Nothing beats the excitement of visiting new places but sometimes the reality of a destination or experience doesn’t even come close to our expectations. We’ve looked far and wide for the biggest let-downs around the world, so here's where not to get your hopes up.

Sin City, famous for its neon lights, luxurious hotels and high-stakes gambling, is on the must-visit list for most travellers. While it glitters by night, things look totally different during the day...

The Strip is more a theme park than a city and if you stray too far, you’ll quickly end up in the wrong neighbourhood. The famed Las Vegas sign also looks a lot less impressive with the lights turned off and you’ll have to brave a sizeable queue before getting the opportunity to take your snap at any time of the day.

We wouldn’t be lying if we said this is one of the most famous places in the world. Luring tourists in with its bright lights and skyscrapers covered in colourful ads, Times Square is what life in New York City is all about. Or is it?

It’s true that locals avoid Times Square at all costs. That’s because most of New York City’s 60 million annual visitors will want to take a photo at the famous intersection, meaning it’s nearly impassable. For things you should add to your must-do list while in the Big Apple, check out our city guide.

Yosemite National Park in the Sierra Nevada mountains is synonymous with picturesque hiking trails, luscious forests, granite cliffs and powerful waterfalls. Home to around 550 giant sequoia trees, the largest known trees on Earth, the national park is a testament to the raw and powerful beauty of nature.

However, your wish for a remote holiday in the mountains won’t come true here unless you venture far past the well-trodden tourist paths. If you’re on your way to see Yosemite’s most popular spots like the Mariposa Grove, Yosemite Falls or Tunnel View, chances are you’ll be joined by hundreds of other travellers.

Visiting one of Europe’s most famous palaces is a chance to walk in the footsteps of legendary French kings such as Louis XIV and Louis XV. With 17 mirror-clad arches reflecting the arcaded windows that look out to the garden, the Hall of Mirrors is one of the most remarkable features of the Palace of Versailles.

Unfortunately, the space does lose a little of its magic when you’re sharing it with the more than seven million people that come to see it every year. Countless TripAdvisor reviews complain of overcrowding. In a bid to protect both the visitor experience and the historic palace itself, Versailles' website signals if particularly high attendance is expected on a given week.

The papal residence, built over the tomb of Saint Peter, is a magnificent place to visit. The Vatican Museums themselves feature one of the largest art collections in the world, including works by da Vinci, Raphael and Caravaggio. A key attraction is the Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s famous frescoes. However, you'll need to be ready to queue and queue, and queue some more.

Vatican City is visited by roughly 30,000 people daily, so it’s no surprise you’ll spend most of your time waiting. First you have to queue for the security check at the entrance. Once that’s done and you’ve taken in the views of St Peter’s Square, you’ll have to wait again to enter the Vatican Museums. If you want to touch the toes of St Peter’s statue, expect to face a different queue. Entering the Sistine Chapel? Yes, it's another queue.

This 459-foot (140m) long suspension bridge, hanging lazily over the Capilano River with towering Douglas fir trees on either side, can already seem a bit daunting. Walking across the bridge, suspended 230 feet (70m) above the river, is definitely a spine-chilling activity if you’re not a fan of heights.

In reality this attraction in British Columbia, alongside the stomach-churning Cliff Walk, draws in more than a million visitors per year, so expect the bridge to sway and bounce. If you’re spooked by heights, this walk above the canopy is probably not for you.

The 2,000-year-old Great Wall of China stretches almost 13,000 miles (21,000km) from east to west. Built to protect the historical northern border of China, its architectural grandeur and historical significance are just some of the reasons why it’s worth seeing. But if you’re expecting to stroll down a deserted path that snakes through the countryside, you might want to think again…

This famous landmark is visited by 10 million people every year. Badaling, which is the most famous and recognisable section of the wall, can be extremely overcrowded, especially on national holidays, and taking a picture without anyone in sight is near impossible.

