The Most Overcrowded Tourist Destinations in the U.S. — And Exactly Where to Go Instead

There’s a certain kind of disappointment that comes only from travel. After saving the money, blocking the calendar, and packing the bags, you find yourself standing in the middle of Times Square on a Tuesday in July at 2:00 p.m., surrounded by strangers wearing identical fanny packs, and wondering what exactly you were expecting. Standing there in the midst of all the electric noise, it’s difficult not to feel that something has subtly gone wrong with the way Americans choose their destinations.

By nearly all fair standards, Times Square is the nation’s most overrated tourist destination. That’s not a contrarian viewpoint; rather, it’s something that guests frequently say aloud after the fact. The “experience” is essentially standing inside a loud advertisement, the food is mediocre and overpriced, and the costume characters are violent. It’s okay if you end up in New York City and feel the need to cross it off your list. But leave after twenty minutes. A ferry ride to Staten Island, the West Village on a weekday morning, or the High Line will give you a sense of a city worth exploring.

For reasons that seem almost obvious after visiting, Las Vegas appears on almost every list of overrated destinations. The Strip is incredibly well-designed to save you both money and time, and it does so effectively. For a long weekend, there is a version of Vegas that is truly enjoyable, but it quickly becomes boring. Usually around the third buffet, the glitter starts to fade. Interestingly, the Nevada desert, which is only an hour’s drive away, has some of the most striking scenery in North America, but it is largely overlooked. Red Rock Canyon receives a small portion of the traffic despite being practically next door to the casinos.

A different kind of disappointment is Mount Rushmore; it’s not particularly unpleasant, but it’s smaller than most people think, and after ten minutes or so, you’ve seen it. There are bison herds, crystal-clear lakes, and genuine quiet in the neighboring Custer State Park, and the drive through the Black Hills to get there is truly breathtaking. It’s possible that the monument gained notoriety before “seeing it in person” became less important due to the advent of instant photography. The real reason to go now is the surrounding scenery.

October in Salem, Massachusetts, serves as a warning about what happens when a place completely gives in to its own mythology. October transforms the town into something more akin to a Halloween theme park, with crush-level crowds on the narrow streets and wait times at restaurants exceeding an hour. The witch trial history is genuinely haunting—the Peabody Essex Museum handles it with real care. You’ll find the same architecture, the same history, and about one-fifth the population if you visit in September or November.

Mackinac Island, which is located in Lake Huron between the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan, seems perfect on paper: no cars, Victorian architecture, and well-known fudge. In actuality, 1.2 million tourists come to the island each year—a startling figure for an island with only 500 permanent residents. The fudge is good. On the busiest summer weekends, the crowds are not. Similar Great Lakes scenery can be found at Sleeping Bear Dunes on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan or the Apostle Islands in Wisconsin, but there are a lot fewer elbows in your face.

Based on discussions taking place in travel communities, there is a growing perception that Americans are gradually learning to avoid the well-known locations. The places that receive the most attention on social media are frequently the ones that are most distorted. The locations that endure are typically those that never sought fame in the first place. That’s not a promise. However, the next time you’re deciding how to spend your hard-earned days off, keep an eye out for this pattern.