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snuggels
960 Posts |
 Posted - 17 Aug 2011 : 01:08:09
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With so many lists out there of things you supposedly have to do before you die, it would be virtually impossible to fit everything in. But nor are you likely to want to. Let's face it: some of the most famous, supposedly unmissable tourist attractions turn out to be a hell of tacky souvenirs and other tourists' elbows in your face.
What better way to spend a holiday than to queue up for hours to gaze at big lumps of wax that look vaguely like footballers or members of the EastEnders cast? Pretty much anything, says Melissa Shales, a freelance journalist and the chair of the British Guild of Travel Writers.
She explains: "I live very near Madame Tussauds and regularly go past queues stretching around the block as hapless tourists wait for hours to pay through the nose to stare at waxwork models of celebrities.
"Why? I could possibly understand it in the days before mass media, but now? When those same celebrities fill our screens morning, noon and night, actually moving, speaking and singing?" SO VERY TRUE
Tom Hall, Lonely Planet's European travel editor, reckons that Amsterdam's renowned Sex Museum is "about as titillating as a fish factory".
Hall says: "I've never understood why supposedly risqué attractions like this are found slap bang in the middle of major tourist areas in big cities around the world. Nor do I get why they're in any way popular. They promise a cheap thrill but typically you see a miserable-looking couple coming out looking as if they've just been ripped off." AND WHY WOULD ANYONE WANT TO GO TO THE TURD MUSEAM I,LL NEVER KNOW
It might be Australia's most famous beach, but Bondi is often a crushing disappointment when you get there.
Bob Atkinson from travelsupermarket.com says: "Bondi is surrounded by tacky tourist souvenir shops and heaving with people. It also looks shabby and rundown around the beach area."
Just remember that Bondi is famous not because it's Sydney's best beach, but because it's the closest one to the city centre. Sydney's northern beaches are much better. I AGREE TRAVEL UP THE COAST MUCH BETTER
James Ellis, former travel editor of Metro and driving force behind traverati.com, reckons the otherwise impressive ruins at the ancient Mayan site of Chichen Itza are ruined by a "hokey evening show".
"The pyramid is lit up by some technician who has just discovered he can mimic various putrid shades by adding coloured gels to the spots that illuminate the ruins," Ellis says.
"As for the sound, the English translation you get through the headsets is simply appalling. It sounds like a robot talking; you learn nothing beyond the obvious and the incessant Chichen Itza, Chichen Itza, Chichen Itza chant is only just this side of I Know a Song That Will Get On Your Nerves (Get On Your Nerves, Get On Your Nerves)." THATS ONE I,LL GIVE A MISS THEN WHEN I GO TO MEXICO NEXT WINTER
Regarded as a shopping pilgrimage site for some, Rodeo Drive isn't nearly as wonderful as Pretty Woman made it out to be.
Simon Reeve, presenter of the BBC's Equator, Tropic of Capricorn and Tropic of Cancer series, isn't a huge fan. "Rodeo Drive is supposed to be one of the most glamorous shopping streets in the world, but the only strollers are out-of-towners desperate to snap a celebrity," he says.
"The shop-fronts are tacky and the pavements suspiciously clean. There's more glamour at Brent Cross." Shopping cente near London
Carmen Roberts, presenter of the BBC's Fast Track programme, calls Angkor Wat "a victim of its own success".
She reckons the supposedly peaceful temple complex has become a tourist trap of the highest order.
"Scores of buses pull up out the front every day, belching fumes, and swarms of tourists descend on the temple site," Roberts says.
"At sunset it's especially bad; you can barely get a good photo for the number of tourists. A better option is to head to the Banyan Temples nearby - they're much smaller and quieter." I AGREE I WASNT SO IMPRESSED THE LATTER IS MUCH BETTER
IF YOU WANT TO SEE BETTER AND MORE IMPRESSIVE IS TO TAKE A CRUISE DOWN THE RIVER NILE IN EGYPT
The makers of the Grand Canyon Skywalk bill it as "an architectural marvel". But the travel editor of The Sun, Lisa Minot, prefers the description a "total blot on the landscape".
Minot reckons the big-budget attraction is "expensive and shambolic".
She also points out that cameras are banned in case you drop them into the yawning abyss. "They caught me for £50 when they charged for the pics afterwards," she says.
The trend for setting up zip-wires has caught on across the world from Costa Rica to the Brecon Beacons.
But Dan Linstead, editor of Wanderlust magazine finds zip wiring a thoroughly miserable experience. THE SKY WALK HAS RUINED THE CANYON ITS HIDEOUS AND A BLOT ON THE LANDSCAPE
"It's billed by almost all countries with more than a smattering of woodland as the ultimate in eco-tourism exhilaration," Linstead says. "But it is more commonly experienced as a buttock-slicing and faintly humiliating hurtle through a blur of foliage from which any residual wildlife has long since departed."
Adventure as seen through the eyes of an overweight cruise ship passenger, then.
Val D'Isère may be one of the world's most popular ski resorts, but it's a cultural vacuum, says Sam Baldwin, travel features editor on Skyscanner and a winter sports specialist.
"OK, so the skiing and snowboarding may be extensive - but if you were hoping to experience anything remotely French in Val D'Isère, forget it," Baldwin says.
