...Tons of the responses picked out the same three places! Enough that commenters were cracking jokes about how everyone was dumping on the same tourist sites. So let's talk about those three places, and THEN we'll list off the many other places that these travelers think are tourist traps unworthy of your time.
1. TOURIST TRAP #1: Cairo, Egypt
There were multiple comment threads about how when they visited Cairo, they were met with corrupt police, scammers, and even sexual harassment and assault. Commenters agreed that the pyramids are absolute marvels, but many of them also thought it just wasn't worth it because of how many scammers and hustlers are there trying to overcharge or outright con tourists out of their money. Women also mostly agreed that they were harassed far more in Egypt than other countries and felt unsafe. Here's what some of the commenters said about Cairo and other spots in Egypt, both against and for:
"The Giza plateau was terrific and absolutely worth visiting. It was the hawkers, beggars, and 'tourist police' that bring it down, not the pyramids themselves."
"Just coming out of Hurgada a couple of weeks ago..."
"They will ask, 'Hey my friend, where from.' Where from will gauge how much they can rip you off and what prices you will tolerate. If you ever feel frisky for some haggling, aim for like 10–15% of any initial offer. Don't be afraid to walk away from sales and saying a firm no.
Taxis are a scam, use Uber through app, and always see that they 'end trip' in front of you.
Flat out, don't believe any stories that they claim, like 'this X place is closed, follow me for the real tour' or something of sorts.
As some said before, be ready to just ignore them and appear 'rude.' This will not phase them, as they get that behaviour hundreds of times a day as they haggle tourists.
Be wary of hygiene. You've probably already heard it, but no drinking tap water, and be careful not to swallow any during showering. Also be wary of eating local produce. If it's washed (unlikely), it's probably washed under tap water."
—u/Mareks
"This sounds extremely anxiety-inducing and not a good time at all."
"On the plus side, I've never been offered so much tea in my life."
—u/jones5280
"I visited Luxor a few years ago. We got a local tour guide and stayed at the Sheraton (I don't think it's there anymore). It was amazing, we didn't visit the pyramids, but the temples in Cairo and Luxor were amazing, Luxor museum was great and we went quad biking in the desert. I maintain it's one of the best trips I've taken and I still stay in touch with the guide on Facebook and would happily use him again. The people were great (after the cat calling, we were three white women so it was kind of inevitable I guess). Most people I know who've been to Egypt stay on a resort in Sharm-el Sheikh and only go out to see the pyramids, I can see how that would be a bit rubbish."
"I’m an American who lived in Maadi for two years. Nah, I didn’t have a good time. I wanted to leave six months in. But I’m so glad I had that experience. Even if the pyramids weren’t there, being immersed in that environment brought me a whole new outlook on life. It made me appreciate what I have, but most of all it made me realize how humans everywhere are so similar and everyone essentially wants the same things in life. Everyone (who wasn’t a rich kid or actively trying to hustle me) was really nice, and full of wisdom. I’d do it all again just to keep what I learned about the world and countries with shitty governments. Go if you have the chance, but do your research and stay in Cairo. Be prepared for some headaches, but understand that it’s all a product of tyranny, and try to learn as much as possible about modern Egyptian culture."
—u/pigzRgr8
2. TOURIST TRAP #2: Hollywood, California, USA
Specifically, it seems like people considered Hollywood Boulevard to be a dirty, seedy, disappointing scam. As an Angeleno of nearly 15 years, I can tell you...they're not entirely wrong. Some things about Hollywood Boulevard can be fun (I've defended Grauman's before and I'll do it again), but for the most part, it's a little overcrowded, the sidewalk is a mess, and everything in the area is overpriced. But I'll leave it up to the Reddit commenters to say their piece:
"It's seedy and disappointing. It's full of entire industries (*cough Scientology *cough) that take advantage of starry-eyed twits."
—u/Judas_Feast
"I think what I really liked about Hollywood was how shitty it was. And the Chinese Theater and Walk of Fame are so much smaller than I expected. The fact that everything looked so much bigger and more glamorous on TV really made the whole thing perfect to me."
—u/Spite-Funny
"Every time I’m in LA and someone wants to go I’m like: 'Look, whatever’s in your head, keep that image, it’s just better, I promise.' That being said, walking it and finding stars is kinda fun if you have to walk that street anyways. Like it’s a fun street to walk, just a terrible place to have as a destination."
