Most Overrated--Your opinions?
 

Here's the flip side of the "jaw dropping" thread. What place/thing/etc were you disappointed by or felt was overrated?

Me: Mona Lisa. She's such an icon that when I saw her in person, I didn't think she lived up to the hype (unlike, say, David). People rush by much more beautiful Leonardos in the Louvre to stand in droves in front of the M.L.

Also: Eiffel Tower. It's neat to see, but when I went up it, it was like, "now what?" More fun to go up towers of Notre Dame and take pics of the Tour Eiffel from a distance.

Tower of Pisa - I don't know if it is actually "overrated" because maybe it is not such a "highly rated" site. Anyway, I found it to be a let-down. Much smaller than I imagined in not so beautiful surroundings.

Madrid. This city does nothing for me.

I love the rest of Spain - but Madrid seems just like another large american city - lots of 20's/30's skyscrapers, hot, humid, dirty, loud, masses of tacky fast food places - without any of the benefits. There doesn;t seem to be any real soul.

And all the drunks screaming in the streets as they roll home form the clubs at 5/6am is really irritating.

Sex with Paris Hilton.

The Guggenheim Museum in Berlin.

I am not sure what I expected but it was certainly more than a room with 4 pictures and a shop twice the size of the museum.

I was underwhelmed by the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Maybe because when I was there it was still leaning really badly and there were all these cables holding it up. You also couldn't go inside it at that time. So I was kind of...OK, seen it so now it's time to eat!!!! But, like all the places I've seen, when you hear about it or see pictures or see something on TV, it's fun to be able to say.."yup, there it is, and I was actually standing right there in front of it"..That always is a thrill for me.

I've had cities, where I thought I'd be more fascinated/entertained/have more fun than I eventually did. In those cases, I can't help but fault my own unrealistic expectations, as a city really exists for those who love there, not so much for those who create fantasies from afar. Likewise, natural "wonders" are just there, not created for tourism, but promoted as such. I kind of feel like rating a waterfall or a mountain range, for instance, is kind of silly to begin with.

But on individual attractions that serve the specific purpose of being an attraction or are preserved just for that reason, I have been disappointed. Well, I can at least think of one European case, being Blarney Castle in Ireland. It's fine as ruins go, and if I were to have found it myself in an isolated field, I'd probably have enjoyed it. But being blown out of proportion for what it is - an very average Irish castle ruin, strewn with lines of tourists and peppered with gimmicky legend stories put me right off it. On the plus side, the informal woodsy castle gardens were unique and very enjoyable.

ah, &quot;those who <i>live</i> there&quot;, I meant. I was a tad too specific with that typo.

The Costa del Sol - to me it's just an eyesore.

St. Cirq....couldn't agree with you more...when there's Seville, Granada, and Barcelona and the Costa Brava...why waste one minute along the Costa del Sol. We tend to &quot;rate&quot; everything on our own rather than pay singular attention to critics or the guide books in that regard.
(By the way, I gave a &quot;thank you&quot; to you on another Fodor thread, regarding your many-years-ago recommendation for La Table de Terroir in little La Chappele. I think you were writing with a different screen name on the now-screwed-up AOL boards (1999)...am I right?)
Stu T.

I've tried twice and it is not a match with me in any way. Others love it. And I could give you all kinds of logical reasons as well, but the &quot;feel&quot; I get is just not a good one- actually tending toward creepy. And that isn't logical coming from myself because I'm been in some much, much worse industrial slums in my own country that would make it look like Nirvana in comparison. And please don't flame me.

But both times, I just could not wait to get out of Amsterdam. Tried the second time because I thought maybe it was that I had been getting sick when there the first time. NOT!

Dark, damp are probably two of the nicest ways I could describe it. This was in the 70's and in the 80's.

Hi, Stu:

Though I'm pretty sure it was me who recommended that restaurant (I usually do), I can't think of any other screen name I was using, except maybe briefly when that message board was really going down the tubes and everyone was out to get everyone else.

At any rate, you're welcome:)

Madrid remains a mystery to me. The royal palace and the Prado -- and then?

1. By far the Mona Lisa.

2. Pisa was ok, but not that great. Worth only a quick stop and then to Lucca.

Here's a similar thread, with 52 responses:

http://fodors.com/forums/threadselec...p;tid=34577890

I agree that the view from the top of the Eiffel Tower is not any better than so many other vantage points in Paris. Certainly not worth the long wait in line for me.

Oh, and YES the Mona Lisa.

I skipped the Leaning Tower of Pisa cuz I heard it was overrated. ;)

Munich.

I love reading peoples opinions - I suppose the differences are what make it interesting. I really like the Leaning tower and the Campo dei Miracoli (?sp).

Stonehenge is just rocks, but then you presumably know that when you go. Eiffel tower - one of the 7 modern wonders of the world IMO.

most dissapointing ? - Malta

The Black Forest.

Interior of the Duomo in Florence.

Trastevere.

Paris

Pisa

Santorini in Greece (loved Athens tho)

Sardinina in general, (hubby loved it)