For many of us, the new year signifies a time to make new travel plans, but which locations and landmarks will be worth our time and money in 2023, and which can we leave off the list?
To help make your travel planning easier, Travelbag has collected almost 1,500,000 Tripadvisor reviews for popular landmarks around the world, revealing which are the most loved, hated and underrated.
The world’s top 10 most loved landmarks are:
| Rank | Landmark name | Landmark location | Number of Tripadvisor reviews | Average Tripadvisor rating | Number of 5-star reviews | Percentage of 5-star reviews |
| 1 | Colosseum | Rome, Italy | 148,821 | 4.5 | 107,707 | 72% |
| 2 | St. Peter’s Basilica | Vatican City, Italy | 41,256 | 5.0 | 34,027 | 83% |
| 3 | Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | 141,518 | 4.5 | 99,958 | 71% |
| 4 | Great Wall of China | China | 23,778 | 5.0 | 19,331 | 81% |
| 5 | Louvre Museum | Paris, France | 101,939 | 4.5 | 71,165 | 70% |
| 6 | Trevi Fountain | Rome, Italy | 103,047 | 4.5 | 65,710 | 64% |
| 7 | St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) | Venice, Italy | 37,336 | 4.5 | 32,502 | 87% |
| 8 | Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) | Milan, Italy | 58,063 | 4.5 | 44,418 | 77% |
| 9 | Notre Dame Cathedral | Paris, France | 71,499 | 4.5 | 49,179 | 69% |
| 10 | Gardens by the Bay | Singapore | 59,808 | 4.5 | 42,995 | 72% |
Other stories that may be of interest:
- Italy and France are home to the most loved landmarks in the world, with the top five including the Colosseum, St. Peter’s Basilica, the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum, some of the most famous landmarks in Europe.
- Moulin Rouge in Paris took the top spot as the attraction with the most negative reviews, with 1,673 of its 14,452 being just 1 or 2 stars
- The Shard, Stonehenge and Big Ben all feature in the top 10 list of landmarks with the most negative reviews, leaving tourists unimpressed
- The Great Barrier Reef takes the top spot as the most underrated tourist attraction in the world, with 77% of its 154 reviews being 5 stars
The most underrated landmarks in the world
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the most underrated landmark, holding a 77% five-star rating despite only 154 reviews
- Rome’s Colosseum is the most beloved landmark in the world, with 72% of its 148,821 reviews awarding it five-stars
- The Moulin Rouge in Paris has the highest percentage of negative reviews at 12%
For those planning their 2023 holidays, it’s important to select the destinations and landmarks that are worth the trip. But which well-known landmarks are really worth the hype, and which are maybe not as worthwhile?
To find out, tailor-made holiday maker Travelbag has collected TripAdvisor reviews for popular landmarks in the world, revealing which are the most loved, hated and underrated. You can find the full research here: https://www.travelbag.co.uk/blog/travel-tips/loved-and-underrated-landmarks-to-visit
Italy and France are home to the most loved landmarks in the world
Travelbag ranked famous sights around the world according to their total number of TripAdvisor reviews and the percentage of those reviews that received five stars.
The top five most well-loved landmarks in the world include two Italian landmarks: the Colosseum (72%) and St. Peter’s Basilica (83%), and two in France: the Eiffel Tower (71%) and the Louvre Museum (70%). The Great Wall of China also made the top five, with 81% five-star reviews.
The table below shows the top 10 most loved landmarks in the world.
