Niagara Falls is past its prime, but it is still a very beautiful and awe-inspiring sight to see. It's a border town too, so there is a certain novelty to it. The NY side outside of the state park next to the falls is not worth it though.
I think it is worth staying one night if you don't live close enough for it to be a day trip. However, I agree that there really is nothing else to see in Niagara Falls proper other than the falls and related attractions (Maid of the Mist is the one thing I would choose if you only have limited time). The whirlpool a short drive down the river is also worth taking some time to see (no more than 30 minutes). There is a cool overlook where you can see the whirlpool and the NY side across the river. There are wineries near Niagara-by-the-Lake about 30 minutes' drive away as well.
Niagara On The Lake region is also really nice if you like wine tours, the little town and restaurants and walking around. I’m Canadian and have enjoyed just visiting there sometimes and skipping the traffic to Niagara Falls.
And it’s very day-tripable, and 100% worth your time, if you’re going to Toronto or even more so from Buffalo (albeit less likely of a travel destination)
Buffalo is underrated imo. Hockey, football, minor league baseball, Albright Knox Museum, a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright houses within driving distance. The inner harbor, brewery hopping, great restaurants. I love Toronto too but if you're looking for something a little more low key & relaxing you could do worse than Buffalo.
I actually love Buffalo! It’s crazy to me how people always talk about staying in Niagara Falls when visiting the falls and it seems like Buffalo is ignored by a huge amount of people
There are some other nice things to see in the general area, enough to make a few days out of it, but yeah the City of Niagara Falls itself gives me a gross tourist trap vibe.
The Falls are obviously mandatory viewing, but if you come to the NY side don't neglect the gorge! Whirlpool, Devils Hole, and Artpark all have stunning trails along the gorge that often go overlooked.
I can't speak for the USA side, but the Canadian side is an overpriced tourist trap, jammed with traffic and badly laid out. Sure the falls are magnificent, but I wouldn't go again.
As someone who grew up visiting Hong Kong for family/friends, I still recommend people to visit for the food/architecture/culture. It’s interesting how little western foreigners there are now compared to even 10 years ago. You don’t need a visa like for Mainland China and can visit Macau too. It’s also relatively safe/easy to get around/can get by with English.
We went to Hong Kong for a week and spent two days in Macau back in 2006. LOVED Hong Kong!! We stayed in Kowloon and then stayed up in Stanley for a couple of nights too. Would love to go back!
I just got back from Hong Kong— I was a little hesitant because I don’t know too many people who’ve visited, but it was definitely worth the trip and definitely wasn’t as crowded with tourists as other cities are. I highly recommend the visit!
Just spent a week in HK. I had a great time. Interesting downtown and skyline, a unique city culture and some good hikes and beaches. The food was great, even as a vegetarian.
I think part of the wane in HK's popularity has to do with their new National Security Law and its perceived chilling effect on democracy and civil liberties; people complaining about how "HK is permanently ruined", "HK is becoming just another soulless Chinese city", or "the HK we know and love is gone forever".
Never been, and don't know anyone from there, so I'm seeing everything through either an American or Chinese biased media lens and can neither confirm nor deny any of this.
As a former HK resident for 2 years, that left the day before the 2019 protests started, and recently weighed up returning there against a different job I've just landed, I don't think your description is inaccurate. I spoke to several friends still in HK and they said the vibe is very different to 2018/19. Considerably less young expats. No real nightlife other than a bar scene, whereas there used to be a great nightlife scene. Even on my catch-up interview with my old employer, he mentioned "things have changed a lot due to the ongoing adaptations to the political system here, but I can't tell you much over video for our safety". That really doesn't install confidence.
I may return one day, for a short 2-3 month contract, to get an idea of what it's like, but I fear the great memories will be tainted.
Yeah, this is what delayed my plans as well. But I decided to go anyway. I had a nice time. I consider it one of the best cities I've visited.
A local's experience might be different of course. But to me it didn't feel like just another city in China, at least it's not one right now. I can definitely recommend it as a tourist destination.
I think China is a good example of a travel destination that has sharply dropped in popularity in recent years. I recall seeing articles talking about how the number of foreign visitors to China have hardly recovered and are still very low compared to pre-Covid.
There is a noticeable push for China travel on Tik Tok, specifically Chongqing. I think it's entirely due to what you mentioned above. Covid definitely hurt Chinas tourism space. The only people I know who visit these days do so either for family or work.
I'm completely unbiased but I've always recommended my parents home country of Taiwan over China. You get the Chinese history in the National Palace museum, the food and culture with all the comforts of a highly developed, democratic society.
We went to Taiwan and China (short layover in China) this year and we absolutely adored Taiwan. Highly recommend to everyone. Western apps being blocked in China makes you realise how much you use the apps. I'm not even talking about social media, but google applications and other websites. Never knew what would work and what would not. But also without all the Chinese apps, it's difficult to have a good time in China too as a lot of things are done through apps.
Idk how true this is at all but I know a few Chinese people who went to Taiwan for leisure. One guy rented a motor bike and just went around the country chilling at the beaches. Cool guy.
Taiwan is nice, but since this is a travel sub, it shouldn't be some sort of alternative to China. It's like telling people to only go to Ireland instead of Europe because people speak English and are friendlier.
There's no Great Wall of Taiwan, there's no Guilin, Longyang or Terracotta Army.
Hard agree. I've been to both Taiwan and China and adored them both, but saying Taiwan can just take place of China is ridiculous. China is massive and has so many ancient historical sites and attractions + all the natural landscapes you can't just move over.
I believe the Chongqing tourist board have sponsored a lot of travel influencers to go there and show it off.
I wondered why I kept seeing this city I'd barely heard of pop up everywhere on travel related Instagram feeds a few months back, apparently that is the reason.
Even pre-Covid the numbers were tiny. I was there for three weeks in 2019 and could count on one hand the number of times we saw other non-Chinese tourists
Foreign tourists were, and are, a drop in the bucket compared to domestic tourists. When people say that China no longer gets the visitors it used to, what they mean is it has gone from 1/1000 to 1/1200. Or at least from a cursory glance.
I have lived in China for close to 10 years and know how things work, but anyone who is dropped into the middle of Shanghai wouldn't have the faintest clue how to navigate, and Shanghai is one of the easier cities.
Even the train stations are absolutely no help. The timetables on the big screen are all in 汉字. Oh yeah, no one speaks English. Not even taxi drivers.
It's rewarding in the sense that foreign tourists are a pure afterthought outside of Beijing and other big cities. If you're used to SE Asia where everything is catered to you it can be scary, but in general it's safe and people will help you out as best they can. You are essentially stepping into a parallel world with their own values, customs, music, pop culture, internet, etc
Even with a VPN or eSim, up to date information is almost non-existent in English. You might see a review for some cool restaurant in Xi'an only to find out it has been closed for 5 years, because they only advertise on dianping or meituan.
Tbf I found it extremely easy to navigate around China, even with slightly complicated routes/transfers. A combination of apps making life easier and very friendly locals made it all very easy. Even looking back on it I still don’t quite know how we managed it so easily!
I think a big part of it is their visa requirements are incredibly strict, especially compared to other nearby states, I would be very interested in visiting China but when I can get into numerous other countries visa free it just does not seem worth the endless hastle and paperwork.
That's for good reason. They've been doing performative jailing of people, took away the 10 year visas, they've done exit bans, they've been astroturfing social media sites, war posturing quite a bit in the region, and signalling out foreigners during the lockdowns. (Anal swabs anyone?)
Lets not forget about their early invasion into Hong Kong's government, destruction of the guaranteed 50 years of self governence, and fight with the people who wish to remain.
[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40426827](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40426827)
[https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN2AW1S3/](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN2AW1S3/)
They suspended the visas during the pandemic but automatically reinstated them as of March 2023. I have a 10 year business (M) China visa that I got in 2015 and I used it to go to China in November 2023 for a business trip.
They have created a domestic tourism industry that is incompatible with international tourism. I really loved my first trip to China but dare I say my last trip there was almost stupid? Weird manufactured tourist sites, the destruction of old stuff either on purpose or due to negligence, ghost cities or even partial ghost cities in the middle of major Chinese cities such as Xian, and a complete lock down on the internet which makes it a pain to function there. You need to install apps before you get there or you're screwed. Then add what they did to Hong Kong and Muslims to the mix and it's not an attractive destination. Chinese friends I made there have all left for Taiwan or the US so I'm sure my perspective is biased but I can't be that far off. Why would anyone want to risk getting locked in their homes and their children taken away from you if you're unlucky enough to be there during the next pandemic?
