When filming our TV shows, we often note how we make things look better than they are. The truth is, there are a lot of tacky tourist traps throughout Europe. San Gimignano comes off as a pretty greedy place during the day. (But at night, they’ve made their money, and the place becomes more romantic.) Here’s a quick clip at the end of a long day of selling junk to tourists. What’s your vote for the worst tourist trap in Europe?
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Rome, hands down, it is Rome
the Blarney Stone-Yuk…..
I have been to San Gimignano probably 3 times, twice on tours and once on my own when I stayed the night which was a wonderful idea.
However, I enjoy the day stops too because I am not a shopper. I have read enough to know about walking to the edge of town to see the view and I also know enough to head to the beautiful Duomo and its cloister to wander. Good gelato a couple of places too, but then that might qualify as shopping.
I have no nomination for tackiest tour trap.
Rick – Found a great ceramics workshop and gallery on your walking tour of San Gimignano! Franco Balducci works right in the shop and is a real artist. Nothing “touristy” about his shop. He works and you look around. He is at Esposizione – Plazza delle Erbe. Check him out at balducciceramica.com, add a shopping section to your San Gimignano coverage and put him in it. Highly recommended. p.s. Passed you on the street in Florence between P. Signoria and S.Croce but by the time we did a double-take you were a block away.
That is a good question! For me, Ponte Vecchio in Florence takes the spot. The price for a jewelry
piece can very easily double from what it actually should cost. Let’s not forget the people on the
street asking for a handout. In Florence a tourist was berating a gypsy woman with a baby. To make
it short: I ended up sharing a sandwich & grapes with the gypsy woman + baby on the stairs of
Spedale degli Innocenti. At the train station the shoulder strap of my bag broke. About half way to
Assisi a very young gypsy walked through the train asking for money. I was looking for a cobbler
in the small town before the bus ride up to Assisi when out of the blue the gypsy from the train
showed up guiding me to a leather shop. Since the strap couldn’t be fixed, I was looking around for
a new bag. In the meantime, the owner of the shop and the gypsy emptied out the old bag (huch!)
and put the stuff in my new leather bag which was underpriced at $ 20.- Nothing was missing!
It’s a good thing to check out the arts & crafts of the various countries or regions. The two little words: ” made in …. ” on the product are helpful.
Just returned from a fantastic RS Italy in 17 days tour. Of the places we visited, I’d have to give Pisa my vote. Had to “run the gauntlet” of street vendors and, honestly, distracted from the landmarks “inside”. Don’t think I’d want to go back!
Any “rebuilt” castle or fortress charging more than 5 Euro without any decorated or historical interior. Several come to mind…includes some churches too. Stop looking to tourists to solve your financial problems. As a rule, I stopped going to anything charging more than 8 Euro that is a public site.
Loch Ness monster, there isn’t one, don’t bother stopping, just keep driving. Nothing to see here folks, castle ruins yes, sea monster, no.
The last time I was there was 1977!
Not so “touristy” then. The campground was nice and had good hot showers too as I recall..
Ah the good old days of travel…
Just returned from your Paris and Heart of France tour. Wonderful! To my shock, over the past 25 years, Giverny/Monet ‘s Garden had turned into a tourist trap area. The lovely little village of my memory had become something I had not expected. While I understand why, it brought me sadness.
Worst tourist trap in Europe? Gibraltar. No contest.