# Can someplace be a tourist trap if you don't pay money to see it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 25, 2023, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768 "2023-01-25T06:50:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/21 "2023-01-26T00:46:34Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > > [@ratatoskK](#): > > > > There are towns famous for being “quaint” that slowly lose their useful businesses and morph into street after street of gift shops. > > Venice, Italy might be the biggest example of this. I’ve never been there, but from what I understand the city ceased to have any real economic importance centuries ago. Pretty much the sole reason Venice still exists is to be a tourist attraction. But there’s legitimatelly -spelled wrong, I know - a lot to see in Venice: the Doge’s Palace, the Natural History Museum (we found it excellent), art museums, St. Mark’s Basilica and the Naval Museum, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats2)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/22 "2023-01-26T01:18:15Z")
Plus more boat rides! ---
**Author:** ![Hatchie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hatchie/32/3983_2.png) [@Hatchie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hatchie)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/23 "2023-01-26T02:26:29Z")
Salem, Massachusetts. Now entirely run on a witch economy. (Actually, there were no witches, and everyone knows that, but the sad persecution of some people centuries ago is not much of a hook. Reminders of the reality exist in Salem, but - witches!) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/24 "2023-01-26T02:40:18Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats2](#): > > As I understand it, tourist trap just means a travel destination that doesn’t live up to the hype. Money has nothing to do with it. Well, taking your tourist dollars from you does have a lot to do with it, but, yes, otherwise I agree. To me it’s “travel destination that ain’t worth the price.” Navy Pier would 100% be an example of it to me. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/25 "2023-01-26T04:57:33Z")
> [@Frosted\_Glass](#): > > The first place that popped into my head was Times Square. For me it was Wall Drug, which seems to me to be pretty much the Platonic ideal of a tourist trap. > **[Wall Drug](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug)** > > Wall Drug Store, often called simply Wall Drug, is a roadside attraction and tourist stop located in the town of Wall, South Dakota, adjacent to Badlands National Park. Wall Drug consists of a collection of cowboy-themed stores, including a drug store, gift shop, several restaurants, and various other stores, as well as an art gallery and an 80-foot (24 m) brontosaurus sculpture. Unlike a traditional shopping mall, all the stores at Wall Drug operate under a single entity rather than being run in... ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/26 "2023-01-26T06:15:05Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > Venice, Italy might be the biggest example of this. I’ve never been there I have. It’s true that it has no meaningful industry or other economy beyond being a travel destination. However, I would not describe it as a tourist trap, because it’s not just street after street of shops selling refrigerator magnets and snack food and baseball hats with cartoon logos. It’s better thought of as a enormous, city-sized open-air museum, a preservation of the historical destination itself, with a few small concentrated pockets of tourist-specific activity (the Rialto Bridge, for example, and about a block at each of its ends). Escape these, and you can spend hours wandering along the canal views or through twisting alleyways that feel almost exactly the same as they did two hundred years ago. It’s decaying and showing its age, but it’s still a unique and magical place, and I’d go there again tomorrow if I could. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/27 "2023-01-26T07:04:53Z")
> [@Frosted\_Glass](#): > > The first place that popped into my head was Times Square. I consider Times Square to be a massive tourist trap but you don’t have to pay any money to visit or pass through. Do you consider the old, sleazy, Time Square a tourist trap also? I wouldn’t call it a tourist trap because most of the people who go through it are not tourists. There are parts that are, though. Fisherman’s Wharf is mostly tourists, as far as I can tell. My example is the Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, which the locals seem to scorn. I don’t recall a lot around it to spend money on, (though I saw her back from a boat) but I think it still counts. ---
**Author:** ![Frosted\_Glass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frosted_glass/32/3926_2.png) [@Frosted\_Glass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frosted_Glass)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/28 "2023-01-26T14:31:02Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Do you consider the old, sleazy, Time Square a tourist trap also? I wouldn’t call it a tourist trap because most of the people who go through it are not tourists. There are parts that are, though. I was in elementary school when Giuliani started the push to clean up Times Square, so my memories of peep shows and adult theaters are distant and limited. I’ve been through Times Square more times than I can count but nearly all of the times that I “visited” Times Square were for school trips or when I worked as a day camp counselor. Back when I worked in the city (~15 years ago) I used to regularly cut through Times Square to get to Port Authority. I always felt like tourists outnumbered non-tourists during off-peak hours, but I know part of that is my bias and being annoyed at people who don’t understand the proper flow of foot traffic. It’s a major thoroughfare but I think that helps lend to its tourist trap nature. If Times Square was located where South Street Seaport is, would it still get a pass? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/29 "2023-01-26T14:36:14Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > > [@Frosted\_Glass](#): > > > > The first place that popped into my head was Times Square. > > For me it was Wall Drug, which seems to me to be pretty much the Platonic ideal of a tourist trap. > > [Wall Drug - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wall_Drug) Wall Drug was the first thing I thought of. As of the last time I passed through, the entire town of Wall, South Dakota could’ve qualified as a tourist trap. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/30 "2023-01-26T14:55:26Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > There are towns famous for being “quaint” that slowly lose their useful businesses and morph into street after street of gift shops. We visit the nearby town of Smicksburg, Pennsylvania every couple of years. There are many Amish families and businesses run by non-Amish locals. We always get a slice of shoofly pie to share and always swear we’ll never get it again. Several times we’ve talked with people who are disappointed that the Amish aren’t running the businesses in town. They just don’t seem to get it. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/31 "2023-01-26T15:09:20Z")
I don’t know Smicksburg so I’m going to ask what they don’t get. Is it one of those places where the Amish don’t really live in that town, just in the surrounding area, or are the disappointed ones like the people I encounter who are surprised that the restaurant where they are eating on Sunday afternoon in Lancaster PA isn’t run by the Amish? ( There are businesses and even restaurants run by Amish people - but they aren’t open on Sunday) ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/32 "2023-01-26T15:22:37Z")
I would say Yes, something could be a tourist trap if you don’t pay money to see it. But as we are experiencing, there is a lot of fuzzy definition on what constitutes a tourist trap. To me, an element would be disappointment, as a cost/benefit for your investment of time or money. But that is really personal, my disappointment might be another persons excitement? I would count Plymouth Rock, and Four Corners, in this category. You go there, as a destination, it doesn’t cost anything, you look at it for five minutes, and leave. Not much more to it. Whereas the whole world of tourist destinations that exist solely for tourists? Navy Pier, Fisherman’s Wharf, Las Vegas?, etc., have some unique shops and restaurants and activities and entertainment that give some value for your time and money. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/33 "2023-01-26T15:23:34Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > ( There are businesses and even restaurants run by Amish people - but they aren’t open on Sunday) The Amish live on farms all through Smicksburg, but they do not own/operate gift shops/restaurants/pottery shops/wineries/etc. Amish communities vary from place to place. When I kayak on [Keystone Power Dam Lake](https://www.fishidy.com/map/us/pennsylvania/keystone-lake-keystone-power-dam) (about 4 miles from Smicksburg) there are often Amish men fishing. They bring their rowboats on hand built trailers towed behind their horse drawn buggies. A few years ago they all got new, identical boats. An Amish guy I talk with explained the process. The community decided it was time for new boats. They fish for dinner, not recreation. So the community bought new boats to replace the old rowboats. They are still rowboats, but made of fiberglass or plastic. It is a community decision not to own/operate restaurants in Smicksburg. ETA: The important thing about the new boats is that although they are “new”, they are all identical. Nobody has a better boat than anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/34 "2023-01-26T16:30:34Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > I’m thinking of Carmel. Were you? That’s a great example, but I was thinking of other places, which are everywhere. I’m in New England and there are a bunch of examples here. ---
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/35 "2023-01-26T17:50:54Z")
> [@Hatchie](#): > > Salem, Massachusetts. Now entirely run on a witch economy. This is completely true. I’ve been there twice, once about 5 years ago sometime in the summer, and again just last October a couple of weeks before Halloween. I describe it to people who have never been there as “It’s like Hot Topic and Spencer Gifts combined and became a whole town.” In the main touristy area there’s a gift and tchotchke shop literally every other store, it’s crazy. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/36 "2023-01-26T18:42:13Z")
I’m often in Salem. It’s a real place with a real economy and real people, and lots of worthwhile (non-tacky) things for tourists to do and see, like a great museum and lots of historical sites, and some good restaurants. However, there are a couple of blocks downtown with a lot of tacky stuff (can you spell “magick”?), and it can be off-putting to walk through it. Plus the entire month of October has horrible traffic and is hard for the people who live there. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/37 "2023-01-26T19:07:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > it’s “travel destination that ain’t worth the price.” Navy Pier would 100% be an example of it to me. I mucked that up last night. I mean “travel destination that ain’t worth the hype/popularity,” which is exactly what was said in what I quoted. Not sure why I restated it. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/38 "2023-01-26T19:20:41Z")
Ice water is still free at Wall Drug. I surely wouldn’t go out of my way to go there, but if you are headed to/from Mt. Rushmore it’s worth the stop, if only for the kitsch factor. Parts of Fisherman’s Wharf are definitely tourist traps, but it **is** a working wharf with all that entails. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/39 "2023-01-26T19:43:04Z")
A friend, having received a terminal diagnosis, traveled around his last year. He drove from Pittsburgh, PA to Winslow, AZ just to take pictures of “the” corner. Then he drove home. He stayed in motels along the way as he tired. ---
**Author:** ![doc481](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/5f8ce5/32.png) [@doc481](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doc481)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2023, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768/40 "2023-01-26T20:04:30Z")
They’re all tourist traps just because there’s waaay to many people crammed together trying to see what ever. If there’s an off day maybe not so bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someplace-be-a-tourist-trap-if-you-dont-pay-money-to-see-it/978768.md?page=3)