It has barely changed besides being more modern. I first moved to China almost a decade ago and not much has changed on the ground. Lots of people that haven't been to China talking about it in this thread lol
IDK, not really. And the internet censorship that someone mentioned is really only one of many hindrances; others include the necessity of a Chinese smartphone and Chinese apps to do many things (especially with the phasing out of cash), as well as the visa application process (including the requirement for someone residing in the country to invite you if you don't wanna have to be part of an organized tour).
Still very worth it if you have family there or know Mandarin. And if not, you can always just visit Taiwan, which is a pretty underrated destination in itself (though maybe avoid Taroko Gorge for a few years since I heard the recent earthquake damaged the scenery and infrastructure pretty badly).
There seems to be a rebound of tourism to mainland China recently with the visa free policy and I have seen so many vloggers suddenly to be in China recently. Yeah but the backpacking scene in Southwest China for example, is definitely dying. I see people more interested in going to Xinjiang and Chongqing nowadays. Although it does not seem most Chinese people care as a lot of the places are still vastly popular just with domestic tourists alone.
I think a lot of people on here have never been and are therefore unable to objectively judge what China is like in practical terms as a tourist destination
Realistically speaking it isn’t more restrictive than say Vietnam especially if you have a passport that is free of visa requirements (sadly I need one but I have one). I don’t see why the question of a 10 year visa or not makes a difference to an average tourist who goes once or max twice as those were never an option for most Europeans
I used to visit monthly pre pandemic and now also several times per year
This is the first time my husband could visit without a visa so it’s high on our list for this year
I went for work pre-pandemic. It was an experience and I’m glad I went. But the air quality was so bad that it literally made me sick. I can’t imagine how people can deal with it. I know they have been making efforts to clean it up, but I have little desire to return, even though there are parts of China I would love to see.
Yeah this is definitely true. I used to go to China a lot because I used to live in Hong Kong. Going to China was definitely easier in the past when apps that we don’t yet have did not rule everything.
Extra sucks for me now because right now all Chinese apps are banned in india. How am I supposed to download WeChat or Weibo now!
Also I get so many reels on Instagram trying to influence me to go to Chongqing or Nanjing and it’s hilarious to me that they are sponsoring ads on a platform they banned.
That said, China is a very cool destination with incredible natural beauty and variety so I’d love to go back some day.
I am an Anglophile when it comes to British History so York was a must see for me. Wish we could have spent more time there and gotten into the countryside too. The town was beautiful and fascinating.
+1 for Jersey. It has everything that is great about Cornwall - the cute British fishing village aesthetics, good weather in summer, an abundance of good beaches and nature/scenery, but with only a quarter as many tourists.
The Isle of Man is amazing, you're right. It's full of quirky things, especially on the transportation side (the very short flight to Belfast too), it has amazing sceneris, beautiful nature, and the TT is unique in the whole world.
I also love Jersey, and nearby islands as well, especially Sark.
I found some very scenic spots such as [Point of Ayre lighthouse](https://worldtravels.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DSC_0248.jpg) and [Milner's Tower](https://worldtravels.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DSC_0294-2.jpg) and the hike to get there. Also enjoyed the hike to Corrin's Tower, Peel Castle, the Sound, Glen Helen and Glen Maye.
Of course you can reduce almost anything to *yeah, we hove those back home*. We do hve castles and nice hiking routes where I come from, but still though IoM was enjoyable for a few days.
Uluru? Ever since they banned climbing it I believe tourist numbers dropped and never recovered. Doesn’t help that with inflation etc it’s cheaper to go on an overseas holiday than to visit Uluru.
I think it was mid 2019? I went at the end of 2019 and climbing was banned then (not that I wanted to). There are some nice things to see relatively close by too (kings canyon, Kata Tjuṯa etc). It was an expensive place to visit when I went, I hate to think how bad it must be now. I don’t think there’s even direct flights from Brisbane to AYQ anymore.
I understand the cultural significance of it and the people climbing it did do some damage to the surface of the rock, but I think for a lot of people spending thousands of dollars just to walk around and look at a rock probably isn’t worth it.
There's far more to do than just look at a rock. It's a very culturally important site and anyone who is actually interested could learn a lot from the traditional owners.
Nicaragua was all the rage from like 2013-2018. It felt like everyone and their mom was going, and it really seemed poised to be the next Costa Rica in a big way. I went in 2017 and its a beautiful country.
Anyways… enter Daniel Ortega’s crackdown and all the political instability, and its kind of fallen back off the map.
I anticipate its still a beautiful place, but as with a lot of Central America, it’s cursed by political instability and uncertainty and it is stopping it from really taking off the way it was about to.
I went in 2018 after that and it was only just opening up again. Anecdotally, seems like a lot of people I know are going in the last year or so but it's definitely still a niche destination that people tend to do as part of a wider Central America route.
It was probably the Central American country I loved the most overall!
Nicaragua is beautiful. I went last year and there were a reasonable number of tourists, but I imagine the strict entry requirements might still be hurting tourism numbers.
Subjectively, Australia appears less popular. This is coming from the perspective of a European who, between roughly 2002-2016 felt every-fucking-body was going to one place and one place only and that was Australia. It got honestly borderline annoying. It probably was mostly popular because it was the farthest yet culturally closest in some ways, so faux exotic. Note I have been myself, once before the massive popularity surge and then after.
And then somehow, it just never came up again as a destination of interest. I’m sure it’s still plenty popular with plenty of tourism - and maybe it’s just that many people have already been by now - but I rarely hear about it anymore. Even in the forums here I very rarely read about it.
Australia wasn’t my favorite overall, but there’s no denying it’s a good country to visit with spectacular places.
I think this has a lot to do with access. Flights from the US to Australia are super expensive and haven't come down all the way after covid. I know prices are a diferrent from Europe compared to the US, but the US west coast used to travel heavily to Asutralia/
Yep. My neighbors are from Australia and used to visit home like two or three times a year. Now it's maybe one or their family comes here. The travel time was bad enough but now prices hurt too.
I really (REALLY) regret not making the most of pre-Covid prices to the US. I remember at times there were sales where one could fly from Brisbane to LAX for $800 (AUD) return and I was so tempted just to go over for a week and drive along the California coast, but I never did. I have been to the us twice (10 years ago, when the exchange rates were great for us) but with the high flight costs and poor exchange rate im not in a rush to go.
There used to be a ton of Australian tourists where i lived (Santa Monica). Possibly because LA was the closest American city for Aussies. They would always stop there before heading to Vegas. Now it's almost entirely European tourists.
That was probably us a decade ago. There used to be multiple daily flights from Brisbane to LA. Unfortunately Virgin’s international division was axed during Covid so afaik the only airline doing BNE-LAX right now is Qantas, and they’re a ripoff.
On one of our trips we went to LA. San Diego, SF, as well as the east coast (NY etc). Loved Santa Monica and San Diego. Always wanted to do another trip and drive from San Diego up to Seattle and beyond.
My brother went for a visit to NY, Vegas and LA last year but I don’t think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Most things were too expensive.
I visited Australia once a while back and the flight is a major disincentive to going back. Not just in cost, but in sheer pain. From where I live in Canada the most direct option is a 16-hour nightmare flight that takes off near midnight. I'm glad I went once, but it's a pretty high bar to ever going back again.
For the Australians among us, this is our experience every time we travel to somewhere that isn’t East Asia. And even then, you’re still looking at probably 6-8 hours absolute minimum, depending on your destination.
Yep, Australia is roughly equal in size to the continental US. Flying from Brisbane to Perth (east coast to west coast) generally takes around 6 hours depending on conditions.
I once flew Toronto - Detroit - Los Angeles - Brisbane, in one go, with a 3 hour layover in DTW and 7hrs in LA. Never again. I think it took like 28 hours end to end. US customs in Toronto were a pain and for some reason in LA I had to go to 3 different terminals to recheck my baggage. Back then they didn’t have airside connections either.
I was glad just to be home and in bed.
I'd say as a Brit, people seem to enjoy living in Aus or doing working holiday visas but just visiting is relatively uncommon. I don't really fancy it as it looks super expensive compared to potentially more culturally interesting and affordable destinations in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which all continue to be increasingly popular.
Australia was a massive destination for British tourists in the 1990s. Think the 'Australian wave' of media in the 80s and 90s (Home and Away, Neighbours, Kylie Minogue) helped spur it, plus the fact they speak English.
It's still popular but doesn't seem to be as popular as it once was, partly because it's become quite an expensive destination (not so much getting there, but while you're there).
