What's a famous place you've been to but was disappointed by?

Alcatraz -- It is not a bad place to visit. But the line to get on the ferry is too long, the ticket is too expensive, and the island itself is too crowded with tourists. It was underwhelming, especially two days after visiting Angel Island (there ferry is much cheaper, virtually no wait time, and the island itself is more fascinating).

Old Man Runner wrote:

The White House (tour)

Granted it's been probably almost 25 years since I did the tour, but I remember it being pretty lame...and this is before 9/11 so now it's probably even worse.

I did that tour probably around 1985 or so. They basically showed you all they could show you. You go through the East Room, Red Room, Blue Room, Green Room, the State Dining Room, and the main entrance hall I believe. That is nearly the entire first floor of the main mansion. Obviously they can't take you upstairs or into the West Wing.

I believe Rosalynn Carter used to spontaneously surprise a tour once in a while and meet the visitors when she was the First Lady. That would have been a quite a tour if you were one of the lucky ones.

Aspen's nice, though. Beautiful mountains, good fishing, groomed free XC ski trails during the winter. If you can get past the rich people and crazy prices, it's a great place. I did some trail races and the triathlon there way back when. That was one of my favorite tri courses, riding up to Maroon Lake and white knuckling back down to the rec center.

Mammoth caves national park. I'm truly spoiled living out west.

A few thoughts come to mind when I read this:

Mt. Rushmore is definitely the most overrated place that i've been to. Very underwhelming. On that same trip, we went to Badlands National Park so that made up for the disappointment of seeing Mt. Rushmore.

-The arch in St. Louis is also very overrated. The city of St. Louis is pretty much a dump aside from this.

- Statue of Liberty is a nightmare. Getting there is such a hassle. Better off just viewing it from Liberty State Park.

-Any Disney location seems very overrated.

Paris seems massively overrated. It seems like if you've ever seen a picture of the Eiffel tower, theres no real other reason to visit the city aside from maybe visiting the Louvre.

Davey Crock of wrote:

The Alamo.

Absolutely worthless.

Came here to post this. I would add the Space Needle in Seattle (every picture makes it look like a skyscraper and it's barely taller than the trees in my backyard) and The Red Light District in Amsterdam (walked right through and didn't even realize it!).

ConsistencyIsKing wrote:

Paris seems massively overrated. It seems like if you've ever seen a picture of the Eiffel tower, theres no real other reason to visit the city aside from maybe visiting the Louvre.

Orsay is better than Louvre. And there are other smaller museums which are excellent.

I guess it bores you if you are not interested in art.

Trips to Acupulco used to be really big thing for game show prizes. Not even nice or safe for a long time now.

Cancun is still "nice" but not my thing. Too fake.

The bathroom in the Minneapolis airport where Senator Larry Craig was busted for his "foot tapping" thing. I expected a plaque or something letting people know you were at least entering the famous bathroom (maybe not the exact stall)...but alas, there was nothing. For this huge event in US history, there was absolutely nothing. It was...an airport bathroom. They all kind of look the same.

It was probably 12 years ago now that I was there, but I remember it being right next to the food court, I believe. Might be wrong on that.

Miami Beach. I was expecting scantily clad babes everywhere. It was mostly just red, fat people.

Regina.

I had pretty low expectations going in. Was still disappointed.

Disneyland, I was spoiled by going to Disney World first.

Arizona, boring tan.

Tiverton

The whole of the US.

Waukesha: there’s no Waukesha St there!

Ostergotland: lots of Visigoths—mein ostergotena familien var en Deutschland

Heaven! I thought it would be great but it just a bunch of people floating around and praying. All of them think they are holier than thou. Its boring.

That's why I worked hard to earn my guardian angel wings so I could come back here to help others. I thought I should spend time on this message board because many here need help.

Have to push back on Harper's Ferry. I wouldn't make a vacation out of it, but it's a cool day trip if you know the history. Plus you can run on the Appalachian trail or the C&O from there.

The St Louis arch is also cool, but don't waste your time inside or spend the $20 to go up. Plenty of other fun stuff to do in the city if you search a little, too.

I'd say Boulder, but maybe didn't spend enough time there. Too much sprawl and traffic, and hard to get around without driving.

Venice also seemed Disney-fied, sadly.

The Nike Employee Store.

Ghrelin wrote:

Venice also seemed Disney-fied, sadly.

Not 20 years ago, no. I remember how quiet it was in so many neighborhoods and areas. No rednecks running industrial noise and equipment and power tools endlessly