The world's tourist trap shitholes

Blarney Stone

Golden Triangle

Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

Glen’s Nappy Pussy.

Why won’t you hoes let Billy be great. I love this for him. Though he better not ever coon again like he did when he visited The White House.

Times Square.

Blue Lagoon in Iceland. While it's not a shithole, $80 to swim in the run off from a geothermal power plant is a total rip off.

Disneyworld

Slausen’s Lost Oasis

Any wax museum in a place where there shouldn't be a wax museum.

To avoid my being uncouth in the future, where should there be a wax museum? Ancient Wax Trading centre such as Novgorod?

My visit to the Blarney Stone was on a lovely day, and everyone working at that trap and in the region seemed so charming. It hit the right vibe for a tourist trap and I had a good time.

The Terracotta Warriors outside Xian in China. It takes almost 2 hours to get there from Xian and it’s just a giant hole in the ground with some garden gnomes at the bottom. Save yourself the bother and visit via Google images instead.

To respond to the OP: I was born and raised in LA.

Other than going to a couple of movies at the Chinese over the years and the very occasional errand that may have brought me over there, I have avoided that part of Hollywood like the plague. The walk of fame is so stupid I can't believe it's even a thing.

(Oh, I should also add that I absolutely LOVE my city. But not that BS.)

Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39

And I say this with love and respect for SF. I lived in that neighborhood for 21 years.

Plymouth Rock. Not sure what I expected, but what I got was a total letdown.

Boston’s Faneuil Hall Marketplace. Where white people go to buy shit they don’t need.

R17, white people buy shit we don’t need EVERYWHERE. It’s what we do.

Santa Monica Pier

[quote] Blue Lagoon in Iceland.

Actually, all of Iceland. A country deliberately whores itself out for North American ‘adventure’ tourist dollars: “hold our brennivin, Venice, Amsterdam, and Barcelona!”

I don’t think many people visit the Walk of Fame just to see it. It’s just there if you go to Hollywood.

Dubai

Branson

Cancun

Bran castle in Romania. It's a perfectly cute little castle that's been tastefully redecorated by Queen Marie of Romania about a century ago. However the Romanian Tourist Board decided to brand it as "Dracula's Castle"... And along came throngs of tourists and tacky souvenir shops, which make the visit a nightmare.

Orlando Attractions

Niagara Falls

Stuckeys

South of the Boarder Motel on 95

The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen. (Not exactly a shithole, but definitely a big let-down).

I thought it would be much bigger than it was.

Pigeon Forge, TN

Graceland

The Alamo

The Evolution Museum

Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Place. This is one of the few things in London I refuse to do when guests visit because it’s a miserable mob scene with poor views.

I think of tourist traps as shameless cash grabs, or overrated destinations that draw trashy people and aren't worth the money. Are people actually traveling to Copenhagen just to look at the Little Mermaid statue?

I loved The Alamo (no basement) and can’t wait to go back to Graceland.

Route 66 and diners thereon

Wisconsin Dells

Plymouth Rock

Carmel, California

Niagara Falls for sure. Specifically the Canadian side. Pigeon Forge. Dollywood is fantastic but the rest is hell on earth.

Warwick Castle in England. They took a living, fascinating, well-preserved piece of history and turned it into a horrid theme park. It’s a travesty.

Las Vegas. Can't blame people for complaining about the Grammys being held there and calling it a shithole.

R32 - I'm going to disagree with you about Carmel, CA. It doesn't cost anything to visit, it has an undeniable charm and it's relatively easy to get to and from. Kinda pricey - but that's California.

I will second the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen is very disappointing - but again, it's not a tourist trap. It's free.

In my mind, tourist trap is something overcrowded and that you have to spend a lot of time and a decent amount of money to do.