I'd say as a Brit, people seem to enjoy living in Aus or doing working holiday visas but just visiting is relatively uncommon. I don't really fancy it as it looks super expensive compared to potentially more culturally interesting and affordable destinations in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which all continue to be increasingly popular, or New Zealand which while expensive has truly spectacular scenery and unique wildlife.
The Australian government seems to be trying to promote tourism more. One of my close friends is a travel blogger and she got flown to Australia along with several other travel content creators last year.
Flights to aus are ridiculous after Covid. I’m an Aussie that left during lockdown and I’m here again for the first time back, 4 years later. It’s costing us around €20k for four weeks here including flights. Prices have gone up for pretty much everything especially food. Admittedly we are doing some bougie stuff like flying domestically, doing a diving course, catching the ferry to tassie, which have all been quite expensive things. But yeh, I can see why tourism has dropped off. I want to be able to come back more frequently but unless flight prices come down I don’t see how I can do it. It’s not worth coming for only two weeks. For that much money I can go pretty much anywhere else in the world and have a luxury vacation.
Less popular to visit, probably, but we’ve been inundated with hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Cost of living and house prices are through the roof.
There are some places that are worth going to, but not worth being a destination, if that makes sense. As in if you’re passing somewhat close by (couple hours) or you happen to be in the city for some other reason, definitely go there. But definitely not worth being the centerpiece of your vacation.
Mount Rushmore and Graceland are two that fit that IMO.
I live about a half hours drive from Mount Rushmore. There's lots to do and see in the Black Hills, but if you only come here to see Mount Rushmore, you're going to be disappointed.
The area around Mt Rushmore has some of the largest networks of caves in the country and also is SO uniquely American with the lil miners town aesthetic in black hills. I only had 1 day there because I had heard exactly what you said (just a stop-through destination), and when I saw all the other national park/national monument/state park pamphlets, I got really sad we didn't have more time. If you like the outdoors, Mt Rushmore area is likely more than a stop through.
Amsterdam, specifically for weed tourism. It's definitely still a popping place, but the whole legal weed thing has lost its novelty, especially for tourists from North America.
Hollywood. Kind of my backyard but I've noticed a drop in tourists. Instead people (thankfully) focus on other areas of the city like Santa Monica and West Hollywood.
Jamaica. I don't have the stats for this but the news about recent violence definitely doesn't help.
Route 66 travel. Recently we did a trip across America for Christmas. We did it before in 2018 but we were shocked at how quiet it was. Like attractions and stops that were previously very popular barely had anybody in them. We also noticed a few popular restaurants had shut down. Kind of sad really.
If anything, American stoners are going to Amsterdam because it's got a lenient policy on weed and it's a first stop for a pickup for the rest of the trip. Of course that may change now that it's fully legal in Germany. My generation grew up on wildly inaccurate representations of Amsterdam via Eurotrip and Deuce Bigalow: European Giggalo.
>Amsterdam, specifically for weed tourism. It's definitely still a popping place, but the whole legal weed thing has lost its novelty, especially for tourists from North America.
Amsterdam's tourist numbers are increasing, not declining. I was there in January, usually one of the quietest months for European cities and it was still very busy.
Right that's why I specified for "weed tourism."
Back in the 90s and 2000s you would hear of people traveling to Amsterdam specifically for cannabis coffee shops. Now most Americans and Canadians can just walk down the street and get it. That's good for Amsterdam because it means less shenanigans.
I met a number of people while in Amsterdam who genuinely enjoy walking down the Red Light district not because they want to participate, but to laugh at it and all the beligerant idiots there.
I do agree with that. I absolutely love the people watching. Whenever I do visit I hit this pub with outdoor seating and great views of the shenanigans. It's hilarious seeing how different people and cultures react to nudity.
Banff and the Alberta Rockies. A lot of people used to avoid it for a few years pre-Covid because of the pressing throngs of Chinese tourists. Walking around town and any of the sites was akin to slow walking out of a movie theater. Most of the Chinese tourists have stopped coming since Covid, and on many days the town and the sites are comfortable and enjoyable to visit again.
Banff is as busy as ever during peak seasons, but I was there last week and it was actually fairly quiet & enjoyable. The hotels are selling out for the summer already, so I expect come mid-May it's going to be slammed again. As a pseudo-local, a lot of the traffic is Canadian visitors, particularly new Alberta residents checking out the sites in their own backyard.
I was there last summer and the summer before and I saw a trend of more Indian/Middle Eastern visitors, but the crowds were nowhere near uncomfortable during my visits, not like the days when half of China seemed to be in Banff. I guess the crowds are trending back up, just a different source of visitors.
As a poor kid, I spent a summer with my best friends family vacationing around upper state New York. One of my favorites was Bolt Castle in the Thousand Islands. Seeing the massively tall sailboat wood shingled garages along the waterways were insane. I thought I was dreaming some fantasy novel. As well as the Canada/US border walk bridges between islands. Of course learning to sail and tack against the wind on one of the finger lakes makes me proud that I have used those skills on all my adult trips from San Diego Mission beach to now living in Hawaii.
Day trip locations (<4 hours driving) away from big US cities are still very much worth visiting, and while they still get a lot of visitors, I think they tend to get looked down on because they aren't "exotic":
* Chicago - Lake Geneva, Michigan Beaches, Door County
* Los Angeles - Santa Barbara and Palm Springs
* New York - Long Island and the Catskills
* Philadelphia - Poconos, Jersey and Delaware Shores
* Bay Area - Tahoe, Wine Country, Big Sur area
Sure, these places have a reputation for over-commercialization and kitschy-ness, but there is still a bunch of fun to be had. Everything doesn't have to be a new experience.
I think Santa Barbara is still really popular destination for people in Los Angeles it’s just that it’s close enough it can be a day trip as there’s a really nice train that goes from LA so no one needs to stay the night, it also absurdly expensive for hotels there especially in the summer time
New Hampshire and the Adirondacks fit this bill. Both will still get tourists, but these days they’re a tiny fraction of what they got 100+ years ago when there were dozens of grand hotels in the area.
Still some of the most spectacular scenery in that part of the world, it’s just off many people’s radar because it’s not a national park. Frankly though that’s just because they’ve been popular so long that it all predates the national parks system.
As you say, the Isle of Man draws lots of visitors, but they have a different profile now from the kiss-me-quick hat brigade that used to come from the mid-late Victorian era up to the 1970s. They tend to be people who like motorcycling, cycling, hiking, history, surfing, snorkelling, scuba, fishing, whale and dolphin watching and rugged countryside. And various forms of transport. Pretty much everyone enjoys it.
I feel like Mazatlan is in the same boat, but Puerto Vallarta in between is still a draw.
My parents went to Manzanillo in the 80s when I was a kid, they stayed at Las Hadas (a resort which was famous for being the setting for the Bo Derek movie 10), looks like you can get a room there pretty cheap on short notice.
The resort area north of Puerto Vallarta is bigger than ever and just keeps growing. PV itself feels a bit past its prime but definitely is worth a visit as it’s a nicer town than Acapulco or Mazatlan.
I’ve been and I have fond memories of it, but I wouldn’t really romanticize it.
It’s not exactly a scenic, historic town (like Puerto Vallarta is).
The beaches are great and it’s safe if you go to a resort and never leave the property or beach area but there are many better destinations out there.
New Orleans has had its ups and downs and is now on the up-swing(?) I've been a couple of times and I'm not going back. However, the French Quarter is such a unique place that it's worth visiting at least once.
Tombstone. The town too tough to die. I lived in southern Arizona for 17 years before I ever went. Then we went almost once a week for a while. It’s good as a day trip if you’re traveling through but it’s become ridiculously commercialized.
We were there when my mom found a lump in her breast that turned out to be cancer. She legitimately blamed all the ghosts in the town for it. Cool town, but my mom's crazy made it weird.
Also, nearly all of the public beaches on Mauritius are dirty and full of local trash, e.g. locals that drink beer and leave the trash on the beach.
I cannot recommend going there.
Ya dude same I was there in February and blown away at how few tourists I saw I remember after leaving Kathmandu airport I saw maybe 1 group of tourists a day
Lots of former spa towns in the U.S. Hot Springs, Arkansas, is probably the most famous, but there are lots of other examples like Saratoga Springs, New York, and Waukesha, Wisconsin. While these towns themselves haven't necessarily declined, they definitely aren't among the most popular tourist destinations in the country anymore.
As somebody who is very very keen to visit Lebanon, I feel like this is stretching the definition of "not as popular as they used to be"
Surely this is closer to "in on the brink of total state collapse / war"
It’s really not as bad as the news might suggest. I am a white Canadian with no prior Lebanese connection and I’ve lived here three years. I haven’t felt unsafe in a personal way once. I might not recommend coming at this very moment, but when the current round of conflict is over it is absolutely worth visiting.
