So you’re going on summer vacation. That’s your first mistake. Why summer? Sure, our grandparents and parents took their vacations between June and September, but they had good reason. In their day, the summer heat brought urban life to a standstill. People who could afford it headed for the mountains and the seashore; resorts were crammed, beaches mobbed. And every summer you’ll still find them that way.
But think about it: Eighty-three years have passed since Willis Carrier invented the air conditioner. That doesn’t mean that summers are any less hot and humid, but at least they’re bearable. If you work in an air-conditioned building and sleep in an air-conditioned bedroom, why join the summer-vacation crush? Why not save up your vacation money for some other season, when resorts are less hectic, Sunbelt beaches less crowded and prices more reasonable?
All right, it’s because you’re a creature of habit. You’re accustomed to summer vacations and can’t change. Have it your own way. But if you’re determined to spend your travel money between now and September – and your vacation plans aren’t yet set in concrete – a few words of advice are in order on where not to go.
I’m not talking about the vacation spots you’ve already been warned against – spots like Miami Beach and Atlantic City. I mean highly touted places where you’ll spend an arm and a leg and return home asking your spouse, “Whose idea was that, anyway?” Here they are, then, in alphabetical order – the places cited in a survey of the well-traveled as the 10 most overrated vacation spots in the world:
ACAPULCO
Like Carmen Miranda and the vision of romantic Latin America she sold in the 1940s, this resort is strictly out of the past. It’s also garish, overcrowded, overpriced and not especially hospitable to tourists from the United States.
Acapulco horror stories about tourist run-ins with the local constabulary and greedy merchants are a peso a dozen. The most frequently told stories involve U.S. tourists held by police because they were passengers in taxicabs involved in accidents.
Under Mexican law, a passenger has to have insurance in the event of an accident or spend a few hours at police headquarters untangling matters. If, however, you don’t mind taking out special insurance, there are other spots in Mexico – Cancun, for example – that might satisfy your craving for sunshine and palm trees.
AMSTERDAM
The dullest, most unkempt major city in Western Europe. You like classic architecture and museums? You’ll find them here, but only after slogging through clutter and traveling along canals that haven’t been cleaned since the German occupation.
A recent visitor to this graffiti-ridden tourist trap was greeted on his cab ride into town by “Free Bobby Seale” signs left over from the ’60s. If you have an urge to visit Holland, make it Rotterdam or the Hague.
BANGKOK
The Tijuana of the Orient, this is the “exotic” east at its raunchiest. It’s a great place for males who like a ratio of three hookers to every tourist. A recent American visitor reports that he was propositioned no fewer than five times on a three-block walk from a restaurant to his hotel. Not bad for an 85-year-old gent.
HONOLULU
Speaking of leis, the 50th state is still a great vacation spot – but not this capital city, which has been afflicted with terminal tourism. L.A.’s urban sprawl has spanned the waters. It won’t be long before they start making hula skirts out of tinsel. The way one long-time traveler puts it, Honolulu is now “Sunset Boulevard with a beach” or “M Street on a Saturday night.” Try one of the other islands of Hawaii for inviting beaches and clear blue sky – Maui, for example.
MAINE
But if what you’re looking for is inviting beaches, clear blue sky, ice-cold ocean, and mosquitoes as large, loud and numerous as the Stukas over London in 1940,try Maine. A recent traveler to Monhegan Island says she now defines “rustic” as dirty, dark and damp.
And if you’re immune to mosquitoes, there are always the giant black flies to bug you. They’ve actually been known to shut down villages when they appear like an aerial plague in a Hitchcock film. Not that Maine is the worst vacation bargain in New England. For a really overrated New England resort, there’s always:
MARTHA’S VINEYARD
The mid-life preppy summer capital of the world, this is a fine place to spend a vacation if you don’t mind interminable waits for the ferry, mob scenes and out-of-line prices – not to mention local hostility. As far as the permanent residents are concerned, you’re as much a foreigner here as you are in Acapulco. Let the social regulars from Georgetown and Elaine’s have it. They’ve learned the language and the foreign exchange rates.
NEW ORLEANS
If you’re under some Yankee delusion that this is a Gulf Coast town with beaches, re-check your geography. Lake Pontchartrain was a fine place for swimming and boating 40 years ago, but it’s long since been put off-limits by pollution. That leaves the city itself, and people who knowingly travel to New Orleans in the summer would better spend their money on long-term therapy.
The humidity in New Orleans on a summer day will leave you limp. The food is as good as you’ve heard, but on a 92-degree day, who has an appetite? If you haven’t been there, save your taste for Creole and Cajun cooking for spring or fall. But forget the overrated Mardi Gras season, a once-great tradition turned into another Fort Lauderdale orgy for the Doonesbury generation.
PARADISE ISLAND, BAHAMAS
“This is the kind of gambling resort,” says one observer, “where the people go at it with a desperate look in their eyes, as if they’re saying, `If I lose, how am I going to get home?’ ” In other words, Atlantic City South. If you crave gambling and sunshine, Las Vegas – tasteless neon and all – would be a better summer choice.
For one thing, there’s nothing going on at Paradise Island besides gambling: no shows, food ranging from mediocre to poor, and crummy service. The best that can be said for this tourist trap is that you lose your money there on your own terms, which is more than can be said for:
ROME
I know, Paris has always been regarded as the European capital that treats U.S. tourists most shabbily. But in recent years Rome has come on strong, and it’s now a place where Americans are regarded by the native population as so many mullets ready to be reeled in and de-boned.
And when the law-abiding natives aren’t taking you, there’s always the other kind to watch out for. Street crime in Rome has been institutionalized, with tourists a prime target for looters on bikes and even in limousines. If you travel in Rome in the summer, chances are you won’t be wearing mink. But our advice is clear. When in Rome, do as the smart Romans would: Leave your valuables (this includes your Timex watch and any currency above $5) in your hotel’s safe.
WORLD’S FAIR
Anywhere, any year. There isn’t any World Fair to visit this summer, but there are more being planned, so take this as fair forewarning: There hasn’t been a good World’s Fair since the New York model in 1939. The ’64 New York fair wasn’t bad, but the truth is that the international exposition is a relic of the past.
In the old days, before the airplane and mass travel, such events had a gee-whiz impact. But in an age when we’ve seen men, women and U.S. senators in space, the wonders-of-technology theme of the World’s Fairs has lost its punch. If you’re looking for real wonders of technology, go to Epcot in Florida.
ABOUT AIRPORTS
So much for the 20 most overrated vacation spots. No warning guide to summer travelers would be complete, however, without some comment about airports.
Even if you’ve picked the right vacation spot , getting there can be miserable if you have to connect with a flight at the wrong air terminal. The airport horror story is a staple of post-summer office conversation, but by consensus the following stand out as the worst of domestic airports – that is, those most likely to ruin the first day of your vacation: Atlanta’s Hartsfield, Chicago’s O’Hare, Denver’s Stapleton, and New York’s JFK.
from Kauai i Hawaii Travel Tips http://ift.tt/19im7ur
via Website Design Hawaii #hawaiiwedding
No comments:
Post a Comment