The most famous painting in the world, da Vinci’s Mona Lisa is shrouded in myth and speculation. With its worth estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars, it’s also one of the most valuable paintings on Earth. Visited by history buffs and art enthusiasts alike, there is just one problem with going to see the revered portrait…

You might not be able to see it all. The painting is actually a lot smaller than people imagine, at only 30 inches (76cm) in height. It’s also protected by glass and a security barrier because of its value and there may just be too many people with selfie sticks for you to even catch a glimpse of the famous smile. Find our guide to other things to see and do in Paris here.

Imagine – you’re lying in the warm golden sun and breathing in the fresh ocean air coming off the South Atlantic on the most famous beach in the world. Sounds great, right? Apart from one thing...

The two-mile (3.2km) stretch of Copacabana beach is one of the busiest in the world. Thousands of people descend on the famous beach on a sunny day, so you’ll have to get there early to secure the best spot. Or better yet, head down the sands to Leme if you don’t enjoy the buzz.

An architectural masterpiece, the Taj Mahal is a universally admired UNESCO World Heritage Site. The image of this marble marvel overlooking the reflection pool in the foreground is a travel classic. Shooting your own snap, however, is not quite that simple…

On winter mornings the Taj Mahal is often covered in a thick fog, obstructing the beautiful sunrise views, and in summer pollution creates a layer of smog on hot days. The eight million people that visit the Taj Mahal every year also look forward to taking a photo on the Diana bench, where the British princess was photographed in 1992. Large crowds gather, so if you're determined to get that shot, you could be waiting hours.

There is so much to see in Rome, especially when it comes to history, architecture and fine arts. Standing 86 feet (26m) high and 161 feet (49m) wide, the Trevi is the city’s largest Baroque fountain and film enthusiasts will recognise it from classics like Roman Holiday and modern favourites like Angels & Demons. 

But it's also one of the most visited landmarks in Rome, located in the tiny Piazza di Trevi with tall buildings towering over it, leaving very little space for tourists. Just taking a photo of this stunning fountain is a serious challenge – let alone getting close enough for the traditional good-luck coin toss. Discover other top sights in Rome here.

This Greek island’s terraced villages are a top spot for watching the romantic sunrises and sunsets over the Aegean Sea. Santorini is on many travel bucket lists, with visitors often eager to capture the unmistakable windmills and blue-and-white houses perched on the cliffs. It’s not quite as serene as it looks in pictures though…

In peak season, there are as many as 57 flights and two cruise ships bringing in approximately 10,000 people daily. The famed Greek island and its two main villages, Fira and Oia, are so overcrowded during high season that local authorities have decided to limit the number of people allowed to visit the island every day to 8,000. If you do make it there, check out our guide to Santorini.

Think of Paris and the Eiffel Tower will likely come to mind. Most of us have dreamed of a romantic evening at the foot of this iconic structure in the City of Love. However, don’t get your picnic basket ready just yet…

It might quickly lose its appeal when you settle down on the grass among the hundreds of other picnic-goers in the Champ de Mars. Around seven million people visit the Eiffel Tower every year, so finding somewhere secluded enough for romance might prove rather tricky.

This famous bay is a vision of emerald waters and towering limestone islands covered in greenery. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1994, Ha Long Bay is a magical landscape and on many a Vietnam itinerary.

But tourists and locals both flock here daily, meaning hundreds of boats now obscure the views of the brilliant karst rock formations. The weather likes to play tricks too: generally, visibility is bad from January to mid-March, but even during the summer months Ha Long Bay can be shrouded in fog. With all this tourism comes pollution too – the bay has issues with litter and waste from the boats that ferry visitors, so you're advised to keep well away from the water.

When you go to Venice, you'll inevitably want to hop on board a gondola to see the city's famous sights from the water. What should be a serene, peaceful experience, though, is sometimes quite the opposite...

Tourism in Venice is booming with around 20 million visitors a year. Naturally, the canals have become as crowded as the streets, so a gondola traffic jam is not an uncommon sight. What’s more, a 40-minute ride costs around £70 ($85), with prices increasing to £90 ($109) after 7pm, so it can be one very expensive disappointment. Find our top tips including things to do, see and eat in Venice here.

