Kenav, Blue Grotto (Grotta Azzurra) is in Capri. I disagree with Anya, we loved it, the water was so clean, calm and blue. In the grotta was very dark but the water shined , looking like the sun was on the bottom of the lake.

I do not really understand the question about touristy places. Most of us are tourists, and the places that become tourisy are the those that most of the tourists like, because they have something intersting or beautiful to offer! What is wrong with this?

Carnaby Street.>>>>>

When was this - it's been done up and is pretty upmarket these days - all the junk stalls have been moved. You can't buy a teddy bear dressed as a beefeater anymore.

You can buy a £50 t-shirt thopugh.

I can't buy a £50 T-shirt. It's not the money; it's my psyche. I'd go to Oxford St for the £5 T-shirt, and spend the rest on a nice meal.

Most touristy place? Prague: Old Town Square, Karlova, and Charles Bridge.

San Marino by day - one of the most touristy. San Marino by night - one of the least.

There are a lot places like that.

hawaii even the tourist were taking pictures posing with other tourists..

How could I forget! Daytrippers at Mont Ste. Michel -- droves and droves of ice cream drippers, squawling kids, pimply teenagers in smelly gym shoes, and ever-so-many prams, bumping up and down those stone-step streets, blocking everyones' way.

Mont St Michel in August - extremely high heat,humidity, masses of people, sweaty, smelly, pushy people. I know its supposed to be awe inspiring but I just wanted to get out of there.

Carnaby Street's upmarket now? Wow. I wouldn't have thought it possible. I remember those bears well. I don't suppose there's a shortage of them elsewhere in town.

Ok, call me cheesy, but I LOVE a LOT of the places others have listed as "most touristy." I LOVE ROME. I love San Francisco and yesssss even Fisherman's Wharf. Venice is perhaps my fave place in the world! I LOVE Monmartre and Paris is another one of my fave cities, etc etc I can and do have fun and find adventure just about everywhere I do. Even if I think a place is "touristy" like WDW......I have a blast there! Or Honolulu which is "touristy" but there's still fun to be had....in my opinion. :) Melissa

Most touristy? The Fodors talk board for Europe. It seems everyone here is a tourist going somewhere! LOL

High on my list of places that seemed "too touristy" was Florence. Maybe that's just because there were so many tour groups all following leaders with umbrella or flag raised.

And of course places like Fisherman's Wharf or the Strip in Las Vegas totally exist FOR tourists, so I can't imagine any place getting more touristy than those.

And of course, you can't leave out places like Pompeii. Not a single person lives within the ruins, so obviously it is nothing but tourists. Not that that seems as "offensive" as some places where you expect to see more locals -- which brings me back to Florence.

I think I meant, by posting this question in the first place, if "most" touristy means some authenticity of the place you are in has been diminished because of, for example, the plethora of tourist t-shirt stores, and lack of locals, as well as crowds of tourists so that just walking and lingering is not enjoyable any longer. Has the experience you craved for in a city/area you're visiitng been diminished in some major way because of the tourists (yes, us) and/or businesses catering to tourists? Has it changed, if you've been there more than once?

This is not to be confused with "I thought the cathedral would be bigger, prettier, older" etc.

Well, I must say that Prague seemed greatly changed by the huge increase in tourism between our visits in 1995 and 2000. I understand the difference is even greater now.

In Europe?

Disneyland Paris (which I liked)

Mont St Michele (Which I hated until after five PM. NIGHTMARE of people, don't need to do that again!)

Mont St Michel was on my list to visit in July. Is it really that crowded? We're taking our 4 boys (14,13,10,5) and hot, crowded streets are obviously not what we want.

Keep a close eye on them. About a hundred artists are going to try to draw their picture, in order to siphon some money out of you. Easy enough to shake off, but maybe not for a kid who doesn't know what's happening. Unless you WANT a picture of your boys; it might be a fun souvenir.

I'd definitely go, though; it's a very lively place. If you really hate crowds, cities are always going to be a problem. Beware of the restaurants right on the Place, though.

Touristy AND cheesy - South of the Border, South Carolina!

