Rick Steves Says This Type Of Tourist Trap In Europe Is Overhyped And Not Worth Your Time Or Money

If you're spending enough money for a trip to Europe, you want to make the most of your time, visiting museums, historical sites, and wonderful restaurants. What you don't want to do is spend your hard-earned money and precious vacation time at tourist traps. Everyone has their own definition of a tourist trap, and sometimes those include legitimate sites. However, some of them are quite obviously there simply to make a buck off unsuspecting tourists. 

Travel pro Rick Steves has a tip for you about what to skip. On his website, he cautions travelers to avoid phony attractions that promise an experience but really don't deliver. He says, "Lately I've noticed more commercial ventures that advertise aggressively and are on sale all over town with various discounts and promotions." Basically, these are attractions that aren't giving you a look at real history. They're setting something up to play on gimmicks and name recognition. In addition, he says that we should "travel smart," because these places are often put on vacation itineraries because they're advertised all over, or they may be a place you may have heard of from a song, or a friend or relative rather than for any historical significance. 

One such spot he mentions is the London Dungeon, though Steves has warned us in the past about the "torture museums" that are scattered around Europe. Steves calls the London Dungeon, " ... gimmicky, overpriced, and a terrible value," despite people visiting just for the name. One person on TripAdvisor even advised people to " ... bring a flask and have a nip every time someone makes a 'meat" joke,'" and recalled that the experience involved a lot of waiting around and bad acting.

Another phony attraction Rick Steves mentions is the Time Elevator in Rome, which is a 45-minute multimedia exhibit about the history of the city. He calls this "cheesy," and also has no time for the walk- and ride-through Time Travel Vienna, which he calls "tacky." Both are supposed to give you a history of their respective cities, but you're already there, where you can actually see some of these things for real instead of on a screen or reenacted. It would be a better choice to prep a kid (or yourself) with an age-appropriate book or video about the city before you go. That way the real thing makes more sense. 

There are plenty of other similar tourist traps around. Yet another is the overrated Italian tourist trap that is Juliet's House, aka Casa di Giulietta in Verona. It's purported to be the home of one of the main characters in Shakespeare's play "Romeo and Juliet," but the famous balcony was actually added in the 1920s. It's worth doing some research before you go to popular sites like this to avoid being falsely lured in. In addition, not all of these places are completely fake — just not worth it. For instance, Steves calls one of Rome's most historic attractions, the Mamertine Prison, a tourist trap. In this case, it was actually a prison that did hold famous people. It may be on your list, but Steves says it's run by a tour bus company and there aren't any artifacts there. 

One caveat: You may actually really love silly, cheesy attractions. Maybe your kids are going to have more fun there than a traditional museum. You might want to get into the spirit of "Romeo and Juliet," and authenticity isn't why you chose the place. No judgement here. It's just good to know what you're paying for before you go, rather than being disappointed later.