Reaching the top of the highest mountain in Wales is on the bucket list of many British hiking enthusiasts. With nothing in the way to obscure the view of the stunning Snowdonia National Park (and even Ireland on exceptionally clear days), reaching its summit feels like standing on top of the world. Only you probably won't be standing alone.

Freezing winter temperatures, heavy fog and strong winds can make the trek quite dangerous, so the mountain paths get very busy during summer months. There's also a mountain railway that takes non-hikers up the peak, so don’t be surprised if you find the place a little overcrowded.

A honeymoon favourite, this tropical destination in the Indian Ocean is almost a vision of paradise. With warm waters, white sands and plenty of luxurious resorts to choose from, it should be the ideal romantic getaway. But is it?

The beauty of the Maldives is also its curse, as the archipelago is now struggling to keep up with the rubbish left behind by more than a million tourists every year. The rubbish island Thilafushi was artificially built 25 years ago to solve the refuse problem, but with the enormous growth in tourism in the last 10 years, it’s just not enough. What’s worse, due to the rising tides, some of the rubbish is starting to pollute the ocean and wash up on the beaches of several islands.

The legendary sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore depicts four of the most famous former US Presidents – George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. But they're actually not all that easy to see...

Although the granite faces are roughly 60 feet (18.2m) high, the viewing platform is so far away, it's actually tricky to make out their detail with the naked eye.

In the grounds of the Ciudad Mitad del Mundo (Middle of the World City) in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito, tourists walk down a thick yellow line that supposedly represents the Earth's equator. There's one big problem, though. It's not actually the equator at all.

The real equator lies about a five-minute walk north of the line. In short, a French expedition back in 1736 marked the wrong spot and the mistake wasn’t realised until GPS was invented. So if you want to visit the real equator, you’ll have to walk to the nearby Intiñan Solar Museum where the rather underwhelming line sits.

At Langelinie Pier, sitting on top of a rock is the sculpture of The Little Mermaid – one of the most photographed sights in Copenhagen. Made of bronze and granite, and inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairy-tale character, the mermaid bids farewell to travellers leaving Copenhagen's harbour. Although it’s quite possible they can’t even see her…

This waterfront landmark receives more than a million visitors each year, but once you’ve seen it for yourself, you really have to wonder why it attracts so many. At just 4-feet (122cm) tall, she's much smaller than many images make out, and the industrial area with a power station behind provide a less-than-charming backdrop. And if that is not enough to dampen the experience, there’s a constant stream of tour buses pulling up to see it too.

This famous slot canyon in the Navajo Nation in Arizona is an enchanting series of narrow passageways that have eroded over time, creating flowing shapes in the rock. The canyon is also the subject of the most expensive photograph in the world, but if you want to capture your own version, you'd better get some pro tips...

Due to the bright but limited light reflecting off the canyon walls, it can be either too dark or too light to take a decent photo. A lot of the settings on your camera have to be manually adjusted, and often a tripod is the only way to get that gorgeous shot. If you’re just armed with your smartphone, you might not get the result you were hoping for.

The largest religious monument in the world is high on many a traveller's list. This ancient temple is especially popular during sunrise, when the early rays of the day tint the sky behind the temple varying hues of red, yellow, orange and pink.

A victim of its own beauty, Angkor Wat might not be the romantic sunrise setting you were hoping for. Summer sunrise here is generally just before 6am, but to get a good spot for taking photos, you’ll need to arrive at least an hour earlier, when it’s still quite cool and pitch-black outside. Be ready to stand your ground too, as it can get quite competitive when the sun comes up.

This scenic Norwegian cliff, hanging 2,000 feet (609m) above the lake Ringedalsvatnet, is a part of one of Norway’s most popular hikes. Once you reach Trolltunga, the rock platform offers panoramic views of the surrounding landscape and unique photo opportunities. But it's not quite as serene as it looks in this picture...

Due to its increased popularity, Trolltunga is now visited by more than 100,000 hikers a year. Although it might not seem that much at first, it does create a roughly hour-long queue on most days. It’s also worth bearing in mind that this Scandinavian country gets its fair share of rain and cold winds, so be sure to dress for the weather.

