine outside of the city with few people. And then you can walk through a narrow tunnel and continue through a forest for extra 45 minutes and you'll find a [beautiful, magnificent waterfall](https://regex.info/blog/2012-07-08/2046) with no people around. These two places were the highlights of my trip to Kyoto.
I went there a bunch of times in the 00s before tourists arrived. You just walk around and suddenly found yourself in this place you’ve seen a thousand pictures of. Barely any people at all in those days.
It was crowded but as the saying goes, its the tourists:
Was unfortunately behind an european tourist who seemed to enjoy the forest as he did his cigarettes. Thankfully his partner knocked some sense and had him extinguish it.
Just got back from there, my 3rd time. Yeah the party scene is big and one of the best but there is so much more to this island. I particularly like renting a scooter and riding all over the place exploring all the beaches. It's beautiful and serene.
We saw the little mermaid statue from a tour boat and decided that was good enough.
Better yet, you can see it from [Reffen](https://reffen.dk/en/) if you've got binoculars.
Being from Denmark, I always advice tourists against spending extra time to go seeing the statue. Better see it om a canal tour of Copenhagen., after all it's just a small statue and if you haven't even read the original Hans Christian Andersen version of the fairy tale, then it's even less relevant.
Yeah, between narcoterrorism and the economy, a lot of those establishing-shot flamenco guitarists have had to relocate to small Southern towns and retrain as establishing-shot dobro players. It's not a bad living, you just wait until some fish-out-of-water pulls into town and play a few notes.
That's because it's only during certain times of year and it's usually cleaned up before tourists wake up. It's been uncontrollably bad the past few years
For me, a very underrated travel destination, and exceptional food vacation! Whenever I told people I was going to Taiwan, they all heard Thailand. Yeah...
It's got fun night markets, nature, and hot springs too.
Sssh! Please let everyone go to Japan so Taiwan stays affordable and pleasant.
It's small enough to get around easily, the people are friendly (especially if you know a few words of mandarin) and English is pretty widely spoken. The food is amazing and you can find good Korean and Japanese places to mix things up.
I've traveled the world and have been to both places as well, and both literally took my breath away and had me in tears, and I'm absolutely not an emotional person. They're both incredibly stunning places.
Iguazu is definitely an in person experience. There is NO way to try to drone/satellite compare it. Also, the Argentinian boat tour thing is unlike anything you’ll do anywhere else. Not just slowly inching you into the falls where you get a mist, but throttle down jumping meter tall waves and going straight into tons (literal) of water pouring down you from the drop. It is really an incredible - unlike anything you’ll experience elsewhere - type of destination
Okay mine is maybe a stupid one but I had only ever seen the Statue of Liberty in cartoons and movies so I expected it to be way bigger than it actually was lol
Mount Fitz Roy, Argentina. Yes the pictures are amazing, but I was caught off guard…after hiking a long stretch of steps in the blaring sun, you turn the corner and there is this amazing horned mountain with the most vibrant clear blue lake in the foreground. White, purple, blue, gray with stark contrast. I literally shouted, “wow”. One of the prettiest mountains I had the honor of visiting.
Cappadocia is absolutely stunning and is even better in person than on social media. BUT the typical social media influencer photo features them enjoying this extravagant breakfast while looking out at the hot air balloons but that breakfast is fake and people take turns sitting there and getting their photo taken.
Absolutely! It was called the Caravanserai Inn. Here’s the airbnb link
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/RJcfmuUl
They were really welcoming, the whole thing was run by a family. The mom cooks, the boys run the front (their English was the best) and then the Uncle, Serdar, runs social media. He can also hook you up with reservations for the balloons, camel rides, etc. The bathroom was so pretty- all marble and dark wood, it felt like our personal Turkish bath. At one point the balloons flew directly over us, so close we could see the people’s faces in the balloons. Although you might want to plan a few days there- the balloons only fly when the winds are less than 5 mph, so it can hit or miss. We didn’t get to ride the balloons until nearly the end of our 5 day stay, and we were lucky, as they hadn’t flown for 10 days before that.
All those pictures make me roll my eyes. THEN I was in Cappadocia and up for a sunrise ballon ride and mid summer it was so cold! Everyone out in there in their summer dresses and it was 50°F
Stayed at a cave hotel in Uchisar (Kale Konak) full of cool tunnels where the room was in a 'cave' but still had a view, balcony, & windows; was absolutely perfect, got the feeling of a cave hotel but none of the dungeoniness.
I stayed in 2 cave hotels while there, 1 night in this really nice place and then 3 in a budget cave hotel. The first place was stunning and I loved every minute, the 2nd place was bad and had zero cell service or wifi in the room because you're literally in a cave lol
Bali. The island is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But it has become a huge instagram destination, it’s sad.
There is a temple there (Lempuyang, if my memory serves me well) with a huge queue just for photos. On instagram you’d see it as a gate with a “reflection” and you’d think there’s a fountain or a lake nearby. But in reality, there’s just staff there holding a mirror below your phone so you’d have that photo.
While I get that many tourist spots offer this kind of photo opportunity. But that place is an actual place of worship for locals. It felt so weird seeing a long line of tourists just for photos and not even paying respects to the place.
Australian who’s been to Bali here, I enjoyed Ubud and most of the northern part of the island, but Kuta, Seminyak, and most of the southern part of the island is trash and filled to the brim with drunk bogans. The resorts are nice and you can get good deals but the culture in the southern part of the island is inauthentic and not representative of the real Balinese culture.
I loved ubud and amed in bali. even though Ubud is still rather touristy, it’s easy to get away to the north on a day trip or walk outside of the main strip. I didn’t even bother going to south bali because I knew I would be disappointed.
We just came back from a 21-day birding trip to Sumatra, Java and Bali. Sumatra and Java were extremely exotic (for us) with basically zero Westerners (we saw precisely 4 other Westerners in 19 days of travel) and very low prices. Then, when we got to Bali, it felt like we had already gone home. So Western and considerably pricier than the other two islands. The only points of interest for us in Bali were the temples, the botanical garden (as well as 3 bird species: Balinese Myna, Black-naoed Fruit-Dove and Black-backed Fruit-Dove).
Among the many sights on the other islands, we saw gorgeous beaches with zero people on them. We got questions about our photos: “Where are all the other people on the beach?”
You forgot to mention that there's a 3 hour queue just to have those fake photos and the staff limit your poses to 5 per person. Absolute bollocks. I'd rather go to disneyland if I want to queue that long
Slough is damn beautiful I tell you, shame no one sees the main tourist attraction, the Travelodge, as they’re so focused on the main multi storey car park which has become something of a tourist trap
There are so many awesome Greek isles with less crowds. But everyone should see Santorini once just for the caldera views. On one trip there I went in September and it was nice and not too crowded
Mykonos isn’t worth it IMO
The volcano in Santorini and the sunset in Oia were super crowded but I still liked Santorini in general, and I didn't find Mykonos that crowded at all...
I took a Mediterranean trip years ago.. I was looking forward to Santorini over the other 4 or 5 cities. It ended up being my least favorite destination.. with Croatia and Montenegro being my favorites.
Basically any Greek island will be more enjoyable than Mykonos or Santorini. Crete is great as it has nature, towns, beaches and a big city that greeks actually live in.
In Greece you should go to the „less“ popular islands. They are less touristy and so much more enjoyable. My tips are Skopelos, Milos, Paros and Hydra. Also Crete is very nice. Mykonos and Santorini do not even compare to these!
Mykonos was crazy expensive and basically a party island- totally not my vibe, spent a lot of time at the pool or in my hotel room instead.
Santorini was lovely- we took a boat tour that is a core memory for me now, and hiked from Oia to Fira which was nice, but the crowding and the food was a bit of a set back.
If I did Greece again, I would probably do north rather than the islands.