Does South of the Border still exist ?????? If it does, that could certainly be in the top 5

Las Vagas and Niagra overall (yeuch!).

In Europe, I spent a horrible two days in Eurodisney at a conference - only place in France where I have had foul food :(

Also, as a kid, Blackpool - tacky, tacky, tacky.

Tower of London. I was enthralled as a kid when it was subdued and historical. I returned a year ago and thought it no better than a Disney side-show.

Tralee in Kerry is pretty awful, although the surrounding area is stunning.

Agree, Las Ramblas is dreadful.

Sometimes it depends on WHEN you travel. I loved Cairo and the Pyramids, but I visited not long after the German touists were attacked (God bless them) and in September (HOT) so it was completely empty and a wonderful experience. Rome in Winter is a great destination, but I could imagine it being a nightmare in high season. I was in Assisi in April and arrived early morning and was one of only a handful of visitor. By late afternoon is was bedlam.

Annasplit,
Yes, Mont St. Michel will be HUGELY crowded in July. We were there this past July, arriving at 6pm, and the crowds did not let up until late at night.

I recommend that if you go, try to arrive around 6 in the evening, sleep on the island, and leave by 9-10am the next day. I think that the boys would enjoy the experience of being on the Mount, and watching the tides coming in is an amazing experience. But if you find crowds overwhelming, you should consider skipping it. I also would NOT do a day trip during the summer.

Paule

TravMimi:

Heeeeeerrrrre's Pedro!

http://www.pedroland.com/

LOURDES, without a doubt.....shops everywhere selling little plastic Virgin Mary bottles with screw off hears so you can fill the bottles with holy water from the grotto. Seemed pretty blasphemous to me.

Carcassonne struck me as touristy at first and then I realized that in the "old" days, it was a commercial center. True, the shops back then weren't selling postcards, but people did come there to shop and gossip and trade, and that put it into perspective for me.

Lindall - I'm laughing so much. I've been all over the world and THAT wins. We got stranded there years ago. I couldn't believe the place. As truck stops are for truckers, South of the border is for tourist. It's only reason to exist is for passing tourists. It has to be the mostly touristy place in the world.

St Thomas, UVI

seasho-simply because you LOVED Angkor Wat, doesn't mean that it's not one of the most overly touristed places in Asia-in fact, great concern is expressed about the resources and the fragility of the area, because it is SO overrun with tourists, touts-, screaming after you to buy everything from Lonely Planet Cambodia to cameras -to hundreds of tourist buses-I didn't like Cambodia, my friends didn't like Angkor Wat-we're glad we saw it- but never again, there's nothing there that interests me in the least-particularly the huge gap between the 5 star hotels for the tourists in Siem Riep, and the poorer than poor river people in their shacks.

OReilly, You are so right. I imagine that Rome would actually be pleasant in winter.

But I would find Las Vegas repulsive, no matter the time of year.

Thanks to everyone for the feedback and fair warning. I'll be going to Neuschwanstein this summer. I'm fully prepared that it will be "touristy," and not medieval. But I am interested in the history of Mad Kind Ludwig and his romantic sensibilities.

My first shot at Rome was also less than great: the popular attractions were way too popular. And this is true of many many places during the main tourism months. My next time to Rome was in Autumn and although there will still many tourists around, it felt like about 30% of the previous crowds - which meant I could see things, first, and also feel the presence of Italians!

This is true in my town, NYC. During the many peak tourism periods (not just summer) you rather avoid certain streets when possible - not out of dislike for tourists, but out of self-preservation. It can be exhausting just to maneuver through them!

I try to keep that in mind when dealing with the locals in Paris, Rome, anywhere the crowds of tourists - me included - sometimes threaten to overwhelm the city.

I am sorry if this offends members, but wake up, we are all tourists!!! Granted, we may be good tourists, kind, try to speak the naitve tongue- but no matter how hard you try we are aliens..... I have a hard time complaining, considering if this is a problem for you- you are the problem.

Like I said I have the urge to complain but how can I when I am there!!!!!

I was going to mention Lourdes; I’ve never been but have heard enough to recognize all that other posters have seen personally.

