Travelers Share The One Place They’ve Been To That Seriously Let Them Down

Just about everyone has a bucket list or a few destinations they would love to explore at least once in their lifetime. Whether you’ve seen an awesome place on TV, heard about it from a friend, or even want to live out some of your own dreams (visiting the home town of Mothman, anyone?), it can be exciting to plan a vacation to a place you’re head over heels in love with the idea of visiting. But pictures can be deceiving….

It can be tough to have your heart set on visiting a location, and then when you finally get there, you find out…it’s just a dump. Or maybe it’s not as safe as you hoped and you don’t feel like you can ever relax. Or maybe it’s just that everything was super exaggerated in all the online reviews. The people of the internet sure weren’t shy about sharing the biggest letdowns they experienced, so maybe you don’t have to go through the same thing.

Not How I Remember It

My wife and I decided to go to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina as our anniversary trip a few years ago. It was about ten years after the Pavilion closed. It’s just a big empty lot with some zip line; that’s it. All the interesting surrounding shops have closed; it’s pretty much just those corny beach stores that have had the same inventory for years….

I started coming in almost 20 years before; the hotels are indeed a bummer. We were there for seven days, and by day three, we were bored out of our minds and ready to just go home. It hurts because my memories of that place were so good; I wish I never came back after 2006. I was so disappointed and bummed right out. Reddit User: Acct4ask

A Little Bare

I went to the Anne Frank House. To put it nicely, the lack of furniture in the Anne Frank House really took a lot of the effect away for me. Not to be mean, but in empty rooms, you have this openness that the people in the Achterhuis would not have had. So I didn’t feel the tight quarters they had to deal with….

And to me, that made the experience less powerful. I took a two and a half hour walking tour of the Jewish history of Amsterdam on the same trip, and I learned a lot from it, and I feel like I didn’t learn too much at the Anne Frank House that I didn’t already know from history class. Reddit User: Bradbitzer

Not Even Correct

The “Southernmost point in the continental United States” in Key West, where it’s supposedly 90 miles to Cuba, is disappointing. First of all, it’s not the southernmost point that is actually part of the adjacent military base, nor is it the southernmost point accessible by the public; that’s in Fort Zachary Taylor Park, which is accessible for a small fee….

So you think maybe it’s the southernmost point that’s free to visit for the general public? Nope, there are a few spots east that are a little more south. In the end, what people take their picture with is not the southernmost point; it’s a big block of concrete at the end of Duval Street. And it’s not even 90 miles to Cuba, it’s 104 miles or 94 nautical miles. Reddit User: WorkIsWhenIReddit

Not the Happiest Place on Earth

In my opinion, Disneyland isn’t what I expected. Sure, going at least once in your life for the experience isn’t a horrible idea, especially since it’s the “Happiest Place on Earth.” But let’s be real here, not only is it expensive for just one person, unless you have the pass, which is another story, but the line/wait time for 95% of the rides is insane, and the place is packed almost every day….

Who really wants to buy a churro for almost $10? The food prices are ridiculous, a lot of the rides are closed or ‘broken down,’ and anything you want to buy in the stores, forget about it because you’ll be broke after that. But like I said, it’s just my opinion. Still a Disney movie and song fan, though! Reddit User: Loves_me_tacos125

Not a Good Time

Bourbon Street in New Orleans is a bit too much. The bars are all overpriced, you’re surrounded by shills trying to get you to come into this overpriced strip club or pay too much for that hat or whatever, and the whole street reeks of pee constantly. Do you want to go during Mardi Gras? Great, spend five minutes pushing through the crowd to cross the street….

Get harassed by frat boys to show your chest if you’re a woman, spend even more on booze, and realize you’re going to have to throw away your shoes. There’s no washing out that kind of filth. Don’t get me wrong; you should go there. Spend about an hour and appreciate just how freaking crappy it is. Then, head literally anywhere else in New Orleans and enjoy it. Reddit User: Bigscience87

The Unexpected

The London Eye was not what I expected. What you expect is to be whisked into your futuristic pod by smiling flight attendants; you gently rise above the ancient city of London. The crowds fall away as the panorama of the city is laid out before you. It’s truly an experience for the ages. What actually happens is a snotty customer services assistant rips your pass out from your wallet….

