Have you ever spent months planning a dream vacation, stood in line for two hours to see a famous attraction and then thought, “Wait, that’s it?” Let’s talk about the most overrated tourist attractions in the world, and what to do instead.
Before anyone sends me angry emails (and I’m sure they’re coming), I’m not saying these places are bad. I’m saying the Instagram version and the reality version are sometimes two very different things. And the best part is that for almost every overrated attraction, there’s a better experience nearby that most travelers completely miss.
Famous Doesn’t Automatically Mean Amazing
The biggest mistake travelers make is assuming that famous automatically means amazing. We’ve been conditioned to think the most photographed place is the best, the most visited place is a must-see and a long line means it’s worth it. That’s not always true.
Sometimes the best travel experiences happen when you skip the thing everyone else is doing. The memories you treasure most are often the little café you stumbled into, the local beach you found by accident or the neighborhood nobody has put on TikTok yet.
The Eiffel Tower
Don’t throw tomatoes at me. You have to see the Eiffel Tower. It’s iconic, it’s really pretty and it sits in the middle of a gorgeous city. I’ve been up a couple of times. But on my last trip to Paris, when it was time to use our skip-the-line tickets, I realized I was enjoying our shopping on the Champs-Élysées so much that I didn’t feel like going up again.
I’m not telling you not to go. I’m telling you not to miss everything around it: the little streets and the restaurants beside it. (I had some of the best Italian food of my life near the Eiffel Tower. Yes, Italian in Paris. I was with kids.)
If you go up, buy skip-the-line tickets online or book a tour that escorts you up. I am not standing in line to go up the Eiffel Tower.
For the view, go up Tour Montparnasse instead. You get incredible views, smaller crowds and the Eiffel Tower in the picture.
See it from the water. A sunset river cruise on the Seine shows you Paris from a different angle.
Catch the sparkle. After dark, the tower sparkles for about five minutes at the top of each hour, so don’t be confused when it isn’t sparkling all the time.
Pro tip: going to Disneyland Paris? The one spot in the park where I know you can see the Eiffel Tower is from the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. I love spotting it from other places.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Let’s be honest. Most people spend 30 minutes getting there, 20 minutes taking the “pushing the tower” photo and 10 minutes actually looking at it. (Knowing me, I’d stand there analyzing why it’s leaning and whether we could just prop it up with a stick.)
Do this instead: explore Tuscany. Visit wine villages, family-run vineyards and hilltop towns like San Gimignano that feel like stepping into a movie. Some of the most amazing wine I’ve ever had came from family homes where they handed me a glass and told me they’d made it themselves. And I don’t even like wine, so if I like it, you know it’s good. You’ll remember those moments long after you’ve forgotten the Leaning Tower.
Skip the photo op at Pisa and spend the day in Tuscany’s hill towns, like San Gimignano, and the family vineyards around them.
The Hollywood Walk of Fame
This one shocks people. I’ve brought many people to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and I always warn them first: there are no celebrities standing next to their stars waiting for your picture. It’s the city. It’s basically a sidewalk. A famous sidewalk, but a long one, so you may have to walk quite a way to find a specific star. When we get there, I always ask, “Do you want to get out?” They always say, “Nah, keep going.”
Do this instead: visit Griffith Observatory. It sits high above Hollywood and Los Angeles, with walking trails, views of the Hollywood sign and, on a clear day, all the way to the ocean. Sunset over LA from up there is phenomenal. (Meanwhile, the locals are up there working out every day while I’m dying.)
Sunset over LA from Griffith Observatory beats a stroll down a famous sidewalk.
Santorini
I’ve talked about this one before, and it deserves another round. Everyone says, “I have to go to Santorini,” and then they get there with all the crowds and think, “Yep, that’s it.”
If you arrive by cruise ship, it can be quite the experience. There can be several cruise ships in the bay at once, all tendering in to one small cable car up the massive cliff. The alternative is a switchback path that takes about an hour, in direct sun, with not a single tree. My advice: go by cable car if you can.
My Santorini Story
I have been, and it was gorgeous. I also had some amazing moments, because I hired a private driver who took us off the beaten path. We barely spent time in the towns. We hiked a little to a hole carved into the side of the cliff that looked out over the bay at our cruise ship, with the wind whipping through it. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. A little farther down, built into the hillside, was a tiny church that maybe fits 15 people, with no sign pointing to it. All I could picture was getting married there with five of your favorite people. Then we went to a winery with unreal views, unreal food and a chocolate cake I still think about. And the Greek salad on that island? It’s as if they pulled the tomato and cucumber out of the backyard just for me.
Then came leaving. The line for the cable car back down was hours long, so we walked down with everyone else who saw that line. If a man had stood halfway down with a cooler of water, he’d be a millionaire. No shade, slippery cobblestone steps, the donkeys (and what the donkeys leave behind) and sun the whole way. I honestly thought I was in the Sahara. Thank goodness I wore sneakers.
For me, Santorini was one and done. It was packed and hot. Do this instead: go to Kefalonia, Corfu (a bit busier) or Paros. You get amazing beaches, authentic Greek culture, incredible food, fewer crowds and better prices. And if you do go to Santorini, a private driver who takes you beyond the towns makes all the difference.
Stonehenge
Okay, more tomatoes. Stonehenge is a bunch of rocks in a formation, between London and Bath, and you can’t get very close. When I went, the line was massive, so I didn’t stop. You can see it from the road on the way to Bath. Look at it from afar, say “There it is, I saw it in person,” and keep driving. For me, it wasn’t worth the line.
Venice at Midday
I’m in love with Venice, so I only half agree with this one. But Venice at midday is a nightmare. Everyone is trying to get on a gondola, and the gondolas are bumping into each other and the sides of the buildings.
Do this instead: stay overnight rather than day-tripping. I stayed two nights and would do it again. During the day, get off the main island. We took a water taxi to a glassblowing studio, where I watched a master make a glass horse almost instantly and even tried blowing glass myself. Then we went to another island where little nonnas were making lace placemats and covers by hand, and we had lunch there. We came back to Venice in the evening and had the best time. And I never once got on a gondola. I’m totally okay with that.
Skip midday Venice: take a water taxi out to the lagoon’s islands, like colorful Burano, and come back in the evening.
Times Square
Go once. Walk through, look around, take your picture, maybe do a little dance. Then get out.
Do this instead: explore Greenwich Village, the High Line or Brooklyn (that’s where the good Italian food is). When I’m in New York, I do my own food tour, walking from Times Square all the way down to Chinatown and stopping to eat along the way. You walk off everything you eat.
Ask What the Locals Do
The point isn’t to tell you where not to go. It’s to make sure that if you do go, you also get the culture, the people and the unexpected discoveries, not just the “look at me, I took this picture” moment.
Here’s your challenge: the next time you plan a trip, don’t just ask, “What are the top 10 things to see?” Ask, “What do the locals do?” That’s usually where the magic happens. Keep your passport ready and your expectations just a little lower than the Instagram photos.
Think I’m wrong about one of these? Tell me. And if you want help planning a trip that skips the lines and finds the good stuff, my team at Fabulous Adventures Travel would love to help.
