Are these the best and worst tourist attractions in the US?

I’m gonna level with you. As a travel writer, I know better than anyone that things are not always what they seem when it comes to travel content. If you’ve ever been to Mykonos, you know that it’s not wide open spaces of blue-roofed calderas. Instead, you feel more like a sardine navigating the narrow walkways.

We can end up finding ourselves underwhelmed by some of the places we were most excited to see. Now, the folks over at Family Destinations Guide, are analyzing this feeling by ranking the best and worst tourist attractions in the US. The family travel site determined the rankings by examining the 5-star/”excellent” Tripadvisor reviews for the 50 most popular tourist destinations in the country. Popularity was determined by the number of annual visitors.

Who came out on top?

The great outdoors dominated the top 10 spots. The Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee had the highest amount of excellent Tripadvisor reviews. The Grand Canyon came in 2nd with the same amount of excellent reviews but it had only a fraction of the number of visitors. 

The outdoor winners weren’t limited to national parks either. Manmade structures that are outside knocked it out of the park too (get it). Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, Central Park in New York, the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, and Balboa Park in San Diego, took 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th place, respectively. 

Which destinations were the worst?

The top 50 tourist attraction with the fewest amount of excellent reviews came as a bit of a shock to me. According to this study, out of the top 50 most popular US tourist destinations, Venice Beach is the worst, with only 37% of reviews being deemed excellent. As someone who loves going to Venice Beach to marvel at the skaters and people-watch while strolling through the chaos, I have to disagree with this. I can understand, however, that it’s usually not what people expect—it’s much louder, rowdier, and dirtier than it looks on TV screens.

The two on the list that I do agree with are Times Square in 9th place and Las Vegas Strip in 10th place. Personally, upon visiting those places, I knew I’d never need to go back ever again. I find that I’m less willing to visit crowded, overstimulating places. Instead, I like to go to more secluded places with natural wonders abound. 

However, I certainly do not judge anyone who likes any of the places listed as the worst destinations. We all travel for different reasons and I truly believe that every place in the world has something interesting to offer.