And you’re shuffled into a stiflingly hot glass pod with dozens of other people where sweaty tourists barge you out of the way just to get to the windows before you’ve even left the ground, there are children everywhere, and they’re screaming. The ride is 45 minutes long; not an enjoyable experience to say the least. Reddit User: JamJarre

Not Going Back There

Of all the places in the entire world, we visited Morocco. It was amazing, but Jemaa el-Fnaa, the market square, in Marrakech was the biggest disappointment. It’s full of knock-off gear and guys trying to get you to take pictures with cobras. However, we did go to a rooftop restaurant on the edge of the square and had an amazing meal….

We also got to hear the Adhan, which is the call to prayer, while in the restaurant. Marrakech, in general, is pretty awesome, but the market was a letdown. Everything else we saw was worth it, and we plan to go back at some point in the future. We just won’t be going back to that specific place while there. Reddit User: [redacted]

How Sad

My sister went to Fiji for work once, and she said it was unbelievably depressing. To get from the airport to the super nice corporate paid-for hotel they were staying at, they went past loads of people standing outside what my sister described as “shacks,” and the roads were awful, and they weren’t allowed to drink the water….

This was not long after a big cyclone hit the area, so everyone was still trying to pick up the pieces. She left early because she felt ridiculously guilty; sitting in her nice hotel room when so many people were struggling didn’t feel right, I guess. She definitely was disappointed; it wasn’t anything how she thought it’d be. Reddit User: [redacted]

Too Hyped

Los Angeles. I know a lot of people who haven’t been there before want to go because it has Hollywood, celebrities, sunshine, beaches, and attractive people. But in reality? It’s a hot mess with trash nearly everywhere, overcrowded stores and malls, the air is just smog and the smell of gasoline mixed together, and traffic is the worst on the entire west coast….

People tend to be jerks everywhere you go, bad drivers, and everything is overpriced. Granted, some people are nice, and LA has its places and moments, but 95% of the time, if you want to come to the US or California, you can probably find a much better place. Not really worth all the hype it gets. Reddit User: [redacted]

No Meditating There

There’s the Meditation Rock at Bob Marley’s house. The place is run by a tour group called Mama Marley’s. They’ve done a weak job of turning a cool place into the touristy-est piece of garbage in Jamaica. That’s on top of the crowded tours through the Mausoleum of Bob and his mother while the tour guide talks loudly and pushes people through who are smoking and drinking beer….

You also get to see his two-room house with Bob Marley posters up on the wall. Meditation Rock is painted over with red, yellow, and green spray paint and is faded. But worst of all is that the rock is surrounded by concrete in order to facilitate all the tour groups. The best part of that tour was watching a local from the outside trying to sell joints through a tiny hole in the gate. Reddit User: percussionisto

Not Worth It

The Sears Tower is lame. Now it’s Willis, but screw that because it’s not worth it. The elevators are ridiculously fast; so much so that the sudden pressure change will definitely screw with your equilibrium for a bit if you don’t bring gum. And the gift shop does sell gum, for like $4 a pack. A total rip-off if you ask me….

Then you get up to the top floor, which is not actually the top; it’s several stories down actually, and you look out. Yep. It’s high. $22 per person to get a view you can get from the actual top floors of about a dozen-plus buildings around the city for free without messing with your balance. I will not be going back. Reddit User: [redacted]

Fair Warning

I went on a cruise once, but never again; it was so boring. I felt so trapped. The only thing to do was drink yet another $9.50 Corona. The least crappy part was trying to go everywhere on the ship that I wasn’t supposed to go. I climbed into a lifeboat and rooted around in the supplies. You don’t want to be stuck on those lifeboats in the ocean….

