Places not to visit (add your own)

[Gob]

Like Eurovision and synchronised swimming, some things are just so bad they’re good. They become guilty pleasures, something you would recommend just for the pure experience of their hideous mediocrity.

You find these things all the time when you travel – attractions that locals and guidebooks get all worked up about, but which you soon realise are pretty woeful. Still, some are just so woeful, so incredibly unimpressive, that they become good again.

So here are eight of the most craptastic man-made, tourist-focused “attractions” I’ve found around with world. Do visit them – just don’t expect them to be any good.

The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, Shanghai



Sightseeing? In a tunnel? It’s an oxymoron, surely. Um, not in China. As there are limited options for tourists trying to cross the river between the Bund area and Pudong, the tunnel has a captive audience. It exploits this by charging a lot of money, then putting tourists into little rail cars and sending them through a tunnel that is supposed to represent the formation of the earth (or something like that). Anyway, what you get is a few flashing neon lights, and words like “Magma!” booming out over a loud speaker. Weird.

Epcot, Florida



Disney World is great. However, a day at Epcot Centre – DW's "educational" neighbour – is as exciting as watching paint grow. It is kind of funny though – with its pavilions themed by country, Epcot is basically a view of the world designed for American tourists who have no intention of actually seeing the world. Welcome to Stereotype Land.

Mini Bangladesh, Chittagong



A truly colossal achievement in the art of craptastic theme-parkery, Mini Bangladesh is a space filled with miniature versions of Bangladesh’s most famous buildings. Like, um… Yeah. And, er… Right. So, you’ve never heard of any of the buildings. And they’re not even mini! They’re quite large! That the mini train that runs around the park had been derailed when I was there tells you all you need to know. And the mini monorail looked frankly terrifying. Awesome in its craptacularity.

Sexmuseum, Amsterdam



In case you didn’t feel dirty enough wandering around the Red Light District, there’s an entire museum on the Damrak dedicated to sleaze. Trouble is, what may sound like a slightly titillating display actually gets kinda tiring by the end. Still, it’s dirt cheap, and the big wheel with the plastic tongues on it just has to been seen.

Louis Tussaud’s Wax Museum, Blackpool



About the saddest thing about Louis Tussaud’s is that it’s about to get better. This has long been Britain’s bastion of mediocrity, a living testament to the belief that if you’re not very good at something, you should just give it a red hot go anyway. Louis, the great-grandson of the much more talented Marie “Madam” Tussaud, has a similar waxworks museum in Blackpool, although this one’s famous for its models of celebrities that don’t look anything like those celebrities. And now the council’s going to bugger everything up.

Love Land, Jeju Island, South Korea



Think the Koreans are a shy lot? Pay Love Land, at the popular honeymooners’ destination of Jeju Island, a visit. There, you’ll find two football fields’ worth of giant sexualised sculptures that would make Ron Jeremy blush. It’s at once frightening, hilarious, and kind of educational. Plans were afoot to build one in China until, well, they figured out what it was about.

The Creation Museum, Kentucky



Well, it was hardly going to be in Oregon, was it? Here, true believers can learn about how the Earth was formed by the big man upstairs, who manages to explain away such potential roadblocks as dinosaurs, billion-year-old fossils, and that whole science thing with room after room of ultra-religious tackiness. There’s actually been a lot of money poured into this, and it’s anything but half-arsed. Misguided, maybe – but not half-arsed.

Sulabh International Museum of Toilets, New Delhi



Another one that’s not “half-arsed” – indeed, the full arse has gone into this. (No more toilet jokes? Okay.) Anyway, the Sulabh International Museum of Toilets does exactly what it says on the box, providing visitors with a fascinating insight into the evolution of the humble dunny. From imperial poopers to the good old-fashioned squatty, they’re all here for your viewing pleasure. It’s a must doo-doo. Oh, sorry

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/blogs/the- ... 11xrb.html

[Gob]

My offering;

Lands end Cornwall...

Take one of the most scenic and naturally beautiful areas of the UK, and build a cheap and nasty theme park on it.

Just for added insult, add a Dr Who exhibition just for incongruous detriment. (What is the connection?)

£3 just to park? We made the mistake of going to Land's End straight after a visit to Lizard Point and the difference was amazing. Lizard has lovely little gift shops, cafes, friendly people, an AMAZING view and is officially the most southerly point on the UK mainland. They ask for a donation for parking which we were happy to pay.

Lands End, on the other hand - oh dear oh dear. The first thing that greets you is a HUGE security box with a demand to pay £3 to park. We didn't have change and there was no one there so we just parked instead and decided to get something in the shop with out notes and use the change for the parking. We didn't even get that far I'm afraid.

The monstrosity that is the Land's End entrance should be flattened immediately. And £9 for a photo in front of the sign? I don't think so! We had a quick look in the (overpriced) shop, took a photo of the sign when people weren't looking and then left, promptly.

The view was admittedly lovely, once you battled through the random attractions each more determined than the last to get money from you. The strangest thing is, if we had paid the £3 parking charge and bought a photo, we still would have paid more at Lizard point for our parking and a burge, but because of the way it was presented, we much prefered giving our money to the lovely people of Lizard.