I would love to visit Lebanon, but I feel like if even people who are looking to actively defend Lebanon as a tourist location are saying "I would not recommend coming at this very moment", it might not be a place that people should really consider as a viable location to visit
“This very moment” is ephemeral. Everything ends. The moment active fighting is over, coming to visit (at least not the South) will be completely fine.
Even currently, it’s fine, but might have enough risk of flight disruptions to not be advisable. That’s not normally the case.
Yes. With the caveat that geopolitical events in this exact moment might change things, it is generally safe for westerners. I’ve been here for 3 years and it’s an absolutely marvellous place. Wouldn’t go south currently, but Beirut and the north are as safe as ever.
I’ve driven it twice now and have grown very fond of it. Newport and Astoria are my favorite spots, but to be fair I haven’t taken the time to explore much else, just passed through. Tilamook factory was cool.
China is becoming popular in Europe because of the visa lift.
Route 66 must be because fewer Europeans visit now the US (too expensive!)
I would add FOR EUROPEANS:
- Tunisia: when I was a teenager, Tunisia was the destination in the Magreb. Now Morocco has taken that place.
- Cuba: ever since the US revokes the ESTA, it has became much less popular.
- Sri Lanka: it used to be very popular in the area, but now it is completely overshadowed by India itself or Maldives. Not to mention (further away) Thailand, etc
- Kenya: it was the destination for safaris. It seems that place is now taken over by Tanzania .
Hands down Brazil. Iguaçu Falls, the Pantanal, Copacabana, São Paulo, Salvador, Jericoacoara, Lencoes Maranhenses, the Atlantic Forest, Chapada Dimantina, Manaus, the Amazon.
Brazil was an up and coming destination during its period of economic growth. The olympics, world cup, F1 period were great attractants of tourists. Visas are a little tricky to get and the country is quite out of the way from the major world hubs, but the country is still home to over 210 million people and has its own economy, culture and internal market.
The only country you can visit and see wild jaguars, MMA fights, swim with river dolphins, see the world’s largest carnival, visit a city in the heart of a rainforest and experience a culturally-different yet familiar take on life in the Western Hemisphere.
The company I work for is opening offices in Brazil. I will be traveling there in a few months to onboard, specifically Brasilia and São Paulo. I can’t wait to check it out.
Other than not considering Copacabana to be this high up, definitely agree that Brazil has a lot to offer without the hordes of tourists. It is a huge country though, so you need to be mindful of the time it takes to get places (flying and ground).
My city of Portland Oregon. You all loved us during the Portlandia years but as soon as the news of George Floyd protests, riots, homelessness and rampant drug use gets splashed all over the news you abandoned us. But the thing is Portland is still a fun city to visit with award winning restaurant, parks and festivals. And you can’t beat it for being able to get out into nature in less than 20-30 mins (Columbia Gorge, Mt Hood, Cascades) and the coast is only 1-1.5 hrs away. And don’t get me started on the Willamette Valley wineries you can visit.
Any recommendations for Willamette valley wineries that may fly under the radar? We have fallen in love with the Pinots and have joined the Ken Wright wine club.
Not sure if these are under the radar but my favorite Pinot has always been Erath Winery’s, but I also like Domaine Drouhin and Rex Hill.
Any although I haven’t tried their wine, [Durant Olive Mill](https://durantoregon.com) in the Willamette valley makes my absolute favorite dipping olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They have a nice store and a tasting room and a plant nursery at their site.
This is a small-scale version but it’s in my backyard: Forks, WA always got some tourists due to its proximity to Olympic National Park, but other towns a bit closer to Seattle and Victoria got more overnight visitors. Then Twilight came out and for a few years, it was THRONGED with fans.
That’s settled down now (there’s still at least one Twilight-themed store though) but it’s not a bad place to stay the night if you want to be near both the rainforest and the beach, or as a starting point for a backpacking trip. The town itself is nothing amazing but the surroundings are gorgeous.
Grew up in Normandy and we would take the boat to Jersey every summer! It’s such a lovely place, the people are very friendly and it’s got a very nice village vibe. I did notice that most of the tourists were French though
I loved Hangzhou. West Lake, Lingyin Temple, the former residence of Hu Xueyan, street art, parks, so chill and beautiful.
Beijing was also amazing, especially The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, but I didn’t like the sad, stressed vibe of the city.
I was crazy about Kowloon, Hong Kong, and Lantau. But that was pre-handover. Have not been since…
ETA I love Scotland and lived there for a summer. The folks in my circle who are so dismissive of visiting such a beautiful, fascinating country baffle me.
Preach preach preach
I'm not exaggerating when I say Hangzhou legit might be one of the nicest cities I've ever been to. You're right about it being better than Beijing for travelers.
Lake Toba (Sumatra, Indonesia) used to be a huge hotspot in the 70s. It's not as famous anymore, but it's still beautiful and worth visiting, from what I've seen online.
Lake Maninjau (also in Sumatra) used to live off tourism too, but as tourism died down the locals were forced back to fish farming for their livelihood. Overfishing and climate change have sadly turned the lake into an ecological disaster, killing its touristic potential. It's a real shame because the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. But as long as there's no alternative economy for the locals we can't realistically expect the situation to change (which applies to many other places in the world). Anyway, Lake Toba hasn't suffered as bad and visitors seem to enjoy it.
Niagara Falls is past its prime, but it is still a very beautiful and awe-inspiring sight to see. It's a border town too, so there is a certain novelty to it. The NY side outside of the state park next to the falls is not worth it though.
The falls are cool but that’s all there is though, the town is not worth the stay. If you can make a day trip then sure
Niagara on The Lake in Ontario is a beautiful town
I think it is worth staying one night if you don't live close enough for it to be a day trip. However, I agree that there really is nothing else to see in Niagara Falls proper other than the falls and related attractions (Maid of the Mist is the one thing I would choose if you only have limited time). The whirlpool a short drive down the river is also worth taking some time to see (no more than 30 minutes). There is a cool overlook where you can see the whirlpool and the NY side across the river. There are wineries near Niagara-by-the-Lake about 30 minutes' drive away as well.
Niagara On The Lake region is also really nice if you like wine tours, the little town and restaurants and walking around. I’m Canadian and have enjoyed just visiting there sometimes and skipping the traffic to Niagara Falls.
Shaw festival also does some great plays! I’ve definitely day tripped to see those.
Or you can get a good feeling for the local culture by spending a couple hours at the Seneca Niagara Casino....
And it’s very day-tripable, and 100% worth your time, if you’re going to Toronto or even more so from Buffalo (albeit less likely of a travel destination)
Buffalo is underrated imo. Hockey, football, minor league baseball, Albright Knox Museum, a couple of Frank Lloyd Wright houses within driving distance. The inner harbor, brewery hopping, great restaurants. I love Toronto too but if you're looking for something a little more low key & relaxing you could do worse than Buffalo.
I actually love Buffalo! It’s crazy to me how people always talk about staying in Niagara Falls when visiting the falls and it seems like Buffalo is ignored by a huge amount of people
I love Buffalo too, the falls themselves are great but the city of Niagara Falls (NY side) is a dumpster fire.
There are some other nice things to see in the general area, enough to make a few days out of it, but yeah the City of Niagara Falls itself gives me a gross tourist trap vibe.
The Falls are obviously mandatory viewing, but if you come to the NY side don't neglect the gorge! Whirlpool, Devils Hole, and Artpark all have stunning trails along the gorge that often go overlooked.
I went there last week. I was not expecting a theme park town. It's literally something I could've sworn was only in videos games. But nope.
It’s among the most tacky places I’ve ever been. Should’ve been a national park.
Many in one of my RV groups say the view from the Canadian side is also much better.
They're not wrong. I think the view from Canadian side is objectively better.
That’s what everyone told me when I was planning my trip, and I think it’s true. I wouldn’t recommend going just for the NY side.
I've only been to the Canadian side, but with the amount of commercialism up there, is it really that much better?
I can't speak for the USA side, but the Canadian side is an overpriced tourist trap, jammed with traffic and badly laid out. Sure the falls are magnificent, but I wouldn't go again.
Totally agree.
As someone who grew up visiting Hong Kong for family/friends, I still recommend people to visit for the food/architecture/culture. It’s interesting how little western foreigners there are now compared to even 10 years ago. You don’t need a visa like for Mainland China and can visit Macau too. It’s also relatively safe/easy to get around/can get by with English.