It had nasty survival food in there. Some kind of hardtack crap was all I could find. I got into a storeroom that was left unlocked. That was one of the highlights of the trip. Nothing interesting in there either, but at least I did something mildly exciting for a couple of minutes. The ship was the Costa Fortuna. Reddit User: StubbornDefiance

Not So Twilight

Forks, Washington is not very cool if you’re visiting because you’re a “twilighter.” The movies were in fact NOT filmed there, and the only reason Forks was used as the location in the book is because it’s the rainiest city in the continental US. It literally rains an average of 120” a year. We went to see the Hoh rainforest and Olympic national park….

It’s a must-see. But for the 30,000 Twilight tourists that show up every year, it’s not really where you want to visit, honestly. The place is laughable; it’s a joke. And not to mention that the locals there do not like Twilight, or even the tourists. It’s not a place I would recommend traveling to for a vacation destination. Reddit User: FrankieMarcella

No One Worth Seeing

Hollywood Boulevard (Walk of Fame, Grauman’s, etc.) isn’t worth it. I grew up a stone’s throw from LA. This place is overcrowded, hot, dirty, and the sidewalks are saturated in bum urine. It grosses me out a little when I see people lie on the ground to take pictures with their favorite celebrity’s star or try to fit their hands in the prints in the Grauman’s forecourt….

There’s a myriad of celebrity impersonators that want tips if you get your picture with them and aspiring artists peddling their self-produced mix CDs. While there’s a bit of that golden age charm that has admittedly gone a little stale in the last half-century, it’s just too bad that it’s been overrun with, well, grossness. Also, you’ll never ever see a celebrity in Hollywood. They only go to Hollywood for premieres; not a single one of them lives there. If you want to see a celebrity, go to Whole Foods in Brentwood. Reddit User: theDut

It’s a Trap

Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg are tourist traps with extreme traffic all the time. I’ve had it take me three hours to get from the Sevierville entrance to Pigeon Forge to my hotel about a mile from the end of town; it’s awful, and almost every square centimeter of it is a hotel, a theme park, a restaurant, or some other attraction….

Gatlinburg is for people who don’t mind walking everywhere, which is good because you’ll probably be buzzed or drunk if you partake of the moonshine samples. If you leave Gatlinburg, though, you can go to Cherokee, NC through an amazing mountain road (kind of have to be calm about it) to experience some amazing scenery and some of the most beautiful waterfalls in the US. Reddit User: KP_Wrath

Not the Outdoors Type 

Alaska isn’t too exciting. Not anything I thought it’d be. There are just bears and whales and mountains and crap. Sure, the mountains are pretty majestic, and there are amazing glaciers all over, but after you drive past endless gorgeous mountains and wildlife, you realize that there isn’t much to do. They only have a few Olive Gardens in the entire state….

They only have like, twenty breweries in the state. Granted, there are less than a million people in the state, so I guess it’s sort of high per capita. But still. There isn’t much to do unless you’re into hiking or camping or kayaking or rafting or flying or boating or hunting or ice skating or fishing or skiing. Reddit User: Hosni__Mubarak

Biggest Trap Around

Can we get some Mount Rushmore? That place is the biggest waste of time imaginable if you ask me. Seriously, don’t even bother. You have to drive 562 hours through the literal middle of nowhere in South Dakota, and the town around it is the trappiest tourist trap I’ve ever seen. Parking is like $19, and there’s literally one thing to see….

It looks more impressive in pictures, but that’s about it. Plus it’s a huge eff you to Native Americans. If you want to see some cool nature crap, just go to Wyoming or Montana. Seriously guys, don’t even waste your time getting off the highway in South Dakota. It’s just a total waste of both time and money. Reddit User: [redacted]

When in Rome

Rome. When I went to Italy, the travel plan was this: land in Rome, stay for a week. Drive to Florence, stay for a week. Then finally, drive back to Rome for the last week before going home. Not only was Florence so much more fun than Rome that we decided to spend our last week there instead, but we spent an extra week after that….