However, when I was 4 years old, my dear Mother arrived in Lourdes on a stretcher, dying and not expected to survive the journey. The doctors had given up all hope and I was told my Mammy would not come home. She came home in wheelchair, much recovered and went on to have another child and survive until I was 30. She wasn’t the only one. It may be tacky and touristy, but there is something extraordinary about that place. I am grateful that I had 26 years more with my dear Mammy.

OK, I have searched the entire thread and not one mention of what has to be the sleeziest of all tourist traps in the world... Tijauna, Mexico
thereyet

Try the Diamond in Donegal Town on Saint Patrick's Day..

Ayia Napa in August.

I think there's a difference between sights and places that are in and of themselves touristy (e.g., Disneyworld, Legoland), as opposed to sights and places that have a touristy atmosphere because of the number of tourists and the tourism infrastructure that has grown up around them (e.g., Lourdes or Neuschwanstein or Rothenburg).

Thanks to the growth in leisure time in the past decades and the availability of travel, many places seem always to be overrun with tourists. There can't be many of us who haven't at some point looked up and thought it would be nice if about half of "them" would just go home, so the rest of us could enjoy the experience in less crowded and noisy - and more affordable - conditions.

This surely must go back centuries or millennia, if we believe what we read. Vendors and innkeepers have long created traps (not necessarily criminal ones) for tourists and pilgrims in the places everyone "had to" visit.

I remember a line from the film "Summertime", when Katherine Hepburn as Jane Hudson tells the owner of the pensione, "I'm so glad I'm here rather than at a big hotel filled with tourists - like me."

Today one issue is that when a place is made a World Heritage Site it will often be subsumed by tourism, thus helping to destroy, in a way, the very thing meant to be preserved. Some nations and cities do a good job of managing the tourism growth and the alterations it brings to a place. Others less so.

Our innocent desire to see the beautiful creations of man and God constantly threaten their beauty, whether it is hordes trampling a national park or hordes creating a din in a museum or church or ancient temple. One sad example to me is the huge cruise ships allowed into the Venice Lagoon. Not only does their out-of-scale presence wreck the views, and their throngs overfill the piazze, but they can't physically be good for the city's fragile footing on this earth.

Finding a place that hasn't been "spoiled" by either the visitors or the exploiters becomes a goal in itself. Then we feel more chill than thrill when we find our secret place featured in Travel and Leisure magazine or the Sunday newspaper. If the travel writer has found it, can the tour bus be far behind?

I personlly relate to a Noel Coward line that goes something like:
"I am always arriving just AFTER the season, festival, feast day, or national holiday. I find that very pleasant." Truly, for all the excitement that surrounds a hyped event, there can be tremendous pleasure in missing them.

I have to disagree with Robespierre (4/18 @ 12:15) about Ocean City NJ. Yes, there is a boardwalk with touristy-type shops, but it's relatively subdued. The town is dry so there are no bars, and the "Blue laws" keep many shops shuttered on Sundays. If you want to see tacky, go to Wildwood, NJ, about 25 miles south of OC. It's a mini-version of Myrtle Beach, about which enough has already been said.

In the UK- Blackpool, without a shadow of a doubt. If I never had to go there again.....

In the rest of Europe-Malia on Crete. OK. I nver got out of mteh car, but even so, it was just like Blackpool, but with sunshine.

In the other bits of the world I've been to-Seaworld in San Diego. But my experiecnes in other bits of the world are limited.

Dubrovnik in July. Hot, hot, hot. Full of tourists from the many cruise liners visiting. Full of tourist shops selling T shirts, post cards etc. Similar in many ways to St. Marks in Venice during the summer without the rest of Venice to explore.

Yeah, it's Prague and that was several years ago. Traveling late in the year helps a bit with this "problem."

Milan!! After Venice, Florence, Sienna etc, this was a bad experience but fortunately we were off to Bergamo the next day and that made up for everything..

Here is a hint for the complainers among you:

Travel in the off-season!

Don't go to Venice in July and don't go to Angkor in the winter months.

Maybe don't go to Lourdes at all!!

I would bet some of the nay-sayers here would think differently of certain destinations if they paid a second visit to Rome, or Sarlat, to name two European examples, in January.

Niagara Falls.