hdm

Sometimes it's exactly the thing that seems to be the negative that turns out to be the positive. Is Las Vegas tacky? You bet but it's so grandly tacky, it does such a GOOD JOB of being tacky, that you just have to throw yourself into it and have fun.

I didn't have a good time in Siena. Does that mean it's overrated? No, I don't think so. What it means is that on the day I was there I was overtired, it was too hot, there were too many people in the square, etc. If I'd gone on a better day, I might have loved it. That doesn't mean Siena changed, it means I did.

mnapoli

For the cost, I was really disappointed with Madame Tussaud's in London. I wouldn't have bothered to visit (it is not my kind of attraction), but my 18 year old daughter really wanted to go. I wish I had saved the money and spent it on a nicer dinner!

AnnieP

mnapoli - you should see Madame Tussaud's in New York! I dont know if it's highly rated or not, I have just passed outside, but it looks like the biggest rip-off ever!

wtggirl

I went to both Madame Toussand's (London and NYC) and they are not overrated. They are the best wax museums around. But, who loves wax museums? They are touristy and yes, even tacky. I was leading a group on one occasion and did not have a choice. I found the one in London a bit more fun due to the chamber of horrors downstairs and the old London legends like "Jack the ripper", but they are very similar to one another.

CheBird

Um, at the risk of sounding like a bad Catholic... the Basilica of St. Francis.

Was that a lightning bolt I just felt??

iluvtexas

I agree that Madame Tussaud's in London is not worth the time or money. It was around 25 pounds a person to get in! YIKES! The displays were, however, very impressive, and if you have kids it might be a good way to spend a day...especially if the kids are tired of being drug through museums. I wouldn't put it on the "Must See" of London though.

Westminster Abbey (MUST do a guided tour or audio tour to really appreciate it.) and The National Gallery are 2 of my favorites in London. I can never get enough of walking through the gallery (and the best thing is, it's FREE!)

If you have a free day, I'd recommend going to Warwick (maybe a 30 minute train ride outside of the city) to tour Warwick Castle. It's fantastic...and a much better way to spend the day than at Madame Tussaud's!

If you're craving a margarita (I'm a Texas girl), be sure to go to eat at the Texas Embassy, just around the corner from the National Gallery and Trafalger Sq.

Dr_DoGood

If iluvtexas can get from central London to Warwick in 30 mins (or anything approaching it!) I'd like to be on his train in future... it must defy all known laws relating to the space-time continuum. And probably quite a few that are still unknown.

Dr D

Worktowander

I LOVE Ireland, but Dublin just didn't do it for me. Every place else I visited there snaked into my brain, but the capitol left me ho-hum.

GSteed

Interesting comments. Ratings need qualifications and preparatory information. My eight year old student loved Legoland and wants to return. Her 15 year old brother told me it was a waste of time. Their father had a great time there because he had his children with him. Historical sites are visited because they are associated with historical personalities or events. Would, Stratford on Avon, be of any consequence without Mr. Shakespeare? Could an illiterate or non-English person appreciate the British Library? Food comments are too general. Every city has good restaurants and some that aren't. I suspect that if you have to sleep on the street instead of a five star hotel then that city will not get too high of rating. Personal educational attainments taint ratings or recommendations. I like the London bus system. A traveller asked me how to get somewhere. I gave him the bus number. He replied indignantly, "We don't travel that way." I still remember friendly conductors telling me when to alight at my desired stop. That simple courtesy has endured London to me as a wonderful place to visit.

metellus

"I guess I am just rube enough to love every place!"

At least you admit it. But you are also irrelevant. Overrated doesn't mean bad. It means overrated. The Sistene Chapel was nice, but not a life changing experience or even the best art in the Vatican.

Look, reading these posts reminds me of a professor who gave tests so easy that everyone scored 100%. He couldn't tell the great students from good ones or the good ones from the bad ones.

This is exactly why these idiotic posts about how great everything is are so pointless. They supply 0 information and are simple venting that is of no interest and no help.

willit

Metellus - why irrelevent ?

What makes your opinion the final word in any subject ? Over hundreds of years thousands of people, many of them artists, philosophers, great statesmen have seen things like the Sistine chapel, the Leaning tower of Pisa, The Mona Lisa - and been amazed. Are you seriously suggesting that they are all wrong and you are correct ?

Of course you are entitled to your opinion, and many can be disappointed when something doesn't meet their expectations.