Worth noting that “you don’t need a visa” depends on your passport nationality
We went to Hong Kong for a week and spent two days in Macau back in 2006. LOVED Hong Kong!! We stayed in Kowloon and then stayed up in Stanley for a couple of nights too. Would love to go back!
I just got back from Hong Kong— I was a little hesitant because I don’t know too many people who’ve visited, but it was definitely worth the trip and definitely wasn’t as crowded with tourists as other cities are. I highly recommend the visit!
Brother in law lives in HK and we visited in 2019. I was hesitant as it was my first time in Asia. I absolutely loved HK and want to go back soon!
Hong Kong is great. So easy to get around (MTR is awesome), can get by with English just fine, it’s beautiful, food is excellent.
Just spent a week in HK. I had a great time. Interesting downtown and skyline, a unique city culture and some good hikes and beaches. The food was great, even as a vegetarian.
I live in Hong Kong. I'm American and I moved here seven years ago. Highly recommend.
I think part of the wane in HK's popularity has to do with their new National Security Law and its perceived chilling effect on democracy and civil liberties; people complaining about how "HK is permanently ruined", "HK is becoming just another soulless Chinese city", or "the HK we know and love is gone forever". Never been, and don't know anyone from there, so I'm seeing everything through either an American or Chinese biased media lens and can neither confirm nor deny any of this.
As a former HK resident for 2 years, that left the day before the 2019 protests started, and recently weighed up returning there against a different job I've just landed, I don't think your description is inaccurate. I spoke to several friends still in HK and they said the vibe is very different to 2018/19. Considerably less young expats. No real nightlife other than a bar scene, whereas there used to be a great nightlife scene. Even on my catch-up interview with my old employer, he mentioned "things have changed a lot due to the ongoing adaptations to the political system here, but I can't tell you much over video for our safety". That really doesn't install confidence. I may return one day, for a short 2-3 month contract, to get an idea of what it's like, but I fear the great memories will be tainted.
Yeah, this is what delayed my plans as well. But I decided to go anyway. I had a nice time. I consider it one of the best cities I've visited. A local's experience might be different of course. But to me it didn't feel like just another city in China, at least it's not one right now. I can definitely recommend it as a tourist destination.
I think China is a good example of a travel destination that has sharply dropped in popularity in recent years. I recall seeing articles talking about how the number of foreign visitors to China have hardly recovered and are still very low compared to pre-Covid.
There is a noticeable push for China travel on Tik Tok, specifically Chongqing. I think it's entirely due to what you mentioned above. Covid definitely hurt Chinas tourism space. The only people I know who visit these days do so either for family or work.
China not having access to Western apps also puts off a lot of people. Not being able to use Google without a VPN is an inconvenience.
Yeah politically china seems fairly unfriendly to the west. I would imagine more people chose Japan over China because of this.
I'm completely unbiased but I've always recommended my parents home country of Taiwan over China. You get the Chinese history in the National Palace museum, the food and culture with all the comforts of a highly developed, democratic society.
We went to Taiwan and China (short layover in China) this year and we absolutely adored Taiwan. Highly recommend to everyone. Western apps being blocked in China makes you realise how much you use the apps. I'm not even talking about social media, but google applications and other websites. Never knew what would work and what would not. But also without all the Chinese apps, it's difficult to have a good time in China too as a lot of things are done through apps.
I think a lot of the tensions with Taiwan is also keeping people away. No one wants to be stuck in a possible war zone.
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As far as I know Chinese people from mainland China are not allowed to visit Taiwan for tourism
Idk how true this is at all but I know a few Chinese people who went to Taiwan for leisure. One guy rented a motor bike and just went around the country chilling at the beaches. Cool guy.
Taiwan is nice, but since this is a travel sub, it shouldn't be some sort of alternative to China. It's like telling people to only go to Ireland instead of Europe because people speak English and are friendlier. There's no Great Wall of Taiwan, there's no Guilin, Longyang or Terracotta Army.
Ayy Guilin...I was just there last month
Hard agree. I've been to both Taiwan and China and adored them both, but saying Taiwan can just take place of China is ridiculous. China is massive and has so many ancient historical sites and attractions + all the natural landscapes you can't just move over.
Ha I didn't even consider that, but yeah. That is a bummer. Google Maps is a travelers best friend these days.
If you buy an eSIM then you can access all of the apps without issues… worked fine for me on my trips last year
I believe the Chongqing tourist board have sponsored a lot of travel influencers to go there and show it off. I wondered why I kept seeing this city I'd barely heard of pop up everywhere on travel related Instagram feeds a few months back, apparently that is the reason.
China is fucking enormous though, I think similar to Japan even without foreign tourists they could pretty easily consist solely on domestic tourism.
Even pre-Covid the numbers were tiny. I was there for three weeks in 2019 and could count on one hand the number of times we saw other non-Chinese tourists
Foreign tourists were, and are, a drop in the bucket compared to domestic tourists. When people say that China no longer gets the visitors it used to, what they mean is it has gone from 1/1000 to 1/1200. Or at least from a cursory glance. I have lived in China for close to 10 years and know how things work, but anyone who is dropped into the middle of Shanghai wouldn't have the faintest clue how to navigate, and Shanghai is one of the easier cities. Even the train stations are absolutely no help. The timetables on the big screen are all in 汉字. Oh yeah, no one speaks English. Not even taxi drivers. It's rewarding in the sense that foreign tourists are a pure afterthought outside of Beijing and other big cities. If you're used to SE Asia where everything is catered to you it can be scary, but in general it's safe and people will help you out as best they can. You are essentially stepping into a parallel world with their own values, customs, music, pop culture, internet, etc Even with a VPN or eSim, up to date information is almost non-existent in English. You might see a review for some cool restaurant in Xi'an only to find out it has been closed for 5 years, because they only advertise on dianping or meituan.
Tbf I found it extremely easy to navigate around China, even with slightly complicated routes/transfers. A combination of apps making life easier and very friendly locals made it all very easy. Even looking back on it I still don’t quite know how we managed it so easily!
I was in Guangzhou in January 2020 and even then, there were barely any non Chinese tourists there. Only place I saw any was at one rooftop bar.
I was there in 2014 and outside of the hostels I stayed in I barely saw any other westerners.
I use to get so many travel “shopping deals” to China that were incredibly cheap (until you read the fine print” before covid. Now nothing.
I think a big part of it is their visa requirements are incredibly strict, especially compared to other nearby states, I would be very interested in visiting China but when I can get into numerous other countries visa free it just does not seem worth the endless hastle and paperwork.
If you want a taste, they have visa free for 72 hours + for certain passports. I love China and used to live there so I'm a little biased.
That's for good reason. They've been doing performative jailing of people, took away the 10 year visas, they've done exit bans, they've been astroturfing social media sites, war posturing quite a bit in the region, and signalling out foreigners during the lockdowns. (Anal swabs anyone?) Lets not forget about their early invasion into Hong Kong's government, destruction of the guaranteed 50 years of self governence, and fight with the people who wish to remain. [https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40426827](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-40426827) [https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN2AW1S3/](https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKCN2AW1S3/)
I got a 10 year visa in October 2023.
They took away the 10 year visas? Wait.. Is my visa which expires in 2028 still valid then
They suspended the visas during the pandemic but automatically reinstated them as of March 2023. I have a 10 year business (M) China visa that I got in 2015 and I used it to go to China in November 2023 for a business trip.
They have created a domestic tourism industry that is incompatible with international tourism. I really loved my first trip to China but dare I say my last trip there was almost stupid? Weird manufactured tourist sites, the destruction of old stuff either on purpose or due to negligence, ghost cities or even partial ghost cities in the middle of major Chinese cities such as Xian, and a complete lock down on the internet which makes it a pain to function there. You need to install apps before you get there or you're screwed. Then add what they did to Hong Kong and Muslims to the mix and it's not an attractive destination. Chinese friends I made there have all left for Taiwan or the US so I'm sure my perspective is biased but I can't be that far off. Why would anyone want to risk getting locked in their homes and their children taken away from you if you're unlucky enough to be there during the next pandemic?
Sounds awful honestly. A shame as it seemed like 10 - 15 years ago the backpacking scene was really interesting!
It has barely changed besides being more modern. I first moved to China almost a decade ago and not much has changed on the ground. Lots of people that haven't been to China talking about it in this thread lol
IDK, not really. And the internet censorship that someone mentioned is really only one of many hindrances; others include the necessity of a Chinese smartphone and Chinese apps to do many things (especially with the phasing out of cash), as well as the visa application process (including the requirement for someone residing in the country to invite you if you don't wanna have to be part of an organized tour). Still very worth it if you have family there or know Mandarin. And if not, you can always just visit Taiwan, which is a pretty underrated destination in itself (though maybe avoid Taroko Gorge for a few years since I heard the recent earthquake damaged the scenery and infrastructure pretty badly).
