USA Today recently analyzed 23.2 million Google reviews of 500 of the most popular attractions in the world to uncover the biggest tourist traps, the most overpriced, and the most overrated attractions worldwide. Alas, a number of Canadian sites (we’re looking at you Capilano Suspension Bridge!) figured prominently. Read on to find out which ones, as well as the rest of the world’s most notorious sites.
The list was simply compiled by how frequently reviews mentioned the terms “tourist trap,” “overrated” or “expensive.” And attractions were compared to one another by measuring the relative frequency of these mentions, dividing the number of mentions in each case by the total number of reviews for that attraction.
They include:
Top 100 tourist traps worldwide
• Four Corners Monument, Arizona (#1)
• Salem Witch Museum Mass. (#2)
• Calico Ghost Town, Ca. (#3)
• Crazy Horse Memorial, SD (#4)
• International UFO Museum, NM (#5)
Canadian entries :
• Capilano Suspension Bridge (#8)
• Skylon Tower (#19)
• ByWard Market (#31)
• Distillery District (#62)
• Niagara Falls (#63)
• CN Tower (#72)
• Casa Loma (#92)
• Grouse Mountain (#93)
• The Butchart Gardens (#100)
Most overpriced attractions worldwide
• Blue Lagoon, Iceland (#1)
• Capilano Suspension Bridge, BC (#2)
• California Academy of Science (#3)
• Canada’s Wonderland, Ont. (#4)
• Graceland, Tenn. (#5)
Other Canadian entries :
• Calgary Stampede (#7)
• Skylon Tower (#11)
• CN Tower (#15)
• The Butchart Gardens (#27)
• Grouse Mountain (#29)
• Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada (#31)
• Casa Loma (#52)
• Distillery District (#88)
• Chateau Frontenac (#94)
Most overrated tourist attractions worldwide
• Voodoo Donut, Oregon (#1)
• The Little Mermaid, Copenhagen (#2)
• Arashiyama Bamboo Garden, Japan (#3)
• Mannekin Pis, Belgium (#4)
• Hollywood Walk of Fame (#5)
Canadian entries
• Distillery District (#18)
• Capilano Suspension Bridge (#25)
• CN Tower (#38)
• Calgary Stampede (#72)
• Casa Loma (#74)
• The Butchart Gardens (#78)
• Skylon Tower (#96)
• West Edmonton Mall (#97)