The only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that has remained largely intact, the three pyramids of Giza are a defining symbol of Egypt’s history. Surrounded by legend and myth, the pyramids and the nearby Great Sphinx of Giza remain one of the world’s most visited tourist destinations.

The area surrounding the complex is poorly managed. From a lack of signs and rubbish bins, to aggressive touts and vendors, it’s chaos all-round (though renovation efforts will reportedly address some of these issues). The magic of the pyramids might also be somewhat ruined when you see how close they are to the city: once your visit is over, you can have a meal at KFC right in front of the sphinx. How charming.

There are many places to enjoy a family safari holiday in Africa, but the Maasai Mara National Reserve in Kenya is the most famous, thanks to its exceptional population of lions, leopards and cheetah, as well as the annual great migration of zebras, gazelles and wildebeests to and from the Serengeti. That's not the only migration this area of the world enjoys though...

Thousands of tourists come in their 4x4s to see these animals in their natural habitat, so don't expect to be the only intrepid safari vehicle on the plains. The soaring visitor numbers have severely damaged grasslands and boosted an increase in settlements along the borders of the reserve, limiting the inhabitable area of the animals.

This popular festival stems from the tradition of hanami – the ancient Japanese custom of enjoying the beauty of flowers. Known as sakura, the cherry trees in Kyoto blossom between March and April and can usually be seen in full bloom for only a week, making it a very busy time for the city…

Most sakura parks in Kyoto get very crowded during the cherry blossom season, as both tourists and locals come out in droves to picnic beneath the trees. It’s also worth remembering that the most common variety of cherry tree in Japan is the Somei Yoshino and its flowers are nearly pure white, unlike the bright pink blossoms we’re used to seeing in pictures.

This quaint Belgian city is famed for its medieval buildings, cobbled streets and beautiful canals. But just like other popular destinations and attractions, it’s too pretty for its own good.

Visited by around nine million people every year, Bruges is struggling to find space for everyone. Expect streets bursting with tourists, canal boats filled to the brim with sightseers and restaurants at full capacity.

Scotland is known for its rugged natural beauty and Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands definitely fits the bill. One of the most visited places in Scotland, it lures visitors with Urquhart Castle and the chance of spotting the elusive Loch Ness monster.

However, while its beauty is undeniable, Scotland is also famous for its temperamental weather. Sunny days are few and far between here, so you can expect white, cloud-covered skies, a light drizzle and most likely a thick fog too.

Since opening in 2000, the famed observation wheel quickly became one of the most visited attractions in the city. However, nearly 20 years later travellers are still wondering whether it’s worth it. And rightly so.

On arrival expect The Queen’s Walk to be packed with tourists eager to get on the London Eye. Queues here average between two to four hours (unless you have Fast Track tickets) and once you actually get to one of the pods, it’s likely your photos will be ruined by the countless marks, scratches and spots covering the glass.

This man-made mountain took 28 years and half a million gallons of latex paint to finish. Now it’s become a popular roadside attraction in the Californian desert.

Unfortunately, in reality it’s a lot smaller than pictures might lead you to believe. Just a blob of bright paint in the middle of an endless beige desert, it’s rather less remarkable than expected.

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A trip to Rome wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Spanish Steps. The 18th-century staircase connects Piazza di Spagna at the base with Piazza della Trinità dei Monti and the imposing Trinità dei Monti church at the top. But whether you’re looking to recreate scenes from Roman Holiday or The Talented Mr. Ripley, see history in the flesh or marvel at the £1.4 million ($1.7 million) refurbishment, it might prove to be a bit tricky…

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The 135-step stairway is as popular with tourists as it is with locals, especially in summer, meaning it can get rather crowded. In fact, in an attempt to deal with the hordes, authorities have now banned people from sitting on the steps, and tourists flouting this rule could face a fine of €250 (£230; $280). You’ll have the best chance of snapping a brochure-worthy picture if you visit early in the morning or late at night.

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