What are some very overrated tourist spots in Europe?
When thinking of travelling Europe, we can think of endless things to visit, the most iconic landmarks in the continent. Europe is big in things to offer to tourists, in a way, that visitors will never run out of activities to see and be left with an unforgettable trip.
It is an incredible feeling when you have nailed down your next travel destination, whether you go as a single traveller or in a couple, friends or family. However, it is super easy to let yourself get carried away with all the “must-do” things that all the people always talk about, take pictures of (some of them really “cheesy”) but actually, all those places or touristic attractions are nothing but what is called “touristic traps”.
These are not worthwhile seeing and doing activities or attractions and places that are nothing but overpriced, low quality, overcrowded and often times turn out to be a scam and frustrate your expectations.
It is worldwide known that Europe is absolutely packed with famous appealing attractions and striking places that not even European citizen might know or travelled to.
Even so, Europe also has some destinations and attractions that are not worth your time and money. They are overrated activities, places and things to see that has been hyped up for whatever reason, but really they are not that impressive.
What happens is that people travel with very big expectations of what other have told them about those emblematic and popular places and when they get there, the disappointment is huge.
This is not to say that none of them aren’t worthy of being seen, but they are simply unrealistically rated. Sometimes, so much so, that can even frustrate your entire trip by having your high expectations broken in no time.
With the stress and lack of time of the modern world, many travellers feel the need to focus in selected items or places that have held a lot of popularity for decades, rather than, more unknown places that could better fulfil their travel needs.
By no means, the always exploitative tourism industry doesn’t help much here, as in some instances, they might have spoiled the actual areas where those attractions are built, creating an over-saturating environment with facilities, merchandise, entrance fees, everything focused towards ripping off the tourist.
In this post, we will dive into the most overrated tourist attractions in Europe, that most people would advise you to add to your “to-do list” when going to a particular place, but we will recommend to cross them out of that list, rather than, ticking them off and, so that, you can save your precious holiday time and money to perhaps going somewhere else or doing something else instead.
Here, we will list and explain some of the most overhyped popular sights in Europe and why you should avoid them to spare you from having long lasting disappointing memories of your trip.
Some of the most overrated attractions in Europe are The Colosseum in Rome, The Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen, The London Eye in London, The Guinness Storehouse in Dublin, a sunset in Oia in Santorini, Gondola rides in Venice and many others like the city of St. Tropez in France, The red district in Amsterdam, Barcelona, etc. They are amongst the most famous overrated touristic places in Europe. These places are or include “tourist traps”, that lack authenticity, they are not as special and unique, as they claim or they once were, most of the times with very overinflated prices, endless crowds that actually seasoned or more experienced travellers would avoid that destination altogether. Thus, jeopardising the tourism industry.
The Colosseum is the most emblematic attraction that comes to everyone’s mind when we think of Rome. In fact, some people consider it the most iconic building in Italy.
It is a giant amphitheatre where the gladiators’ battles and all sorts of entertainment used to take place in the Ancient Rome.
Structure that once used to blow everyone’s mind because of its beauty, today, is a big remaining in ruins that pretty much forces you to imagine how it once was.
Nowadays, the Colosseum is an overcrowded queue waiting outside to get in, sometimes, it can take hours and companies preying on tourists in the promises of shorter waiting lines and additional fees.
Worry not, you can find several places where you can get amazing views of it, even for most of the streets around it. Simply skip the Colosseum.
Although, Pisa is a nice and charming little town that is home for one of Italy’s most popular building together with The Colosseum in Rome.
However, being all excited and obsessed over visiting the leaning tower is, simply, not worth the effort.
It is, not only, overcrowded, but also, ridiculously expensive, as it costs €20 for climbing up to the top of the tower without being rewarded with spectacular views. Also, the queue goes for hours until you are able to reach to the top.
If you are really desperate to get that overdone picture of holding The Leaning Tower in your hand or feet, then, by all means go there. But the Tuscany is so gorgeous and has so many other medieval, charming towns to visit, that driving almost two hours to get to Pisa is not worth the effort. It is an absolute tourist catch.
The Little Mermaid is a bronze statue sitting in a rock with sea and harbour, views. It was made in Copenhagen since 1913.
The statue is an icon resembling the Disney movie “The Little Mermaid”, however, upon arrival to the site, after a walk to reach the waterfront, it, simply, leaves you with a huge feeling of disappointment.
The Little Mermaid statue lacks all aesthetic appeals and it is rather small, pretty much you wouldn’t notice it in any other place. Also, the time has taken a toll on it, as the statue has been the target of small crimes and damages over the years.
Not only, it is not that pretty, but also, the background where the statue is placed is rather ugly too. There are whit buildings in the end that used to be an incinerator and although it is intended to help with green energy production, the touristic appeal is just missing.
