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Ever see a place all over your social media, get there, and feel… underwhelmed? In an age of hashtags and hype, a city’s online reputation often has little to do with the real-life experience.
This leaves us all asking: how do we find the places that are actually worth visiting, not just the ones with good marketing?
That’s why we created the Tourist Trap Index. At Artefact, our job is to make sense of complex data. For this project, that meant examining the relationship between a destination’s digital popularity and the actual sentiment of its visitors.
Drawing on social, search and tourism data alongside real visitor ratings, the Index provides a straightforward look at which cities are the real deal. The result is a helpful guide for both the travel industry and travellers planning their next trip.
The most overrated cities in the world
These cities rank highly in terms of global interest, measured through search trends, Instagram content, and tourism volume. Yet when it comes to visitor satisfaction, the data reveals a more nuanced picture. While they continue to draw millions of tourists each year, their review scores suggest that expectations are not always fully met.
1. Los Angeles, United States
Overrated Score: 10/10 – Despite its fame for Hollywood glamour and beaches, the data points to a notable gap between interest and satisfaction. Visitors frequently cite challenges such as traffic, urban sprawl, and weather conditions like “June gloom” as factors affecting their experience.
2. London, United Kingdom
Overrated Score: 9.3/10 – While London is rich in history and culture, its satisfaction scores are tempered by reports of overcrowded landmarks, inclement weather, and high costs, particularly among tourists expecting a more polished experience.
3. Osaka, Japan
Overrated Score: 9.2/10 – Positioned as a vibrant food and nightlife hub, Osaka receives high online interest but more mixed reviews from visitors, especially during the hot and humid summer months. Its dense urban feel and fewer green spaces contrast with neighbouring cities.
4. Dublin, Ireland
Overrated Score: 8.9/10 – Although beloved for its literary history and pub culture, the data indicates that visitors find it expensive and compact, with tourist hotspots like Temple Bar often perceived as overly commercialised.
5. New York City, United States
Overrated Score: 7.8/10 – One of the world’s most iconic cities, New York still sees a divergence between popularity and satisfaction. Factors such as crowding, cost, and intensity can lead to mixed visitor experiences.
6. Orlando, United States
Overrated Score: 7.5/10 – Famous for its theme parks, Orlando’s satisfaction scores reflect the realities of long queues, heat, and high expenses, particularly during peak seasons.
7. Las Vegas, United States
Overrated Score: 7.5/10 – Las Vegas continues to dazzle on social media, but visitor reviews suggest that its highly commercial atmosphere and extreme summer weather can detract from the overall experience.
8. Hong Kong
Overrated Score: 7.1/10 – While it remains a striking destination, the data shows that heat, humidity, crowding, and political concerns have impacted satisfaction ratings among tourists.
9. Brussels, Belgium
Overrated Score: 6.9/10 – Although home to iconic sights, Brussels often scores lower on energy and excitement, with some visitors finding it less dynamic than other European capitals.
10. Phuket, Thailand
Overrated Score: 6.8/10 – Despite its idyllic image, Phuket’s satisfaction scores are affected by overtourism, high-season congestion, and environmental wear, according to the review data.
The most underrated cities in the world
These cities rarely top travel lists or dominate Instagram feeds, and perhaps that’s exactly why they offer more. Each one scores modestly on search and social interest, yet consistently delivers high satisfaction through atmosphere, culture, and unexpected charm. These are the cities travellers do not always think to visit, but almost always remember.
1. São Paulo, Brazil
Underrated Score: 10/10 – Often dismissed in favour of Rio’s beaches or Salvador’s rhythm, São Paulo is Brazil’s cultural and culinary engine, and its most misunderstood city. Beneath its skyscraper skyline lies a rich world of creativity and contrast: art museums like MASP, Ibirapuera Park’s modernist calm, and a food scene as diverse as its people, from Japanese-Brazilian sushi to the country’s best feijoada. While it rarely trends online, real visitors are consistently impressed. São Paulo doesn’t try to charm you, it just does. April, June, July and August offer ideal conditions: dry, temperate and refreshingly uncrowded.
2. Oslo, Norway
Underrated Score: 8.4/10 – Clean, calm and quietly stylish, Oslo is the Nordic capital travellers often skip, and regret skipping. Where Copenhagen flaunts and Stockholm sparkles, Oslo soothes. From the sloped rooftop of its Opera House to the vast sculpture park at Vigeland, the city blends bold design with nature and space. Visitors praise the quality of attractions and the sense of ease. It’s a place for slow moments, long days and fresh air. Go in July for mild weather, lakeside dips and long, golden evenings.
3. Vancouver, Canada
Underrated Score: 8.4/10 – Vancouver doesn’t shout. It whispers through sea breezes and mountain views. This West Coast city is framed by forests, beaches and snow-capped peaks, with a skyline that gleams but never overwhelms. While it’s less buzzy online than Toronto or Montréal, it charms travellers with its ease: Stanley Park’s trails, the Capilano Suspension Bridge, Granville Island’s markets and the simple joy of breathing deeply. July and August are spectacular – cool, clear and ideal for long coastal walks and sunset ferry rides.
