A new study has identified the world’s biggest tourist attraction letdowns – and it turns out one of the most iconic landmarks in the UK is actually quite disappointing
As the summer season beckons, many are plotting their getaway adventures.
Yet, fresh research has highlighted tourist spots that might not live up to the hype, and one UK site has made the dubious list.
The number crunchers at CasiMonka applied some tech wizardry to figure out the most overrated attractions globally by analysing online rants and raves, putting negative and positive comments from Reddit and Google reviews through AI sentiment analysis tools.
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Stonehenge in Salisbury, Wiltshire, famed for its prehistoric stone circle, landed an unenviable spot as the third biggest let-down worldwide and the top disappointment in the UK, bagging a score of just 73.86 out of 100 for dissatisfaction.
The iconic site seems to have ruffled feathers, sparking 342 travel-related gripes with another 77 thumbs-down specifically on tourism aspects.
Complaints labelled it ‘expensive,’ cropping up 82 times, and slammed it as too ‘touristy’. But every cloud has a silver lining, as the old saying goes. Stonehenge doesn’t disappoint across the board, scoring a four-star thumbs-up on TripAdvisor courtesy of some happy visitors, reports the Express.
One pleased visitor wrote a glowing endorsement: “Surreal feeling seeing the stones. Take a tour bus from Salisbury train station and then another bus from the visitor center at Stonehenge. Have audio info as you walk around. Half day required for the visit. Also visit the Salisbury cathedral.”
One visitor enthused: “We enjoyed our time at Stonehenge very much. It was nice that we had the option of walking or taking the bus out to the monument.
“Plenty of history and explanation in the museum and the audio tour. Nice gift store and loved that there was a place to grab food and a hot beverage afterwards.”
Despite mixed experiences, Stonehenge offers an opportunity to delve into its enigmatic past.
The intriguing question of why the stones were erected still captivates historians, but recent findings from archaeologists suggest Stonehenge could have been built as a grand project to unite ancient Britons from all over the island.
According to The Independent, a study released last Thursday in ‘Archaeology International’ proposes that people might have hauled the stones from as far as Scotland and theorises that this monumental effort, roping in hundreds or possibly thousands of individuals, would have taken almost eight months to complete.