# How many of the World's Best Tourist Traps have you visted? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669 "2012-10-23T21:46:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/1 "2012-10-23T21:46:01Z")
I was reading my Budget Travel email today, and it had an article about the [25 Tourist Traps You Don’t Want to Miss](http://www.budgettravel.com/slideshow/worlds-best-tourist-traps,12542/) I haven’t done a poll in a long time, so I thought it’d make a pretty good one. So, which of the following 25 “best” tourist traps have you been to, and do you have any interesting story about any of them? After looking at the list, they should have only done the top 20. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/2 "2012-10-23T21:52:16Z")
So… I’ve been to six of them. There’s probably more than six that I didn’t know was a ‘thing’. My interesting story is that Ipanema Beach in Rio de Janeiro is on my list because I was able to finish my Masters degree with a study abroad program in Rio. It was a pretty cool place. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/3 "2012-10-23T21:55:59Z")
I need a checkbox for “none of the above”. I really need to get out more ☹ ---
**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:** [October 23, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/4 "2012-10-23T21:57:25Z")
Only 11 (Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Acropolis, Cafe du Monde, Capitol. Statue of Liberty, Space Needle, Tower of London, Pyramids, Checkpoint Charlie, Polynesian Cultural Center). We did the Gaudi tour in Barcelona from our guidebook, but not the double decker buses, so that might be 12. The scary thing is that four (or 5) of them were on one trip to Europe. And we went to Cafe du Monde when we lived in Louisiana, so I reject that it is a tourist trap. Yummy though. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/5 "2012-10-23T21:57:55Z")
Where did this list come from? I wouldn’t call many of them tourist traps because they are really cool and some don’t even cost very much (Cafe Du Monde, U.S. Capitol etc). Maybe that is why they are the best ones? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/6 "2012-10-23T21:59:53Z")
I’ve been to 14. I have no idea why I’ve never been to the Tower of London as I love tourist traps and I’ve been to London 3 times. I’ll definitely hit it it I ever make it back. I’ve been to a Luau in Maui, does that count? ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/7 "2012-10-23T22:13:02Z")
I could only check off four - the four that are in the USA which do not involve food which wouldn’t be Kosher. If there were a similar list of the top 25 in the USA only (or in the USA and Canada) I’ll bet I’d be able to check off a large majority. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/8 "2012-10-23T22:20:52Z")
Only the Capitol building and the Statue of Liberty. Both long ago. Aside from the statue being on an Island I’m not sure why these, or most of the others are categorized as _traps_. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/9 "2012-10-23T22:42:17Z")
I need clairification. I’ve been to the island the Statue of Liberty is on, but I never went inside. Does that count? Similarly, I’ve been to Checkpoint Charlie, where I posed with the Germans dressed as American soldiers, but didn’t go inside the museum. 6, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/10 "2012-10-23T23:03:39Z")
1. ---
**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:** [October 23, 2012, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/11 "2012-10-23T23:25:08Z")
1. \ ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/12 "2012-10-23T23:35:15Z")
1–Statue of Liberty when I was really young. Of the rest, I really only have interest in Versailles, and even then only if I found myself in the Paris region for some reason anyway. I’d rather go to [Angkor Thom](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_temple_called_Bayonne,_Angkor_Thom,_the_Angkor_complex,_Siem_Reap,_Cambodia.jpg) than Wat. ---
**Author:** ![Disheavel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@Disheavel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disheavel)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/13 "2012-10-23T23:36:35Z")
14, but similar to Skara\_Brae a couple were kind of yes. I’ve been to Checkpoint Charlie and to the store but not the museum and I’ve ridden a traghetto (but not a “gondola ride” technically). And I went to Blarney Castle but actual entrance was prohibited due to an outbreak of hoof and mouth disease. And I’ve been to a Hawaiian luau but on Maui. So definitely 10 +4 for yes, but technically not exactly what was asked. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/14 "2012-10-23T23:41:51Z")
I’ve been to Barcelona three times and never noticed any double decker bus tours. Are they different to the double decker bus tours lots of other cities have? Barcelona’s tourist trap is La Sagrada Familia. That’s not intended to disparage it, as, like most of the ones on your poll, it really is worth visiting. ---
**Author:** ![FlyByNight512](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/82dd89/32.png) [@FlyByNight512](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyByNight512)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/15 "2012-10-23T23:53:13Z")
Hm. The Space Needle in Seattle is pretty cool to look at, but going up to the observation deck is expensive and underwhelming, IMHO. If you want to tower climb in Seattle, go up the Smith Tower (historic!) or the Columbia tower (tallest!) instead. I think Pike Place Market is a much better example of something that’s pretty much a tourist trap, but really worth the look anyway. Oh, if you’re in the neighborhood of London - Hampton Court Palace is jaw dropping and has some of the most interesting and informative tours I’ve ever been on. Same for the historic baths in Bath. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/16 "2012-10-24T00:26:59Z")
Only just made it into double figures - exactly 10. Funnily enough I haven’t been to the only one listed for my country (Ayers Rock/Uluru), since it’s over 1000 miles from, well, anything really. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/17 "2012-10-24T00:35:40Z")
I’m kind of amazed the Space Needle makes the top hundred, much less the Top 25. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/18 "2012-10-24T00:41:34Z")
Only seven for me Eiffel Tower Versailles US Capitol Colosseum Statue of Liberty (though we couldn’t go up because it was closed) Trevi Fountain Tower of London I could have gone on a gondola ride in Venice, but it was way overpriced, so I spent my money elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/19 "2012-10-24T00:45:36Z")
Only seven, but I’ve been to one of the most unvisited ones, Uluru. And I climbed it back in 1975, something I think tourists aren’t allowed to do anymore. It’s a pretty weird list. Eleven of 25 are in Europe. Strange for the US attractions to include the Space Needle and Graceland, but not the Grand Canyon, the Empire State Building, or Disneyland. Having Angor Wat and Chichen Itza but not Macchu Pichu, Tikal, or the Taj Majal is also odd. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2012, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669/20 "2012-10-24T00:46:57Z")
Nine for me: Eiffel Tower Leaning Tower of Pisa Palace of Versailles Blarney Castle Venice Gondola Ride Roman Colosseum Trevi Fountain in Rome Stonehenge Tower of London [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-of-the-worlds-best-tourist-traps-have-you-visted/638669.md?page=2)