You do it all: the museums, the sights, the gelato. Rome had a coliseum with a bunch of cats that wander it, and don’t get me wrong, definitely go see that while you’re there. But after you see a bunch of old stones, there’s not much to entertain yourself with. But seriously, I can’t stress how bad everybody needs to go to Florence just for gelato. Screw the pizza! I’m from New York, and my standards are sky-high. Reddit User: [redacted]

Nothing to See Here Folks

St. Petersburg, Russia was a letdown for me. No soul, no heart, no unique, just nothing. It’s a superficially pretty city like the Chinese copies of European cities. But there’s nothing there. If you’ve never visited a European city, like London, Paris, Berlin, Stockholm, etc., then St. Petersburg may impress you. But if you’ve traveled a bit, St. Petersburg is disappointing….

The difference between a real organic great city (such as Moscow) and St. Petersburg is like the difference between a beautiful woman and a mannequin. The mannequin may be pretty, but there’s nothing there. Like I said, it had no soul, no heart, absolutely nothing worth seeing, in my opinion. I won’t be going back there anytime soon. Reddit User: dontsuspendmebro

Total Letdown

Reno, Nevada wasn’t the best. I stopped in Reno for a few days last summer on my way to a more interesting destination. I didn’t know much about the city, only that it was “the biggest little city in the world” and something like a miniature version of Las Vegas. What a dump. There were only maybe a half dozen casinos….

And unlike Las Vegas, the casinos didn’t do much to embrace their themes. For example, I didn’t see a single clown inside Circus Circus, and I didn’t even notice when I wandered into a neighboring casino because they all looked the same inside. Besides the handful of casinos, there was barely anything to do. The whole city looked run down, and there were homeless people everywhere. Reddit User: rule2productions

Nothing Good to Say

Goa (India) was not what I thought it would be. I heard such amazing things about it, so I went there. It was a total crap hole. All the locals are rude and aggressive. There are huge piles of rubbish everywhere with rats and wild pigs rummaging through them. The food is terrible, and the water is filthy. Pretty sure everyone there has Hepatitis A and Campylobacter….

Even the bottled water tastes like they got it out of a toilet. There are flies, mosquitoes, and other creepy crawlies all over everything. The streets are filled with starving beggars who harass white people for money constantly. I have absolutely nothing good to say about it at all. I thought it was going to be a beautiful spiritual place, but it wasn’t at all. Reddit User: [redacted]

Lame as Ever

Niagara Falls was a disappointment. I can only speak for the US side of things, but it’s as ghetto as heck. We weren’t even out of the car before we were accosted for bus fare. I thought the falls would be like the Grand Canyon with water, but nope. Then you see all the “fun stuff” on the Canadian side….

And you can’t go there without a passport. But that’s okay. There’s tons of flea market style shopping and food courts to fill your time if you’re into that sort of stuff. If you want a sit-down restaurant, be prepared to pay London prices. Stay home and run a sprinkler off your roof. That’s Niagara Falls. Reddit User: snakeoil-huckster

Nothing of Interest

Niagara Falls in Canada was kind of lame. The falls themselves are great to look at, but the rest of the town is a circus. On one side, you have an old casino, old “motor lodges,” and tattoo parlors. The new site is full of high rise hotels that face the falls, but you’re going to pay $1,000 for them during tourist season….

The new casino (yes, there are two!) isn’t that bad, though. The rest is filled with crummy places to eat like TGI Fridays (the only one I’ve seen in Canada), Hard Rock, Planet Hollywood, Margaritaville, and the like. A wax museum and haunted houses round out the rest of what there really is to do there. Reddit User: [redacted]

Better as a Whole

A place that’s disappointing for tourists is Paris. I think it’s worth it to go and see the essential sights, like the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc., but the city itself really just doesn’t live up to the hype. Most of the old, classically French architecture is only in the central ten blocks or so around Notre Dame; the rest is generic, urban sprawl….