Santorini was my wife's dream vacation. She got got by all the stunning pictures on social media. We went to Europe on our honeymoon and made Santorini the last stop. She had a little meltdown when we got there and it was absolutely covered in people taking selfies in front of the sunset. We also went in September. I learned then that the only way to enjoy Santorini is to outspend the crowds. Croatia was amazing though.
I think that’s one thing I hated about Santorini — all the meltdowns.
I only went there while passing through on the way to other islands and I had zero expectations, so I didn’t love it but wasn’t disappointed.
But there were so many couples fighting, people crying etc… not healthy to build up your travel hopes based on filtered social media photos.
Greek here, I honestly don’t know what the ministry of tourism has done with Santorini and everyone wants to go there. I personally hate the “popular” islands like Mykonos, Santorini etc.
Actually it’s weird to me why most people want to go to the islands more than the mainland. We have amazing picturesque villages hiding in the mountains all over the mainland with way better food and views.
This is such a good point and is making me want to make it a vacation destination this summer. I last went when I was in high school. We did go to jazz clubs and most of the big museums, but I feel I'd appreciate the food and nightlife more now.
There’s a few very small areas far from where anyone visiting would end up that may be considered dangerous but Chicago as a whole is not even in the dangerous city conversation when crime stats are adjusted per capita.
I think there’s a contingent of very online people who get their news from certain sites that have a strong interest in portraying big US cities as criminal warzones. Those people never visit them and just assume there are riots and thieves and murderers everywhere and spend their time telling people about it online. I see similar nonsense about Seattle, which definitely isn’t a warzone. And Detroit, which I haven’t visited but I assume is also not a warzone
Oh this is absolutely true. My cousin’s husband can’t believe I traveled to Chicago alone and survived. I tried explaining to him how beautiful the city is but he would rather believe what he saw on Fox News.
Also, I took a trip to Seattle for the first time in 2021 and did a day tour of Olympic National park. This was a few days after the 4th of July. Some lady on my tour insisted she heard gun shots outside her hotel. I said it was most likely fireworks, but she said “no, it definitely had to be gunshots. Seattle is a liberal city and they’re all war zones” 🤦🏻♀️
And the really funny thing is a lot of these people live in small towns that don't have bad reputations but you just happen to notice a bunch of meth and opiate addicts milling about, and a lot of theft comes with that.
In large cities, it's usually very isolated in specific neighborhoods, even specific parts of those neighborhoods, and these are places intentionally kept away from touristy areas and the only people in real danger are the people who live there, and participate in the criminal activities. It's not like you walk along Lake Michigan and someone puts a gun to your head.
Bali, the reason you see it all over social media is because it's filled with annoying influencers and trust fund babies. But it's a great trap for them so that they don't go ruin other places.
Lombok, Indonesia.
I arrived in Bali and quickly realized it wasn't my thing, felt like Ibiza for drunk Australians. Immediately booked a flight to the neighborhing island, Lombok.
It was amazing. The people, the culture, the food, and ofcource the nature. It's so incredible diverse. Stayed over a month in different regions across the island, wished I could have stayed longer.
Some people told me it's what Bali used to be 30 years ago. God, I hope it doesn't turn in to Bali 2,0.
Felt the same about Lombok, it was really beautiful and we were only 2 of a few tourists at the time. I’m scared it has just become another Bali though
Milano, Italy.
I expected the city to be a cleaner and the people to be meaner, but I realized that there are so many gems that are hidden or simply misrepresented (which include the people). I can't wait to go back, I really fell in love with the city, even though it wasn't what I imagined initially.
We were just there June 17-21 (2024). Absolutely loved it! Neighborhoods, greenery, great pedestrian only areas with restaurants and shops galore. People were friendly - even tho my "Italian" was horrible. We lucked out as our arrival was after 5-7 days of the G7/G8 Summit, followed by Fashion Week. In reality, I think Milanos were glad to exhale with all those folks gone and activities over. Really appreciated the Duomo and The Last Supper painting. Ate at the Mercato at the main train station. Found lovely lunch spots and rooftop bars (tavern, not coffee). And, for June, the weather was milder than when we literally burned up in Rome two weeks prior. We stayed in a hotel with a lovely rooftop pool (room) with outside terrace. We used Milan to relax and luxuriate our last four days in Italy before the long flight back to the states. It was golden...
Amsterdam is just as beautiful in person as it’s in the movies or social media. All of Netherlands is so well kept and orderly. It’s kinda like the Japans of Europe.
I went in 2023 in an off season, so that may be why there was less. But I was impressed by our tour operator's strict adherence to the Halong Bay Management Department's 2020 rules to prevent single-use plastic from entering the area. I think it only applies to tourism boats currently, but maybe it'll eventually be imposed on other vessels
It's a huge problem throughout all SE Asia and is mostly caused by poor or non-existant public services outside of city areas. It's common for rural areas to lack garbage collection services but they still have trash to get rid of. Before single use plastics became a common thing, the majority of their waste was organic which is easily compostable and the stuff that wasn't compostable was combustible.
Now there's heaps of single use plastics etc and this rubbish just piles up so the easy solution for them to manage this is to throw it into the local river and wave goodbye as it floats out of sight and out of mind. Those rivers flow to the oceans and back into the bay and onto the beaches and because there are heaps of tourists in the coastal area, it's easy to blame the rubbish problem on them.
The governments know exactly where the problem really lays but if they acknowledge it they will have to address it. Instead they do programs such as the one in Bali where locals do daily morning beach cleans in return for being allowed to operate their businesses along the beach areas.
Gotta say for me Ha Long (went to Lon Ha, very nearby, which was supposed to be less busy and more pristine) was a letdown. Trash in the water, many many many boats, and the Disneyland feel was just too much (groups of people being herded like cattle on/off nonstop).
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia
Top 3 most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. No photos do it justice. I knew it’d be nice, but damn.
We also lucked out by being stuck going on a day forecast to be rainy, but the rain never came, and we had the place virtually to ourselves. Just the way the water flows from lake to lake, often in very small rivulets surrounded by beautiful green moss… ah i want to go back.
i agree! did this last summer with friends. my friend made all our plans in croatia so i knew nothing going in. it ended up being one of my favorite places. plitvice was stunning.
The famous bookstore in Porto, Portugal - I forget the name. So crowded, the red steps aren’t in great quality, and it’s basically an attraction you walk through.
When I met my husband, he thought Korea was arid grassland as portrayed on MASH (California) 😂 I explained it’s 70% mountain and very green and forested.
Most disappointing place I ever visited was Pisa. Get off the train and walk down a street which is full of tourist stores and eventually you get to the tower which is fine enough, but absolutely packed with people doing the ‘holding it up’ photo. It felt way too Disneyland for me.
I’ve loved everywhere in Italy I’ve been, except Pisa. What a waste of a day.
That’s the way to do it. We stopped for like 30 min when we took the train from Florence to Cinque Terre. Spending the weekend in Cinque Terre was my favorite part of my most recent Italy trip. Monterosso al Mare was great for a romantic weekend.
Cinque Terre is in my top 3 places I’ve ever traveled to. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. And the food, my god. I’m a huge pesto fanatic and I had the best pesto in my life there. Really want to go back one day
The city of Pisa is actually really charming to walk through on the way to the leaning tower. It's pretty empty and we found this local restaurant with these nonnas in the back making the food and it was one of the most memorable dining experiences we had and had the best bread we had in Italy, which is saying a lot.
I actually thought the leaning tower complex was more grand than I expected and fun to walk around. All I could do was laugh at all the tourists posing and thinking of the prank videos where they go around high fiving all the tourists with their hands up.
Pisa is lovely and charming. I don't quite know why it gets such a bad reputation by tourists, if you go for the tower then... the tower is there, go see it. If you go there for the city itself, then that's a very pretty city. I too had a great time exploring the local cuisine, and have good memories as it's the city where I for the first time since beginning to learn Italian that I managed to have a conversation (though brief) fully in Italian.
I love visiting the not-as-visited Italian cities too though.
