The top 100 most BORING tourist attractions in the world revealed: A railway trip in Missouri is No.1

UK Daily Mail ^ | 4/16/2024 | Laura Sharman

[simpson96]

The last thing any tourist wants is to buckle up for a boring attraction.

So a new study that reveals 'the 100 most boring attractions across the globe' serves a useful purpose for those keen to guarantee a holiday free from the mundane.

America, it seems, needs to up its game on the excitement front, with attractions in the country occupying the top seven spots, beating Shrek's Adventure London into eighth place. And four Legoland Discovery Centers make the top 25.

The ranking, by Solitaired, was drawn up by an analysis of 66.7million Google reviews of 3,290 popular tourist attractions worldwide, spanning 384 cities across 71 countries. Researchers calculated a boredom score for each site by focusing on 11 keywords indicative of tiresome, lifeless and boring impressions, to determine the least interesting.

Branson Scenic Railway in Missouri takes the undesirable top spot as the world's least interesting attraction, with a boredom score of five out of five. Departing from an old depot in downtown Branson, the heritage railroad travels through part of the Ozark Mountains on a 40-mile round trip.

While some reviewers on Google praised the 'beautiful' foliage and 'magnificent' vistas, others were unimpressed by the views' limited to trees on both sides of the train' during summertime, with 'Sheena Youngers' commenting that they were 'a little bored after a while of just seeing treetops'.

[nwrep]

Sorry Mairdie, I thought you were referring to the famous German optics manufacturer Zeiss located in Jena, Germany.

[Mears]

I found Stonehenge in England boring .

….
.

[VTenigma]

Agreed. Many of them will take your breath away.

[TexasM1A]

It’s a bunch of gates that you walk thru, into open spaces that have buildings in the center of the squares.
You cannot go into the buildings in the center of the squares, or the building complexes that surround the squares you can only go through the gates and through the center of the compound until you get to the gardens at the back.

It’s an interesting place because if the age, but the “tour” through it and what you can see is extremely limited.

The garden at the back was more interesting.
Of course we went during tomb sweeping week which is a national holiday, so it was full of people, but the place overall wasn’t worth the money.

But as with all things, your mileage my vary.

[Flash Bazbeaux]

“I will say that, for me, the most overpriced and under delivered attraction I have seen is the Winchester mystery House in San Jose California. Big-time waste of money.”

When I was about ten years old Disney put out an occasional magazine you could buy at Gulf gas stations. I was living on the East Coast and had never been to California. One of the first articles was the Winchester House.

Flash forward fifteen or so years later, I’m living in LA, driving back from San Francisco with my girlfriend, we’re going to drive down to San Simeon and to go Hearst Castle the next day. I planned to get most of Big Sur in during daylight.

We stopped on San Jose for gas, and I saw a sign that said “Winchester House” with an arrow. I told me girlfriend, “We’re going to see the Winchester House.” It was o.k.

But we drove through Big Sur in the dark, and I got stuck behind someone driving fifteen miles an hour, for about an hour, and they WOULD NOT turn out. I was laying on the horn for about half an hour.

The good thing is, I never have to see it again.

I’m surprised Plymouth Rock isn’t on the list. The good thing about it is as soon as you see it, you figure out there’s nothing to it. No waiting around to see if it gets better.

[MikelTackNailer]

18. Torture Museum - Amsterdam, Netherlands

It was low budget but they only charged the equivalent of a few bucks in the mid 1980s. What Amsterdam does have is outstanding art museums, a thousand years of architecture and the amazing canal system. You have to see Van Gough's paintings personally to appreciate how he made them with three dimensions in mind, layering up the paint where he wanted highlighting.

Then I stopped at a cafe' there and...Whoops! Where did all that time go? (cough cough)

[Disambiguator]

Never been to any of them, but I did drive past the UFO Museum in Roswell about 20 years ago. I thought, “hey, there’s a UFO museum.”

The city block it was on had alien heads for the globes on all the street lights.

[kelly4c]

Bookmark :)

[mairdie]

The Zeiss is the astronomical projection machine that looks like a giant ant. It’s a desktop filled with switches to do a vast array of complicated moves with the machine. Checking out on the Zeiss was learning how to control it. It’s the top level of the kind of projectors you see in Planetariums, made by that German optics manufacturer in Germany. Spitz is another common brand you’ll see in cheaper planetariums.

[rlmorel]

I remembered seeing a video about the construction of the arch, so I had this vision of this huge thing sitting astride the Great Mississippi River.

So back around 2013 I went on a random road trip to burn some vacation time, as I had too much and my wife couldn't get time off. So, I had a week, and my goal was to simply make it out to the Four Corners Monument, but...as I had dinner in Louisville. KY one night pondering my journey, I realized I simply didn't have enough time, so I put a map on the table, and blindly put my finger down.

It came down on Sheridan, NE. So, my trip would take me through St. Louis at 2 AM, and I resolved to get a look. (I was told not to try to go there after dark, as it was unsafe.

So, when the Arch came into view, I almost went off the road.

I felt nearly insulted! It wasn't as big as it had been made out to be in my mind. Granted, I am sure it was big, but I thought it was much bigger than it really was.

I found Sheridan, NE to be more interesting!

[mairdie]

The Paintings of Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890) - Brahms Variations on Theme by Haydn

https://youtu.be/8wFGu2sR7KE

You can watch the chronological development of Van Gogh’s style in this video.

[Fai Mao]

Yeah, they would not let anyone within 100 or 200 feet. You get a better view from a documentary.

[nwrep]

Thank you, Mairdie.

[mairdie]

Your trip sounds interesting and fun! Husband used to do all his driving at night. I doubt he had the slightest interest in scenery. What he loved was the feel of the car wheel in his hands.

2005 RV Trip - On the Road Again - Willie Nelson
https://youtu.be/a4HBu4JiIMs

[nwrep]

Wonderful.

[week 71]

Sorry - the Gateway Arch is impressive. And a meaningful symbol of American pioneers.

[Fai Mao]

You have to go to the Forbidden City when the whole place is open. Take your time reality read the explanation of the various rooms. I found the fact that the emperor lived in only three rooms to be interesting. The Chinese have a different concept of what makes an elegant room than European rulers. There isn’t a lot of furniture.It helps read up on it in advance. Most of the furnishings like tapestries and art, were taken to Taiwan and are in the National Museum of Taiwan in Taipei.

[mairdie]

At U of Chicago, I was a physics major for 3 1/2 yrs and art history - near eastern ancient for another 1 1/2 years. While studying art history, it was necessary to keep multiple books open with fingers frantically splayed everywhere. I had an epiphany a couple years ago that if I named the image files to start with the date of creation, I could create the entire chronology of an artist’s style by simply alphabetizing and inserting images in order. What I wouldn’t have given for that ability back in those days of contorting myself over those books.

John William Waterhouse (1849-1917) - Berlioz - Romeo and Juliet
https://youtu.be/kv6beLWnKv8

[mairdie]

Besides my age having crept up behind my back, I’m also afraid of flying, so I do my traveling on YouTube. I took a number of Chinese art classes so am completely in love with the styles.

Thanks for the pointer to the Taiwan museum. When we were tested in art history, one of the requirements was knowing what museum the work was in, but somehow that museum isn’t in my memory at all. Now Kansas City, that one I remember!

The Hermitage - Impressionism - Saint Saens
https://youtu.be/1ov2V1gwqZk

[Ann Archy]

Yikes!! I have NEVER been to ANY of these!!