21 Things Tourists Looove Doing When They Visit The States That Americans Are Begging Them To Skip
Living in one of the most touristy cities in the US, there are quite a few things I see people do when they visit New York that I simply don't understand (I beg you, please don't spend more than five minutes in Times Square). It turns out I'm not the only one baffled by certain tourist behaviors in the States. Recently, redditor Pale_Field4584 asked Americans of the r/AskAnAmerican subreddit to share the things tourists do that they don't find appealing. Here's what they said.
1."Going to Florida or Texas in the summer. The weather is miserable."
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"I used to work at a beach resort in Florida. We'd get guests with heat stroke almost every day of the summer. I don't understand the appeal of going to the beach in what your body perceives as 120-degree weather when you add humidity."
2."When my cousins from Switzerland visited, they discovered Joe's Crab Shack. I think they ended up eating there every night for the entire week they were visiting."
"I've known a surprising amount of people from various European countries who think Panda Express is absolutely amazing. The US is (unfortunately) known for fast food and generic chain food restaurants because that's what the foreign tourists like."
3."Spending way too much of their vacation time shopping at outlet malls, or even worse: Burlington or Ross."
"Yes! I used to work at an outlet store, and we'd get busloads of foreign tourists."
4."Going to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Like, I get the hype for it from an outside perspective, but it's incredibly underwhelming, kinda gross, and so much less than everything else we have to offer here."
"Dude, I can't stress this one enough. The Hollywood Walk of Fame is genuinely embarrassing for LA because of how run down and dirty it is. It's unfortunate because it's the most famous and most visited attraction here and usually one of the first places people go when arriving in LA, so it leaves a horrible first impression.
My biggest warning for any tourists coming here is to have extremely low expectations for the Walk of Fame and prioritize other things."
5."Going to Death Valley without any proper gear. I don't know if it's intentional or if tourists are genuinely making a mistake. Still, I've heard multiple tragic stories of tourists going to Death Valley with sandals or no sunscreen and being basically burned alive."
"This is a symptom of Europeans not understanding just how BIG America is. Many of the Natural Parks are massive and are mostly untamed wilderness with all of the hazards that entails. Death Valley is not a fun-day hike; it's an expert-level area that even seasoned hikers take the utmost precautions to embark on."
6."I worked at a youth hostel and took a couple of French people bowling one night. Apparently, the French consider bowling to be a uniquely American sport, so when one of them beat me, he was ridiculously excited. While, to me, bowling was something that I might do once a year with friends or at a birthday party, to them, it was basically a tourist attraction."
7."When I lived near Seattle, going to the first Starbucks. It always has a massive line even though it's the exact same thing as all the other Starbucks."
8."'Let's drive across America in four days!'"
"'I fly into New York on Friday afternoon. I want to rent a car, drive to Miami, see the Alamo, see the Grand Canyon, visit LA, and drive back to the airport in New York before my 6:00 a.m. flight on Monday. Any advice for what I should do in my spare time?'"
9."Taking a dip in the hot springs at Yellowstone."
"Yes, please don't try this. You will die a horrific and tragic death. Also, don't go near bison."
10."Specific to the DC area where I live, but people do ask about big Election Day events and have to be told that Election Day itself is pretty low-key (everyone has to vote after all), and all the big rallies are out in whatever counts as a battleground state this year. So, head to Pennsylvania if you want to see one of the candidates, I guess. They won't be in DC until they have to be."
11."I was surprised how many Europeans told me they've been to Graceland."
"I grew up in Memphis. I honestly NEVER understood this. It's really just a house."
12."Top of the Empire State Building. It's one of my favorite buildings on earth and deserves all the credit it gets — 100% on board with tourists seeing it. But if you go up the thing, you can't see the thing! Arguably second, after the Chrysler Building. Go to Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Center to see both of them."
"Also, another 'makes sense, but' is going to the Statue of Liberty. Things they don't say are that it's a shlep to get to that takes all your time and energy, it's not that big, and the view from the crown kinda sucks."
13."Route 66. I just don't get it."
"I'm on the Route 66 Facebook page just for the hell of it, and it's amazing how many people come here for that. The best way that I can understand it is it represents absolute freedom to travel over an enormous and diverse continent while also hearkening back to simpler times."
14."Taking your kids to Vegas. From babies to teenagers, it's just absolutely bizarre to me."
15."Going to Times Square."
"On top of that, going to Times Square on New Year's Eve to see the ball drop. Very anticlimactic, and ain't no way am I wearing a diaper and suffering just to save my spot then have a miserable time getting back home."
16."An English girl once told me that she loved Ponderosa Steakhouse. The appeal is lost on me."
17."A lot of Europeans travel across the ocean just to eat the worst foods. I almost want to guarantee more Europeans have traveled here to eat deep-fried butter than Americans have even heard of deep-fried butter."
18."Navy Pier in Chicago. I just do not get it as a tourist attraction. There are so many really great things to see and do in Chicago. Navy Pier is at the bottom of the list for me."
"I had actually never even heard of Navy Pier before going to Chicago. I think we spent about 30 minutes there at most. The views of the skyline were nice. I think that's the best I can say."
19."Going to Disneyland. I grew up two miles from the park, and my family went there several times a year. My husband works there now, so we can go whenever we like. I forget that most people didn't have that experience growing up. Seeing people treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience is both weird and funny to me."
"Growing up near Disney World, same, but I also get it. At current prices, it really might be a once-in-a-lifetime thing for out-of-country families, depending on income and how much research they do before booking. Chapek really gutted the value and raised the prices of everything at the parks. The now-defunct Galactic Star Cruiser was like $6000 for a weekend for a family of four."
20."I live in Florida. They clap at the sunsets. The rest of us are just like, 'Yep. Gonna happen again tomorrow.'"
21."Visiting Walmart and the Dollar Store are real things. We've hosted several exchange students, and it's always on their to-do lists."
Are there any common things tourists do when they visit the US that you don't see the appeal of? Let us know in the comments or fill out this anonymous form.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
