Stonehenge ranked among world's most overrated landmarks
A survey's looked through reviews for uncomplimentary words
Last updated 11th Mar 2024
It seems South Wiltshire's most famous landmarks - Stonehenge - is actually among the world's most overrated tourist attractions.
A study for flight booking site Wingie looked at TripAdvisor reviews for certain uncomplimentary keywords, to come up with a percentage score.
Stonehenge came third in the global list of overrated places, beaten only by Warwick Castle and the Kampong Phluk floating village in Cambodia.
The survey found 6,414 related comments in 15,118 reviews about our stone circle - giving an overrated ratio of 42.4%.
Tickets priced were deemed ‘expensive’ and ‘not worth it’ in over 1,000 cases, with the words ‘disappointing’ and ‘avoid’ used over 300 times.
Other attractions on the worldwide list included an Indonesian temple, a lighthouse and historical park in Puerto Rico, Elvis's home Graceland in the US and World War Two code-breaking site Bletchley Park.
Here's the full top 10 of overrated locations:
- Warwick Castle, United Kingdom - 9,430 negative words used in 16,430 reviews (57%)
- Kampong Phluk, Cambodia - 552 words in 1,042 reviews (53%)
- Stonehenge, United Kingdom - 6,414 words in 15,118 reviews (42%)
- Besakih Temple, Indonesia - 1,097 words across 2,752 reviews (40%)
- Jungfraujoch: Top of Europe, Switzerland - 271 words in 703 reviews (39%)
- Arecibo Lighthouse & Historical Park, Puerto Rico - 122 words in 320 reviews (38%)
- Graceland, United States - 7,702 words in 20,230 reviews (38%)
- Sovereign Hill, Australia - 1,442 words in 3,823 reviews (38%)
- Bletchley Park, United Kingdom - 3,058 words in 8,171 reviews (37%)
- Ngong Ping 360, China - 2,786 comments in 7,541 reviews (37%)
Nihan Çolak Erol, COO of WEG, said:
“Tourists use sites like TripAdvisor to find out which attractions are worth the money. Whether because of the admission price, long queues, or the trip not meeting expectations, visitors want to feel their attendance was worth the money, especially during the cost-of-living crisis when holidays become less affordable.
"By studying traveller sentiment, we can reveal which experiences fell flat for most people. The key to creating a good experience is ensuring that expectations meet reality. In most cases, the ticket price didn’t justify the visit. Visitors should understand the value and uniqueness of each experience, so they leave feeling their money was well spent."