Super touristy cities that are still worth it, and ones that are overrated?

[giallo]

Paris is so worth it. There's no other city like it.

[ilcapo]

In my opinion most major European cities are worth visiting even if they are overrun by tourists.

Not only the major ones but also the smaller ones i've visited.
Ive never visited a touristy european city that i was not fascinated by in some way and i cant say i dislike any of them.

[the urban politician]

“Worth it” is in the eye of the beholder.

I know that the majority of the types that frequent SSP don’t think that Vegas or Orlando are “worth it”. And I get the reasons why.

But I sure enjoy those places immensely, so they are “worth it” for me

[Minato Ku]

Paris is very touristy and also very untouristy.
Even in Central Paris, there are plenty off area with few tourists.
One doesn't have to walk far, just one or two block from tourist sites.

It's a city where the life of the inhabitants doesn't revolve around travel trade.
There're maybe a lot of tourists in some streets but only a minority of inhabitants have real contact with them.
Most of the economy and jobs are unrelated with this industry.

This is something not understood by many and that's why most of the foreign TV series or movie that why took place in Paris seems very wrong to Parisians.
Very superficial and touristy views that miss all of the complexity and diversity of the city.

New York City or London are also cities with a lot of tourists that doesn't revolve around them but I feel that it's more accepted for those than for Paris.
Maybe because the dominant media force is English-speaking and then it produces series, movie, documentaries with a less tourists based view of those cities unlike for Paris.

The other factor could be that Paris has more preservation laws and while it's center has plenty of office space and other activities, those aren't in skyscrapers or in fully glazed buildings but in Haussmann and other kind of buildings.
Heritage is very visible for vistors while other parts of the economy aren't, even if those other parts dominate in reality.

[JManc]

Re: Paris. Tourists crowd around a select few areas and that's pretty much it. All you have to do is wander over a few blocks in either direction and have city all to yourself and the locals. London and NY are like that.

[ChiSoxRox]

Paris is the densest urban core in Europe, by some margin. The city has 52k per square mile; second place amongst multi-million metros is Barcelona at 41k ppsm. In the industrialized world, only Manhattan can compare in residential density to (the city of) Paris. The sheer local residential density helps Paris stay so vibrant.

[pico44]

Originally Posted by giallo

Paris is so worth it. There's no other city like it.

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Originally Posted by ChiSoxRox

Paris is the densest urban core in Europe, by some margin. The city has 52k per square mile; second place amongst multi-million metros is Barcelona at 41k ppsm. In the industrialized world, only Manhattan can compare in residential density to (the city of) Paris. The sheer local residential density helps Paris stay so vibrant.

100 years ago Manhattan was almost twice as dense as today's Paris.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah

100 years ago Manhattan was almost twice as dense as today's Paris.

FWIW, Paris of 100 years ago was as dense as today's Manhattan.

[Minato Ku]

It was even denser because 100 years ago, the two big Bois de Boulogne and Bois de Vincennes were not part of the City of Paris (those were added in 1930).
The City of limit area was only 78 km² (30 sq mi) instead of 105km² or 40 sq mi today.

It means a density of 37k per km² or 97k per square mile.

The two big parks on the western and eastern edges have some effect on the density figures of Paris depending if you include or exclude them.
The City of Paris without those is only 87km² or 33.5 sq mi.

[Stay Stoked Brah]

this might be a dumb question, is Paris concerned with the meandering of the Seine river? the river and gravity want to cutoff those curves and create an oxbow lake or two. are there underground aquifer tunnels to divert river flow to lessen the strain?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...14!4d2.3522219
or
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...14!4d2.3522219

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

FWIW, Paris of 100 years ago was as dense as today's Manhattan.

mmm hmm. as we marvel at the population density of today's Paris, it pales to what it was 100 years ago, same for New York.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah

mmm hmm. as we marvel at the population density of today's Paris, it pales to what it was 100 years ago, same for New York.

But probably neither geography had more people back then.

They had more residents, yes, but fewer visitors and commuters. And most of the extra residents were kids. I don't think Paris was more vibrant when you had seven kids in a cold water flat, now replaced by four young professionals.

[Stay Stoked Brah]

Originally Posted by Crawford

But probably neither geography had more people back then.

They had more residents, yes, but fewer visitors and commuters. And most of the extra residents were kids. I don't think Paris was more vibrant when you had seven kids in a cold water flat, now replaced by four young professionals.

what do you mean "neither geography had more people"? does that mean overall metropolitan areas?

if so, then ya. the world was a lot less populated a 100 years ago.

[Minato Ku]

Originally Posted by Stay Stoked Brah

this might be a dumb question, is Paris concerned with the meandering of the Seine river? the river and gravity want to cutoff those curves and create an oxbow lake or two. are there underground aquifer tunnels to divert river flow to lessen the strain?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...14!4d2.3522219
or
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pa...14!4d2.3522219

The second pic shows the Marne river.
Actually, there is an underground canal creating a shortcut for boats under Joinville le Pont.

The Seine river in Paris and its inner suburbs has been canalised, there are dams regulating the flow of water.

7000 years ago, the part of path of the Seine river in Central Paris was different, it used to be where are located the Grands Boulevard between Bastille and Concorde.
The stream bed of the Seine is the former stream bed of the Bievre river (now running underground to Seine).

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

“Worth it” is in the eye of the beholder.

I know that the majority of the types that frequent SSP don’t think that Vegas or Orlando are “worth it”. And I get the reasons why.

But I sure enjoy those places immensely, so they are “worth it” for me

I find that I am able to enjoy both Paris and Orlando for what they are.

[ue]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I beg to differ. Though for Niagara Falls it will be under duress.

Fair enough. The falls are objectively beautiful, but I think due to the hype, they weren’t as jaw-dropping. But the surrounding environment is just so..... bad. It’s like Canadian Branson Missouri.

Charlottetown is very ok. If you want a nice, historic city, Halifax and Saint John are way more interesting. Or if you want something smaller, I found Lunenburg more worthwhile.

[CaliNative]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Super touristy, but still worth it
New York
Miami
Charleston
Los Angeles
Rio de Janeiro
San Francisco
Amsterdam
New Orleans
Niagara Falls
Barcelona
Montreal

Overrated
Nashville
Las Vegas
Austin
Myrtle Beach
Phoenix

One caveat--if you love to gamble, Las Vegas is the place. Also great restaurant town and some good buffets, but some crappy ones too. But I wouldn't go until covid winds down, as there have been some major outbreaks. Around LV there are lots of good things to do. The Grand Canyon, Zion, Bryce, Lake Mead, Valley of Fire, Death Valley etc. are not that far away. Great southwest scenery.

[Buckeye Native 001]

Nobody willingly visits Phoenix unless they're super into hiking. Most people come through Phoenix on their way to the Grand Canyon.

Personally, I like Las Vegas because it's so overtly fake and it's a great place to people watch. It's like one giant sociological study.

[suburbanite]

Vegas is a very different experience for guys and girls as well. I remember I was seeing this Brazilian girl who was living in Toronto. She went to Vegas for the weekend with some other expat friends and was telling me. "Oh ya we were waiting in line for the club and some guy came out of the front door and noticed us and brought us in. Apparently he was some football player, Jimmy Garapollo or something?" They partied with the 49ers and didn't spend a dime all night.

I've been to Vegas once, and the parties were fun, but paying $1,000 between a group of 5 guys to get in anywhere gets old.