One tip, go to Lizard and stay well clear of the Land's End visitor centre!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserRevi ... gland.html

[Miles]

Du Bois, Pennsylvania anytime.

[Big RR]

Most of these places sound horrible, but I actually like Epcot; granted it's designed with kids in mind, but the attractions in the front part rival or exceed that of the two worlds fairs I've been to, and as for the country pavillions being "stereotyped", they were designed and are staffed by citizens of the countries themselves. Certainly they may well focus on folk traditions and other things not ordinarily seen in those countries, but then that's the image the countries in question choose to provide. I'd far rather be in any Epcot attraction than riding on It's A Small WOrld, which was Disney's offering at the 1964 worlds Fair in NYC.

[loCAtek]

"IT"

This was one of those Route 66 tourist traps of my youth.

You travel through hundreds of miles of mid-west desert that holds nothing heat mirages and billboards that proclaim, 'You must see "IT"'! That largest billboard of all, stands directly over a plywood ticket office/gift shop that houses "IT" in the back. As you wander past the trucker caps; plastic Indian beads (made in China); and Day-Glo Jesus' and Aliens that you can stick to your dashboard ...you finally are corralled into a dark, Hollywierd, musty 'crypt', where IT lies. ...a new ancient Indian corpse wrapped like a mummy, when Native Americans didn't mummify their dead- what a find! Where can I get a souvenir to mark this life-affirming event!?

[Scooter]

Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Not the Falls themselves, mind you, which are spectacular. But all of the tacky stuff around the Clifton Hill area established to take advantage of the tourist traffic. Haunted houses, wax museums, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and the like, more neon per mile probably than even the Las Vegas Strip.

[@meric@nwom@n]

Graceland. Ever.

[Lord Jim]

Never been to this place, but it doesn't look promising:

http://www.historyeducates.org/Information.htm

[Scooter]

Thanks, I needed to get a new keyboard, now you forced me to.

[Guinevere]

Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Not the Falls themselves, mind you, which are spectacular. But all of the tacky stuff around the Clifton Hill area established to take advantage of the tourist traffic. Haunted houses, wax museums, Ripley's Believe It or Not, and the like, more neon per mile probably than even the Las Vegas Strip.

The American side of the Falls is no pristine natural playground, either. The Falls themselves are glorious, but man, everything on both sides needs to be burned to the ground, the place should be returned to nature, and a national park established.

I rather think just the concept of "Dollywood" makes it a place to avoid. And honestly, I wouldn't avoid it because the Canyon itself it so amazing, but I found the South Rim of the Grand Canyon incredibly overdeveloped, crowded, and disappointing.

[Andrew D]

The North Rim of the Grand Canyon provides a much better experience than does the South Rim.

[Guinevere]

I know, I just couldn't get a camping spot or any place to stay at the North Rim, and I at least wanted to see it.

Next time, I'm rafting through it. That, I know, will be amazing!

[loCAtek]

The International UFO Museum and Research Center of Roswell, New Mexico.

This is actually pretty cool, I mean it's based on the Original Government Conspiracy™, isn't it?

This center has grown from one converted theater downtown, to take up a whole city block and warrant an annual festival. All of this, without housing a single verifiable alien and/or UFO artifact.

Direct quote from the website, (at least they're honest);

Roswell is 200 plus miles from any large city including Amarillo, Lubbock and El Paso, Texas, Albuquerque, NM and Las Cruces, NM. A majority of our visitors make a point to come to Roswell to see the museum and be in the city where the best known UFO crash and cover-up occurred. While in Roswell, they in the least buy gas and a soda or they may spend a week learning about the phenomena and Roswell.

Frankly, blame it on 'The X-files', much to the chagrin of my cousins living there, who preferred when folks visited to see the Hopi Indians on their way to Carlsbad Caverns.



...but WTF, it makes a buck!








They don't call it the 'Land of Enchantment' for nothin'!

[dales]

my apt

[BoSoxGal]

It's disappointing to hear such bad reviews of the South Rim - I haven't been in 30 years and it must have changed a great deal since then, as there were but a few lodges and gift shops at that time, all of architecture that fit nicely in the environs (but all fairly dated).

[rubato]

The S. rim is very nice. I've been there off and on since the 60s although the last time was two visits a month apart in 1999; where it snowed both times in April and May. Heavily the former stop; we drove over 90 miles of packed snow leaving. I haven't been there in 'tourist season' since the 60s so maybe that's why my memories are all good. The El Tovar lodge on the S. rim is a nice historic building with a great dining room and nice accomodations if you're traveling flush. The dining room is worth it (as are the ones in most of the historic National Park lodges like the Ahwanee and the Old Faithful Inn) When we were on the cheap we stayed in a rattly old motel south of the park entrance, still a beautiful trip.

I love all parts of the Colorado Plateau area Zion, Bryce, Capital Reef, Monument Valley, Canyonlands, Painted desert, Sunset crater, Meteor crater, petrified forest, Havasupai, Canyon de Chelly (nearby), and then that nice canyon, none will fall short or fail to inspire. Go and spend a month just to get a taste.

yrs,
rubato

[Crackpot]

This place