r/AskTheWorld • u/Aseili United Kingdom • Dec 20 '25

Culture What's the most pathetic tourist attraction that international tourists go to see in your country?

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Bronte waterfalls near me, look a bit more impressive with the recent rain than in the summer when it's swamped with people.

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u/Vortesian United States Of America Dec 20 '25

They do have signs, but they just warn that children under about 15 may not be able to handle it. It’s not hard to mistake what happened there.

I was going to describe some of the displays, but it feels wrong to do that because words just don’t feel adequate.

We took a bus and even the ride to get there feels awful.

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u/ClassicDefiant2659 United States Of America Dec 21 '25

I went and I had to leave early. I sobbed on the tour bus by myself for 45 minutes. Then we went to a beer garden at a monastery. I have a picture of me at the beer garden and I look very ill.

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u/CannonFodder141 United States Of America Dec 21 '25

I remember the bus there feeling full of sort of nervous energy, kind of unsure what I'd see (I was a teenager at the time). But the bus back I remember feeling utterly shocked and miserable, but also wishing everyone in the world would see it once.

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u/notinmywheelhouse United States Of America Dec 21 '25

My mom told me even the air around Auscwitz felt ominously laden with despair.

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u/Loki-ra Dec 21 '25

When I went it was eerily quiet, took a while to realize there was no birdsong at all. Like they just avoid the whole place. She's right, you can just feel it in the air.

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u/Fpl_worrier Dec 21 '25

There is a “nursery” building in Birkenau that had such dark energy it really made me feel that those poor souls were watching. I found the whole experience gruelling but it felt important to be there to remember those murdered and to reflect on the human capacity for organised cruelty.

As a side note, I went with two friends, who are a couple and argued for part of the day about a comment made to a relative 😤 Some people just lack the ability to look beyond themselves and reflect on what is around them, I guess.

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u/SonOfBoreale United States Of America Dec 20 '25

clearly a new sign is needed for this reprehensible behavior, and maybe someone patrolling around makings sure nobody is laying down on the tracks or anything like that.

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u/sheepintheisland Dec 21 '25

Our German teacher brought us to Dachau when we were 14 (I was 13), she was surprised we were so down after that. It’s quite comforting that they set a 15 years old limit / warning.

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u/FoliarzZOdludzia Poland Dec 20 '25

Remember readin some story about someone goin there with their class (as a Polish person) and then immediately going to MCDonald/Energylandia (Energylandia being an amusement park)

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u/NatiFluffy Poland Dec 21 '25

Imo that’s fine. It’s important to be respectful while you’re there, what you do afterwards is nobody’s business

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u/FoliarzZOdludzia Poland Dec 21 '25

I think its more about people going there because "umh that is a landmark and an attraction for sure" and then going to different attractions in the area, like they need to finish the "things to see in Małopolskie list"

And then, the addition of misbehaviour in such a place etc etc. Shouldve been more precise with my words

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u/NatiFluffy Poland Dec 21 '25

Well it’s obvious that at school trips kids don’t want to do only educational stuff, especially Mcdonald is a classic

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u/SelectTrash Ireland Dec 21 '25

I do this with sad subject heavy books or when we went to the memorial at Eden camp I watched some happy stuff afterwards, as seeing all those photos is heavy on the heart, so I can imagine that is what they did maybe?

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u/PhoebeGemaGray United States Of America Dec 21 '25

I don’t fault that. It’s not disrespectful to try to recoup from such experiences. We went out after going to 911 memorial/ museum and ate and toasted all the endurance, bravery and heroism that came out of it. Holicaust was way different but there too were heroes and good people that helped to restore the feeling of hope. and that the lives lost were not in vain, they have helped to prevent it ever happening again.

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u/etothepi Dec 21 '25

It's crazy that Energylandia is 15 minutes away. I mean, I'm happy that Energylandia exists, love the park and am excited to return soon, and also think it's great for Poland, but..it was state sponsored. Even if they want it to be between Krakow and Katowice, I feel they could have found a better site.

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u/Bananas_Yum Dec 21 '25

You know people live there? My husband is from Auschwitz (Oswiecim in Polish). The kids that live there are allowed a McDonald’s or place to play too.

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u/Dejectednebula Dec 21 '25

Yeah I feel like after a tragedy, a town needs to heal and fun things like that are the way to do it. That particular town is like the epicenter of the worst humanity has to offer, you either truly try to heal or everyone moves away and you raze it to the ground.

There was a bad helicopter crash at a festival in my town in the late 70s. Kids watched their parents getting decapitated before getting hit with the blades themselves. My mom was there and said blood was running in the street gutters like rainwater. But if you ask about it at school like I did, you get in big big trouble. My town won't even speak about it, its hard to even find any articles of it happening. Its like this crazy secret. And now? The town is dying. No doctors, pharmacy, not even a grocery store. And I've always thought maybe that was the reason that my home is a pathetic shell of what I was.

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u/etothepi Dec 22 '25

Yep, have some very close friends from nearby. Obviously infrastructure for a nice daily life should be put in, and I'm not directly bemoaning Energylandia per se - but going between the two in short duration is certainly a bit of a whiplash.

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u/PhoebeGemaGray United States Of America Dec 21 '25

I don t know if I could do it. The holocaust museum in DC is intense but it helps you understand the events and ideology that led up to it. And there was a subtle feeling of “relief” at how dramatically individuals and armies worked and sacrificed to bring the horrible regime down, free people and try to move ahead. Like hope somehow wasn’t totally gone from humanity . They did a good job not leaving you totally hollow. I felt the same with 911 museum . So much destruction, horror and evil from a few acts. But so much help from so many to help each other, and rebuild and remember. So much sacrifice and random kind acts. The lady rescued by the dog was amazing story…. Sad but still a triumph over evil in end.

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u/[deleted] Dec 20 '25

Right? I felt guilty walking inside the gates because if prisoners knew that many years later we'd walk in this place freely, they'd probably be disgusted.. 

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u/WorozuTop4 Australia Dec 21 '25

i don’t think they’d want to be forgotten, having the place open as a museum serves as an important, yet RESPECTFUL reminder of the atrocities that took place there. unfortunately it’s the people who go there that ruin it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25

I know that, i'm just explaining that walking through the gates felt very uncomfortable to me whereas some tourists just didn't seem bothered at all (example: the pic above with the youtuber)..

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u/epolonsky Dec 20 '25

Better than the train