When you’re planning the perfect vacation, you don’t want to waste time or money on disappointing destinations. To help you avoid disappointment on your travels, we turned to the treasure trove of data found in online reviews to help savvy travelers get the most out of their vacation planning.
In July 2023, we analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of the world’s 500 most popular attractions across 65 countries on six continents. For each attraction, we asked a simple question: How often do the words “tourist trap,” “overrated,” and “expensive” appear in the reviews?
We compared attractions against each other by measuring the relative frequency of these mentions and dividing the number of each mention by the total number of reviews for that attraction. We categorize our findings to give you the information you need before planning a visit to top destinations, and give you tips on how to travel in a way that is easy on your travel passions and your wallet.
Key findings
According to our analysis, the Four Corners Monument (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah) is the top tourist magnet in the world. Iceland’s Blue Lagoon and Malaysia’s Penang Hill are the top tourist magnets in Europe and Asia. The Great Mosque of Mecca in Saudi Arabia had 397,905 reviews on Google at the time of our analysis, none of which mentioned it as a “tourist magnet”. The California Academy of Sciences, Elvis Presley’s Graceland, and the South Carolina Aquarium are the most expensive tourist attractions in the United States. Voodoo Donuts in Portland, Oregon is the most overrated tourist attraction in the world.
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Top 100 tourist destinations in the world
Holding the distinction of being the only place where four states meet – Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah – the Four Corners Monument may seem like a pretty charming place. And with the nearest gas station 30 miles away, it may be appealing to travelers looking to escape the hustle and bustle of modern life. But the attraction also ranks high in the percentage of negative reviews: Of the 10,839 reviews analyzed, 139 call the spot a tourist trap.
Meanwhile, Berlin’s Checkpoint Charlie was the one most often described as a “tourist trap” among all the global destination reviews we analyzed, with 400 mentions out of 76,269. The spot is popular with travelers due to its historical importance as a border crossing between West and East Germany during the Cold War.
Top 25 tourist traps in the US
According to our analysis, eight of the top ten tourist traps in the world are in the U.S. The top three tourist traps are related to paranormal phenomena such as witches, ghosts, and UFOs.
Those spots – the Salem Witch Museum in Massachusetts, Calico Ghost Town in California and the International UFO Museum and Research Center in New Mexico – have been met with numerous reviews calling them “tourist traps” and leaving some visitors feeling disillusioned.
The world’s most expensive attraction
Analyzing reviews where the word “expensive” appears, the United States is home to the third most expensive attraction in the world, with spots in Iceland and Canada taking the first and second spots. The most expensive is Grindavik’s Blue Lagoon, where prices start at $67 per person and nearly double during peak times. This is followed by Vancouver’s Capilano Suspension Bridge, where tickets are $69.95 per person if purchased at the counter. The California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco comes in third for consumer dissatisfaction, with admission prices of $49.75 per adult during peak times.
Americans seem to think that aquariums are generally too expensive, with aquariums in South Carolina, Maryland, California and Georgia making the top 50 on our list.
California has seven of the top 25 most expensive tourist attractions, followed by Tennessee with three in the top 25, including Elvis Presley’s Graceland, which ranks fifth in the world.
The world’s most overrated attractions
Unless you’re a real donut lover, one place you might want to avoid on your next vacation is Voodoo Doughnut in Portland, Oregon. At least, not if you care about reviews, because according to our analysis, this place is the most overrated tourist spot in the world.
Here are the top 5 most overrated attractions:
The Little Mermaid in Denmark. The Arashiyama Bamboo Forest in Japan. The Manneken Pis Fountain in Belgium. The Hollywood Walk of Fame in California.
Tips for avoiding tourist traps
Get recommendations from your travel card concierge
Travel cards may come with access to a concierge to help you research, plan and book your trip. For example, The Platinum Card® from American Express (terms, fees and charges apply) is a luxury travel card with numerous benefits and protections, including highly rated concierge service (its $695 annual fee is proof of this). Contact the concierge early in planning your vacation and let them know that you’d like to go somewhere off the beaten path for a unique experience, rather than the well-known tourist spots.
Consider where your rewards can take you
We all know that credit card rewards can help you travel the world, but are you making the most of the miles you’ve accumulated? Let’s take an example using American Airlines miles.