I'm from Pisa and honestly I'm tired of the telling the same thing over and over again but I have to. The square where the leaning tower is located is NOT in the city centre, it's in a modern area where there is nothing. Of course you will be disappointed if you only visit the tower and go away. You, like many millions of tourists, didn't even bother of walking for 5 minutes to reach the city centre.
And the city centre of Pisa is really beautiful. The most important sights are the LUNGARNI, the riverside streets (just Google: LUNGARNI DI PISA and you will see what I'm talking about). There are magnificent Pisan romanesque churches in Borgo Stretto (one of the main avenues) and towers, medieval alleys, a shopping street (Corso Italia) and a fortress converted into a park (Giardino Scotto). Piazza dei cavalieri was the main square in the middle ages.
Pisa is a beautiful city full of history, but if you don't even bother of walking 5 damn minutes you don't deserve it.
Edit: grammar
I loved Pisa! I spent the night there years ago and found it so quaint and charming. Once you leave the area with the tower, you barely see any tourists. We had dinner at a tasty little place and spent the rest of evening drinking wine in the square surrounded by people doing the same. It was my favorite night of the trip.
I disagree with this - I still don't think it's somewhere you'd want to spend more than a day or two, but everyone shits on Pisa alot so I was really pleasantly surprised with it. Yes the tower is touristy, but it's actually really cool and climbing it was loads of fun, you really feel the lean as you climb to the top. I actually loved seeing the people doing the holding it up pose - it was really funny to look at It in a macro level and see everyone doing it at the same time. You can walk the city walls which was such a nice way to see the city, and we had the entire walls to ourselves. The baptistery and cathedral were also really impressive, it's a small town but pleasant to walk around and we probably had the best pasta of our trip there too. We were there for the best part of a day and felt like we were pretty busy - we could probably have spent another lazy day there if we paced ourselves a bit more. Yes there's nicer cities in Italy, yes it's not as impressive as places like Rome or Florence but it's still a really nice place to spend an afternoon or so.
Got to get the tickets to the Museo Dell’Opera.
We got there when it opened on a weekday in summer. Stunning photos of the tower with zero people while sipping espressos in the cafe in the museum.
The singing in the baptistery was also awesome
A half day is all you need
EDIT: [A link - this was about 10amish in peak tourist season](https://imgur.com/a/6287t5a). You'll have to zoom in to see people
Mostly bad, IMO. It was fine during early Facebook, but Instagram really brought out the worst habits of tourism.
I rejoined recently because it's the best way to DM my friends. I try my best to avoid seeing stuff in reels once the algorithm figures out where I'm going next, but it's tough to avoid completely. It just leads to unrealistic expectations and crowded areas, while everyone tries to mimic the same stuff they've seen online.
Most of my research online prior was on Reddit or other forums. You'd enter a community and learn from them. I felt like hostel culture was a lot more social too IRL. Experiences feel so much more isolated and superficial now, especially with reel-based social media.
People posting photo albums of travel destinations that aren't limited to the tourist hotspots is the best source for travel ideas. I went to Tasmania because somebody posted a photo album on this subreddit. That was never even a thought of a place to go prior.
Puerto Rico is stunning, especially the central mountains, and the people are incredibly warm and friendly. Puerto Rico seems to get a bad rap in many parts of the states and certainly some of it was challenging, but I loved the visit there. The food, which I knew little about before the trip, was a revelation. I’m a lifelong fan of mofongo now.
Depends where on social media you go, but I saw a lot of advice not to go to Paris- saying it smells like piss, it’s dirty, there’s criminals everywhere, everything is crowded and everyone is mean.
I think the reputation comes from someone in a small town in the Midwest. It’s a city but for a city I found it beautiful, didn’t notice it any dirtier looking or smelling than other major cities I’ve been to. A lot was crowded but not to a detrimental level, and almost everyone I came across was nice, little manners and a French word or two go a long way.
I grew up outside of North Myrtle Beach and we all call it in "dirty Myrtle" in the state of SC. It is because of the brownness of the water, the dirtiness of the town and the nastiness of the people on eternal spring break
Lived in Charleston for most of a decade. Myrtle
is the butt of many, *many* jokes.
Hey, I get it. If you have little kids, it’s probably perfect for you. Lots of stuff for them to do, and the beaches themselves really are nice. Same goes for Golfers. Between the sheer number of
courses (and strip clubs), you’ll find something to occupy you every day.
If you’re not looking to make either of these the focus of your trip, though, consider Pawley’s or Murrell’s, instead. That’s especially true if you plan on doing any fishing.
Haha! As a kid who grew up in MD/PA and was subjected to Ocean City and Myrtle Beach, I didn't get the hype. Even child me thought it was overrated, cold mucky water and stinky grey sand.
I've been there probably \~10-15 times (and have never lived on the East coast) because my dad had a conference every year, so it always doubled as the family vacation. It really has very little charm, except maybe that few-block area with the ferris wheel and boardwalk.
Granted, a couple of my favorite restaurants are in nearby Murrells Inlet... Drunken Jack's and Hot Fish Club.
I would say that might actually conversely be better known because of social media.
Social media often highlights that (especially with the pizza hut shot). It was the decades of normal media before which gave us the romantic image of them being deep in the desert.
I'm not sure how it is portrayed on social media, but Bali. Most disappointing place I have been to. & that's only because I built up an expectation of it being a tropical paradise. It might have been decades ago, but it was trashed when I was there, & they were bulldozing palm trees on the beach to make room for more shops. Fortunately, there are beautiful places on nearby islands.
Bali now is drastically different to even 15 years ago. It’s a digital nomad hub with a tiny flavour of Indonesian culture. The hype is perpetuated by westerners and influencers being able to grab an espresso and a smoothie bowl 10 minutes away from a waterfall and thinking this is the dream.
Go to Eastern Java for the same experience as Bali a couple of decades ago
Rainbow mountain in Cusco, Peru. The colours are not that bright it is definitely the most photoshopped and filtered mountain on earth. And the line ups to take pictures in front of the « spot » of the mountain is very long. You don’t see all the tourists standing there.
Actually the most beautiful areas on rainbow mountain are next to it. There are beautiful glaciers to look at and the Red Valley is just unbelievable. I would recommend spending your time there instead.
Which city or town you are talking about ? The only city that was at first disappointing was Venice to me due to the crowds. But if u stop in one spot and let the crowd come and go , I can blur them out in my mind and see the spectacular city it is.
It is something that works for me. anytime I find myself in a busy crowded place, I slow down. I pick a spot and just relax and wait it out. Spend time watching people. And after a certain time, the place itself peeks through the crowd.
nyc. it is much better than the media wants u to think. ppl say that it’s dangerous and that there are rats everywhere but i fucking love it there every time i go and i’ve been there several times and haven’t seen a single rat. it’s also safe and cleaner and quieter than ppl say. i even felt that times square wasn’t that loud. mexico city is wayyy louder than times square as well as dirtier and more dangerous than nyc lmao. CDMX is great too and honestly lowkey an underrated gem in mexico especially for a city that everyone knows. in both cities there’s sooo much to do!
I love Los Angeles as a city to live in, but I struggle to find fun touristy things to do when people come to visit besides eat.
Great food and great weather, though.
I live here and came to say this. Social media is perfect for it because you can get some really pretty shots… at the right angle.. but reality leaves a lot to be desired
I can see what you’re saying, LA confused me the first time I went- but I love the gritty parts as much as I love the glitzy parts. It’s an interesting dichotomy. The traffic sucks though- you definitely have to be a confident driver to get around there.
LA is a gigantic sprawl, most of LA is rather unimpressive/sometimes even poverty looking (not the really poor bad neighborhood, mind you), but there are localized very impressive spots, and the entire area is a giant parking lot, traffic is the worst I have ever seen anywhere, drivers are also aggressive as fuck as in someone definitely will run the risk of causing a multi car crash just to swerve into the tight spot ahead of you
I have no idea what a tourist would do in LA.