An example is Lucca - you obviously don't like the place, and advise people not to go (I particularly liked your analogy to it being like a suberb of florence). Many people go to Lucca and love it - many prefer it to Pisa. I don't think either view is wrong, and certainly neither is irrelevant.

mzdenn

In my experience, exposure to pictures in books of historic places, travel shows, and internet, landmarks have lost thier excitment. We feel we have already "seen it". Washington DC was a bust for my kids since they had seen the monuments and everything in the museums before somewhere.
The thrill for us is cultural immersion, seeing how other people live, speak, and what they do for a living that makes the trip.

parisnow

Just food for thought to anyone who cares, regarding urban studies/urban history almost all cities/places go through cycles of change. The Champs Elysees went through a transition a few decades ago and turned into a street full of tourist shops. Paris is now trying to bring it back to its former elegance. The leaning tower for several years had cables tying to keep it from toppling over, but now it has re-opened and cables are gone. Venice was once a romantic city but now it is undergoing major construction to keep from sinking and once this is complete hopefully it will again be a romantic city. Amsterdam to most natives (I'm a 1st generation descendant) in their opinion was at its worst during the "hippie" era and the decades following giving it the current reputation that it has. Now they are slowly trying to revitalize "old Amsterdam". Just think of our own cities and the transitions they have gone through in the past 10-30 years. Chicago/New York/L.A. or even your own home town/city. Therefore, what may have been a disappointment several years ago may be revitalized and is now the "in" place. Although one thing will probably never change.. Pigalle will always be Pigalle and the Red Light District will stay true to form.

JJ5

parisnow, as I posted- I did think of the cycles, and exactly as you describe. And if you are older, as I am, you can see that there is no constant reality, let alone experience.

Because I am sure that my "overrate" was in a cycle AND that it may be totally different today.

Boron

Humm. Overrated. We hear this often about places. I've been lucky enough to have gone to many of the places appearing on the list here, but never once have I avoided going to any place, thinking that it was overated. I just don't like the concept of overrated, personally. Places or sites I've gone to may not have been to my liking or may not have fit my preconceived image, but I've always counted my blessings in actually being able to have gone and seen them for myself. They might have not been what I was expecting, but they're just one part of the whole vacation/trip experience.

I haven't made it to Pisa, but no matter if it were to appear here 100 times that wouldn't discourage me from going. It's on my wish list.

For those who've seen the Mona Lisa, I think everyone's verbal reaction contains the word "small" someplace in their comment. But would the ML simply appearing here (or because of the fact that she's small) discourage anyone from ever wanting to go to Paris and not see her? I hope not.
Talking of small--how about the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen? Overrated? Naw, just small. But I'm glad I got to see her with my own eyes.

If every encounter and experience on our travels were hunky-dorey and jaw droppers, trips and vacations would be really get to be boring. It's the fortune of being able to see these sights for ourselves, and to take the good (you choose) with the bad (gondolas in Vegas). That's all part of travel and life. And talking about them here is a continuation of our experiences and impressions.

I'm not Mr. Pollyanna. I've come across a few spots that to me were "overated": Ankor Wat and St. Thomas, along with Carmel and yes, even some places in SFO (the bridge and the warf) for that matter. People love these places, but they did nothing for me. Still, I am thankful I got to go; given the chance I'd go again in a flash. I hope I never live to regret going anwhere--even if the the place is labeled "overrated". I prefer to say instead that I didn't suit the place, since after all, I was the guest.

AnnieP

Boron, amazing, you see I thought Angkor Wat was the highlight of my life! It really is each to his own, and even though we are saying "dissapointed" and did not care for a particular place or thing, I think we all appreciate the fact that most of these things are amazing cities, countries or works of art.

SeaUrchin

So the people that write that they don't rate places are irrelevent and the people who do rate places are "right", metellus?

There is no right and wrong on this thread, it made up of people's opinions.

Read the title.

LLindaC

Mona didn't do it for me, either! And after Disney, the Matterhorn was boring-ha, ha just joking! Vegas, right. Almost everything in Switzerland is wonderful, but I thought Geneva had really lost charm. It is covered in graffiti.

parisnow

JJ5--Ain't any different today would probably still give you the creepiesss(If you got in the wrong part)but they are trying. My family also went through "cycles". For several years the relatives would come to U.S. to visit. My mother missed the era of Amsterdam when you were there. When she went back in the 90's she cried. What was a Bakery is now a "coffee shop", what was a cheese store is now a store selling "interesting clothing", where her house stood is now a police station, and right next to her church is a s@# toy shop. During the same trip we went to Paris. Walked down a quiet residential street with the markets, chocolate shops, flower store ect... and my mother quietly stated "Now this WAS Amsterdam".

metellus

"There is no right and wrong on this thread, it made up of people's opinions"

Oh yeah, then how come anyone who says that he didn't like some place immediate gets attacked. The fact is that people like you are complete hypocrits. Everyone is entitled to an opinion - as long as they agree with you.

I especially love the posts that attack what I say and then end with "everyone is entitled to his opinion" in an attempt to pretend that they are being fair. The fact is that if I aud that I loved Lucca, no one would be saying, "well that's just your opinion." Somehow, it only comes up when someone disagrees with the zombies who post I loved, loved, loved it.