Dudes are peeing in the streets everywhere, people are constantly smoking, and the Paris subway is easily the most disgusting example of public transportation I’ve ever been on. It literally smells like you’re inside of a dirty butthole. The brown stains on the floors and seats definitely don’t help. France as a whole is lovely, but Paris was kind of a letdown. Reddit User: thisfuneralsucks

Doesn’t Really Make Sense

I might get crap for this but Stonehenge. I mean it’s mysterious, and there are some cool things to know about it, but it’s not amazing to look at or visit, in my opinion. I’m probably a bit jaded to be fair, having been past so many times. However, I personally think the equally mysterious but much more impressive village of Avebury is much better….

Not crazy far from it either, interestingly enough. Avebury is like Stonehenge, but the stones are even freaking larger, and they’re arranged in a huge circle around the village. There’s also a nearby man-made hill nobody in the last few hundred years (or now) can figure out; there’s been nothing found inside it from the various tunnels dug through it. Reddit User: james___uk

Do Not Recommend

Tokyo Sky Tree is overrated. There’s cool stuff around it (Asakusa is a must-do in Japan), and maybe the new aquarium at the base is worth checking out. But the observation tower is a waste. It’s about $30 USD, crazy crowded, and just a pain to enter and see. Six hundred thirty-four meters does make it the second tallest building in the world….

But the deck is nearly 200 meters below that, making it a few feet shorter than the CN Tower. And it’s location in the city makes the view less than spectacular. Also, it’s ugly. Instead, go to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. Its right next to Shinjuku Station, free, open late, you can literally just walk in, and it’s surrounded by cool buildings. Reddit User: kamatacci

It’s a No for Me

The Black Hills of South Dakota were lame. The good: it’s amazing, except the hills aren’t really black anymore, as a beetle has taken most of the trees from the best areas. If you like large rock hills, this is your dream. It’s beautiful, but the cool stuff like The Great Falls in Spearfish Canyon are so blocked off you can’t really enjoy them….

The faces are faces, and the history is nice, but the prices. Take 3x more money than you might think you need and expect to go through it 3x faster than you’d think. We were there 8 years ago and vowed never to return. I did on business, and the prices that were insane are now twice that. If you’re rich, enjoy, and hike Harney Peak for me; otherwise, no. Reddit User: melcrose

Whole Lotta Nope

Egypt, and Cairo, in particular. If you simply must visit, fly in on a red-eye, sleeping on the flight. Land and get a ride to the pyramids (bus is actually safer than a cab, simply due to its size/mass vs. the other maniacs on the road honking their horns every thirty seconds). Rent camels, not horses. With horses, you are too low to the ground, and the beggars try to steal your shoes….

Also, if you get the right camel rental place, they’ll teach you the command word for the camels to kick the beggars. Ride out and enjoy the pyramids, don’t look too low, and you might be able to ignore all the trash. Don’t take pictures of any people; they’ll claim you stole part of their soul and demand payment. And the local corrupt enforcement officers will back them up, so they get their part of the take. When done, ride back, turn in the camel, catch a ride back to the airport and fly home. Reddit User: PirateKilt

Not So Beachy

Myrtle Beach. I went on vacation there for two weeks a few years ago, and it was probably one of the worst vacations I’ve had in America. For context, I’m from the UK and visit America every year, usually going somewhere new but sometimes visiting a place I’ve been before for one of the two weeks I’m there. Anyway, it was just so boring….