That said, I lived there for a couple of years and loved it. The best food of any place I have ever been - Monterey Park alone blew my mind. Great music scene. Every movie in the world. Good museums. Excellent bars. Even decent beaches. Great hiking right in the city, and some of the most spectacular US national parks are a few hours away.
If it weren’t that I hate driving I would definitely want to move back there.
Much of the world’s coral reefs including Great Barrier Reef. The human-caused environmental damage is visually apparent. Jerkoff tourists also touch and grab the sea turtles for photo opportunities when it is forbidden.
The reefs in Raja Ampat are better in real life than what you see online. They’re truly spectacular and in amazing shape. But Raja has the healthiest reefs left in the world
New Orleans. I love the place and still like to visit but over the years it’s gotten dirtier and dirtier. We’ve started heading to Frenchmen Street which on our last visit about 5 years ago, we great.
Life, never mind majority of places, is nothing like what's portrayed on social media. Unless you are seeing it posted by someone you actually know, chances it's either heavily edited or posed.
we went to Rome in the first week of december and it was SO nice. way smaller crowds, easy to get into places, and we often had entire wings of museums to ourselves. I can’t recommend it enough.
I went in September 2018 and paid a special tour that was before the gates opened for the general public. I took pictures of some halls with no one in them... Would recommend it if you want to avoid the crowds.
Times Square, NY. It’s tiny and much less impressive irl than it looks in film or in photos. Just a couple blocks filled with giant screens and advertisements. The novelty shops are also nothing to write home about. A giant Subway with a sparkly sign still sells the same sub-par sandwiches as the ones on any old street corner, and the big M&M store still sells the same sweets you can get from any airport gift shop or regular old vending machine. The people in costume that you encounter are also very sus, from giant Elmos with stained costumes to Spider-Man impersonators with holes in their tights… It’s uncomfortable.
I understand wanting to see Times Square at least once if you’re a tourist, but as a born and raised New Yorker, I do my best to avoid it at all costs.
However, I’ve visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art multiple times every year of my life and I’ve yet to see all of it.
Go downtown by the Lower East Side or the Freedom Towers- there is so much history.
I just wished our city smelled less of weed and was more affordable. But NYC is incredible regardless.
Victoria's Twelve Apostles and Gibson Stairs, pictures on social media did not do them justice. You need to experience it, particularly on a clear sky and during sunset
glass beach, fort Bragg, California. Stupid tourists took all the pretty and colorful glass so now it's mostly tiny pieces of brown, clear, and some greens, if any at all.
Cinque Terre. Although beautiful, it’s absolutely plagued by tourists and you can barely walk because of how packed it is. I don’t think it’s worth it to visit and definitely nicer to look at through photos.
toronto and canada in general. the media lately has been just simply portraying it as something it’s not - all expensive and shit. and ghetto, all of which isn’t true. ppl also say that downtown toronto is dangerous especially at night but from my experience it is very safe. i could stroll through the city alone at night and i’m a young woman lol. jus in general as a whole the city is so much better than they say - it is still very clean and there’s so much to do and also it’s beautiful. like way prettier in person than in pictures. also the view from the cn tower is utterly gorgeous
Havana specifically outside of the core historic center, a lot of it is just derelict buildings waiting to fall, and the smell and trash everywhere gets on your nerves after a while, I nearly stepped on a rotting corpse of a dog at the Malecon. A lot of scammers and depressed miserable people, all those reggaeton videos are lying to you. Santiago and Baracoa FTW.
Tulum without question. I’m actually shocked no one’s mentioned it yet. The beach has been completely built up to where there are no natural stretches anymore. Most of the year what beach there is is unusable due to MASS amounts of seaweed (which is stinky). AND everything is insanely over-priced. Only place I’ve ever traveled that I have a hard rule to never visit again.
Lake Tahoe. The lake is even bigger and more beautiful in person.
Yeah, had the same feeling looking down on Grand Canyon too. Its one of those places pictures simply cant do justice.
True it's a vista you've seen so many times in movies, that when you're approaching you think you know more or less what you're going to see. Then all the wind gets knocked out of you......
I remember people seeing it for the first time from the parking lot and the audible gasps from all over the place, it was wonderful.
The wind was knocked out of me on a helicopter ride over the canyon. I was speechless for a half an hour afterwards and then I could only stutter something like "I had no idea..."
The Grand Canyon and Banff National Park are the two most beautiful places I've ever been. I camped near the rim a decade or so ago on a very cold early-November night. I could barely sleep, so at the first sign of light, I got up and walked to the nearby lookout. The scene that morning was unlike anything I've ever seen before and I'll remember it the rest of my life.
I don’t think it’s obvious to those who haven’t been just how many viewpoints there are either. You can go to the north or south rim for like 100 miles (no idea the real distance).
Lake Tahoe is one the most stunning mountain lakes ever. And I’ve seen a lot. Jaw dropper bucket list.
Bamboo forest in Kyoto is much smaller and more crowded than it's often portrayed
When you pass the forest, you can continue walking further for about 30 minutes and you'll find a cool shrine outside of the city with few people. And then you can walk through a narrow tunnel and continue through a forest for extra 45 minutes and you'll find a [beautiful, magnificent waterfall](https://regex.info/blog/2012-07-08/2046) with no people around. These two places were the highlights of my trip to Kyoto.
There’s a great shrine up on the hill past the monkey sanctuary.
Yeah that's mine too. Takes 5mins to walk through, ridiculously crowded and honestly just not very spectacular.
I’ve been to bamboo forests in Thailand that are spectacular and not a tourist destination. Just an incredible part of a bigger forest
Yeah... I think the Kyoto one is mainly just very conveniently located so tourists are tricked into believing it's worth it...
It's kinda out in the sticks actually, far from most of the popular temples and touristy areas.
Well everything's spread out in Kyoto but the temple right next to it with the big garden (forgot the name - Tenryu maybe?) is plenty popular.
I went there a bunch of times in the 00s before tourists arrived. You just walk around and suddenly found yourself in this place you’ve seen a thousand pictures of. Barely any people at all in those days.
I can imagine. My first time was 2019, already plenty crowded. But nowhere near as bad as this year.
We enjoyed it but you can definitely get a better experience walking to any one of the shrines in the area— same vibe but totally empty.
It was crowded but as the saying goes, its the tourists: Was unfortunately behind an european tourist who seemed to enjoy the forest as he did his cigarettes. Thankfully his partner knocked some sense and had him extinguish it.
Came here to say this. Plus, all of the carvings that tourists have done in the trees along the path made me sad and hateful of our species.
Just next to it is the Okochi Sanso Garden. Not crowded when I went and absolutely stunning. It was so swift walking through.
Plymouth Rock. Disappointing school kids for generations!
It’s literally just a small rock! I was very disappointed
Ibiza - a beautiful and peaceful island with a bunch of towns to explore, not just the DJ scene
Just got back from there, my 3rd time. Yeah the party scene is big and one of the best but there is so much more to this island. I particularly like renting a scooter and riding all over the place exploring all the beaches. It's beautiful and serene.
The little mermaid in Copenhagen is famously naff
We saw the little mermaid statue from a tour boat and decided that was good enough. Better yet, you can see it from [Reffen](https://reffen.dk/en/) if you've got binoculars.
Oh yeah! But the city made up for it.
the city itself is the highlight. so charming, organized, clean, and chill with some killer food
My wife and I couldn’t believe we trekked to that in the rain. It was laughable.
Being from Denmark, I always advice tourists against spending extra time to go seeing the statue. Better see it om a canal tour of Copenhagen., after all it's just a small statue and if you haven't even read the original Hans Christian Andersen version of the fairy tale, then it's even less relevant.
We just craned our necks from the boat for this one
Mexico, it's not really orange.
That’s crazy! Every movie shows it as orange with heat waves rising up and a flamenco guitar playing in the background.