I don't think a tourist trap can only include places where everyone must spend money, let along a ton of money. For example, Changing the Guard is free. Tourist attractions can be tourist traps, too. But generally yes many tourist traps involve $$$ and the feeling of being ripped off. If the attraction is your cup of tea, of course.

a working definition of a tourist trap - take it as you will: A tourist trap is an establishment (or group of establishments) created or re-purposed with the aim of attracting tourists and their money. Tourist traps typically provide overpriced services, entertainment, food, souvenirs, and other products for tourists to purchase..

Tourist attraction and tourist traps are two different things although many tourist sights have become tourist traps.

R36 I agree with your sentiment. Something can be underwhelming and not a tourist trap. Times Square is definitely a tourist trap and the Hollywood walk of fame was so less glamorous than I imagined. Btw how are they not running out of sidewalk? I suspect old ones from forgotten stars must be getting replaced.

Leicester Square always makes me laugh. There's absolutely nothing there yet tourists flock to it. What are they looking at? What are they doing?

R39 - then I do not recommend the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. Lisa Vanderpump has a star - for what, I have no clue. It's near the Sonny Bono statue - so that should tell you something. It's a civic embarrassment IMO - a small group of older gays who like to bestow this honor so they can meet famous people.

Hollywood Walk of Fame is FREE so not really a tourist trip.

I’d say the Disney parks are the true tourist traps given how ridiculously expensive they are and how few rides you can get on in a day

[quote] Fisherman’s Wharf/Pier 39[.] And I say this with love and respect for SF. I lived in that neighborhood for 21 years.

I lived in SF, too, and do think that the Wharf is not a great destination.

However, while in SF, I had apartment guests stay with me. They were from Kansas City, MO. One guy had never seen the ocean, before. So, seeing the ocean / the water is a thrill for some.

It saddens me that Times Square has the theaters so I have to go there.

Las Vegas

[quote] Leicester Square always makes me laugh. There's absolutely nothing there yet tourists flock to it. What are they looking at? What are they doing?

They're buying theater tickets.

I'm fine with disagreement but I classified Carmel as a tourist trap because I literally felt trapped when I went there. Parking was impossible if you wanted to go to the beach, restaurants are outrageously expensive and crowded, if you've seen one gingerbread house you've seen them all, and there are more beautiful places a stone's throw out of town.

r7 for the win, but I respectfully disagree with r20. Iceland has some really cool places to visit, but a power plant with a location near the airport and an amazing marketing team is not one of them.

I have been to Iceland three times, and I tell people all the time to skip the Blue Lagoon. They look at me as if I'm crazy. I went the first time I visited, on my first day, and left after about 20 minutes. (My friends stayed.)

If you still feel the need to go, while you're sitting in the wastewater, put your hand down to the bottom and scoop up some of it. You'll get some small black volcanic rocks and a huge mass of human body hair. It's lovely!

[quote] So, seeing the ocean / the water is a thrill for some.

R43 While in SF you could have taken them to Ocean Beach, Chrissy Field, Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, the Ferry Building, etc…

Tavern on the Green

Katz's Deli

The High Line

Times Square

All amusement parks. Waiting in line for a hour for a 5 minute ride? No thanks.

[quote] Leicester Square always makes me laugh. There's absolutely nothing there yet tourists flock to it. What are they looking at? What are they doing?

Well, it’s no Piccadilly Circus, that’s for sure.

[quote] [R43] While in SF you could have taken them to Ocean Beach, Chrissy Field, Fort Mason, Aquatic Park, the Ferry Building, etc…

Actually, we did go to Ocean Beach and that was what the Kansas City guy could not get enough of. IIRC, we didn't go to the Wharf on that visit. I was just making an observation that some people have never seen the ocean, before.

[quote] Leicester Square always makes me laugh. There's absolutely nothing there yet tourists flock to it. What are they looking at? What are they doing?

There is a statue of Mr. Bean there.