"My recommendation to anyone who wants to see the Walk of Fame during their visit: make it a stopover. Your destination should be something nearby; personally, I'm a fan of getting a ticket at the Chinese theater. If you are a movie person, see something on its opening weekend. The theater will be full of film buffs who all are into whatever genre of movie it is. You will have a great time, the energy is palpable. After that, go for a stroll down the Walk of Fame to stretch your legs and look around. The entire experience will be much more positive if you see it as a simple sight rather than a destination unto itself."
3. TOURIST TRAP #3: Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts
Did you know there's an actual rock in Massachusetts that they're calling Plymouth Rock? And they locked it in a cage and made it a tourist destination? I didn't until I read the Reddit thread, but lemme tell you, people do NOT love it. Apparently the rock is fake anyway and it's just one of those things where you look at it and go, "Yep, that's a rock." Here's what the good travelers of Reddit had to say:
"I don’t know how famous it really is outside of New England but it’s a rock that marks where the pilgrims supposedly first landed in Massachusetts. It is quite literally just a medium-sized rock with '1620' carved in it but every elementary school teacher, around Massachusetts at least, hypes it up for the class field trip to see a literal rock that is not big, impressive, or really historically relevant. Driving an hour on a bus to see this was the most anticlimactic thing and I would not particularly recommend."
"I was so hyped to see this when I was a kid. My little brain said that it was going to he sitting in the water with a dent in it from the boat hitting it. I was so disappointed with what I found. I can't wait to bestow the same misery upon my children this summer when they, too, look down into the open-air mausoleum for a rando carved boulder."
"It’s not even the real thing. It was brought there just to have something symbolic to look at but no one has any clue where the pilgrims landed in Plymouth. It wasn’t even their first landing. They landed in Cape Cod and found it easier to set up camp in Plymouth."
—u/pderf
So those were the big three that came up over and over again! But if you want more suggestions/warnings, here are some of the other places people said weren't worth visiting:
4. "Atlantic City. Monopoly got me good."
5. "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch in Wales. Nothing there except an Edinburgh Woollen Mills shop. Which is just silly as Edinburgh is nearly 300 miles away."
6. "Times Square on New Years Eve. Just forget it. It has *never* been worth it."
7. "Platform 9¾ in King's Cross station, London. Stupid metal statue on a straight wall, a horrible queue to take a photo with you on it, and another hundred-meter long queue to the small and very expensive Harry Potter shop. I was there middle of the day in off-season, don't want to even think about it on high season."
8. "Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin. It used to be the border between the US and Soviet sectors, but all that's left of it is a shack and a sign, and the only thing you can do is pay to get your photo taken with someone in uniform. There's a frickin' McDonald's next to it."
9. "While the Louvre is amazing and can consume entire days of walking, don’t bother fighting the crowds to see the 'Mona Lisa.' It’s tiny and has a crowd of tourists dozens deep all taking pictures. 'No flash photography' be damned, so all you see is flash reflecting off the protective glass."
10. "Niagara Falls is a really cool site but it's not worth a trip if you're staying on the American side. The Canadian side is way better and has more things to do."
11. "Dubai is a twisted parody of everything wrong with modern society and I judge anyone who goes there for their Insta pics."
12. "The Empire State Building. It's $44 to $77 and you wait for like 90 minutes to get into the first elevator, then wait at LEAST another 90 minutes to go further up. (I gave up after 2 hours total and went and had fun in the city instead of spending 3–4 hours of my life standing in line). I was fortunate to go on top of the WTC in 2000 and I'm sure the views were much better from there. And my understanding is 'Top of the Rock' is much better organized, shorter waits, and better views of Midtown today."
13. "Leaning tower of Pisa, just a small town without much going on, then a ton of tourists pretending to hold it up. Go to Florence instead."
14. "I'm surprised I haven't seen this on the list but the little mermaid in Copenhagen. I [saw] it while we were there and it was incredibly underwhelming, if there was a line up at all I would have skipped it for sure."
15. "The Alamo. You walk in and it’s like, 'yep, this is the Alamo.' And then you’re done and off to the Riverwalk, which is dope. Skip the Alamo and go to the Riverwalk."