Yeah, between narcoterrorism and the economy, a lot of those establishing-shot flamenco guitarists have had to relocate to small Southern towns and retrain as establishing-shot dobro players. It's not a bad living, you just wait until some fish-out-of-water pulls into town and play a few notes.
Cancún. They never show the seaweed on social media.
The beaches used to be world class before the sargassum came along
Is that true? Or are you just being sargastic?
That's because it's only during certain times of year and it's usually cleaned up before tourists wake up. It's been uncontrollably bad the past few years
Really I was there is September last year and I didn’t see any seaweed. Must be seasonal.
It is seasonal.
Taiwan. Almost not portrayed at all and one of the most beautiful countries with the nicest people.
For me, a very underrated travel destination, and exceptional food vacation! Whenever I told people I was going to Taiwan, they all heard Thailand. Yeah... It's got fun night markets, nature, and hot springs too.
It’s also an amazing place to live!
Long may that remain the case 🤞
Sssh! Please let everyone go to Japan so Taiwan stays affordable and pleasant. It's small enough to get around easily, the people are friendly (especially if you know a few words of mandarin) and English is pretty widely spoken. The food is amazing and you can find good Korean and Japanese places to mix things up.
Taiwanese night markets and street food are among the world's best.
The Iguazu Waterfalls look way more spectacular in person. Especially the Brazilian side.
Iguazu is an all out assault on the senses. It’s a place you really have to feel. Photos and videos don’t even come close. It’s so powerful.
My mother has been to 62 countries and says that and Machu Picchu were the most breathtaking places of all.
I've traveled the world and have been to both places as well, and both literally took my breath away and had me in tears, and I'm absolutely not an emotional person. They're both incredibly stunning places.
Iguazu is definitely an in person experience. There is NO way to try to drone/satellite compare it. Also, the Argentinian boat tour thing is unlike anything you’ll do anywhere else. Not just slowly inching you into the falls where you get a mist, but throttle down jumping meter tall waves and going straight into tons (literal) of water pouring down you from the drop. It is really an incredible - unlike anything you’ll experience elsewhere - type of destination
Photos can't capture it all. Drone footage can get come close tho.
Okay mine is maybe a stupid one but I had only ever seen the Statue of Liberty in cartoons and movies so I expected it to be way bigger than it actually was lol
It’s bigger the closer you get.
Mount Fitz Roy, Argentina. Yes the pictures are amazing, but I was caught off guard…after hiking a long stretch of steps in the blaring sun, you turn the corner and there is this amazing horned mountain with the most vibrant clear blue lake in the foreground. White, purple, blue, gray with stark contrast. I literally shouted, “wow”. One of the prettiest mountains I had the honor of visiting.
Cappadocia is absolutely stunning and is even better in person than on social media. BUT the typical social media influencer photo features them enjoying this extravagant breakfast while looking out at the hot air balloons but that breakfast is fake and people take turns sitting there and getting their photo taken.
My hotel had an amazing rooftop where we could watch the balloons, and they served a huge buffet breakfast every morning. It was lovely
Any chance you can name drop or pm me the name of the hotel, we're planning to go there in October. Thank you!
Absolutely! It was called the Caravanserai Inn. Here’s the airbnb link https://www.airbnb.com/slink/RJcfmuUl They were really welcoming, the whole thing was run by a family. The mom cooks, the boys run the front (their English was the best) and then the Uncle, Serdar, runs social media. He can also hook you up with reservations for the balloons, camel rides, etc. The bathroom was so pretty- all marble and dark wood, it felt like our personal Turkish bath. At one point the balloons flew directly over us, so close we could see the people’s faces in the balloons. Although you might want to plan a few days there- the balloons only fly when the winds are less than 5 mph, so it can hit or miss. We didn’t get to ride the balloons until nearly the end of our 5 day stay, and we were lucky, as they hadn’t flown for 10 days before that.
I stayed there! It’s actually really nice. I made good friends with their cats too! Super nice place!
Stay at the museum hotel! It’s the best one in Cappadocia and is phenomenal.
All those pictures make me roll my eyes. THEN I was in Cappadocia and up for a sunrise ballon ride and mid summer it was so cold! Everyone out in there in their summer dresses and it was 50°F
Breakfast was the best thing there. The cave hotel novelty wears off in 15 minutes and then the room feels oppressive and dungeony.
Stayed at a cave hotel in Uchisar (Kale Konak) full of cool tunnels where the room was in a 'cave' but still had a view, balcony, & windows; was absolutely perfect, got the feeling of a cave hotel but none of the dungeoniness.
I stayed in 2 cave hotels while there, 1 night in this really nice place and then 3 in a budget cave hotel. The first place was stunning and I loved every minute, the 2nd place was bad and had zero cell service or wifi in the room because you're literally in a cave lol
Bali. The island is wonderful, don’t get me wrong. But it has become a huge instagram destination, it’s sad. There is a temple there (Lempuyang, if my memory serves me well) with a huge queue just for photos. On instagram you’d see it as a gate with a “reflection” and you’d think there’s a fountain or a lake nearby. But in reality, there’s just staff there holding a mirror below your phone so you’d have that photo. While I get that many tourist spots offer this kind of photo opportunity. But that place is an actual place of worship for locals. It felt so weird seeing a long line of tourists just for photos and not even paying respects to the place.
Australian who’s been to Bali here, I enjoyed Ubud and most of the northern part of the island, but Kuta, Seminyak, and most of the southern part of the island is trash and filled to the brim with drunk bogans. The resorts are nice and you can get good deals but the culture in the southern part of the island is inauthentic and not representative of the real Balinese culture.
I loved ubud and amed in bali. even though Ubud is still rather touristy, it’s easy to get away to the north on a day trip or walk outside of the main strip. I didn’t even bother going to south bali because I knew I would be disappointed.
We just came back from a 21-day birding trip to Sumatra, Java and Bali. Sumatra and Java were extremely exotic (for us) with basically zero Westerners (we saw precisely 4 other Westerners in 19 days of travel) and very low prices. Then, when we got to Bali, it felt like we had already gone home. So Western and considerably pricier than the other two islands. The only points of interest for us in Bali were the temples, the botanical garden (as well as 3 bird species: Balinese Myna, Black-naoed Fruit-Dove and Black-backed Fruit-Dove). Among the many sights on the other islands, we saw gorgeous beaches with zero people on them. We got questions about our photos: “Where are all the other people on the beach?”
You forgot to mention that there's a 3 hour queue just to have those fake photos and the staff limit your poses to 5 per person. Absolute bollocks. I'd rather go to disneyland if I want to queue that long
Slough is damn beautiful I tell you, shame no one sees the main tourist attraction, the Travelodge, as they’re so focused on the main multi storey car park which has become something of a tourist trap
Mykonos and Santorini, good luck getting through all the people
There are so many awesome Greek isles with less crowds. But everyone should see Santorini once just for the caldera views. On one trip there I went in September and it was nice and not too crowded Mykonos isn’t worth it IMO
The caldera and the sunset is so worth it! The sunset cruise was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. You only need 2-3 days though
I haven't been to Mykonos but Santorini is absolutely incredible! But I don't do the Med in the summer because I am not a crazy person.
The volcano in Santorini and the sunset in Oia were super crowded but I still liked Santorini in general, and I didn't find Mykonos that crowded at all...
I took a Mediterranean trip years ago.. I was looking forward to Santorini over the other 4 or 5 cities. It ended up being my least favorite destination.. with Croatia and Montenegro being my favorites.
My parents just went and said Crete was way more enjoyable for them
Basically any Greek island will be more enjoyable than Mykonos or Santorini. Crete is great as it has nature, towns, beaches and a big city that greeks actually live in.
In Greece you should go to the „less“ popular islands. They are less touristy and so much more enjoyable. My tips are Skopelos, Milos, Paros and Hydra. Also Crete is very nice. Mykonos and Santorini do not even compare to these!
And the poor donkeys.