Village of Knock on Ireland

I can't believe I wasted time in the British Museum when I could spent the day in Leicester Square! The Mr Bean Statue is joined by 11 other statues in and around the square they are;

Charlie Chaplin William Shakespeare on top of the fountain Laurel and Hardy Bugs Bunny Paddington Bear Gene Kelly Mary Poppins Harry Potter Batman Wonder Woman Clifford the Big red dog

[quote]white people buy shit we don’t need EVERYWHERE. It’s what we do.

It's very much an American and Asian thing in my observation. People from the US and Asian countries fill (and empty the stock of) the shittiest tourist shops in Europe, not the ones with some attempt to maintain some sense of place or hint of pride, but the ones with risqué garish kitchen aprons and bad puns and worse clichés in the kitschiest of colors and cheapest of synthetic materials.

The more cultured among them hit the museum gift shops, but souvenirs of one sort or another seem a very popular thing.

When I lived in the US, work colleagues with whom I had a perfunctory relationship sometimes brought small souvenirs from their travels: a bookmark with my name in Coptic writing, a tiny booklet about an historic site, a ceramic scarab the size of a small coin... A nice gesture I suppose but very odd. I wouldn't think of shopping for souvenirs for any but a child or a spouse, maybe. I've been known to cart home the perfect thing I stumbled upon and knew someone would love and be surprised by. But never shipping list of finding souvenirs for family, friends, dogsitters, and work colleagues. What a pain that would be.

It's not a shithole, but it's a tourist trap:

Nara deer park in Japan (close to Kyoto).

A work colleague was planning a trip to Japan and I told him that Nara was a waste of time. He went, anyway. He told me it was a waste of time.

Times Square isn’t exactly a tourist trap because it costs nothing to walk around there. All you see are pizza places and aggressive beggars dressed in costumes. Unless you’re going to the theatre what’s the point.

Gatlinburg, Branson, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Ocean City, Rehoboth Beach, Atlantic City, Wisconsin Dells

R59 Come on. You know what people mean. You can walk around sure but to do anything there you will pay and it is marked the fuck up double in price. Ain’t no tourist going to Times Square and not spending no mafuckin money. Unless it’s a Darfur orphan who snuck on some cargo ship.

[quote] Actually, all of Iceland

Once I get back into the White House I'll buy Iceland and turn it into a paradise.

R59 No actual New Yorker goes to Times Square. Ergo, a tourist trap.

[quote]The High Line

Surprised this came up. I’ve always enjoyed a morning walk along the High Line when I’m in town and it’s never been mobbed with other people.

R63 Similarly, no actual Londoner ever goes near Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus. We even avoid the tube stations there. They're tourist hells.

R63 Not a Londoner but last time I was there, I had to get off at the Piccadilly Circus tube station for something or other in that area. It was vile. I’ll walk 10 miles before I do that again.

I meant R65, sorry.

I definitely have to object to some of these, including whoever said "all of Iceland." I completely agree that the Blue Lagoon is a tourist trap – and I'd argue the same for most sights within an hour's drive of Reykjavik – but I remain surprised by how comparatively few people drive the ring road around the entire island, which I've done three times. I've been to all seven continents, but Iceland is far & away the most jaw-dropping place I've been aside from Antarctica.

I also disagree about Carmel, despite knowing full well how touristy it gets in the summer. Not all places that attract tourists are "traps," and if anything Carmel is much *less* of one than most places. (Considering they famously don't have street addresses, it's not exactly the easiest place for tourists to explore.) As for the question of whether a "tourist trap" must, by default, require a payment of some sort, I definitely disagree. Times Square is one regardless of whether you spend money there. Some, like All Things Disney, mandate payment for ridiculous bullshit.

[quote]Leicester Square always makes me laugh. There's absolutely nothing there yet tourists flock to it. What are they looking at? What are they doing?

Don't be daft. You know full well it's in the middle of the West End, and also near a huge number of hotels.

