Uluru, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall of China; some tourist attractions certainly make your jaw drop. But not all live up to the marketing hype. Overrated and overpriced, some attractions leave you feeling more than a little underwhelmed. For my latest article for MSN NZ I share my thoughts on the world's most disappointing attractions. My number one? Skywalk, Grand Canyon. This controversial glass-bottom, horseshoe-shaped walkway which cantilevers 1.2km above the canyon's Western Rim, might provide the kind of vertigo-inducing views only ever seen before by Wile E Coyote, but even Wile would be pushed over the edge by the cost. The US$20 parking fee is just the beginning. You have to buy a US$29.95 package tour which allows you to take a short bus ride (on a perfectly good road which you could have walked or driven down yourself) to the edge of the rim. It's then another US$29.95 to actually walk on the Skywalk and you can't even take your camera with you. Of course you can have a photograph taken of you on the bridge at an additional cost if you choose! Give it a miss and visit the Southern Rim instead.
Monday, October 12, 2009
World's most disappointing tourist attractions: #1
Uluru, Angkor Wat, the Great Wall of China; some tourist attractions certainly make your jaw drop. But not all live up to the marketing hype. Overrated and overpriced, some attractions leave you feeling more than a little underwhelmed. For my latest article for MSN NZ I share my thoughts on the world's most disappointing attractions. My number one? Skywalk, Grand Canyon. This controversial glass-bottom, horseshoe-shaped walkway which cantilevers 1.2km above the canyon's Western Rim, might provide the kind of vertigo-inducing views only ever seen before by Wile E Coyote, but even Wile would be pushed over the edge by the cost. The US$20 parking fee is just the beginning. You have to buy a US$29.95 package tour which allows you to take a short bus ride (on a perfectly good road which you could have walked or driven down yourself) to the edge of the rim. It's then another US$29.95 to actually walk on the Skywalk and you can't even take your camera with you. Of course you can have a photograph taken of you on the bridge at an additional cost if you choose! Give it a miss and visit the Southern Rim instead.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Glad I read this! I've been wanting to go there for quite some time and almost drove 4 hours to do so. The edge of the Grand Canyon is exciting enough for me...without crazy fees (no photos!? come on!) added in! Thanks for the heads up!
That's the problem - you drive for hours out into the middle of nowhere with no warnings of the cost you face once you get there. It's not like you can simply turn the car around and change your mind, so you have little choice but to dig deep and cough up the money. Talk about a tourist trap!
Well, I wouldn't really call the Grand Canyon as disappointing but I might call it boring though. At many points it seems to be just like a huge hole in the face of this planet. Have you tried to scout the areas of the canyon though? There are a lot of secrets in the area and I think that if you will be able to visit them, you might like the place.
Post a Comment