At the time of writing, a round-trip flight from New York to Honolulu in late October 2023 could cost anywhere from about 53,000 to more than 100,000 AAdvantage miles. In contrast, if you’re flying round-trip from New York to San Juan, Puerto Rico during the same time period, you might find good deals for around 24,000 or 31,000 miles. While many variables will affect the exact cost, being flexible with your vacation choices can help you save a lot.
Plus, even if you choose a less expensive destination, you’ll find just as many amazing activities and sights as you’ll find in more expensive places. Continuing with our example above, if Hawaii’s stunning rainforests initially attracted you to Honolulu, consider that Puerto Rico is also home to the El Yunque National Forest, the only rainforest in the U.S. National Forest System.
If you’re collecting points with a card that offers transferable rewards, rather than a card that’s tied to a specific airline or hotel chain, you can shop around even more. The number of points or miles needed varies widely by airline, so compare the cost of booking reward travel with the card’s points transfer partner before you apply.
Plus, savvy travelers know that travel credit cards sometimes offer perks, like double the value when you transfer points from the card to certain airline partners. For example, the Bilt World Elite Mastercard® offered a perk on August 1, 2023 that allowed cardholders with Bilt Silver status to earn 2x Virgin Red points for Bilt points when transferring rewards to an airline. Keeping an eye out for perks like these can help you go further than usual with the points you earn.
Finally, reward travel deals aren’t just for those who pay annual fees for luxury cards: Check out our list of the best travel cards with no annual fees for budget-friendly options.
If you’re going abroad, it’s best to use a credit card that doesn’t charge foreign transaction fees. We’ve handpicked the best credit cards with no foreign transaction fees for you.
Follow trusted travel newsletters
What better way to avoid tourist traps than with hand-picked recommendations from trusted sources? By getting travel newsletters straight to your email inbox, you can keep track of stunning destinations and fulfilling activities all year round and plan your next getaway accordingly.
For example, if you have an Amex Platinum or the invitation-only American Express Centurion Black Card, *American Express Centurion Black Card information collected independently by Blueprint. The card details on this page have not been verified or provided by the card issuer. You’ll receive the Departures newsletter, which the issuer describes as a “lifestyle resource.” Based on a recent Departures issue, examples of content you can expect include “Seven Hotels Worth Planning Your Entire Trip Around,” with recommendations for stays in Paris, New York City, and more, and “How I Escaped City Life and Moved My Family to a Surf Town in Mexico.”
All information about the American Express Centurion Black Card has been collected independently by Blueprint.
That means you’re just a few clicks away from smart travel advice to help you plan the vacation of your dreams while avoiding tourist traps that might not satisfy you.
Find accommodation that isn’t part of a major hotel chain
If you have a credit card with travel rewards, check to see if it gives you special access to hotel collections. For example, Capital One launched its Lifestyle Collection in mid-2024, which is designed to be offered exclusively through Capital One Travel for certain Capital One cardholders.
The Lifestyle Collection is a list of hand-picked boutique hotels that allow you to stay in popular tourist destinations but avoid the crowds of mega-hotel lobbies. While your accommodation choice won’t necessarily prevent you from stopping off in touristy places, finding a great place to stay can give you more options for activities you can do during your vacation.
If you’re having trouble choosing the right credit card, we’re here to help. Here, we’ve handpicked the best credit cards for every type of person.
methodology
In July 2023, we analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of 500 popular tourist attractions across 65 countries and six continents.
We focused our analysis on mentions of certain keywords that generally indicate negative sentiment among visitors: “tourist trap,” “expensive,” and “overrated.”
It is true that some of these keyword uses do not fit into a negative context (e.g., “It’s a tourist-baiting place, but we loved it!”), but our analysis shows that these positive usage examples are not frequent enough to be statistically significant, and in any case, are consistent enough across attractions that they cancel each other out.
We started with a list of 1,600 attractions for consideration, which we ultimately narrowed down to 500. From this list, we removed all national and state parks, lakes, and mountains, with a few exceptions. We also removed sports stadiums. The list was further narrowed based on the total number of reviews submitted for each attraction.
All analyzed reviews were written in English.
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