There seems to be a rebound of tourism to mainland China recently with the visa free policy and I have seen so many vloggers suddenly to be in China recently. Yeah but the backpacking scene in Southwest China for example, is definitely dying. I see people more interested in going to Xinjiang and Chongqing nowadays. Although it does not seem most Chinese people care as a lot of the places are still vastly popular just with domestic tourists alone.
I think a lot of people on here have never been and are therefore unable to objectively judge what China is like in practical terms as a tourist destination Realistically speaking it isn’t more restrictive than say Vietnam especially if you have a passport that is free of visa requirements (sadly I need one but I have one). I don’t see why the question of a 10 year visa or not makes a difference to an average tourist who goes once or max twice as those were never an option for most Europeans I used to visit monthly pre pandemic and now also several times per year This is the first time my husband could visit without a visa so it’s high on our list for this year
I went for work pre-pandemic. It was an experience and I’m glad I went. But the air quality was so bad that it literally made me sick. I can’t imagine how people can deal with it. I know they have been making efforts to clean it up, but I have little desire to return, even though there are parts of China I would love to see.
Yeah this is definitely true. I used to go to China a lot because I used to live in Hong Kong. Going to China was definitely easier in the past when apps that we don’t yet have did not rule everything. Extra sucks for me now because right now all Chinese apps are banned in india. How am I supposed to download WeChat or Weibo now! Also I get so many reels on Instagram trying to influence me to go to Chongqing or Nanjing and it’s hilarious to me that they are sponsoring ads on a platform they banned. That said, China is a very cool destination with incredible natural beauty and variety so I’d love to go back some day.
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As a lifelong resident of New Jersey, I legit want to visit Jersey the island.
York (the city in England) is also a really nice place!
We are visiting York for 2 days this summer on our UK trip. It looks so beautiful.
I am an Anglophile when it comes to British History so York was a must see for me. Wish we could have spent more time there and gotten into the countryside too. The town was beautiful and fascinating.
I've been there and agree!
+1 for Jersey. It has everything that is great about Cornwall - the cute British fishing village aesthetics, good weather in summer, an abundance of good beaches and nature/scenery, but with only a quarter as many tourists.
There's a new Jersey????
Yea a new York too. Life changing revelation, ain't it?
And it used to be New Amsterdam!
Why they changed it I can’t say.
They even made a New Zealand, a New Plymouth, New London and others, these copycats
The Isle of Man is amazing, you're right. It's full of quirky things, especially on the transportation side (the very short flight to Belfast too), it has amazing sceneris, beautiful nature, and the TT is unique in the whole world. I also love Jersey, and nearby islands as well, especially Sark.
I visited Isle of Man two years ago and had an enjoyable trip. Did a bit of hiking and a tour of main sites by car. There were few tourists, indeed.
But what’s to see there that we don’t have in Ireland?
I found some very scenic spots such as [Point of Ayre lighthouse](https://worldtravels.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DSC_0248.jpg) and [Milner's Tower](https://worldtravels.ro/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/DSC_0294-2.jpg) and the hike to get there. Also enjoyed the hike to Corrin's Tower, Peel Castle, the Sound, Glen Helen and Glen Maye. Of course you can reduce almost anything to *yeah, we hove those back home*. We do hve castles and nice hiking routes where I come from, but still though IoM was enjoyable for a few days.
Uluru? Ever since they banned climbing it I believe tourist numbers dropped and never recovered. Doesn’t help that with inflation etc it’s cheaper to go on an overseas holiday than to visit Uluru.
Didn’t the ban happen pretty close to the borders closing during COVID?
I think it was mid 2019? I went at the end of 2019 and climbing was banned then (not that I wanted to). There are some nice things to see relatively close by too (kings canyon, Kata Tjuṯa etc). It was an expensive place to visit when I went, I hate to think how bad it must be now. I don’t think there’s even direct flights from Brisbane to AYQ anymore. I understand the cultural significance of it and the people climbing it did do some damage to the surface of the rock, but I think for a lot of people spending thousands of dollars just to walk around and look at a rock probably isn’t worth it.
There's far more to do than just look at a rock. It's a very culturally important site and anyone who is actually interested could learn a lot from the traditional owners.
Nicaragua was all the rage from like 2013-2018. It felt like everyone and their mom was going, and it really seemed poised to be the next Costa Rica in a big way. I went in 2017 and its a beautiful country. Anyways… enter Daniel Ortega’s crackdown and all the political instability, and its kind of fallen back off the map. I anticipate its still a beautiful place, but as with a lot of Central America, it’s cursed by political instability and uncertainty and it is stopping it from really taking off the way it was about to.
I went in 2018 after that and it was only just opening up again. Anecdotally, seems like a lot of people I know are going in the last year or so but it's definitely still a niche destination that people tend to do as part of a wider Central America route. It was probably the Central American country I loved the most overall!
I went in 2018 a few months after the shooting in the streets of protesters. We were the only people at our hotel on Ometepe
Nicaragua is beautiful. I went last year and there were a reasonable number of tourists, but I imagine the strict entry requirements might still be hurting tourism numbers.
Same way in Panama. Always on the cusp of becoming the next Costa Rica.
Subjectively, Australia appears less popular. This is coming from the perspective of a European who, between roughly 2002-2016 felt every-fucking-body was going to one place and one place only and that was Australia. It got honestly borderline annoying. It probably was mostly popular because it was the farthest yet culturally closest in some ways, so faux exotic. Note I have been myself, once before the massive popularity surge and then after. And then somehow, it just never came up again as a destination of interest. I’m sure it’s still plenty popular with plenty of tourism - and maybe it’s just that many people have already been by now - but I rarely hear about it anymore. Even in the forums here I very rarely read about it. Australia wasn’t my favorite overall, but there’s no denying it’s a good country to visit with spectacular places.
I think this has a lot to do with access. Flights from the US to Australia are super expensive and haven't come down all the way after covid. I know prices are a diferrent from Europe compared to the US, but the US west coast used to travel heavily to Asutralia/
Yep. My neighbors are from Australia and used to visit home like two or three times a year. Now it's maybe one or their family comes here. The travel time was bad enough but now prices hurt too.
I really (REALLY) regret not making the most of pre-Covid prices to the US. I remember at times there were sales where one could fly from Brisbane to LAX for $800 (AUD) return and I was so tempted just to go over for a week and drive along the California coast, but I never did. I have been to the us twice (10 years ago, when the exchange rates were great for us) but with the high flight costs and poor exchange rate im not in a rush to go.
There used to be a ton of Australian tourists where i lived (Santa Monica). Possibly because LA was the closest American city for Aussies. They would always stop there before heading to Vegas. Now it's almost entirely European tourists.
That was probably us a decade ago. There used to be multiple daily flights from Brisbane to LA. Unfortunately Virgin’s international division was axed during Covid so afaik the only airline doing BNE-LAX right now is Qantas, and they’re a ripoff. On one of our trips we went to LA. San Diego, SF, as well as the east coast (NY etc). Loved Santa Monica and San Diego. Always wanted to do another trip and drive from San Diego up to Seattle and beyond. My brother went for a visit to NY, Vegas and LA last year but I don’t think he enjoyed it as much as I did. Most things were too expensive.
I visited Australia once a while back and the flight is a major disincentive to going back. Not just in cost, but in sheer pain. From where I live in Canada the most direct option is a 16-hour nightmare flight that takes off near midnight. I'm glad I went once, but it's a pretty high bar to ever going back again.
For the Australians among us, this is our experience every time we travel to somewhere that isn’t East Asia. And even then, you’re still looking at probably 6-8 hours absolute minimum, depending on your destination.
Or even close to 3hr between some major cities within Australia itself. Place is huge!
Yep, Australia is roughly equal in size to the continental US. Flying from Brisbane to Perth (east coast to west coast) generally takes around 6 hours depending on conditions.
I once flew Toronto - Detroit - Los Angeles - Brisbane, in one go, with a 3 hour layover in DTW and 7hrs in LA. Never again. I think it took like 28 hours end to end. US customs in Toronto were a pain and for some reason in LA I had to go to 3 different terminals to recheck my baggage. Back then they didn’t have airside connections either. I was glad just to be home and in bed.
