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Most tourists have been saving up for more than one month to finally make a long-awaited trip abroad. There are more than enough sights for a lifetime, only people choose countries and tours, to put it mildly, “hackneyed”.
From billboards, magazines and screens, they shout to us that one way or another, a hospitable country can boast of a unique heritage, which causes a massive “pilgrimage” to clearly defined well-promoted places where the price of an entrance ticket for an ordinary person in the Soviet space can be very “biting”. And as a result, a tourist, tired after year-round work, gets the most ordinary emotions, terrible fatigue, a pack of identical photographs and, unfortunately, a very impoverished wallet.
How to travel in such a way that it was really “shocking” and remembered for a lifetime? The main rule is to carefully read the information about the chosen place and weigh all the pros and cons, without relying on the comments of paid journalists and exalted public. Determine for yourself whether it is really interesting for you to look at a soulless pile of stones or a tall piece of iron. Or maybe still give up dancing an incendiary bachata on the beach in Spain? Or wander around Copenhagen all day on your own, munching on local desserts?
Consider the TOP 10 overrated attractions, the price and excitement of visiting which do not coincide with reality.
10 Stonehenge, UK
Tell any tourist the word “England”, and immediately in response you will receive a satisfied associative speech: “I would like to see Stonehenge.” Yes, the guides and agitators did a good job, since a bunch of rather dull and ugly boulders causes a real ecstasy in an ordinary person. And they managed to come up with amazing legends, saying that these stones are not just sculptures from rocks, but mystical objects. Unfortunately, helpful guides will not give you any evidence.
What in fact: an exhausted expensive tourist comes to the area and, in a series of busy roads, observes monumental pebbles from afar, listening to the monotonous sermons of the guide. Moreover, you will also pay for a pass to the monument, but you still won’t be able to touch it and take a full picture, just like chipping a piece from a miracle stone as an outlandish souvenir.
9. Hollywood Walk of Fame, USA
America, as a planetary leader, manages to attract tourists to its famous sidewalk, which is lined with the names (and sometimes handprints) of celebrities. Surprisingly, in the same city you can see really famous and not so famous actors, singers, politicians, etc., and if you’re lucky, you can grab memorable selfies with them. But to go to the States just to admire the road, well sealed with building materials, is a little pleasure. Moreover, numerous animators will definitely prevent you from contemplating the cultural heritage, designed to forcefully entertain the crowd for a “penny” and sell unnecessary expensive photos to anyone.
8. Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy
The famous architectural anomaly continues to captivate the wandering tourist. If we are objective and evaluate the real emotions of the people who have been there, then apart from the mainstream photo where you lean on a falling tower, there really is nothing to do there. Well, you buy a snack or a souvenir from local sellers, well, you make a professional photo for big money, but you need to spend nothing less on this excursion, but a whole day of precious rest, especially if you are coming from Rome.
If you have already reached the area and fell into the guide’s trap, then do not apply to visit the Pisa Cathedral, which concentrated the world’s works of art. So you can join the really beautiful for a reasonable price.
7. Times Square, USA
And again the States, the famous pumping dollars out of naive tourists. This time, open-minded people are invited to explore the quarters of Times Square, which, according to the description of the guides, supposedly will enchant you with bright lights and the life of the city. In fact, a tired person gets the following collective “hodgepodge”: annoying billboards always blinking, a lot of CD and local souvenir sellers, endless crowds of Asian and other tourists, crazy traffic (and these are exhaust gases) and general nightmarish fuss. By the way, the inhabitants of the city itself stay as far away from Times Square as possible, shunning it like the plague. Of course, among the besotted crowd, any desire to calmly and measuredly appreciate the sights of the city, to be alone with your loved ones disappears.
