The most popular tourist destinations aren’t always to the liking of all travellers. In Paris, Montmartre is ranked as the most overrated place in the French capital, while in Britain, the experience on the London Eye Ferris wheel has left some tourists cold.
France is on track to once again claim the title of most popular destination in the world in 2025, welcoming 93.7 million visitors and taking the crown from its neighbour Spain, according to the latest statistics from GlobalData.
But this popularity doesn’t guarantee all visitors will leave delighted with their stay. It’s probably happened to you: a destination, hotel or monument you had dreamed of didn’t live up to your expectations and left you disappointed.
While rankings of the best places to visit in the world come thick and fast, inspiring the future getaways of many readers, they don’t guarantee the satisfaction of travellers. Therein lies the interest of using reviews on platforms like Tripadvisor or consulting opinions of previous customers, as one can find on Booking.com.
Such opinions were also essential in establishing the methodology of this rather unique study coming out of the United Kingdom and revealed by King Casino Bonus.
Spotting potentially disappointing spots
A statistical calculation was made by dividing five- and four-star ratings by the one- to three-star ratings of the tourist places reviewed by users on Tripadvisor.
To perfect the algorithm, terms present in the comments were taken into account, such as “very disappointing” or “not as nice as expected”. In total, more than 1,700 tourist attractions were scrutinized, based on the 85 most popular cities, a list put together using data from rankings such as Euromonitor and the Global Destination Cities Index.
And ultimately, the places that this study refers to as the most overrated places in the world correspond with highly popular and repeatedly recommended destinations.
In Bangkok, the most visited city in the world according to a ranking from last year, Khao San Road, where many young travellers get together to party and eat a quick pad thai, is at the top of the most disappointing tourist places.
Paris, the second-most visited city in the world, appears in ninth position of most overrated cities. And against all odds, it is Montmartre that disappoints visitors the most. Several commenters noted that they felt pressured or unsafe in this very touristy area.
Meanwhile in London, the iconic London Eye tourist wheel, which allows visitors to contemplate the British capital from a high vantage point, disappoints visitors, according to this analysis.
Closer to home, even Singapore’s Orchard Road appears on this list, coming in at No. 3.
It’s worth keeping in mind that the data being analysed is by nature subjective. And the company providing the ranking notes that “all analysed reviews are biased, highly subjective, and based on personal preferences of the reviewers”.
Travellers may sometimes idealise certain destinations or monuments, such as the famous Japanese statue of a dog in front of Tokyo’s iconic Shibuya intersection, ranked 10th.
While some visitors may be disappointed by its small size, it’s the story behind it that can console them. And for that, a tour guide becomes essential to know that this monument recalls the unprecedented link between a dog named Hachiko, and his deceased master who waited for him every day at Shibuya station for almost a decade!
Anyway, here are the 10 most overrated cities and their most overrated attractions in the world, based on this study:
1. Bangkok (Thailand): Khao San Road
2. Antalya (Turkey): Water Planet Aqua Park
3. Singapore: Orchard Road
4. Munich (Germany): Deutsches Museum
5. Rimini (Italy): Fiabilandia amusement park
6. Miami (United States): Calle Ocho in the Little Havana neighbourhood
7. Mumbai (India): Juhu Beach
8. Londres (United Kingdom): London Eye
9. Paris (France): Montmartre
10. Tokyo (Japon): Hachiko at Shibuya crossing