Probably should have said I would skip Rome on my next trip to Italy, having been there already. Yes, it’s worth going to and there are some great things to see. But I was disappointed with some of it, and my experience was that Florence was a much more interesting place.
Yes, Seattle sucks. It rains too much, and everyone there is a heroin addict. None of you would like it, and you should spread the word about how horrible of a place it is. Remember: do not move to Seattle. It sucks.
That joke was funnier when people were doing it about Portland.
(1) It’s not a joke. It’s a real ploy.
(2) Seattleites did it first.
Sorry, yes, I meant Monaco.
…In the same vein - less of a tourist destination than a destination for the curious…Sutters Mill, the spot where gold was discovered in California. There are some buildings nearby with historical artifacts, but the actual physical spot is nothing. There is a short walking path, a little sign pointing, and the bank of a river. That’s it. You could wade in, take a piss, grab a handful of mud, etc., and no one would be the wiser.
Graceland. Don’t go to Memphis just to see Graceland. It’s small, tacky and crowded and (at least when I was there many years ago) they didn’t let you see the personal areas of the house (people were still living there). The whole area near it was tacky and a bit creepy. And Paul Simon even wrote a song about going to see it! Tsk. Memphis was wonderful - fountains and Beale Street and Mud Island and hotels with ducks - but Graceland? Feh.
The best vacation I ever had was when we rented a car and drove across the Yucatan. We lived out our fantasies of being modern-day explorers … so many great archaeological sites to see along the Puuc route! Off the beaten path, many of 'em get few visitors (Tulum is nice in location but unimpressive, and Chichen Itza, while very impressive, is covered in hordes of tourists - not that one should miss it on that account!).
My favorites were places like Uxmal and Kabah - the “Temple of the Masks”, while not large, is truly awesome. Kabah (Maya site) - Wikipedia
I’ve been to Dublin twice now, and was disappointed both times. It just sounds so lovely–but isn’t. The Gaol was interesting, but past that, give me Cork any day.
Damn, I was sure there was nobody around at the time! :o
When I first moved to San Francisco, the ex and I decided to go check out the Coit Tower; we were having lunch in the area, so, shucks, why not.
It smells like pee. We didn’t go up to the top. The odor was too strong to wait around for the elevator.
Given what it looks like, I don’t find that surprising at all! 
Yeah, when I went to San Francisco a few years ago, I was shocked at just how many homeless people there were everywhere. And I come from New York City, so the homeless are nothing strange to me!
Well, I don’t have to travel there, but … Salem, MA. You think “Witch craft trial” and “Olde New England village with concentrated quaintness and maybe a stock on the town green.” What you get is a small, congested, somewhat down-at-its-heels city with a lot of extremely tacky witchcraft museums and occult stores.
That does sound really cool. I’ve been to the Yucatan four times, but only on family vacations with my parents, which is…less than thrilling. I know I’ve been to Uxmal, but it was when I was a little kid and I don’t remember it.
Uxmal is a great site. In general, I love the Puuc style - it is very different from the more generally known lowland Maya style, as it is composed of stone mosaics.
Chichen Itza is of course a world-class site, and for sheer religious evil I’ve never seen anything to compare - makes the Aztecs look like wusses. 
Everywhere you look there are skull platforms and gruesome depictions of human sacrifices - and my favorite relief carvings in the Ball Court: the Maya ball game is depicted being played with a flaming skull with a mohawk as the ball! How cool is that?
(She’s referring to Cancun.)
And to think you can do both of these activities on the same peninsula!
I kind of like to do both of these, but depending on what I’m doing. Cancun proper seems kind of busy to me, but there was nothing like lying on the beach doing nothing just a bit to the south in Akumal. The only reason I ventured out to Tulum on that trip was because the weather was rainy. In all, it was one of my best vacations ever.
But all the same, I complained a bit earlier about Palenque, because other than the site, I was restless with nothing to do. The whole driving trip through Chiapas (as a whole) was freaking awesome. It was also one of my best vacations ever!
I’ve traveled a good bit – in the State’s, not internationally – and I have to say that I rarely if ever find anyplace as nice as home. Of course, I DO live in Vermont…
Agree about Mount Rushmore vs. Crazy Horse.
We made the best of Branson, MO. We had no idea what we were getting into. We thought there were casinos and good shows. More like an AARP convention.
I have a couple:
- The beach areas in Bali (Kuta, etc.).
The beaches are, indeed, gorgeous, but the number of touts, the traffic, and the general press of humanity are a real drag. Go to Ubud, up in the hills, instead-- it’s still touristy in places, but it’s much more artsy and interesting to wander around (not to mention cooler).
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The Mona Lisa. I second the “underwhelming” assessment.
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The Book of Kells, at Trinity College in Dublin (and I feel guilty for even saying this).
I fully acknowledge that the Book of Kells is an amazing work of art and justifiably famous, but both times I saw it I was a little let-down by the actual physical object. A large part of it was the crush of people in the final room where it’s on display (the same problem as with the Mona Lisa) and the fact that you can (necessarily) only see a small portion at a time. I feel more fulfilled by being able to look at high-resolution scans and the like, under good light where you can really see all the detail.
I will say that the whole exhibit at the Trinity College Library (which I last saw in about 2002, so it may have changed) was well-worth going to for the way it presented the Irish manuscript tradition. It’s just the last room that I wouldn’t spend much time in. 