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.
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.
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