R41. I'm not looking to start anything, and you're entitled to your opinion, but Sonny Bono truly built Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley into a thriving area in the 80's and 90's. I get he's a punchline but he did A LOT for this area.

[quote] I also disagree about Carmel, despite knowing full well how touristy it gets in the summer. Not all places that attract tourists are "traps," and if anything Carmel is much *less* of one than most places. (Considering they famously don't have street addresses, it's not exactly the easiest place for tourists to explore.

Ok, I said I don't mind disagreement but I take issue with you introducing the qualification 'less than most tourist traps'. Maybe you have to be a Californian and experience Carmel more than once to know to avoid it, and FINE if you enjoyed it that one time, but I would never take a visitor to Carmel if they wanted to experience that beautiful part of the coast.

And not FAMOUSLY having street addresses is precisely the point. How cute, how charming, how pointless, how touristy. You don't need a house address to find the shopping and restaurants and anywhere tourists go, because Carmel WANTS tourists.

[quote] 9] No actual New Yorker goes to Times Square. Ergo, a tourist trap.

Wrong. New Yorkers go to Broadway shows and use the subway.

R64, I agree – I *love* the High Line! On a warm spring day it's both sublime and reasonably uncrowded, assuming it's mid-afternoon on a weekday.

It's cute that an obvious non-New Yorker is insisting that "no actual New Yorkers go to Times Square." Sweetie, did you forget that this is a gay gossip group? And that every New Yorker fag in here is a regular at Broadway shows? Like it or not (and I don't), it's effectively impossible to see the best shows without venturing into Times Square territory. (Those in the know would at least advise exiting the subway on 49th or 50th, to avoid the main scrum near 42nd.)

While we're at it: no Londoners take the Tube to Leicester Square or Piccadilly Circus? Please. (Are you trying to argue Londoners don't go to the cinema, considering how many are in Leicester Square?) At least you didn't embarrass yourself by mentioning Charing Cross Road, considering it has a stop on the Elizabeth Line. Much like NYC, a mix of both tourists & locals uses the Tube extensively, and pretty much every Tube stop in Central London (and also including parts of the South Bank and East End) gets both.

R69, I'm not R41, but Palm Springs has been a destination for 125 years now, well pre-dating Sonny Bono's *birth*. I know he was its mayor in the '80s, but that was decades after its primary heyday, and most of the area was already built out by then. Obviously he founded the city's film festival, but I'm not sure what else you think can be claimed as his. (Certainly not any of its iconic architecture.)

R70, you're distorting what I said. I wasn't attempting to "grade" Carmel's suitability as a tourist destination, and I'd recommend numerous other sites in the area before it as well. While I'll concede that it's often touristy, the drive down Highway 1 towards San Simeon is usually packed – or used for TV shows & commercials – for very good reason: there is *really* nothing like it in the continental US. Also, I think we'll have to agree to disagree over whether Carmel residents like tourists. The ones I know despise them, but that's clearly not your experience.

R72. Sonny Bono put into motion the completion of infostructure to build and expand specific freeways linking formerly difficult areas of Southern California to the other desert cities. This was done while he was mayor and while in Congress.

Iceland has some amazing sites. If you go, Myvatn in the north is way better than the Blue Lagoon (though still expensive) but the local pool at Hofsos is the pick as it’s built right on the fjord and only costs a few dollars to swim.

Petra. Dark holes in the rock and the camel herders have tiny meat.

The last time I walked through Times Square in 2022, it was completely overrun and dominated by “influencers” brandishing selfie sticks with their mobiles affixed at the other end. It was bizarre, like seeing the stark societal difference now compared to my prior two or three walk-throughs.

“LOOK AT ME! I’m coming to you from this world-famous place and am living such a unique, exciting life. Just like all the thousands of other carbon-copies standing around here right now filming themselves!”

I haven't been to Times Square since around 1970. It was a bigger version of the old Combat Zone in Boston.

