Some people don’t think a vacation is complete unless they see some famous landmarks in their travels (I’m one of them, but I don’t want to just go see them; I have a specific goal in mind). When they’re planning their visit, they may have some idealized thoughts of what it will be like. Unfortunately, the difference between their expectations and reality are usually as apart as they can be. For example…
The Great Wall of China
Expectation
Max Pixel
Reality
pxfuel
The Taj Mahal
Expectation
Joel Godwin/Wikipedia
Reality
Big Ben
Expectation (left) // Reality (August 2017 through sometime in 2021)
The Mona Lisa
Expectation
Glen Scarborough/flickr
Reality
Pikist
Giza Pyramids
Expectation
Pixabay
Reality (as seen from the nearby dumping grounds)
More reality (as seen from the nearby Pizza Hut)
Drew Hess/wikimedia
The Leaning Tower of Pisa
Expectation (left) // Reality (right)
Reality Due To COVID-19 (I keed! I keed!)
PC: No idea. It was a meme on Facebook
The Little Mermaid
Expectation
Pixabay
Reality
Meeting The Grinch at Universal Studios
Expectation
PC: Universal
Reality
Photo courtesy of Robyn Pedretti Kelly
OK, your turn. Where have you gone where the reality was nothing like what you expected?
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and get emailed notifications of when we post. Or maybe you’d like to join our Facebook group – we have 14,000+ members and we talk and ask questions about travel (including Disney parks), creative ways to earn frequent flyer miles and hotel points, how to save money on or for your trips, get access to travel articles you may not see otherwise, etc. Whether you’ve read our posts before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
8 comments
Visiting the Fushimi Inari shrine or the Kinkakuji temple in Kyoto Japan was similar
So many people in reality compared to the advertisement photos.
Wonderful post. I got a great laugh from the fallen Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Stonehenge is way overrated. On the other hand, Machu Picchu and Petra more than live up to the hype.
Overrated or just not what you expected? I mean, we’ve been to Stonehenge and it was exactly what I thought it would be…a bunch of rocks on a field, and I don’t even remember it being crowded (it was the mid-90s). I also didn’t think it was that wonderful, but it was pretty much what I expected.
The “southernmost point in the US” marker in Key West.”
AMEN! LOLOL!
Having been to all except the Grinch, Pisa and Taj Mahal the reality and hype are real. Though I was still very much in awe of the Pyramids and the Great Wall (went in late September so very few tourists). I stumbled upon the Mermaid biking through Copenhagen and was like what is everyone taking pictures of. Even other Instagram shots of these places with all the editing and filters can make even the reality look like the expectation. But still glad I visited these places.
Juliet’s Balcony in Verona, Italy. A lot of teenagers aimlessly hanging around.