Tourist Traps In Europe That Are A Total Waste Of Money, According To Rick Steves

The sad but thrilling truth about traveling is that no journey lasts forever. This means that things like time, money, and effort are simply too precious to be wasted while on vacation, especially when traveling internationally. This means that whether you're a vibes-only vacationer or someone who operates under a strictly-planned itinerary, important decisions must be made. Even if you fall somewhere between these two travel extremes, chances are good you want a trip to remember — not regret. This can mean avoiding major money mistakes while traveling, and ensuring you don't go down as the one who led your group into a time and money-sucking tourist trap.

Travel guru Rick Steves knows a thing or two about tourist traps — especially those of the European variety. The beloved big-hearted, khaki-pants wearing host and brainchild behind Rick Steves' Europe – a TV show, guidebook series, and tour planning website — has a lot of warnings when it comes to your European vacation. From  avoiding scammy European ATMs to skipping European travel "upgrades" that are anything but, Steves can offer up important expertise for those planning their next vacation. With that in mind, one person's tourist trap may be another tourist's treasure, so take Mr. Steves' advice with a grain of salt — and a firm hand on your wallet.

Sometimes, the entire point of a trip is to see a tourist "trap" — likely one that a traveler has dreamt about since childhood. Who wants to visit Paris for the first time and skip the Eiffel Tower? Or head to Rome and bypass the Colosseum? While, for many, part of the joy of visiting long-famous European attractions is how these visits can unite travelers across time and space, Rick Steves warns that some tourist destinations have only become wastes of time and money.

According to Steves, destinations like Tangiers' tourist restaurants in Morocco, Spain's Costa del Sol, England's Land's End, the Netherlands' village of Volendam, and Ireland's Blarney Stone — as well as the entire village of Killarney — are among his top European tourist traps. Steves takes special umbrage with how these long-loved attractions lean into stereotypes, overcrowding, and overly-advertised cheap thrills. 

For example, he describes Volendam by saying "mix Killarney with Coney Island and drizzle with herring juice." He also calls Killarney, "a sprawling line of green Holiday Inns and outlet malls littered with pushy shoppers looking for plastic shamrocks," before warning that the Blarney stone is "slathered with spit and lipstick" due to the endless lines of tourists paying for the privilege of puckering up to the famously lucky stone. Why Steves' condemnations might not totally rule out one of these destinations for your own trip, it could pay to check prices and average line wait times before spending a day in one of Steves' less-loved locations.

It isn't just overcrowded tourist mainstays that Rick Steves finds overrated. He also recommends avoiding spending precious time and money on any of Europe's fake tourist traps. Since Mr. Steves doesn't stand for cash-grabbing greed or cheap, gross thrills, he warns against attractions like Rome's "Time Elevator," Vienna's "Time Travel Vienna," and London's "London Dungeon." These aren't actual historical sites, or even storied tourist attractions. Think of them more as history-adjacent thrill rides that cost big money for a small sliver of benefit. Steves calls these attractions "gimmicky, overpriced, and a terrible value...despite the long line at the door" and warns savvy tourists to avoid these cheesy attractions. Instead, he suggests you "travel smart and insist on connecting with real culture."

However, it's worth mentioning that torture tourism does not count as real culture to Steves. While famous prisons, dungeons, and death traps might be tempting curiosities, Steves warns that these tourist traps are set with very cheap bait, leading instead to "an endless stream of bored tourists willing to pay $15 to gawk at creative ways people have been maimed and mutilated through the ages." Steves also points out that sites like the 2,500-years-old Mamertine Prison in Italy don't even have any real artifacts anymore — even though they charge for admission and photographs as if they do.