Zeppole: It's all a matter of taste!
I long for Dutch pancake especially when it's done right, dutch food kept me coming back to Holland, I eat and shop for food when I come to Amsterdam.
On the other hand, I absolutely can't enjoy the lemony Greek dishes, it's the sole reason that's keeping me from travelling into beautiful Greek islands. I've only been to Athens.
I love most red Italian wines, the soft subtle and the intense Californian styles, but I agree with you on their white wines including their boring Pinot grigio.

Imhornet: The whole world is overrated, it's what we make of it!

Under rated; Madrid (just so good), Ripon Minster (so cute and the carvings are "Wonderland" (get it)), Salisbury Cathedral (spent too much time in the choir stalls), Chablis, Auxerre

Over rated; Ronda (it is a bridge and a hole in the ground get over it try Gravina instead if holes interest you at least there are churches in the caves),

I'd like to add

DONT GO THERE as itonly encorages them

as a third subject. In this I'd put Longleat safari park and any Lego land world wide

That's right, David does look more in proportion.

That's interesting, zeppole. He looks too bright or too lit up or something. Out of place. Of course, if he had been there all along and been allowed to age naturally...

Over

Chips with mayonnaise in Amsterdam - oh you must have some - urgh.

Spanish steps in Rome. Sorry. But it's just a big flight of steps with a nice fountain at the bottom. There are other good fountains, why the emphasis on the 'steps'?

Rome food, it was okay, we even went to a highly recommended 'this is where you get authentic Rome food' small restaurant that was full of Romans, still meh. Expensive.

Under
Greek food - love it, love it. Simple, fresh, great meat, lovely herbs on everything, terrific flavours.

Tunisia for Roman sites - amazing!

Overrated - Mona Lisa (was he short of paint?), London, Paris, Athens except the Acropolis (I swear the hop on hop off bus driver was looking for suggestions on where to go), Sistine Chapel (some of the other chapels were better).

Underrated - Pantheon in Rome, Rome generally (amazing), north of Galway, Austrian alpine towns, Amsterdam red light district, Scottish beer.

The Mona Lisa and Spanish steps are very good adds to the overrated list. I disagree with Ronda, which is closer to underrated and Madrid is a drag.

Upon further reflection, here's some omissions from my initial list.

Overrated

1. Grand Bazaar and Spice Bazaar. Junk times 10 is still junk. And if I want constant nagging and begging, I've always got my cats.

2. Markets, everywhere. What is this fixation on them? Every guide book, especially Rick Steves, seems to drone on endlessly that you must visit the fish market, or the produce market blah blah blah. Well, an onion in France or Spain looks just like an onion in Cleveland. Going there for a bite or a particular restaurant is one thing. But treating them like a tourist attraction is silly.

3. Changing of the guard London. It's like watching a college football halftime show - without without the cheerleaders, which is the only good part.

4. Fish sandwiches from boats in Eminönü. Another guide book must. Cheap? yes. Good? no! Some boats are splendidly decorated, though.

Underrated

1. Nerja. The last civilized place on Costa del Sol. The rest is like Miami Beach, in Spanish. Oh, wait.

Updates

Overrated

Ramblas (Barcelona): ticky tack, honky tonk and pointless. A must avoid.

Hampstead (London): a tony suburb with a park. Boring in the extreme.

Taksim Square (Istanbul): nothing but a big bus terminal. In fact, there is almost nothing in new town Istanbul worth bothering about.

Florence: If you want to spend you time in art museums, fine. I don't so Florence, while not bad or anything, is easily surpassed by a dozen other places in Italy.

Science Museum (London): You'd think that London, of all places, would have a super science museum. Wrong! It's well below average for a major city and a major disappointment.

Underrated

Greenwich (London): wasn't expecting that much but wanted see Harrison's clocks. Surprise, the place has everything you could ask for in one place: history, architecture, beautiful design.

John Soames House (London): A great mishmash of art and artifacts in an atmospheric, quirky setting.

Sagrada Familia (Barcelona). It couldn't be rated highly enough. No picture can give you even a hint of the full effect of being there. The most extraordinary man-made structure I've ever seen.

