According to some guys on the Internet, the ten most overrated tourist destinations in the world are:
Of the ones I’ve been to (all but three), I’d agree with the inclusion of NYFC, Los Angeles and Rome, all of which are the dregs.
However, when you look at the reasons for said reactions, “long queues to get into museums” ranks really high — so, not of much interest to me then, because I’m a traveler, not a tourist, and other than a very few exceptions*, museums are not high on my list of things to do.
I have little of no interest in visiting Istanbul or Anatolia, unless the current crop of Muslim assholes in Turkey’s government moderates their stance towards Westerners.
I desperately want to see Milan at some point, but not for the usual “tourist” reasons; I wanna eat the food, drink the wine and imagine what it would be like to actually live there (which is the main reason I travel at all).
Then there’s this, about Paris:
The city has even coined its own syndrome, Paris Syndrome. The condition is described as a sense of extreme disappointment experienced visiting Paris if the city doesn’t live up to expectations.
I went to Paris expecting to hate it, and came away completely in love with it. (NB: that was well over a decade ago; what Paris may have become since all the North Africans have arrived may change my opinion.)
I’ve been to London so many times that I’ve become tired of life, because as Johnson added, “…for there is in London all that life can afford.” The key word here is “afford”, because London is spendy, Bubba. The only reason I’d go to London anymore is to hang out with the dreaded Mr. Free Market (when he’s there and not away in the West Country, flogging the staff at Free Market Towers), with visits to such places as John Rigby and Wm. Purdey & Son as well as the usual places where one may destroy one’s liver (of which Mr. FM has a seemingly-endless list).
Putting my beloved Vienna on the “overrated” list makes me want to have another breakfast gin lest I be tempted towards violence.
And Rome sucks green donkey dicks. The food is mediocre, the place overrun with tourists and African criminals (and I was there in winter), and were it not for the excellent Vatican tour, I cannot think of any reason to go there.
One last note: I asked New Wife where in Europe, if we won the lottery, she would like to visit (either for the first time, or a return trip).
“Amsterdam” (she’s been there before) “…Barcelona, and the French Riviera.”
No argument from me on any of them.
*Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and Kunsthistorischesmuseum in Vienna, both of which I’ve already visited anyway.
, leakages and reliability apply.