4. Vienna, Austria
Underrated Score: 8.2/10 – Vienna rarely goes viral, but it never goes out of style. It offers quiet grandeur – from the symmetry of Schönbrunn Palace to the elegance of a slice of Sachertorte in a wood-panelled café. It’s a city that feels composed, refined without being stuffy. While many travellers gravitate to Berlin’s edge or Paris’s buzz, Vienna surprises with how deeply it satisfies. Its satisfaction scores outpace its online presence by far. In summer, the city glows under soft evening skies and the scent of linden trees.
5. Mexico City, Mexico
Underrated Score: 8/10 – Vast, vibrant and endlessly textured, Mexico City offers one of the richest urban experiences anywhere. From the calm of Chapultepec Park to the riot of colour in Coyoacán, the city balances ancient and modern with warmth and ease. While its sheer size can intimidate, those who explore beyond the centre discover an intoxicating mix of art, history, cuisine and local life. It’s a city that rewards curiosity. Visit between February and May for dry days, blue skies and blooming jacarandas.
6. Athens, Greece
Underrated Score: 8/10 – Athens is often seen as a transit stop, but it’s a destination in its own right. Beyond the Parthenon, it pulses with life: graffiti-tagged alleyways leading to rooftop bars, ancient ruins sitting beside local markets, and a creative scene that feels proudly Greek and defiantly modern. Visitor satisfaction is high, largely because the city still feels real. Summer light here is unforgettable, and the long mornings and warm evenings of June to August offer the best conditions for exploring.
7. Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Underrated Score: 7.9/10 – Known more for finance than fun, Frankfurt rarely tops travel wishlists. But those who give it time discover a city of contrasts: sleek skyscrapers next to medieval squares, riverside parks and one of Europe’s finest clusters of museums. The Römer, Palmengarten and Städel Museum are all top-rated, yet the city remains under-the-radar. June to August offers warm weather, riverside festivals and peaceful walks along the Main.
8. Prague, Czech Republic
Underrated Score: 7.9/10 – Prague is quietly one of Europe’s most magical cities and oddly underrepresented online. Its bridges, castles and cobbled streets have an ageless beauty that doesn’t need filters. While crowds are growing, especially in Old Town, there are still countless corners to get lost in: winding alleys, lantern-lit taverns and views over the Vltava that seem plucked from a novel. Visit in July or August for long dusks, warm nights and golden rooftops.
9. Washington, D.C., USA
Underrated Score: 7.9/10 – Often seen as all politics and marble, D.C. is one of America’s most rewarding (and walkable) cities. The museums are world-class and free, from the Air and Space Museum to the National Gallery. There’s a quiet, intellectual beauty to its broad boulevards and leafy neighbourhoods. Despite low hype, satisfaction scores are high, especially for the monuments and memorials around the National Mall. Go in June or August for soft light, blue skies and reflective shots across the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool.
10. Sydney, Australia
Underrated Score: 7.4/10 – It might seem odd to call Sydney underrated, but for a city with a world-famous harbour, it remains oddly under-discussed online. While travellers flock to Europe and Southeast Asia, Sydney offers a blend of beach, city and bush that few places can match. The Opera House and Harbour Bridge are only the beginning, it’s the breezy pace, coastal walks, and neighbourhood cafes that win people over. Visit between March and October for clear days, cool evenings and crisp ocean light.
The Tourism Trap Index: Our Methodology
This index was created to provide a data-driven perspective on travel destinations, moving beyond opinion to quantify which cities live up to their online hype. Our analysis was conducted in two parts:
1. The Tourist Trap Score
To determine if a city is overrated, we measured the gap between its popularity and the actual satisfaction reported by visitors. This was done by creating two main pillars of data:
- The Popularity Score: This score gauges a city’s prominence in the global conversation. It combines data on global search interest, the scale of social media engagement across key points of interest, and the latest available tourist arrival figures based on World Bank and UN Tourism data. This gives us a robust measure of how much hype and attention a destination receives.
- The Satisfaction Score: To measure the reality on the ground, this score is based on an aggregation of thousands of online visitor reviews. We analysed the average ratings for major tourist landmarks and attractions to calculate a city-wide satisfaction benchmark.
These two scores were then normalised on a consistent scale. The final Tourist Trap Score was calculated by subtracting the Satisfaction Score from the Popularity Score. A higher positive score suggests a city’s perceived popularity outstrips the actual visitor experience, indicating it may be overrated.
2. The Best Time to Visit
To identify the best month to visit, we analysed key monthly climate data, focusing on three factors critical for photography: average sunshine hours, rainfall, and temperature. The month with the highest overall score represents the optimal balance of pleasant weather and ideal conditions for a picture-perfect trip.