There are tons of people waiting and around to take the picture and most people will tell you that they feel underwhelmed about the attraction.
My advise is, if you happen to be in the area taking a stroll, have a look at it, but driving and then walking all the way to see this “iconic statue” is not worthwhile.
The London Eye is by far one of the most popular visited tourist monument in Europe since it was opened in the early 2000s in hopes to push the tourism forward in England.
If you were looking to travel to London and you are reading blogs and guides about it, you have probably seen a million pictures of the London Eye.
It is another perfect example of a tourist trap. It is a glorified ferris wheel, that will cost pretty expensive to not even get good views of London skyline. The views are okay but not spectacular.
Not only, the views will disappoint, but also, it is an over prices entrance fee £27 ($35) with a long waiting line to get in and on top of that you will be given the option to pay even more money to get an express ticket £37 ($48), making you believe that the waiting line will be shorter.
Dublin is an awesome city, recommended to be visited as the landscapes are incredible. However, there is one attraction that pretty much takes the whole attention when the word Dublin comes to thought, and that is The Guinness Storehouse.
Originally, this building was used as a fermentation plant in the early 1900s but only in 1988 was open for commercial brewery.
It is one of the most popular and visited places in Europe! Visitors all over the world travel all the way to Ireland with the misconceptions and high expectations to pay for the Guinness brewery.
Unfortunately, here is the catch, what you pay for is a tour of the building where you will learn the history of the Guinness beer. The attractions is a major let down.
The entrance fee is 13 euros which includes a “free” pint of Guinness and hours of history about the beer. That is fine, but you can get cheaper pints in any other pub in Dublin.
Now, if you want to sing up for the three hours beer tour and tasting, then be prepared to pay 100 euros. Not to talk about the long line that you will have to wait if you don’t book your ticket online.
Oia is a great place to watch a sunset, by all means. The stunning colours are there, especially, in the summer time. However, it is not the only place on the Greek islands for mind-blowing sunsets. You are better of watching the sunset from Fira to get panoramic views of the entire island.
Most tourist go there with the expectations to take pictures for Instagram with Disney colours and having the place just for themselves. Unfortunately, this is another popular tourist trap.
Definitely, an overrated place, full to the top with hoards of people wanting to do the same.
Even the most extrovert and easy going person, would feel anxious and stressed in the narrow walkways of this place.
You actually might no be able to properly see the sunset given the amount of people and overall the time spent in the narrow streets to get there. Some people even intrude locals homes to sit down and take pictures.
Most tourists and Berlin visitors wouldn’t even conceive going to Berlin and not visiting the Checkpoint Charlie.
Checkpoint Charlie was one of the main three points of control that used to separate the West of Germany from the East during the Cold War.
What was once a symbol of the German Division and an inflexion point in history, is today an absolute tourist trap surrounded by packs of people.
Hoards of tourists waiting in line, invading the space where the wall resides, holding onto it to take pictures, whilst experimenting performances from actors dressed up as soldiers in an attempt to represent the Cold War times.
Not only, the whole atmosphere doesn’t properly represent what the Cold War actually meant for Germany the country, but also, many people don’t even know the history of the Wall.
It is in fact, quite an underwhelming place to visit, there are many more interesting places in Berlin to visit to learn from its underground culture.
Whilst you might think, based on movies and songs, that gondola rides in the canals in Venice, are amongst the most romantic things you can possibly do when in Italy.
Certainly, Venice is gorgeous and the food is amazing, but the gondola rides, are not worth your money and time.
It is very expensive, by being charged 80 euros per 20 minutes with a 40 euros extra, if you wished to extend your time another 20 minutes. Also, if your dream was for the gondolier to sing a romantic song whilst you cruise along quiet and empty canals, the reality will definitely, frustrate your Venice plans.
You can get a a taste of the canals by catching taxis, vaporettos and by walking around the canal fronts.
While Venice offers a unique experience, the gondola rides are overrated and overpriced around €100 for 30 minutes for a private ride with many add-ons pricing. A private gondola ride is something you should only ride once at most in your life with the right person.
Not only, the price, but also, there are loads of people around Venice constantly, other dozens of gondolas in the canals too, for which, your intimate, silent and romantic little cruise is out of the picture.
Also, the weather needs to be right, as the canals need to be full and sometimes if the tide is high and with strong swell then it will be pretty smelly. That’s not very romantic.
There are other many more touristic traps in Europe that you should avoid as a tourist, those include:
There you go! Now you know, some of the most overrated and touristic traps in Europe. This is not to say you shouldn’t visit those cities or places, everyone preferences are different, however, most people feel this way after going to those touristic places.
There is nothing more frustrating than travelling around the world to one of your most wished places to then discover that those places are crowded, dirty, expensive and not much worthwhile. Even, the food is frozen in many of those touristic places where on top of that they can charge a kidney for it!