Places You Can NOT Appreciate Without Seeing Them In Person?

Midpack

Midpack

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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A subset of travel. My hope is to find some other places worth seeing in person that we may be overlooking, versus those where pictures are as good, if not better. Unfortunately I realize where (and how) each of us draws that line may vary considerably…so choose places most worth witnessing in person?

Examples of places we thought you had to see in person to appreciate IME:
  • Niagara Falls (Canadian side)
  • Grand Canyon
  • Any redwood forest
  • Almost any place on an ocean (not spoiled by crowds or tourist “attractions”)
  • I could go on but I’ll leave that to others…
Examples of places we were underwhelmed (or worse) seeing in person (with apologies to others who disagree):
  • The Alamo (if you’ve been there you may understand)
  • Bourbon Street ("It's filthy, smells like pee, there's gross beer everywhere, and broken glass all over the ground.")
  • Myrtle Beach (might be beautiful without the crowds and endless tourist traps)
www.buzzfeed.com

“A True Disappointment:” People Are Sharing Underwhelming Travel Destinations To Skip, And The Gems You Should Consider Instead

"This one may be controversial, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone."
www.buzzfeed.com www.buzzfeed.com
 
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Normandy beaches and the American Cemetary, particularly on D-Day when I was lucky enough to bike through. Antarctica, while it lasts. The Galapagos Islands. Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Badlands National Park. Paris, Rome, New York, and Venice if you can pick good times to go.
 
This list can be endless. When near Niagra, Letchworth State Park, Grand Canyon of the east, Lockport on the Eire canal. The Adirondacks, You'll need a week in DC and don't miss Arlington.
 
Mesquite Dunes in Death Valley National Park at sunrise.
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donheff said:
Normandy beaches and the American Cemetary, particularly on D-Day when I was lucky enough to bike through. Antarctica, while it lasts. The Galapagos Islands. Craters of the Moon National Monument and the Badlands National Park. Paris, Rome, New York, and Venice if you can pick good times to go.
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I would never visit the Galapagos personally. Some places are best left alone by us humans.
 
njhowie said:
Agreed.

When I lived in Silicon Valley in the late 1980s, we'd visit Muir Woods. Simply astounding.
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When I was in high school, we hiked from Muir Woods to Stinson Beach and picnicked at the beach a couple of times. My mom was great-would drop my sister, our friends and me off at Muir Woods and meet us at the beach later. It gave her plenty of time to enjoy the woods without a husband or teenagers around. And gave us time to enjoy our friends' company.
 
The Galapagos islands
Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro
Aurora Borealis in northern Norway
Oktoberfest in Munich
Skara Brae neolithic village in Orkney
Roman baths in Bath, England
 
Luvtoride said:
Jerusalem, from the Mount of Olives overlooking the city. Feeling The history of the place so many religions call home.
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When I was a teenager in the 1970s I went on a 6-week summer pilgrimage around the country. One day when we had free time to do our own thing, I went to Mount of Olives with two 1 liter glass Coke bottles and filled them with the white sand (more like a fine gravel), packed them in towels in my suitcase and brought them home. When I returned home, I took one of the bottles and spread it on my grandmother's grave. Since then, any time anyone in our family passed away, I'd tell the relatives not to pay the $100+ for the tiny packet the rabbi/cemetery would try to sell them and gave them a few ounces. I still have about half of the remaining Coke bottle.
 

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So many I can't list them all or even think of them in a short time

But here's a few (a few are repeats of above)

Mount Rushmore
Mt Denali
Lake Louise/ Moraine Lake
Trinity College Library / Book of Kells
Big Sur/ Pacific Coast Highway
Niagara Falls
Grand Canyon
Hoodoos of Bryce Canyon
Westminster Abbey
Sunset in Sedona
Delicate Arch
Interior of White House and US Capitol
Antelope Canyon
 
The Mona Lisa
Catacombs in Palermo
Niagara Falls
Carlsbad Caverns
The Hermitage in St Petersburg
 
I'd say that practically everywhere I've been, from Victoria Falls on down, has been better in person compared to seeing it on a PBS show...
 
Glad to see Niagara Falls on many lists above. I was afraid I was the only one with that on my list. Doing the most touristy thing (taking the Maid of the Mist) was quite awe inspiring.
 
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