Some tourist attractions are well worth the hype. Rome’s Colosseum is unmissable, Buckingham Palace is just as grand as you might expect, and the beaches in Greece are as crystal clear as you’d hope.
But some places are complete disappointments, and not half the sight you had imagined after seeing edited pictures online. Ten attractions in Europe have been deemed the « most naff » places for 2026, where no discerning traveller « would be seen dead », according to The Telegraph. Three UK locations made the list of places to be shunned, alongside favourites in Italy and France.
Juliet’s Balcony, Verona
Top of the list was Juliet’s Balcony in Verona, which, despite its so-called links with Shakespeare, did not even exist until the 1930s. The balcony, where budding instagrammers queue for the perfect snap, is definitely not where Juliet spoke her famous line to her forbidden love, Romeo.
The Mona Lisa, Paris
Suprisingly, the famed painting made the list, hung up in pride of place inside Paris’ Louvre musuem. Its worldwide fame is its downfall, according to the Telegraph, which lamented the snaking queues and sea of phones before you even get a glimpse at the masterpiece.
Gondola ride, Venice
This attraction is a maybe less of a surprise. The Italian city has become snyonymous with overtourism, where residents have demanded stricter regulations, to ensure the authenticity of the city is not completely erased.
However, the gondola rides still draw in the crowds, meaning they can charge exorbitant sums. The city authorities have put a €90 (£78) set price-tag on a 30-minute ride, where you are surrounded by a sea of other boats.
UK attractions
England’s Leicester Square also ranked among the worst attractions, where petty crime thrives and tourists clamber into the overpriced shops.
In Ireland, the tradition of dangling your head backwards as you kiss The Blarney Stone was declared « most unhygenic » by the report, while John O’Groats in Scotland was considered « undeserving » because it is not even the most northerly point on the British Isles.
Other locations included The Blue Lagoon in Iceland, for resembling human soup, while the Manneken Pis in Brussels – a small statue of a boy doing just what the name suggests – was regarded as no better than a garden gnome.
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