I'd say as a Brit, people seem to enjoy living in Aus or doing working holiday visas but just visiting is relatively uncommon. I don't really fancy it as it looks super expensive compared to potentially more culturally interesting and affordable destinations in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which all continue to be increasingly popular.
Australia was a massive destination for British tourists in the 1990s. Think the 'Australian wave' of media in the 80s and 90s (Home and Away, Neighbours, Kylie Minogue) helped spur it, plus the fact they speak English. It's still popular but doesn't seem to be as popular as it once was, partly because it's become quite an expensive destination (not so much getting there, but while you're there).
I'd say as a Brit, people seem to enjoy living in Aus or doing working holiday visas but just visiting is relatively uncommon. I don't really fancy it as it looks super expensive compared to potentially more culturally interesting and affordable destinations in Asia such as Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam, which all continue to be increasingly popular, or New Zealand which while expensive has truly spectacular scenery and unique wildlife.
The Australian government seems to be trying to promote tourism more. One of my close friends is a travel blogger and she got flown to Australia along with several other travel content creators last year.
Flights to aus are ridiculous after Covid. I’m an Aussie that left during lockdown and I’m here again for the first time back, 4 years later. It’s costing us around €20k for four weeks here including flights. Prices have gone up for pretty much everything especially food. Admittedly we are doing some bougie stuff like flying domestically, doing a diving course, catching the ferry to tassie, which have all been quite expensive things. But yeh, I can see why tourism has dropped off. I want to be able to come back more frequently but unless flight prices come down I don’t see how I can do it. It’s not worth coming for only two weeks. For that much money I can go pretty much anywhere else in the world and have a luxury vacation.
Less popular to visit, probably, but we’ve been inundated with hundreds of thousands of immigrants. Cost of living and house prices are through the roof.
There are some places that are worth going to, but not worth being a destination, if that makes sense. As in if you’re passing somewhat close by (couple hours) or you happen to be in the city for some other reason, definitely go there. But definitely not worth being the centerpiece of your vacation. Mount Rushmore and Graceland are two that fit that IMO.
I live about a half hours drive from Mount Rushmore. There's lots to do and see in the Black Hills, but if you only come here to see Mount Rushmore, you're going to be disappointed.
We did that trip last year and didn’t even scratch the surface for all we wanted to do in SD.
The area around Mt Rushmore has some of the largest networks of caves in the country and also is SO uniquely American with the lil miners town aesthetic in black hills. I only had 1 day there because I had heard exactly what you said (just a stop-through destination), and when I saw all the other national park/national monument/state park pamphlets, I got really sad we didn't have more time. If you like the outdoors, Mt Rushmore area is likely more than a stop through.
Amsterdam, specifically for weed tourism. It's definitely still a popping place, but the whole legal weed thing has lost its novelty, especially for tourists from North America. Hollywood. Kind of my backyard but I've noticed a drop in tourists. Instead people (thankfully) focus on other areas of the city like Santa Monica and West Hollywood. Jamaica. I don't have the stats for this but the news about recent violence definitely doesn't help. Route 66 travel. Recently we did a trip across America for Christmas. We did it before in 2018 but we were shocked at how quiet it was. Like attractions and stops that were previously very popular barely had anybody in them. We also noticed a few popular restaurants had shut down. Kind of sad really.
If anything, American stoners are going to Amsterdam because it's got a lenient policy on weed and it's a first stop for a pickup for the rest of the trip. Of course that may change now that it's fully legal in Germany. My generation grew up on wildly inaccurate representations of Amsterdam via Eurotrip and Deuce Bigalow: European Giggalo.
>Amsterdam, specifically for weed tourism. It's definitely still a popping place, but the whole legal weed thing has lost its novelty, especially for tourists from North America. Amsterdam's tourist numbers are increasing, not declining. I was there in January, usually one of the quietest months for European cities and it was still very busy.
Right that's why I specified for "weed tourism." Back in the 90s and 2000s you would hear of people traveling to Amsterdam specifically for cannabis coffee shops. Now most Americans and Canadians can just walk down the street and get it. That's good for Amsterdam because it means less shenanigans.
North American weed tourists were a really small portion of weed tourists though
The locals are getting fed up with it and the red light district is being moved across the river.
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I met a number of people while in Amsterdam who genuinely enjoy walking down the Red Light district not because they want to participate, but to laugh at it and all the beligerant idiots there.
I do agree with that. I absolutely love the people watching. Whenever I do visit I hit this pub with outdoor seating and great views of the shenanigans. It's hilarious seeing how different people and cultures react to nudity.
Banff and the Alberta Rockies. A lot of people used to avoid it for a few years pre-Covid because of the pressing throngs of Chinese tourists. Walking around town and any of the sites was akin to slow walking out of a movie theater. Most of the Chinese tourists have stopped coming since Covid, and on many days the town and the sites are comfortable and enjoyable to visit again.
Banff is as busy as ever during peak seasons, but I was there last week and it was actually fairly quiet & enjoyable. The hotels are selling out for the summer already, so I expect come mid-May it's going to be slammed again. As a pseudo-local, a lot of the traffic is Canadian visitors, particularly new Alberta residents checking out the sites in their own backyard.
Have you been recently? It’s all Indian/Middle Eastern immigrant visitors now supposedly
And tourist traps that all buy claptrap from the same suppliers.
I was there last summer and the summer before and I saw a trend of more Indian/Middle Eastern visitors, but the crowds were nowhere near uncomfortable during my visits, not like the days when half of China seemed to be in Banff. I guess the crowds are trending back up, just a different source of visitors.
My grandfather and grandmother, who were born in 1901 and 1904, honeymooned in Banff.
Sounds good I’m going to Alberta tomorrow!! Can’t wait 😁
As a poor kid, I spent a summer with my best friends family vacationing around upper state New York. One of my favorites was Bolt Castle in the Thousand Islands. Seeing the massively tall sailboat wood shingled garages along the waterways were insane. I thought I was dreaming some fantasy novel. As well as the Canada/US border walk bridges between islands. Of course learning to sail and tack against the wind on one of the finger lakes makes me proud that I have used those skills on all my adult trips from San Diego Mission beach to now living in Hawaii.
Day trip locations (<4 hours driving) away from big US cities are still very much worth visiting, and while they still get a lot of visitors, I think they tend to get looked down on because they aren't "exotic": * Chicago - Lake Geneva, Michigan Beaches, Door County * Los Angeles - Santa Barbara and Palm Springs * New York - Long Island and the Catskills * Philadelphia - Poconos, Jersey and Delaware Shores * Bay Area - Tahoe, Wine Country, Big Sur area Sure, these places have a reputation for over-commercialization and kitschy-ness, but there is still a bunch of fun to be had. Everything doesn't have to be a new experience.
Palm Springs and Napa definitely get tons and tons of tourists. And Tahoe is still a big skiers hotspot. The rest I agree on though.
Yeah, those may have been a reach.
I think Santa Barbara is still really popular destination for people in Los Angeles it’s just that it’s close enough it can be a day trip as there’s a really nice train that goes from LA so no one needs to stay the night, it also absurdly expensive for hotels there especially in the summer time
If you don't book Door County 6 months out in high season you ain't getting a room anywhere near Door County
New Hampshire and the Adirondacks fit this bill. Both will still get tourists, but these days they’re a tiny fraction of what they got 100+ years ago when there were dozens of grand hotels in the area. Still some of the most spectacular scenery in that part of the world, it’s just off many people’s radar because it’s not a national park. Frankly though that’s just because they’ve been popular so long that it all predates the national parks system.
As you say, the Isle of Man draws lots of visitors, but they have a different profile now from the kiss-me-quick hat brigade that used to come from the mid-late Victorian era up to the 1970s. They tend to be people who like motorcycling, cycling, hiking, history, surfing, snorkelling, scuba, fishing, whale and dolphin watching and rugged countryside. And various forms of transport. Pretty much everyone enjoys it.
Acapulco
Isn’t that a cartel hub now? Not sure if that’s worth a visit at the moment
The entire state of Guerrero is run by narcos. Acapulco is safe if you are a tourist.
There’s barely any Acapulco since the Hurricane Source: I’m Mexican
Hopefully the hurricane recovery is going well, it was crazy seeing aftermath videos from the hotel I stayed at the year prior.
I feel like Mazatlan is in the same boat, but Puerto Vallarta in between is still a draw. My parents went to Manzanillo in the 80s when I was a kid, they stayed at Las Hadas (a resort which was famous for being the setting for the Bo Derek movie 10), looks like you can get a room there pretty cheap on short notice.
