Have you seen those lists of the most overrated tourist destinations? Famous places that aren’t always as they seem on Instagram and TikTok. Places that in real life are not as impressive or picturesque as they appear on social media.
Overrated, underwhelming, or just not what we expected. We’re sharing five famous tourist attractions that disappointed us.
Peeing Boy
This summer, we spent an afternoon in Brussels, Belgium. Like many visitors, we headed for the famous Peeing Boy aka Manneken Pis. He’s so small that you might walk right past him if not for the crowd of tourists.
For a statue just 20 inches tall, the Peeing Boy one of the most important landmarks in Brussels. The statue has historical significance as it distributed drinking water in the 15th century.
In the 1600s he started wearing special outfits. The Mannekin Pis now has an extensive wardrobe of hundreds of outfits. He’s regularly dressed up for special occasions.
The statue’s been stolen a few times, so the original is housed at the Brussels City Museum. What you see at the fountain now is a replica.
KidTripster Tip: Right next to the statue, you can purchase a souvenir “0 Euro.” It looks like a real euro except it has not value and features an illustration of the Peeing Boy. We like to collect the “0 Euros” when traveling through Europe.
Is Manneken Pis worth your time? Sure if you’re already in Brussels old town! Should you go out of your way to see this statue? Nah.
Little Mermaid
Another small statue that draws big crowds is the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. She’s inspired by Danish author Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairy tale. The mermaid sits atop a rock in the Copenhagen Harbor.
The Little Mermaid is a bit out of the way for tourists visiting Copenhagen. We were on a tour bus that pulled over at the statue and we had it mostly to ourselves for a few minutes before being overwhelmed by a large group of unruly tourists. We watched as grown men waded out into the water in an attempt to mount the statue. It was pretty gross.
The statue attracts around a million visitors a year. The mermaid’s been vandalized several times, twice losing her head, once her arm.
We’re glad we saw it, but wouldn’t recommend going out of your way for it. There’s a lot of other more interesting ways to spend your time in the very cool city of Copenhagen.
[ Related: Copenhagen for Kids ]
Mona Lisa
Speaking of famous ladies … did we go to the Louvre to see the most famous painting in the world? Yes, we did. We were overwhelmed by the crowd of people surrounding the Mona Lisa. My then 10-year-old daughter elbowed her way through the crowd to get a look and a selfie. Her reaction: “It’s so small.”
Yes, Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is much smaller than many people expect. It hangs behind bulletproof glass, which makes sense as thousands of people visit it each day.
Our family went to The Louvre several years ago. The current display room looks a little different than it did in these photos.
In the coming years, the Mona Lisa will get its own dedicated room, as part of a major renovation and expansion project. The Louvre’s last major overhaul dates back to the 1980s, when the iconic glass pyramid was unveiled. Hopefully the renovations improve the visitor experience in the future.
We don’t regret seeing the Mona Lisa, but we definitely didn’t enjoy the mob scene around the painting. While The Louvre is definitely not overrated, the Mona Lisa might be.
Leaning Tower of Pisa
Is the Leaning Tower of Pisa on your must-see list when in Italy? It was on ours, but if only we could go back in time…
A few summers ago we signed up to take a Selfie Tour of Florence and Pisa. I thought my teenager might enjoy the experience. It turned out to be kinda silly. I was hoping we’d get some tips for taking fun selfies in front of the famous sites, but not really. The guy leading the tour had a photo frame for us to hold up in pictures. That was about it.
We hit up several spots in Florence before making the long drive out to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. We arrived in the mid-afternoon and it was packed. It was impossible to take a photo without someone’s butt over our shoulder. We didn’t have time to go up the tower, but even if we had, it was nearly 100 degrees that day.
If I could do that day over, I would have skipped that tour and spent the day exploring Florence on our own.
Hollywood Star Walk
We definitely don’t recommend planning a visit to L.A. around the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Of all the fun things you can do in Los Angeles, we were not impressed with this stretch of sidewalk.
Nearly 3,000 stars are spread across an area about 1.5 miles. Sure, it’s historic and super famous, but it’s just not all that much fun to visit. Plus, the area’s a bit gritty.
If you have to see it for yourself, you might want to look up the particular star (or stars) you want to see rather than just wandering around like we did. For example, the stars of many famous musicians are located just outside the Capitol Records building.