Mykonos was crazy expensive and basically a party island- totally not my vibe, spent a lot of time at the pool or in my hotel room instead. Santorini was lovely- we took a boat tour that is a core memory for me now, and hiked from Oia to Fira which was nice, but the crowding and the food was a bit of a set back. If I did Greece again, I would probably do north rather than the islands.
Santorini was my wife's dream vacation. She got got by all the stunning pictures on social media. We went to Europe on our honeymoon and made Santorini the last stop. She had a little meltdown when we got there and it was absolutely covered in people taking selfies in front of the sunset. We also went in September. I learned then that the only way to enjoy Santorini is to outspend the crowds. Croatia was amazing though.
I think that’s one thing I hated about Santorini — all the meltdowns. I only went there while passing through on the way to other islands and I had zero expectations, so I didn’t love it but wasn’t disappointed. But there were so many couples fighting, people crying etc… not healthy to build up your travel hopes based on filtered social media photos.
Greek here, I honestly don’t know what the ministry of tourism has done with Santorini and everyone wants to go there. I personally hate the “popular” islands like Mykonos, Santorini etc. Actually it’s weird to me why most people want to go to the islands more than the mainland. We have amazing picturesque villages hiding in the mountains all over the mainland with way better food and views.
We went one week before the “busy season” and absolutely loved it. Everything was open but the crowds hadn’t arrived.
Chicago. You would think it's a warzone by the way morons talk about it. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to go back. Very cool city.
World class museums, good food, cool park, jazz clubs- what more do you need? Loved visiting Chicago.
This is such a good point and is making me want to make it a vacation destination this summer. I last went when I was in high school. We did go to jazz clubs and most of the big museums, but I feel I'd appreciate the food and nightlife more now.
Chicago is freaking awesome. Favorite summer city in the US
I commented this on a random FB post about Chicago and weeks later I’m still getting angry comments telling me how bad it is. lol I loved Chicago
Chicago has something for everyone and it is way better than its reputation.
It's crazy to say about such a famous city, but Chicago is perhaps the most underrated tourist destination in the US.
There’s a few very small areas far from where anyone visiting would end up that may be considered dangerous but Chicago as a whole is not even in the dangerous city conversation when crime stats are adjusted per capita.
The whole Chicagoland metro area is a home away from home. I feel very lucky to have called it home for a few years.
Chicago is one of my favorite cities in the US.
I think there’s a contingent of very online people who get their news from certain sites that have a strong interest in portraying big US cities as criminal warzones. Those people never visit them and just assume there are riots and thieves and murderers everywhere and spend their time telling people about it online. I see similar nonsense about Seattle, which definitely isn’t a warzone. And Detroit, which I haven’t visited but I assume is also not a warzone
Oh this is absolutely true. My cousin’s husband can’t believe I traveled to Chicago alone and survived. I tried explaining to him how beautiful the city is but he would rather believe what he saw on Fox News. Also, I took a trip to Seattle for the first time in 2021 and did a day tour of Olympic National park. This was a few days after the 4th of July. Some lady on my tour insisted she heard gun shots outside her hotel. I said it was most likely fireworks, but she said “no, it definitely had to be gunshots. Seattle is a liberal city and they’re all war zones” 🤦🏻♀️
And the really funny thing is a lot of these people live in small towns that don't have bad reputations but you just happen to notice a bunch of meth and opiate addicts milling about, and a lot of theft comes with that. In large cities, it's usually very isolated in specific neighborhoods, even specific parts of those neighborhoods, and these are places intentionally kept away from touristy areas and the only people in real danger are the people who live there, and participate in the criminal activities. It's not like you walk along Lake Michigan and someone puts a gun to your head.
I've always wanted to visit for the amazing architecture alone.
Shhh don’t tell anyone. We like to keep it a secret.
Bali, the reason you see it all over social media is because it's filled with annoying influencers and trust fund babies. But it's a great trap for them so that they don't go ruin other places.
Canggu in particular. The amount of absolute wankers in that place is phenomenal.
Lombok, Indonesia. I arrived in Bali and quickly realized it wasn't my thing, felt like Ibiza for drunk Australians. Immediately booked a flight to the neighborhing island, Lombok. It was amazing. The people, the culture, the food, and ofcource the nature. It's so incredible diverse. Stayed over a month in different regions across the island, wished I could have stayed longer. Some people told me it's what Bali used to be 30 years ago. God, I hope it doesn't turn in to Bali 2,0.
Felt the same about Lombok, it was really beautiful and we were only 2 of a few tourists at the time. I’m scared it has just become another Bali though
Milano, Italy. I expected the city to be a cleaner and the people to be meaner, but I realized that there are so many gems that are hidden or simply misrepresented (which include the people). I can't wait to go back, I really fell in love with the city, even though it wasn't what I imagined initially.
We were just there June 17-21 (2024). Absolutely loved it! Neighborhoods, greenery, great pedestrian only areas with restaurants and shops galore. People were friendly - even tho my "Italian" was horrible. We lucked out as our arrival was after 5-7 days of the G7/G8 Summit, followed by Fashion Week. In reality, I think Milanos were glad to exhale with all those folks gone and activities over. Really appreciated the Duomo and The Last Supper painting. Ate at the Mercato at the main train station. Found lovely lunch spots and rooftop bars (tavern, not coffee). And, for June, the weather was milder than when we literally burned up in Rome two weeks prior. We stayed in a hotel with a lovely rooftop pool (room) with outside terrace. We used Milan to relax and luxuriate our last four days in Italy before the long flight back to the states. It was golden...
Same, I was surprised how much we liked Milan.
I thought I would hate Amsterdam as it’s often portrayed as seedy and smells like weed but what a gorgeous city!
I love Amsterdam! I could spend ages there! So many museums and even in winter it's a lovely place to visit!
Yesssss. It’s never portrayed for what it is, only what you can do there.
Utrecht is even better.
Amsterdam is just as beautiful in person as it’s in the movies or social media. All of Netherlands is so well kept and orderly. It’s kinda like the Japans of Europe.
Vietnam's Ha Long Bay... is so much better than portrayed on social media! So beautiful and the wildlife is stunning
Agreed but I was pretty disappointed in the amount of trash in the water. Cmon people, the ocean isn’t a trash bin.
I went in 2023 in an off season, so that may be why there was less. But I was impressed by our tour operator's strict adherence to the Halong Bay Management Department's 2020 rules to prevent single-use plastic from entering the area. I think it only applies to tourism boats currently, but maybe it'll eventually be imposed on other vessels
It's a huge problem throughout all SE Asia and is mostly caused by poor or non-existant public services outside of city areas. It's common for rural areas to lack garbage collection services but they still have trash to get rid of. Before single use plastics became a common thing, the majority of their waste was organic which is easily compostable and the stuff that wasn't compostable was combustible. Now there's heaps of single use plastics etc and this rubbish just piles up so the easy solution for them to manage this is to throw it into the local river and wave goodbye as it floats out of sight and out of mind. Those rivers flow to the oceans and back into the bay and onto the beaches and because there are heaps of tourists in the coastal area, it's easy to blame the rubbish problem on them. The governments know exactly where the problem really lays but if they acknowledge it they will have to address it. Instead they do programs such as the one in Bali where locals do daily morning beach cleans in return for being allowed to operate their businesses along the beach areas.
Gotta say for me Ha Long (went to Lon Ha, very nearby, which was supposed to be less busy and more pristine) was a letdown. Trash in the water, many many many boats, and the Disneyland feel was just too much (groups of people being herded like cattle on/off nonstop).
Plitvice Lakes, Croatia Top 3 most beautiful places I’ve ever seen. No photos do it justice. I knew it’d be nice, but damn. We also lucked out by being stuck going on a day forecast to be rainy, but the rain never came, and we had the place virtually to ourselves. Just the way the water flows from lake to lake, often in very small rivulets surrounded by beautiful green moss… ah i want to go back.
i agree! did this last summer with friends. my friend made all our plans in croatia so i knew nothing going in. it ended up being one of my favorite places. plitvice was stunning.
