My biggest disappointment in life ....... was going all the way to Australia ......and fucking Bondi beach .......a fucking junkie needle infested hole .......it was small and shitty and covered in needles .......what a fucking dump the place is ......also Stonehenge....... small and shitty as fuck .......pile of fucking stones ...........oh well you cannot get everything you want ....Australia was shit ........all over ......

"I Saved My Money...Just To Be Disappointed": Travelers Are Being Brutally Honest About The Vacation Destinations That Aren't Worth The Money Or Hype

BuzzFeed

Mon, March 18, 2024 at 4:15 PM EDT·6 min read

Recently, redditor u/ElisaBelloo asked, "In your travels, which city was the biggest letdown?" Travelers from all over the world took to the thread and were refreshingly (and sometimes brutally) honest about the travel destinations that didn't quite live up to their expectations. So, here are 15 popular vacation spots that — according to fellow travelers — actually might not be worth the money and hype:

1."Dubai. It's like Vegas with no soul. I never thought Vegas had a soul, then I visited Dubai."

Skyline with the Burj Khalifa standing tall among other skyscrapers at dusk — —u/dbag127
"It’s like Vegas but for business. Huge advertisements everywhere. Big, gaudy towers and shopping places seemed to be the main attractions. And zero people doing any work are from there. It's just a big, bright, and expensive facade. No soul at all."
—u/Dewthedru
Dblight / Getty Images

2."Hollywood. If 'who hurt you' was a city."

A Hollywood street at night with flashing signs and people — —u/Formal_Yesterday8114
"I realized *after* my trip that you *really* need to research where to go in LA. My usual travel style is to just show up without much of a plan and wander around, but that doesn't really work in LA. The famous tourist locations like Hollywood Boulevard and Venice Beach are disgusting."
—u/EmeraldIbis
"I live near Hollywood, and trust me, it's one of the shittier parts of LA."
—u/AnjoonaToona
Mitch Diamond / Getty Images

3."LA is terrible if you don’t have a local to show you around."

Aerial view of Los Angeles — —u/FapCabs
"Los Angeles is a horrible place to visit but a wonderful place to live. Beach and snow-capped mountains that can be driven to in the same day. Everything a big city can offer and the best weather on earth. I miss it so much."
—u/Billymillion1965
Miles Cui / Getty Images

4."Niagara Falls, Ontario. Not the falls themselves — they're spectacular. The town is awful."

Aerial view of Niagara Falls with surrounding landscape and a boat near the mist — —u/Charlie9261
"Tacky, touristy hellhole next to one of the most beautiful natural wonders in the world. I guess if you’re a family with young kids, there’s plenty to do aside from the falls, but otherwise, ugh."
—u/veebs7
"It used to be the #1 honeymoon destination for Americans before it was over-commercialized. Supposedly, during the Victorian era, it still had a wild and magical aura about it, but it was lost once it became developed and touristy."
—u/Imaginary_Airport_43
Bloodua / Getty Images

5."Reykjavik, Iceland. I loved Iceland, but Reykjavik is very touristy. The rest of the country is absolutely amazing, though."

Aerial view of Reykjavik — —u/CheCazzoFaciamo
Powerofforever / Getty Images

6."Cairo, Egypt, without a doubt. Anyone who hasn't been: Just google it and the horror stories will keep you away."

Three pyramids in Egypt with people on camels in the foreground — —u/MenlaOfTheBody
"My disappointment when I got to the Pyramids…and directly *across the road* was a Pizza Hut. Dafuq?"
—u/emmadilemma
Stockbym / Getty Images/iStockphoto

7."Daytona Beach, Florida. I was SO excited to go to Florida in high school. There were cockroaches in the hotel room. A biohazard bag in the water. All the scummy touristy stuff. No thanks. I worked at the school store and saved my money all year to afford the trip just to be disappointed."

Sunset at Daytona Beach with iconic arch reading "WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS BEACH" over a street leading to the ocean — —u/Padmei
"Daytona is the trashiest city in America. Florida has many beautiful beaches, but Daytona is the absolute worst place I’ve ever been."
—u/Sippinonjoy
Philippe Turpin / Getty Images/Photononstop RF

8."Naples, Italy. Rome had a reputation for being messy and smelly for decades, which I saw firsthand. They've since cleaned it up, and it's as beautiful as you'd hope. Naples, on the other hand, feels like a slum for the most part. It's messy, unwelcoming, and doesn't honor its history the way much of Italy does."

A street in Naples — —u/uselessscientist
Avsinn / Getty Images/iStockphoto

9."Venice, Italy in the summer. I was there in February, and it was an amazing time. Summer, though? No."

View from a gondola on a narrow Venetian canal with bridges and ancient buildings — "I don't know what was happening, but there were loads of fish dying in all the channels, and the place reeked wherever we went. My wife tried the water taxi and, normally, she would've probably been fine, but the dead fish smell mixed with the waves made her incredibly seasick for a while. It just turned into a crappy time for the few days we were there."
—u/Halfwayhome22
Thierryhennet / Getty Images/RooM RF

10."Las Vegas, Nevada. It's all fun for two nights, but we made a mistake and stayed for four nights. Couldn't wait to leave."

Aerial view of the Las Vegas Strip featuring the Bellagio fountain show — —u/flacao9
"You arrive bright-eyed and full of energy. You leave dehydrated and don't open any banking apps until you get paid again."
—u/ositola
F11photo / Getty Images/iStockphoto

11."Austin, Texas. For all its 'keep Austin weird' crap, it’s simply not weird."

A view of Sixth Street in Austin, Texas — —u/Responsivity
"Austin in the early '90s was still fun. Now it’s all glass high rises."
—u/tadhg555
Benedek / Getty Images/iStockphoto

12."Atlantic City, New Jersey. It's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, as in I'm never going there again."

Nighttime view of the Caesar's and Trump Plaza buildings with illuminated signage — "The most heartbreaking sight was all the kids on the steps of the casino, waiting for their parents who 'just went for a quick spin of the roulette wheel.' Those poor kids were waiting nearly all day and night. The boardwalk is full of the kind of people you hope don't sit next to you on a plane: loud, drunk, and opinionated. Never again."
—u/Brain_Tourismo
Appalachianviews / Getty Images/iStockphoto

13."San Jose, California. I think it actively tries to be as boring as humanly possible."

Aerial view of a cityscape at dusk with lit buildings and a Christmas tree — —u/rockit454
Walter Bibikow / Getty Images

14."Dallas, Texas. I cannot believe how boring that city is. I’ve had much more fun in every other Texas city I’ve visited (Austin, San Antonio, even Fort Worth!)."

Dallas skyline at dusk with illuminated buildings — —u/LA_Snkr_Dude
"I grew up in Ft. Worth. This is so accurate. DFW is a huge suburban sprawl where the character has been sucked dry. San Antonio is the best city in Texas for tourism."
—u/TheBigC87
"For all of its hype and local pride, Dallas is a disappointment. I went there for business once. It’s historic and fun, people said. They were wrong."
—u/r0n0c0
Joe Daniel Price / Getty Images

15.And finally, "Berlin, Germany. The most unfriendly place I have been in my entire life, and I’ve been to Paris."

Berlin Cathedral by the Spree river with a passing tour boat in the foreground — —u/Wafflehouseofpain
Sylvain Sonnet / Getty Images

Travelers of BuzzFeed, now it's your turn! Have you ever visited a city you were super excited about, only to learn it's an overhyped tourist trap or simply not worth the trip? If so, tell us the destination and why you felt that way in the comments below.

Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.