Like most people

The beaches just weren't as picturesque as what I had in my head. Very grey sand. I don't like leaving a beach dirty

I disagree with the beaches being the 'main thing to do there'. The inland parts of Costa Rica are breathtakingly beautiful.

Agree, Mona Lisa was a let down. Very small painting behind an inch or so of bullet proof glass. Heaps of people there too. It was a bit surreal knowing you were in the same room as it, but the number of people destroy that feeling.

If you're ever in London, don't waste time & money on the London Eye.

I'd say a lot of the archaeological sights and museums in Athens were quite underwhelming. And I'm a guy who LOVES going to museums and archaeological/historical sights.

I've heard Robben Island in Cape Town is a good example of this, and based on hearing this several times I didn't go to it.

Looking back, I'm not sure Lake Atitlan in Guatemala is worth all the fuss. The towns are ugly, it's dangerous, and the scenic views just aren't that amazing.

I wasn't amazed by the Malecon in Havana like other people were, but it's free and it's right there so there's no reason not to go. Trinidad isn't particularly incredible if you've been to a bunch of Spanish colonial towns before--Mexico has way better stuff.

I wouldn't bend over backwards to fit Bahir Dar into an Ethiopia trip.

In Brazil, notably, just about every single thing I did was awesome, and just as billed. I was never let down in that country. Likewise Istanbul.

+1 on Waikiki, that place was a massively overcrowded hellhole.

Good to hear, since I skipped it because it was too busy.

Re the Mona Lisa, the thing that drove me crazy was people taking flash photos of it. It was behind glass so they were going to end up with photos of reflections probably.

As much as I'm embarrassed to admit it, I kinda like the "Asian" Zoos. They're like petting zoos. You feed some animals, you pet other animals, and watch some variety show in between. One time I was picked out of the crowd at one of those "zoos" for their elephant show which was... memorable. It's a fun group activity.

This is totally different from seeing wild animals, but in a strange way I enjoy both experiences. I know that makes me a bad person, but I can't help it. It's the typical US/EU zoos that bore me to death.

I think the only church I thought was pretty neat was St Pauls in London because you can go up to the top of the dome. And the only temple that stands out was a very-rural Thai temple. It was tiny and it was ugly, but I was stuck in a village and the village people set me up to sleep there. Everything else is just a blur of pretty stone and blingy metals - entertaining for 5 minutes.

This all makes me less interested in sightseeing and typical travelling than I ever was. I never really got the whole travelling thing as it's usually done (short trips), is a lot of it much better than watching a travel DVD? But, this is the first thread I've looked at in this forum so I'll keep looking I guess.

I've travelled most of my life and been sightseeing about 3 times.

Travelling is not about looking at buildings. It's about meeting new people and experiencing new cultures.

Is the best way to experience new cultures to stay in hostels and hang out with the other guests and refuse to learn another language (I'm stereotyping roughtly from people I know)? I guess you mix a bit with other foreign guests. I live in London and all I have to do to learn about other cultures is go to a pub and the majority of people are foreigners.

I kind of wish I went when I was younger to meet foreign girls though... partying in London, or England, eurghh.

I have had a few foreign girlfriends and only getting to know them well and especially meeting their families made me realise the difference in cultures, I don't know if I could get that otherwise.

Leaning tower of Pisa.

This thread shoudn't discourage you, it is obv going to be 'negative' since it is geared towards 'overrated tourist stuff'. To say a DVD could be the equivalent of travel, though, would be to say you could just get a DVD of the outside world and never leave your house.

That's like saying it's better to watch a porno than have sex irl

Travel is about so many things and seeing some tourist places is only part of it. I've seen / experienced things that will change me forever / I will remember forever.

Niagara Falls was the greatest thing I've seen in my travels. obv have to go to the Canadian side but having that in the OP is a huge fail

It depends on the attraction, but watching a DVD will give you 10x more insight and usually much better view than seeing things in person. The biggest benefit to going to some places is to say that you saw Mona Lisa "in real life"... and there really isn't much difference.

What helps is to "experience" places. Take a private boat ride behind Taj Mahal. Go on that boat at Niagra Falls. Ultralight flight over Victoria Falls. Horseback ride around park.

I never really understand when people take pictures of stuff like that. You could just google "mona lisa pictures" and thousands of photos taken by other people will show up that will be the same or better than the photo you would take. So when at a big attraction that a million other people have already photographed, I leave my camera in my pocket and enjoy with my eyes.

When it comes to looking at buildings and landmarks, yes, a book or DVD can be just as good in many ways.

I tend to love natural things, so IMO stuff like the Grand Canyon or other National Parks always seems worth it. I love nature and poker, and wouldn't be surprised if eventually I've hiked and explored every National Park in US/Canada as well as played poker in every worthwhile poker room in Canada/US. I also love baseball and watching a game at every stadium may eventually happen too. I don't go places to check things off the list, but once I get close to finishing up those 3 lists I'll probably make a point of completing.

Travelling is more about being surrounded by a different culture, and different general environment, eating different food, and meeting different people and basically the adventure of it all. The adventure more than anything really.

And for many of us, travel is a great way to get away from ****ty winter weather. As a Canadian, every winter I spend months travelling to places with better winter weather, and that can be a million places from California/Vegas to Thailand or South America. I love my home, but I'm happy to just be there half the year.

In my opinion, there's nothing better to spend your extra money on than travelling. And I couldn't imagine a more dull existence than that of a person who is born somewhere, lives pretty much their whole life in that place, and never travels much at all. Sometimes I meet Americans who have only ever travelled to their neighbouring states, and maybe to Disneyland or Las Vegas, and it's just lol and sad to me.

Forbidden City in Beijing. Go to any Chinese historical building and it looks the same.

Nothing is a bigger letdown then going to the Badaling (really Chinese touristy) section of the Great Wall on a polluted day.

Most Chinese temples are exactly the same (and cities for that matter).

Forbidden City was OK. Definitely not a crime to not bother with it.

I didn't think much of the Forbidden City either. Temple of Heaven was crapas well.

I really enjoyed the Mutianyu section of the Great Walll though. The scenery was stunning. Lots of other tourists about but I was there during the Olympics so that's to be expected. I've no idea how busy it would be most of the time.

Oh, I thought of one, the astronomical clock in Prague, or more specifically the hourly clockwork show. Pretty underwhelming.

What about Vegas's new "eye"? Worth it or not?

I've done all 30 MLB ballparks in a summer and it was amazing!

I've also wanted to drive across the US seeing national parks for a season or few months as well as hitting up poker rooms across the US and blog about it. I think the poker trip would be fun initially but I'm concerned that it would become the same thing over and over again.

Ahaha yeah, that thing might be the WOAT attraction.

The guy from our hostel said he liked to stand under it facing out and watch everyones "wtf?" expressions after it ended.