Frederick Mares Museum (Barcelona). The first floor of religious statutes is off putting, but upstairs it is a collection of art and objects of great beauty and charm. The fans alone make it worth a visit.

Is someone who writes of the Buckingham Changing of the Guard a tourist of a traveller?

I live near Bath, like the city and go there from time to time. We went a couple of weeks ago to buy some shoes in the Hotter shop, since there isn't one closer to our home. Bath has some distinctive architecture, a rich culture, and some fascinating corners. However, it also once had a lot of industry, and as a result has some really awful suburbs, at least as bad as you might find in a midlands or northern town of the same size. There is a considerable difference in wealth between rich and poor in Bath, and it also attracts those who chose to live off benefits, or take low-paid work when they could get better.

All this is missed by many visitors.

I like this thread.

<i>Underrated

1. Nerja. The last civilized place on Costa del Sol. The rest is like Miami Beach, in Spanish. Oh, wait.</i>

I like Nerja as well. It has a nice mix of locals and expats, and the transient population isn't overly annoying. There's a roving band of Fodorites that like to poo-poo it because the sewers drain straight to the sea but I don't go to Nerja to swim.

"There's a roving band of Fodorites that like to poo-poo it because the sewers drain straight to the sea but I don't go to Nerja to swim."

Pun intentional or accidental?

I'll never tell ;)

Over rated

Lists

Under rated

Lists

Overrated:

Colmar
Aix-en-Provence
Font-de-Gaume
"Travelers"

((H))

<i>"Travelers"</i>

You mean the Irish gypsy folk? Can criminals ever be overrated?

"You mean the Irish gypsy folk?"

Nor, do I mean the insurance company.

I mean the way a lot of people (not everyone mind you) describe themselves as "travelers" that somehow puts them in a separate (better) category as a tourist. They just sound pretentious to me. I can call myself "a world traveler", but in the end, I am also a "tourist."

((H))

I loved Font de Gaume, wondering whether maitaitom went at an off time or had an off guide or something.

maitaitom, I knew what you meant :p

"I loved Font de Gaume, wondering whether maitaitom went at an off time or had an off guide or something."

Well, since you asked...here is my review of Font-de-Gaume from the trip report:

"I hesitate to write the following, but they say the truth shall set you free. Font-de-Gaume never gets any negative reviews. From some of the writings I have read, it seems that visiting here is almost a religious or mystical experience, so my following thoughts will not be received well by many, I fear.

Inside the cave our guide took our small group of ten to various stops along the way to show us the 15,000-year old cave art. I think he spent as much time positioning our small group by height at each stop as he did explaining what we were seeing. I thought at one point we were posing for our second grade picture.

And what were we seeing? Well, with his laser pointer, our guide pointed out outlines of cave drawings, and for many (well, most) you really have to use your imagination to make out the bison, horses, reindeer, rhinoceros and mammoths.

I have a pretty vivid imagination, but some of the animal outlines were nebulous at best and some were, in my opinion, virtually non-existent. In fact, some of the more hazy animal outlines he “showed” us reminded me of stories about people who see the Virgin Mary in a waffle. I did really like being inside the cave, however (I’m a sucker for caves), and the tour was fairly interesting, but it certainly does not rank anywhere near one of my favorite travel moments.

Tracy was also not overly enthralled with the tour either, although she was kind of mesmerized by our guide’s lantern that he deftly wiggled around to help highlight the outline of the hard-to-find animals.

Mary thought the Font-de-Gaume experience to be more worthwhile than Tracy and myself, but believed they could do a much better job in its presentation. She said that she felt a little more history regarding the cave would have made the tour better. I realize they don’t know very much about its origins and who painted these things, but our guide could have done a better job, in Mary's (and my) opinion)."

As long as I'm getting grief over my overrated list, I'll add that I think Les Misérables is overrated, too.

((H))

I'm REALLY woth you on Les Mis, Maitaitom! DW has seen it on Broadway twice, in Seattle three times, and just last week a local production. Plus the Movie. I saw it once.

A real bummer, IMHO