Popular places you have no desire to visit

My friends lived in Brazil for a while. In Sao Paulo, I htink. They liked it. Also said it was incredibly poor and large. They remember the plane bringing them in took like 20 minutes to fly over the city before landing.

 

Orlando. No desire to go back. EVER.
Also Venice is off the list.

 

Venice is the single most beautiful, otherworldly place I've ever seen. I got off the train from Milan, grabbed my bags, walked out of the station and saw Venice... and almost started crying. Seriously. I'll remember that moment the rest of my life.

 

I keep reading when it is over-run with tourists and the locals don't want them there ... And the get over-charged, exorbitant rates for things, to keep them away.

Pass.

 

And that's largely not true.

Venice's economy is based entirely around tourism. Hardly anyone lives there, and the ones who do need the tourists.

It's overrun from about 10am to 3pm when all the assholes from the cruise ships waddle over with their tour guides. Then they waddle back to get ready for Funny Hat Night on the boat and the city is wonderful again.

It's an expensive city but it's not to keep tourists away. It's in part because the logistics of everything are a nightmare. Everything is delivered by boat.

 

Strong agree. Spent about a week in Dunedin and absolutely loved it. Not as much as my time in Wellington, but still great. Seeing fjords in New Zealand was quite the trip.

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To reply in the spirit of the thread -- I can't think of many, really. I'd like to see all the places if possible. It's more a question of lack of resources and opportunity than desire. I'd probably pass on, say, Pyongyang or Urumqi, but those hardly count as popular.

 

One thing someone mentioned earlier in the thread -- I totally agree that I have no use for "tourist spots." I spent most of a week in Paris. Did not go in the Louvre. Went to Amsterdam. Didn't do the Anne Frank house.

I was in London last summer. Had an absolutely wonderful time. Didn't go in any of the "must see" spots. Didn't do Buckingham Palace, the British Museum, any of that. I did wander through neighborhoods all over the city, including a largely Pakistani neighborhood while searching for a record store in East London. Had an amazing time. Meanwhile a friend just got back from London with her family. She posted about 200 photos of their trip on social media. About 190 of those photos showed her family standing in line somewhere. They "did" London, but have no idea what the city is like.

The great cities of Europe should not be reduced to Orlando theme parks.

 

A good representation of the seedier side of Paradise.

 

You pretty much nailed it.

Miami is bad for other reasons: Heavy traffic, horrible heat (especially during the summers) and cliquey attitude if you live there in the long term.

 

Yeah... That doesn't interest me. The smell, the trash, the food, the pollution, the poverty, the culture. I'll do my best to steer clear. There are plenty of other countries worth visiting.

 

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/venice-tourism-overcrowding-intl/index.html

Sinking city: how Venice is managing Europe's worst tourism crisis

Venice, Italy, Is Being Destroyed by Tourism and Flooding

In Response to Exploding Visitor Numbers, Venice Will Now Start Charging Tourists an Entrance Fee | artnet News

You Can Actually Get Arrested for Breaking Venice's Strict Tourism Rules

 

OK, you win. You found links.

I've been there. It was just a few years ago. It was absolutely one of the greatest experiences of my life. It is a singular place.

You do you.