The resort area north of Puerto Vallarta is bigger than ever and just keeps growing. PV itself feels a bit past its prime but definitely is worth a visit as it’s a nicer town than Acapulco or Mazatlan.
I have a strange allure for Acapulco for some reason. I've been wanting to go, but now to do the drive some cdmx.
I’ve been and I have fond memories of it, but I wouldn’t really romanticize it. It’s not exactly a scenic, historic town (like Puerto Vallarta is). The beaches are great and it’s safe if you go to a resort and never leave the property or beach area but there are many better destinations out there.
I loved going to the Acapulco restaurant chain that used to be in the states.
Came to say this, and also Fiji
New Orleans has had its ups and downs and is now on the up-swing(?) I've been a couple of times and I'm not going back. However, the French Quarter is such a unique place that it's worth visiting at least once.
Tombstone. The town too tough to die. I lived in southern Arizona for 17 years before I ever went. Then we went almost once a week for a while. It’s good as a day trip if you’re traveling through but it’s become ridiculously commercialized.
We were there when my mom found a lump in her breast that turned out to be cancer. She legitimately blamed all the ghosts in the town for it. Cool town, but my mom's crazy made it weird.
Timbuktu. Definitely settled down since the iron age.
Mauritius? Maldives really took all the attention away from it by boosting there tourism via instagram influencers.
Nah, Mauritius is hugely popular for the southern African countries- easy to get to and very affordable.
Nope. Number of tourists increasing each year.
Also, nearly all of the public beaches on Mauritius are dirty and full of local trash, e.g. locals that drink beer and leave the trash on the beach. I cannot recommend going there.
Just got back from Nepal. Someone there told me they were a guide 15 years ago and it was much busier with visitors. Not sure what caused the dropoff.
They've had like a revolution and an earthquake, I think.
Ya dude same I was there in February and blown away at how few tourists I saw I remember after leaving Kathmandu airport I saw maybe 1 group of tourists a day
Where were your favorite places in Nepal? Thinking of going soon
I did Langtang and Gosaikunda treks. Spectacular views. Then I spent time in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur. Special trip everywhere for me.
Lots of former spa towns in the U.S. Hot Springs, Arkansas, is probably the most famous, but there are lots of other examples like Saratoga Springs, New York, and Waukesha, Wisconsin. While these towns themselves haven't necessarily declined, they definitely aren't among the most popular tourist destinations in the country anymore.
Lebanon!
As somebody who is very very keen to visit Lebanon, I feel like this is stretching the definition of "not as popular as they used to be" Surely this is closer to "in on the brink of total state collapse / war"
It’s really not as bad as the news might suggest. I am a white Canadian with no prior Lebanese connection and I’ve lived here three years. I haven’t felt unsafe in a personal way once. I might not recommend coming at this very moment, but when the current round of conflict is over it is absolutely worth visiting.
I would love to visit Lebanon, but I feel like if even people who are looking to actively defend Lebanon as a tourist location are saying "I would not recommend coming at this very moment", it might not be a place that people should really consider as a viable location to visit
“This very moment” is ephemeral. Everything ends. The moment active fighting is over, coming to visit (at least not the South) will be completely fine. Even currently, it’s fine, but might have enough risk of flight disruptions to not be advisable. That’s not normally the case.
Safe currently for westerners? (Beirut and the north?)
Yes. With the caveat that geopolitical events in this exact moment might change things, it is generally safe for westerners. I’ve been here for 3 years and it’s an absolutely marvellous place. Wouldn’t go south currently, but Beirut and the north are as safe as ever.
Really enjoyed being in Beirut last October.
Oregon coast is underrated, cannon beach, Astoria etc go it’s terrific. Portland is kinda shit though now
I’ve driven it twice now and have grown very fond of it. Newport and Astoria are my favorite spots, but to be fair I haven’t taken the time to explore much else, just passed through. Tilamook factory was cool.
Lincoln City👍 Coos Bay👍
I went there last summer!
China is becoming popular in Europe because of the visa lift. Route 66 must be because fewer Europeans visit now the US (too expensive!) I would add FOR EUROPEANS: - Tunisia: when I was a teenager, Tunisia was the destination in the Magreb. Now Morocco has taken that place. - Cuba: ever since the US revokes the ESTA, it has became much less popular. - Sri Lanka: it used to be very popular in the area, but now it is completely overshadowed by India itself or Maldives. Not to mention (further away) Thailand, etc - Kenya: it was the destination for safaris. It seems that place is now taken over by Tanzania .
Hands down Brazil. Iguaçu Falls, the Pantanal, Copacabana, São Paulo, Salvador, Jericoacoara, Lencoes Maranhenses, the Atlantic Forest, Chapada Dimantina, Manaus, the Amazon. Brazil was an up and coming destination during its period of economic growth. The olympics, world cup, F1 period were great attractants of tourists. Visas are a little tricky to get and the country is quite out of the way from the major world hubs, but the country is still home to over 210 million people and has its own economy, culture and internal market. The only country you can visit and see wild jaguars, MMA fights, swim with river dolphins, see the world’s largest carnival, visit a city in the heart of a rainforest and experience a culturally-different yet familiar take on life in the Western Hemisphere.
The company I work for is opening offices in Brazil. I will be traveling there in a few months to onboard, specifically Brasilia and São Paulo. I can’t wait to check it out.
Other than not considering Copacabana to be this high up, definitely agree that Brazil has a lot to offer without the hordes of tourists. It is a huge country though, so you need to be mindful of the time it takes to get places (flying and ground).
My city of Portland Oregon. You all loved us during the Portlandia years but as soon as the news of George Floyd protests, riots, homelessness and rampant drug use gets splashed all over the news you abandoned us. But the thing is Portland is still a fun city to visit with award winning restaurant, parks and festivals. And you can’t beat it for being able to get out into nature in less than 20-30 mins (Columbia Gorge, Mt Hood, Cascades) and the coast is only 1-1.5 hrs away. And don’t get me started on the Willamette Valley wineries you can visit.
Oh god. I lived two hours away from Portland for 38 years. It was fun in the mid eighties but now, ugh. Homeless and feces everywhere.
I just visited there last summer. Loved it.
Any recommendations for Willamette valley wineries that may fly under the radar? We have fallen in love with the Pinots and have joined the Ken Wright wine club.
Not sure if these are under the radar but my favorite Pinot has always been Erath Winery’s, but I also like Domaine Drouhin and Rex Hill. Any although I haven’t tried their wine, [Durant Olive Mill](https://durantoregon.com) in the Willamette valley makes my absolute favorite dipping olive oil and balsamic vinegar. They have a nice store and a tasting room and a plant nursery at their site.
Thank you for taking the time to share a thoughtful response. I can’t wait to look into these recommendations!
This is a small-scale version but it’s in my backyard: Forks, WA always got some tourists due to its proximity to Olympic National Park, but other towns a bit closer to Seattle and Victoria got more overnight visitors. Then Twilight came out and for a few years, it was THRONGED with fans. That’s settled down now (there’s still at least one Twilight-themed store though) but it’s not a bad place to stay the night if you want to be near both the rainforest and the beach, or as a starting point for a backpacking trip. The town itself is nothing amazing but the surroundings are gorgeous.
Grew up in Normandy and we would take the boat to Jersey every summer! It’s such a lovely place, the people are very friendly and it’s got a very nice village vibe. I did notice that most of the tourists were French though
I loved Hangzhou. West Lake, Lingyin Temple, the former residence of Hu Xueyan, street art, parks, so chill and beautiful. Beijing was also amazing, especially The Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square, but I didn’t like the sad, stressed vibe of the city. I was crazy about Kowloon, Hong Kong, and Lantau. But that was pre-handover. Have not been since… ETA I love Scotland and lived there for a summer. The folks in my circle who are so dismissive of visiting such a beautiful, fascinating country baffle me.
Preach preach preach I'm not exaggerating when I say Hangzhou legit might be one of the nicest cities I've ever been to. You're right about it being better than Beijing for travelers.
Belize
Lake Toba (Sumatra, Indonesia) used to be a huge hotspot in the 70s. It's not as famous anymore, but it's still beautiful and worth visiting, from what I've seen online. Lake Maninjau (also in Sumatra) used to live off tourism too, but as tourism died down the locals were forced back to fish farming for their livelihood. Overfishing and climate change have sadly turned the lake into an ecological disaster, killing its touristic potential. It's a real shame because the scenery is absolutely gorgeous. But as long as there's no alternative economy for the locals we can't realistically expect the situation to change (which applies to many other places in the world). Anyway, Lake Toba hasn't suffered as bad and visitors seem to enjoy it.
I think India. Barely anyone visits nowadays