6. Cairo city, Egypt
Arrived in Egypt – you can’t help but visit the capital, not far from which the famous pyramids are located. Okay, the latter – for them, in fact, a tourist in this hot and expensive country basically goes. But what to do in a frankly cramped, dirty and dull city, where the poverty of the corners just rolls over. If you don’t believe me, type in Google “streets of Cairo”, “enjoying” the views of blackness and poverty. In addition, we do not recommend visiting the capital for the female sex – local men frankly, brazenly and even angrily examine visitors from head to toe, they can afford frivolity and ridicule. At the same time, it does not matter at all whether the woman has an escort and how modestly she is dressed. Alternative visits to Cairo can be the cities of Aswan and Luxor.
5. London Eye, UK
This time we are moving to the capital of England, where in a futuristic reproduction (elevator capsule) you can rise high, high above the ground, contemplating the beautiful panorama of London. But this is ideally tabloid pamphlets, reading material for the naive. In fact, you give a tidy sum to the tour operator for once to ride on a specific Ferris Wheel. You will definitely be pushed into a booth, packed to capacity with sweaty and chatty tourists who will try their best to push you away from the window. And if there are mothers with children in the booth, then you will not see a “beautiful panorama” like your own ears. And the worst thing is that in stuffiness and despondency you have to ride as much as 45 minutes. Oh yes, do not forget about the queue that you need to stand for an unforgettable trip on an ordinary Ferris wheel.
4. Eiffel Tower, France
The tourist, driven by the crowd, was secretly afraid that in this review we would get to the world “classic” of the European tour – the Eiffel Tower. It is unpleasant to listen to the truth, we understand, but we simply cannot help but talk about the stupidity of visiting the old iron junk. Waiting – a romantic proposal at the foot of the tower, croissants in a local cafe, a romantic sunset and a solemn climb to the building blinking with lights. Reality: angry Parisians and a crowd of inadequate tourists, the impressive cost of visiting a pile of iron, the need to gallop after a guide, not having time to take the desired pictures. By the way, in the pictures your background will be not so much a tower as curious scurrying tourists. It’s easier to apply a similar background in a photo studio. And the disappointment from running around, the lack of “evening lights” (which is quite natural for classic daytime excursions) and terrible fatigue are provided.
3. Phi Phi Island, Thailand
Undoubtedly, the country is beautiful with heavenly views and islands, although it will cost a pretty penny for a tourist from the Soviet Union to get to it. The picturesque island of Phi Phi consists of beautiful bays, blue seas, tropical vegetation and cliffs. There is no ground transport communication on the ground, do not try to get there on your own – the economy will not work. Hollywood has tried hard to advertise this place in films, so you should not expect the nirvana of a piece of paradise, but only a stream of tourists seeking to litter any area where they find themselves. As the locals say, the slightly more remote island of Bamboo is much more beautiful, and due to the higher cost of transport, fewer tourists get there. Can contemplate the underwater world and the white sand is right there?
2. Great Wall of China, China
Well, a monumental and extended defensive structure can attract men, and listening to stories about military missions is quite interesting. But what to do there for mothers and young children is not at all clear. Visited tourists report that in addition to historical footnotes, many and many steps of the road, bumps, overworked shins, crowds of people and garbage were waiting for them. The result of a “fascinating” excursion is wild fatigue, the absence of any emotions, blurry photos, an empty wallet and a mediocre lost whole day.
1. Little Mermaid statue, Denmark
Most educated tourists know that the statue, popular thanks to the fairy tale, is only a copy of the original, which, by the way, is kept indoors. And this is logical, because the historical relic was damaged by time and people – at one time they chopped off her head and tried to blow it up with dynamite.
Coming to admire the statue in the sea, you will get the opportunity to contemplate a copy of the structure from afar, without the opportunity to touch and take rare photographs. But, by the way, you can visit the monument to Hans Andersen himself in New York – climb it for your pleasure and take a myriad of interesting pictures.
So, the first rule of tourism is “trust but verify”. If you have strictly scheduled a visit to a particular country, then make your own travel list based on real people’s reviews. Avoid pamphlets of tour operators, designed by agreement to advertise to you even stupid stones or pieces of iron.