There’s hardly anything to do there apart from the multitude of crazy golf places. It seems like it’s the crazy golf capital of America. The beach was pretty meh, which is surprising, since it’s supposedly a top beach destination. It was also where I’ve had what was the worst meal of my entire life. It was at this place called Grandma’s Kitchen. The buffet was old, microwaved food that was lukewarm at best with flies buzzing around it. Put it this way; you know a place is bad when you take two bites, leave, and then desperately try and find a McDonalds to get some “good” food. Reddit User: peterm18

Shouldn’t Have Done That

I had a crappy time at the Taj. I went with Oleg, an angry Russian who I was working with on a project over there. We got in, and it was crowded and full of rich Indian people trying to take the best selfie and climbing on everything. We then “hired” a guide who kept beating people with a bamboo stick….

Oleg didn’t think he was doing it right, so he grabbed the stick and started beating people with it in front of everyone else. Long story short we had a mob of people chasing us away into the street of Agra, which consists of slums, poop, and cow poop. Obviously, that wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but whatever. Good times. Reddit User: Back2Bach

Better Places to Go

I’ve been to Cozumel several times on cruises. The actual downtown is only 3 miles away from where the port is along with a crappy mall with Senor Frogs. Shockingly, that’s also a crap hole. The move is to go to take a taxi to the other end of the island with the “resort” beaches. They’re nothing too fancy….

But you pay something like $20 for unlimited drinks and food and beach access for an entire day. It sounds great, but it’s definitely not everyone’s idea of a good time, but if you’re just looking to sit on a beach and drink, then it’s not so bad. There are plenty of much, much better destinations in the Caribbean, though. Reddit User: judge___smails

Not Even Then

Hong Kong is one of the worst places to go if you ask me. People go there for a few days and come home telling everyone they’ve been to China. You’re better off going somewhere that’s actually interesting, instead of going to a city that’s really not much different from any major Western City. There are so many fantastic travel destinations that you could pick from….

Don’t waste your time going to Hong Kong unless you’re picking a place to live in, and even then, I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s such a cliché destination. You could go see the stone mountains, the Great Wall, the Ice Festival in Harbin, or the rice terraces, or the Terracotta Army, or any other place of the sort. Reddit User: xXDaNXx

Extremely Overrated

Venice, for sure, is a big letdown. I visited two summers ago, and it was the most underwhelming experience ever. The place is absolutely packed with tourists; it’s just a sea of people with women getting their purses snatched by pickpockets around every corner. Add in crappy tourist trap restaurants, unfriendly and ticked off locals, and you’ve got an extremely overrated city….

We stayed at the Hotel Danieli, and it was absolutely disgusting. The hotel room was so grungy that I felt like someone definitely could have been murdered in there before. The carpet looked like it belonged in the 1980s. Thank god we left the day that two massive cruise ships pulled into the harbor. That would’ve been even worse to deal with all those tourists. Reddit User: 713Frog

Just Speaking from Experience

I hate to say it but Cuba for sure, and I don’t say this lightly. There’s so much despair in Cuba. The conversations I’ve had with people there seem to drift inevitably towards a feeling of hopelessness and imprisonment. It’s quite depressing, really. Sure, you can be a tourist on a bus and have people kiss your butt all day….

And fool yourself into thinking you’ve seen all of Cuba. There are many moments I will love from my time there, but overall, I came away with a desire not to return. Oh, and it’s so freaking expensive. This is just my two cents. However, there are so many better places than Cuba to go spend your money at. Reddit User: kaveinga

Off the Beaten Path

Asakusa’s Sensoji temple in Tokyo is on many must-see lists for visitors to Japan, yet it’s overcrowded and full of people selling cheap crap to tourists. There are many things that Japan has a lot of, and temples are one of them. Even relatively unknown temples out in the countryside tend to be impressive structures, and I honestly think you can scratch the “temple” itch easily basically anywhere….

You’ll do just as well visiting some random neighborhood temple in Tokyo as you can by going to Sensoji (minus the crowds and peddlers!). I spent almost four years in Tokyo and found almost consistently that the most interesting places were “off the beaten path.” Simply picking a random train station and seeing what’s nearby can be far more rewarding than navigating throngs of tourists and merchants to take photos of Sensoji temple. Reddit User: [redacted]

No Fun There

Venice. My husband and I are from Australia and made a trip around parts of Europe. I wish we had never gone to Venice. I would have preferred to stay in our tiny Paris hotel room for the full day than go on the day trip to Venice. So. Freaking. Touristy. Literally, everything is based around knick-knacks. The gondolas aren’t romantic….

