Don't Waste Your Time on These 12 Tourist Traps in Europe
La Rambla, Barcelona
A boulevard drawing a wide line between the historic Gothic Quarter and El Raval neighborhood, La Rambla is difficult to avoid completely. It is best to steer clear of it as much as possible, though, as it has all of the hallmarks of a typical tourist trap.
Lined by junky souvenir shops and tacky restaurants promising real Spanish cuisine, La Rambla is also populated by your classic human statues and pickpockets. After sunset, the strip becomes something altogether different; a shady, grim workplace where girls with sad stories peddle their trade.
The Moulin Rouge, Paris
Yes, the can-can may have been pioneered here, yes that movie was great, and yes the big red windmill out the front is iconic, but the Moulin Rouge is nothing like the good old days.
Pooh-poohed by Parisians, the cabaret is now frequented exclusively by tourists. Its seedy atmosphere is a major disappointment for anyone lured there under illusions of glamor and style.
Are you looking to immerse yourself in a world that is different from anything you've ever known? These are the best cultural destinations in the world.
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Aside from the highly comedic value of watching dozens of tourists attempt the I’m-holding-up-the-Leaning-Tower-of-Pisa photo, there is little point in making the trek to visit Pisa.
Despite having made fame on punny pizza boxes the world over, the Leaning Tower is less than spectacular. It only takes a couple of minutes to look at a tower that is a bit crooked, and a few more to laugh at the tourists continually getting chased off the grass by security guards. Nothing to send a postcard home about.
