12 Famous Tourist Spots That Aren’t Worth the Hype

Every traveler has a mental list of "famous places that were disappointing." Here's mine, plus what to do instead.

1. Stonehenge, England

You can't go near it. There's a rope barrier 30 meters away. You see rocks in the distance from the back of a viewing platform with 1,000 other tourists doing the same thing. The cafe is mediocre. The visitor center video is fine.

Skip Stonehenge and visit Avebury instead. It's 25 minutes away by car. Avebury has a stone circle you can walk through (you can literally touch the stones), it's free, and you'll have it half to yourself.

2. Mona Lisa room at the Louvre, Paris

Half the room is full. Everyone is taking photos of the painting and not actually looking at it. The painting itself is small (30x21 inches), behind bulletproof glass, and 20 feet from where you stand.

The Louvre is huge and amazing. Visit it. Just don't spend more than 30 seconds in the Mona Lisa room. Spend that time at Winged Victory of Samothrace (her statue is breathtaking up close) or Venus de Milo, or the Egyptian wing, or the French Renaissance galleries.

3. The Hollywood Sign, Los Angeles

You can see it from many angles around L.A. The actual hike to view it up close goes through residential neighborhoods that residents have been fighting against for decades. The "best view" everyone Instagrams from Griffith Observatory has a fence in front of it. There are no shortcuts.

Go to Griffith Observatory at sunset instead. Look down at the entire L.A. basin lit up. The Hollywood Sign will be there, but you'll have the actual experience of L.A. without traffic and parking nightmares.

4. Times Square, New York

It smells like roasted nuts and exhaust. The crowds are insane. The shows are billboards, not Broadway. The Naked Cowboy isn't naked.

Walk through it for 10 minutes if you must. Then leave. Real Manhattan begins anywhere west of 8th Avenue, anywhere south of 34th Street, or anywhere east of Bryant Park.

5. Plaka, Athens

Athens' old neighborhood has been turned into a tourist trap. Every restaurant is "traditional Greek" with menus in 8 languages. The prices are 3x what locals pay anywhere else in Athens. The bouzouki music is on a loop.

Walk through Plaka briefly to see the architecture. Then go to Psiri (south of Monastiraki) for actual Athens food culture. Or Pangrati for the local neighborhood feel. Or Anafiotika (just north of the Acropolis) for atmospheric Cycladic-style alleys without restaurants pushing menus at you.

6. The Little Mermaid statue, Copenhagen

It's small. There's a fence. There are 50 tourists trying to photograph it. Behind it is an industrial port. The boat tours that take you near it cost $20+ and last 15 minutes.

Walk along Nyhavn instead. Take Strøget shopping street. Visit Christiania (Copenhagen's anarchic neighborhood — a unique experience). Bicycle around the city. Any of these uses your Copenhagen time better.

7. Khao San Road, Bangkok

Backpacker history is real. The actual experience today is sad. Most travelers under 30 spend one night here doing $1 buckets and Tinder hookups before realizing they wasted a night they could have spent at a proper rooftop bar somewhere else.

For one Bangkok backpacker bar experience, go to Khao San. For real Bangkok nightlife, go to Thonglor or Ekkamai (hip cocktail bars and clubs), or Vertigo Bar at Banyan Tree (panoramic rooftop), or any rooftop in Sukhumvit.

8. Mont Saint-Michel parking lot, France

To be clear: the abbey itself is incredible. The walk up through the village to the top is moving. The view from the top is unreal.

But you'll spend 60 minutes shuffling along with 2,000 other tourists through narrow streets full of identical creperies and tourist shops. Then you'll wait 30 minutes for the shuttle bus to take you to the parking lot 3 km away. Then 20 minutes finding your car.

If you go: stay overnight nearby (in Beauvoir or Pontorson). Visit Mont Saint-Michel at 6 AM before the day-trippers arrive. You'll have it nearly to yourself.

9. Niagara Falls American side, USA

The American side has limited viewing platforms, mediocre restaurants, and a tired downtown. You're looking at the falls from above, not from below where the waterfall reveals its full power.

Drive 20 minutes to the Canadian side. The Canadian side has the iconic view, the Hornblower Cruise (Maid of the Mist equivalent), Clifton Hill for kid amusement, and the Skylon Tower observation deck. Canadian falls > American falls.

10. Trevi Fountain at midday, Rome

The fountain is gorgeous. Midday it's surrounded by 500 people, 50 selfie sticks, and pickpockets working the crowds. You'll have 2 minutes to look at it before you're shuffled along.

Go at 6:30 AM. The fountain is empty. You have it to yourself. The light is perfect. Then go to Tazza d'Oro nearby for the best espresso in Rome.

11. The Blarney Stone, Ireland

Tourists hang upside down to kiss a stone that's been kissed by 5 million other tourists. Then a worker wipes the stone with disinfectant and the next person kisses it. The view from Blarney Castle is nice but you can get equivalent views all over Ireland.

Skip Blarney. Visit Cliffs of Moher (genuinely unforgettable), or drive the Ring of Kerry for hours, or visit one of Ireland's small villages (Cobh, Kinsale, Dingle). Any of these uses your Ireland time better.

12. The Great Wall at Badaling, Beijing

Badaling is the closest section to Beijing and the most-restored. It's also the most-crowded. Tour buses dump 20,000 visitors per day. You'll be in single-file shuffling along an over-restored section that looks like a movie set.

Go to Jinshanling instead. It's 2.5 hours from Beijing (vs 1 hour to Badaling) but worth every minute. Jinshanling section is less restored, less crowded, and ends with a downhill walk to a quiet village. You'll see Wall in its authentic state, with grass growing through the stones, and have entire sections to yourself.

The general principle

The most-famous tourist site in any city is usually overrun. The second-most-famous is usually better. The thing the locals actually recommend is almost always the best.

Ask your hotel concierge "what's a better version of [the famous thing]?" They've seen 1,000 tourists return from the famous site disappointed. They have alternatives.

Or just look at the local equivalent on Google Maps. The four-star locally-rated alternative is almost always better than the three-star tourist-rated original.