There are so many, and they’re all pretty much touching, and it’s $50 for a 15-minute glide on the water. We got off a plane at 9am. Got to Venice around 10:30, and by 5pm were back at the airport waiting for our 9pm flight. The rude wait staff wouldn’t seat you until you proved you had more than $150 Euros in cash on you and would only allow you to dine if you spent a minimum of $100. It was so smelly from the hot air, plus all the stagnant water. It was just gross. Reddit User: vivilessthanthree

Too Much Stink

The Taj Mahal is overrated, at least in my opinion. The place was nice enough on the outside, I suppose, but the place was just really, really crowded. My worst experience was inside the burial chamber of the sultan (Shah Jahan/Aurangzeb?), where hundreds of people are allowed to enter such a small place at one time. I was stuck between so many people….

Almost all were Indian (I really don’t mean to stereotype here, I promise), it was the middle of the afternoon, and everyone was drenched in sweat, so the smell inside there was so horrible; even thinking about it now makes me nauseous. I literally fought my way out of that hell and decided I was never coming back. Reddit User: AlRue

Overrated at Best

New Orleans may have some really cool things to see and do, but it’s quite expensive, and dirty, and crime-ridden. There is no “sketchy” part of town because, honestly, it’s all sketchy. It constantly smells like bum urine. If you get robbed, mugged, or assaulted, good luck getting the police to help unless you’re being actively murdered….

It’ll be about 24 hours before they can get to you to file a report. And if you do happen to find yourself getting into trouble in New Orleans, Louisiana, well, good luck with that; you’re not going to get arrested by a city cop. They send the state police after you. I would definitely say that New Orleans, Louisiana is an overrated travel destination by far. Reddit User: Alliekat1282

Not How I Imagined It’d Be 

The biggest letdown was probably the Keys: all of them. I’m from Canada, and we decided to go there over winter break when it was really cold. Aside from the higher (too high) temperatures and the beach (dirty), there really wasn’t much to do. Unless you have a lot of money or plan on spending your time partying it up, I do not recommend….

On another note, I’d say the one that’s most commonly overlooked is Cuba. There’s nothing to do outside the resort except for tanning and drinking (which isn’t all that bad). The ocean is really nice, and the water is the perfect temperature, but we were explicitly warned not to go further than maybe 10m offshore, as there are loads of potentially dangerous jellyfish. Reddit User: Darealmvp_9392

The Poor Locals

Peru. The tap water isn’t safe to drink, but you can’t avoid it. Restaurants and hotels will wash their dishes and/or serve you drinks (tea, juice, ice) with tap water. A lot of Peru is desert. Every single building looks like it’s going to fall down at any moment. There are people living out in the desert in basically one-wall huts….

While I was crossing over from Chile to Peru, I thought they were just remnants of buildings or scraps that people didn’t want to take to the junkyard. Nope. People lived in this. No running water, electricity, and they had to walk more than five miles to get to the nearest grocery store. If you want to go to Peru, go with an aid trip. Reddit User: Weehoodle

Total Disappointment

In high school, we had a Japanese exchange student that wanted so bad to see Hollywood. We lived in Sacramento, and even as high school students, we knew it was a dump, but she was so excited (and I had a huge crush), so a friend of mine and I drove her all the way down on Spring Break to see the Walk of Fame….

It was dirty and empty of anything noteworthy aside from some street hawkers selling ‘Star Maps’ and a very solicitous prostitute of questionable gender. I don’t know what she expected, and I’ve heard the Japanese are culturally inclined to not show emotion overtly, so judging by the very disappointed look on her face, it may have been soul-crushing. Reddit User: Corey307