"Val D is largely populated by rugger buggers from Mayfair and Chelsea, and there are more Josephinas than Jean-Claudes. Its most vaunted night spot - Dick's Tea Bar - sums it up in more ways than one." LOL NEVER BEEN THERE
Billed as one of the most picturesque and romantic spots in the world - thanks in large part to a starring role in the James Bond movie Doctor No - the reality of Dunn's River Falls is of somewhere many people speedily want to leave.
As Travelsupermarket.com's Bob Atkinson puts it: "Dunn's River Falls is a tourist 'heaven'. Expect huge groups of cruise ship passengers and people staying at all inclusive hotels climbing the falls in their swimwear - with touts everywhere, waiting to fleece you."
WHEN IM IN THAT SOUGHT OF TERAIN I CHAT AND MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE LOCALS AS I ALLWAYS DO AND THEY WILL TELL YOU OR INDEED OFFER TO TAKE YOU TO SUCH PLACES
The Mediterranean supposedly has some of the best sunsets in the world, and Santorini supposedly has the best sunsets in the Mediterranean. And the best spot on Santorini is reputed to be the tiny village of Oia.
But Traverati's James Ellis says the sight isn't worth the 45-minute bus ride from the capital, Fira. "On arrival, you find all the good viewing spots have been taken up by locals or people staying in nearby hotels," he says. "Any photos of this magnificent natural sight look like one of those knock-off DVDs filmed in a cinema, where you can see someone get up to go to the loo.
"My advice is to turn your back on the sun and take a snap of all the *****s gawping and oohing and ahhing behind you as the sun goes down. It's much more fun." MUCH LIKE AYES ROCK IN AUSTRALIA BUT WAS IMPRESSIVE
It's arguably the most famous museum in the world, but turn up on a weekend or a busy day and it can be a nightmare.
The TV explorer Simon Reeve warns visitors to be "prepared to queue like you've never queued before. I didn't even get inside until my third trip to Paris because the line was so long. And when you're inside, you risk being stampeded by tour groups racing from room to room."
As for getting a proper look at the Mona Lisa - forget it. Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting is surrounded by glass and, more importantly, hundreds of other visitors with the same idea. YES STAY AWAY ITS MURDER
Charlie Connelly, author of travel books including Attention All Shipping: A Journey Around the Shipping Forecast, says Las Vegas "siphons the very life from you".
"On the first day you're dazzled by the pretty lights," Connelly argues. "On the second, as your shoulders droop at the sight of another row of one-armed bandits, you start to ask, 'Is this really all there is to it?'
"By the third you're feeling a great starving emptiness in the depths of your soul and, by day four, you find yourself actually considering going to a Celine Dion concert." I DISAGREE I HAVE BEEN THERE 4 TIMES NOW. IM NOT A GAMBLER BUT FOR PURE ESCAPEISM WONDERFULL
Land's End attracts troops of visitors who, for some reason, think they are visiting Britain's most southerly point. They're not - that honour goes to Lizard Point, further up the Cornish coast.
Still, they do get to visit the Land's End Centre, featuring all manner of flashy multimedia exhibitions about Cornwall.
Lonely Planet's Tom Hall finds the Land's End experience underwhelming. "Rather than let the rocky cliffs and crashing waves take centre stage, there's an unnecessary and disappointing theme park getting in the way of what should be a wild and natural place," he says
Land's End attracts troops of visitors who, for some reason, think they are visiting Britain's most southerly point. They're not - that honour goes to Lizard Point, further up the Cornish coast.
Still, they do get to visit the Land's End Centre, featuring all manner of flashy multimedia exhibitions about Cornwall.
Lonely Planet's Tom Hall finds the Land's End experience underwhelming. "Rather than let the rocky cliffs and crashing waves take centre stage, there's an unnecessary and disappointing theme park getting in the way of what should be a wild and natural place," he says. MUCH LIKE THE NEEDLES ON THE ISLAND OF WIGHT OF THE SOUTH COAST OF THE UK VERY DISAPOINTING
A 2007 survey by Virgin Insurance found Stonehenge to be the UK's most disappointing tourist attraction. MUCH LIKE THE CIRCLE OF STONES IN GAMBIAThe busy road running alongside the ancient stone circle makes it a transporting experience in all the wrong ways.
Wanderlust's Dan Linstead says: "Until better facilities are introduced and the bruising roar of the A303 is dampened, this is one World Heritage Site more likely to evoke tedium than awe. Leave it to the school groups."
A 2007 survey by Virgin Insurance found Stonehenge to be the UK's most disappointing tourist attraction.
The busy road running alongside the ancient stone circle makes it a transporting experience in all the wrong ways.
Wanderlust's Dan Linstead says: "Until better facilities are introduced and the bruising roar of the A303 is dampened, this is one World Heritage Site more likely to evoke tedium than awe. Leave it to the school groups."
The worldwide winner of the Virgin Insurance survey to find the most disappointing tourist attraction was the Eiffel Tower. Respondents summed up the Paris landmark as "frustratingly overcrowded and overpriced". YEP AND WHY WOULD WANT PROPOSE TO YOU FUTURE WIFE THERE I CAN THINK OF BETTER PLACES TO DO IT
Yet, every year, hundreds of thousands of people pay over the odds to ride to the top of Paris's most famous structure. Once they're there, they realise that their long sought after picture of the city skyline is lacking something essential - the Eiffel Tower itself.
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Edited by - snuggels on 17 Aug 2011 01:46:25 |
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