[quote]Cafe Du Monde in New Orleans

But the beignets are still good (at least last time I went) and the service is fast.

Rio. While they don’t get that many visitors, relatively speaking, it’s definitely a shithole.

[quote] I haven't been to Times Square since around 1970. It was a bigger version of the old Combat Zone in Boston.

It’s changed.

Rio de Janeiro, r79?

I can't see how an entire city can be a tourist trap. Certain parts of it, sure. But Carnival alone elevates Rio beyond "trap" for me.

Fisherman's Wharf

They're not shitholes exactly but so many of the Caribbean Islands are indistinguishable from one another. A friend is fascinated by colonial history so he likes to go there. I've been on cruise ships mostly so it's hard to get to feel the rhythm of any individual place. St. Kitt's is lovely, though.

I love London and go frequently but I cannot stop myself from ending up in Leicester Square -- i't like a vacuum. I like the US side of Niagara Falls for its natural setting. The Canadian side has great views but is quite tacky.

As oposed to the New York side wihch is a fearful slum

WTF is this person?

Salem, MA

There’s really nothing left historically from the Salem Witch Trials, at least not visible to the public.

There’s just a lot of cheap “museums” (I wouldn’t call them museums although that’s what they call themselves) from the 1970s and 80s and they have really updated anything since.

Times Square for sure (I mean it's worth a visit, at least during nightime, but when I hear people say the 1st place they want to visit in NYC is TS I die a little inside) . Honestly, I feel the Eiffel Tower is only worth your time if you don't have to deal with the droves and droves of tourist and scammers around the area. There are other places to great a great view of Paris.- La Boca in Buenos Aires....expensive restaurants with tourist prices that aren't worth it, unsafe, tries so hard to be authentic it s fake, it's as if Disney World had a Buenos Aires/Argentina-land.

Brennan's in New Orleans. Not impressed at all. especially for the price. I've had better seafood in lots of other cities not in Louisiana.

Gatlinburg is an abomination. Packed to the gills with up north Jazzbos mixing with all the hillbilly Goobers and Gomers

Ripley's Believe It or Not wax museums. Any of them.

“Juliet’s house” in Verona, Italy.

All the places in the world

The boardwalk at Ocean City, MD. But a fat whore's paradise! Funnel cakes, fries, greasy pizza, ice cream, etc.

R86 I thought Salem, MA was interesting but wouldn't visit without a reason. I remember seeing the Bewitched statue - Elizabeth Montgomery sitting in a quarter moon holding a broom. Someone had to tell me what it was.

Salem has wonderful federal style architecture. Give me one Samuel McIntyre over a hundred Bruce Goffs

The museum in Roswell NM.

It never left the ‘50’s and ‘60’s.

Kuta Beach, Bali, and I suppose you could expand this to include a large portion of Denpasar. Even the sacred mountains of Bali are not safe from hordes of tourists.

Wailea, Maui. Stuck in 1970s and1980s Golden Girls decor with lots of pastels and wicker.

Dunn’s River Falls, Jamaica.

[quote] I remember seeing the Bewitched statue - Elizabeth Montgomery sitting in a quarter moon holding a broom.

Sounds like DL eldergay catnip.

I agree with Rehoboth beach. I did stand in line behind Dave Grohl buying ice cream.

Pompeii. Insanely crowded, massive cobblestones that are a pain to walk on and constantly dodging other tourists. I had to wait in line ages to see the brothel, finally got to the front and the employee accused me of cutting in line. He made me step aside while he let other people in as if to teach me a lesson. After a few minutes of that he arbitrarily decided I could go in. And you can only look at the frescoes inside for a few seconds. Then I hit my head on a column. That place is cursed.

R94. Was Dick Sargent sitting on the broom's tip?

The Pines.

I don't tour anymore. I'm old and suspicious of unfamiliar territory.

Pompeii, a tourist trap. 🙄 Now I've heard it all.