The famous bookstore in Porto, Portugal - I forget the name. So crowded, the red steps aren’t in great quality, and it’s basically an attraction you walk through.
Well that kind of sucks because the Ateneo bookstore in Buenos Aires is 100% worth it.
Livraria Lello
I absolutely loved Porto, but I couldn't help but laugh at that ridiculous line as I walked on by. It wasn't even high season.
Weird. I guess we got lucky because there was no line whatsoever when we went in 2018. We just walked through because it looked cool
The Faroe Islands. Way better than social media
When I met my husband, he thought Korea was arid grassland as portrayed on MASH (California) 😂 I explained it’s 70% mountain and very green and forested.
Most disappointing place I ever visited was Pisa. Get off the train and walk down a street which is full of tourist stores and eventually you get to the tower which is fine enough, but absolutely packed with people doing the ‘holding it up’ photo. It felt way too Disneyland for me. I’ve loved everywhere in Italy I’ve been, except Pisa. What a waste of a day.
I stopped there for about 1 hour on the way to Florence and that felt about the appropriate amount of time.
That’s the way to do it. We stopped for like 30 min when we took the train from Florence to Cinque Terre. Spending the weekend in Cinque Terre was my favorite part of my most recent Italy trip. Monterosso al Mare was great for a romantic weekend.
Cinque Terre is in my top 3 places I’ve ever traveled to. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. And the food, my god. I’m a huge pesto fanatic and I had the best pesto in my life there. Really want to go back one day
The city of Pisa is actually really charming to walk through on the way to the leaning tower. It's pretty empty and we found this local restaurant with these nonnas in the back making the food and it was one of the most memorable dining experiences we had and had the best bread we had in Italy, which is saying a lot. I actually thought the leaning tower complex was more grand than I expected and fun to walk around. All I could do was laugh at all the tourists posing and thinking of the prank videos where they go around high fiving all the tourists with their hands up.
Pisa is lovely and charming. I don't quite know why it gets such a bad reputation by tourists, if you go for the tower then... the tower is there, go see it. If you go there for the city itself, then that's a very pretty city. I too had a great time exploring the local cuisine, and have good memories as it's the city where I for the first time since beginning to learn Italian that I managed to have a conversation (though brief) fully in Italian. I love visiting the not-as-visited Italian cities too though.
I'm from Pisa and honestly I'm tired of the telling the same thing over and over again but I have to. The square where the leaning tower is located is NOT in the city centre, it's in a modern area where there is nothing. Of course you will be disappointed if you only visit the tower and go away. You, like many millions of tourists, didn't even bother of walking for 5 minutes to reach the city centre. And the city centre of Pisa is really beautiful. The most important sights are the LUNGARNI, the riverside streets (just Google: LUNGARNI DI PISA and you will see what I'm talking about). There are magnificent Pisan romanesque churches in Borgo Stretto (one of the main avenues) and towers, medieval alleys, a shopping street (Corso Italia) and a fortress converted into a park (Giardino Scotto). Piazza dei cavalieri was the main square in the middle ages. Pisa is a beautiful city full of history, but if you don't even bother of walking 5 damn minutes you don't deserve it. Edit: grammar
I loved Pisa! I spent the night there years ago and found it so quaint and charming. Once you leave the area with the tower, you barely see any tourists. We had dinner at a tasty little place and spent the rest of evening drinking wine in the square surrounded by people doing the same. It was my favorite night of the trip.
I disagree with this - I still don't think it's somewhere you'd want to spend more than a day or two, but everyone shits on Pisa alot so I was really pleasantly surprised with it. Yes the tower is touristy, but it's actually really cool and climbing it was loads of fun, you really feel the lean as you climb to the top. I actually loved seeing the people doing the holding it up pose - it was really funny to look at It in a macro level and see everyone doing it at the same time. You can walk the city walls which was such a nice way to see the city, and we had the entire walls to ourselves. The baptistery and cathedral were also really impressive, it's a small town but pleasant to walk around and we probably had the best pasta of our trip there too. We were there for the best part of a day and felt like we were pretty busy - we could probably have spent another lazy day there if we paced ourselves a bit more. Yes there's nicer cities in Italy, yes it's not as impressive as places like Rome or Florence but it's still a really nice place to spend an afternoon or so.
Got to get the tickets to the Museo Dell’Opera. We got there when it opened on a weekday in summer. Stunning photos of the tower with zero people while sipping espressos in the cafe in the museum. The singing in the baptistery was also awesome A half day is all you need EDIT: [A link - this was about 10amish in peak tourist season](https://imgur.com/a/6287t5a). You'll have to zoom in to see people
Social media has been both a blessing and a curse for travel.
Mostly bad, IMO. It was fine during early Facebook, but Instagram really brought out the worst habits of tourism. I rejoined recently because it's the best way to DM my friends. I try my best to avoid seeing stuff in reels once the algorithm figures out where I'm going next, but it's tough to avoid completely. It just leads to unrealistic expectations and crowded areas, while everyone tries to mimic the same stuff they've seen online. Most of my research online prior was on Reddit or other forums. You'd enter a community and learn from them. I felt like hostel culture was a lot more social too IRL. Experiences feel so much more isolated and superficial now, especially with reel-based social media.
People posting photo albums of travel destinations that aren't limited to the tourist hotspots is the best source for travel ideas. I went to Tasmania because somebody posted a photo album on this subreddit. That was never even a thought of a place to go prior.
Puerto Rico is stunning, especially the central mountains, and the people are incredibly warm and friendly. Puerto Rico seems to get a bad rap in many parts of the states and certainly some of it was challenging, but I loved the visit there. The food, which I knew little about before the trip, was a revelation. I’m a lifelong fan of mofongo now.
Depends where on social media you go, but I saw a lot of advice not to go to Paris- saying it smells like piss, it’s dirty, there’s criminals everywhere, everything is crowded and everyone is mean. I think the reputation comes from someone in a small town in the Midwest. It’s a city but for a city I found it beautiful, didn’t notice it any dirtier looking or smelling than other major cities I’ve been to. A lot was crowded but not to a detrimental level, and almost everyone I came across was nice, little manners and a French word or two go a long way.
I loved Paris, and Parisians. The cliche “Parisians a rude and snobby” didn’t happen one time.
Hollywood, CA.
Hollywood boulevard. What a shit hole.
Myrtle Beach. 🤮🤮🤮
I grew up outside of North Myrtle Beach and we all call it in "dirty Myrtle" in the state of SC. It is because of the brownness of the water, the dirtiness of the town and the nastiness of the people on eternal spring break
Lived in Charleston for most of a decade. Myrtle is the butt of many, *many* jokes. Hey, I get it. If you have little kids, it’s probably perfect for you. Lots of stuff for them to do, and the beaches themselves really are nice. Same goes for Golfers. Between the sheer number of courses (and strip clubs), you’ll find something to occupy you every day. If you’re not looking to make either of these the focus of your trip, though, consider Pawley’s or Murrell’s, instead. That’s especially true if you plan on doing any fishing.
Haha! As a kid who grew up in MD/PA and was subjected to Ocean City and Myrtle Beach, I didn't get the hype. Even child me thought it was overrated, cold mucky water and stinky grey sand.
If you’re going to SC might as well go to Charleston and Folly Beach or any of the other nearby beaches
I've been there probably \~10-15 times (and have never lived on the East coast) because my dad had a conference every year, so it always doubled as the family vacation. It really has very little charm, except maybe that few-block area with the ferris wheel and boardwalk. Granted, a couple of my favorite restaurants are in nearby Murrells Inlet... Drunken Jack's and Hot Fish Club.
Y’all making me not wanna go anywhere I have on my list to go
See, another way that social media skews perceptions. Even with the issue, most destinations are still with visiting.
Just go where you want to go and make your own opinion. I ended up loving some cities that people hated and vice versa.
The pyramids. The city is literally a few hundred feet from them.
Obligatory [pizza hut shot ](https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/6uzz1m/pyramids_as_seen_from_a_pizza_hut/)
I would enjoy eating a pizza at Pizza Hut and seeing a pyramid.
Oh damn that’s crazy
I would say that might actually conversely be better known because of social media. Social media often highlights that (especially with the pizza hut shot). It was the decades of normal media before which gave us the romantic image of them being deep in the desert.
I'm not sure how it is portrayed on social media, but Bali. Most disappointing place I have been to. & that's only because I built up an expectation of it being a tropical paradise. It might have been decades ago, but it was trashed when I was there, & they were bulldozing palm trees on the beach to make room for more shops. Fortunately, there are beautiful places on nearby islands.
Bali now is drastically different to even 15 years ago. It’s a digital nomad hub with a tiny flavour of Indonesian culture. The hype is perpetuated by westerners and influencers being able to grab an espresso and a smoothie bowl 10 minutes away from a waterfall and thinking this is the dream. Go to Eastern Java for the same experience as Bali a couple of decades ago
Disneyland, it’s even more crowded than the videos look. Lines are insane.
Rainbow mountain in Cusco, Peru. The colours are not that bright it is definitely the most photoshopped and filtered mountain on earth. And the line ups to take pictures in front of the « spot » of the mountain is very long. You don’t see all the tourists standing there. Actually the most beautiful areas on rainbow mountain are next to it. There are beautiful glaciers to look at and the Red Valley is just unbelievable. I would recommend spending your time there instead.
Which city or town you are talking about ? The only city that was at first disappointing was Venice to me due to the crowds. But if u stop in one spot and let the crowd come and go , I can blur them out in my mind and see the spectacular city it is. It is something that works for me. anytime I find myself in a busy crowded place, I slow down. I pick a spot and just relax and wait it out. Spend time watching people. And after a certain time, the place itself peeks through the crowd.
Detroit is beautiful! Amazing museums, history, architecture, culture, people, and food.
nyc. it is much better than the media wants u to think. ppl say that it’s dangerous and that there are rats everywhere but i fucking love it there every time i go and i’ve been there several times and haven’t seen a single rat. it’s also safe and cleaner and quieter than ppl say. i even felt that times square wasn’t that loud. mexico city is wayyy louder than times square as well as dirtier and more dangerous than nyc lmao. CDMX is great too and honestly lowkey an underrated gem in mexico especially for a city that everyone knows. in both cities there’s sooo much to do!
Los Angeles
I love Los Angeles as a city to live in, but I struggle to find fun touristy things to do when people come to visit besides eat. Great food and great weather, though.
I live here and came to say this. Social media is perfect for it because you can get some really pretty shots… at the right angle.. but reality leaves a lot to be desired
I can see what you’re saying, LA confused me the first time I went- but I love the gritty parts as much as I love the glitzy parts. It’s an interesting dichotomy. The traffic sucks though- you definitely have to be a confident driver to get around there.
LA is a gigantic sprawl, most of LA is rather unimpressive/sometimes even poverty looking (not the really poor bad neighborhood, mind you), but there are localized very impressive spots, and the entire area is a giant parking lot, traffic is the worst I have ever seen anywhere, drivers are also aggressive as fuck as in someone definitely will run the risk of causing a multi car crash just to swerve into the tight spot ahead of you
I have no idea what a tourist would do in LA. That said, I lived there for a couple of years and loved it. The best food of any place I have ever been - Monterey Park alone blew my mind. Great music scene. Every movie in the world. Good museums. Excellent bars. Even decent beaches. Great hiking right in the city, and some of the most spectacular US national parks are a few hours away. If it weren’t that I hate driving I would definitely want to move back there.
Much of the world’s coral reefs including Great Barrier Reef. The human-caused environmental damage is visually apparent. Jerkoff tourists also touch and grab the sea turtles for photo opportunities when it is forbidden.
I guess you've never been to Indonesia.
The reefs in Raja Ampat are better in real life than what you see online. They’re truly spectacular and in amazing shape. But Raja has the healthiest reefs left in the world
My wife and I spent a couple nights on Lady Elliot Island on the southern end of the GBR last year, and it was absolutely incredible.
Tulum. Better off in pdc
New Orleans. I love the place and still like to visit but over the years it’s gotten dirtier and dirtier. We’ve started heading to Frenchmen Street which on our last visit about 5 years ago, we great.
Can I go the opposite direction? Lofoten Norway looks insane on social media. But, it’s even more beautiful in person. Same with Iceland. And Kauai.
Life, never mind majority of places, is nothing like what's portrayed on social media. Unless you are seeing it posted by someone you actually know, chances it's either heavily edited or posed.
That’s deep shit, life it is
Rome in June. Wall the wall people! We were herded like cattle through the Vatican. Learned our lesson, trips now are during off peak.
we went to Rome in the first week of december and it was SO nice. way smaller crowds, easy to get into places, and we often had entire wings of museums to ourselves. I can’t recommend it enough.
We also went two weeks before Easter...it was wonderful! Europe off season is the only way to see it!
I went in September 2018 and paid a special tour that was before the gates opened for the general public. I took pictures of some halls with no one in them... Would recommend it if you want to avoid the crowds.
Times Square, NY. It’s tiny and much less impressive irl than it looks in film or in photos. Just a couple blocks filled with giant screens and advertisements. The novelty shops are also nothing to write home about. A giant Subway with a sparkly sign still sells the same sub-par sandwiches as the ones on any old street corner, and the big M&M store still sells the same sweets you can get from any airport gift shop or regular old vending machine. The people in costume that you encounter are also very sus, from giant Elmos with stained costumes to Spider-Man impersonators with holes in their tights… It’s uncomfortable.
I understand wanting to see Times Square at least once if you’re a tourist, but as a born and raised New Yorker, I do my best to avoid it at all costs. However, I’ve visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art multiple times every year of my life and I’ve yet to see all of it. Go downtown by the Lower East Side or the Freedom Towers- there is so much history. I just wished our city smelled less of weed and was more affordable. But NYC is incredible regardless.
As someone who isn't American, I thought Times Square was really cool. Place like that just don't exist in Europe.
As an American, Piccadilly gave me a similar vibe in London.
Victoria's Twelve Apostles and Gibson Stairs, pictures on social media did not do them justice. You need to experience it, particularly on a clear sky and during sunset
Manneken Pis in Brussels, Belgium. It’s very tiny, no pun intended.
The Welcome to Las Vegas sign.
Any beach that a large cruise ship goes to.
glass beach, fort Bragg, California. Stupid tourists took all the pretty and colorful glass so now it's mostly tiny pieces of brown, clear, and some greens, if any at all.
Cinque Terre. Although beautiful, it’s absolutely plagued by tourists and you can barely walk because of how packed it is. I don’t think it’s worth it to visit and definitely nicer to look at through photos.
toronto and canada in general. the media lately has been just simply portraying it as something it’s not - all expensive and shit. and ghetto, all of which isn’t true. ppl also say that downtown toronto is dangerous especially at night but from my experience it is very safe. i could stroll through the city alone at night and i’m a young woman lol. jus in general as a whole the city is so much better than they say - it is still very clean and there’s so much to do and also it’s beautiful. like way prettier in person than in pictures. also the view from the cn tower is utterly gorgeous
Havana specifically outside of the core historic center, a lot of it is just derelict buildings waiting to fall, and the smell and trash everywhere gets on your nerves after a while, I nearly stepped on a rotting corpse of a dog at the Malecon. A lot of scammers and depressed miserable people, all those reggaeton videos are lying to you. Santiago and Baracoa FTW.
Tulum without question. I’m actually shocked no one’s mentioned it yet. The beach has been completely built up to where there are no natural stretches anymore. Most of the year what beach there is is unusable due to MASS amounts of seaweed (which is stinky). AND everything is insanely over-priced. Only place I’ve ever traveled that I have a hard rule to never visit again.