| Rank | Landmark name | Landmark location | Number of Tripadvisor reviews | Average Tripadvisor rating | Number of 5-star reviews | Percentage of 5-star reviews |
| 1 | Colosseum | Rome, Italy | 148,821 | 4.5 | 107,707 | 72% |
| 2 | St. Peter’s Basilica | Vatican City, Italy | 41,256 | 5.0 | 34,027 | 83% |
| 3 | Eiffel Tower | Paris, France | 141,518 | 4.5 | 99,958 | 71% |
| 4 | Great Wall of China | China | 23,778 | 5.0 | 19,331 | 81% |
| 5 | Louvre Museum | Paris, France | 101,939 | 4.5 | 71,165 | 70% |
| 6 | Trevi Fountain | Rome, Italy | 103,047 | 4.5 | 65,710 | 64% |
| 7 | St. Mark’s Square (Piazza San Marco) | Venice, Italy | 37,336 | 4.5 | 32,502 | 87% |
| 8 | Milan Cathedral (Duomo di Milano) | Milan, Italy | 58,063 | 4.5 | 44,418 | 77% |
| 9 | Notre Dame Cathedral | Paris, France | 71,499 | 4.5 | 49,179 | 69% |
| 10 | Gardens by the Bay | Singapore | 59,808 | 4.5 | 42,995 | 72% |
Moulin Rouge in Paris has the highest percentage of negative reviews at 12%
The world’s most hated landmarks were ranked according to the percentage of negative Tripadvisor reviews they received. Moulin Rouge in Paris took the top spot, with negative reviews labelling the cabaret show as ‘disappointing’. However, even though it ranks as the most hated landmark, only 12% of total reviews for Moulin Rouge were negative.
Other landmarks on the most-hated list include the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, The Shard in London, and the Spanish Steps in Rome – all of which still only received 10% negative reviews from visitors, meaning the majority were impressed.
The table below shows the top 10 most hated landmarks in the world.
| Rank | Landmark name | Landmark location | Number of Tripadvisor reviews | Number of 1 or 2-star reviews | Percentage of negative reviews |
| 1 | Moulin Rouge | Paris, France | 14,452 | 1,673 | 12% |
| 2 | Imperial Palace | Tokyo, Japan | 2,774 | 282 | 10% |
| 3 | The Shard | London, UK | 945 | 96 | 10% |
| 4 | Spanish Steps | Rome, Italy | 22,880 | 2,256 | 10% |
| 5 | Palace of Versailles | Versailles, France | 26,853 | 2,614 | 10% |
| 6 | Mount Vesuvius | Ottaviano, Italy | 143 | 12 | 8% |
| 7 | Stonehenge | Salisbury, UK | 14,785 | 1,197 | 8% |
| 8 | Rialto Bridge (Ponte di Rialto) | Venice, Italy | 17,730 | 1,038 | 6% |
| 9 | Sistine Chapel | Vatican City, Italy | 20,168 | 1,178 | 6% |
| 10 | Big Ben | London, UK | 31,833 | 1,606 | 5% |
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the most underrated landmark in the world
To identify the most underrated landmarks, Travelbag scored landmarks with a minimum of 70% five-star reviews on TripAdvisor, as well as those with the fewest reviews overall.
Three of the world’s top five most underrated landmarks are located in Australia; The Great Barrier Reef takes the top spot with just 154 reviews despite a 77% five-star rating, followed by the Twelve Apostles and Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock). Malham Cove in England and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Japan are also among the top five most underrated landmarks.
While several of these landmarks are well known worldwide, the total number of reviews is much lower compared to other famous sights. This could be due to the impact they leave on visitors, who may struggle to put their thoughts down into words.
The table below shows the eight most underrated landmarks in the world.
| Rank | Landmark name | Landmark location | Number of TripAdvisor reviews | Average TripAdvisor rating | Number of 5-star reviews | Percentage of 5-star reviews |
| 1 | Great Barrier Reef | Queensland, Australia | 154 | 4.5 | 119 | 77% |
| 2 | Malham Cove | Malham, England | 1,583 | 4.5 | 1,330 | 84% |
| 3 | Twelve Apostles | Great Ocean Road, Australia | 2,254 | 4.5 | 1,664 | 74% |
| 4 | Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park | Hiroshima, Japan | 3,681 | 4.5 | 2,943 | 80% |
| 5 | Uluru | Northern Territory, Australia | 4,445 | 4.5 | 3,548 | 80% |
| 6 | Sydney Harbour Bridge | Sydney, Australia | 13,958 | 4.5 | 10,153 | 73% |
| 7 | The Terracotta Army Museum | Xi’An, China | 14,955 | 4.5 | 11,233 | 75% |
| 8 | Sydney Opera House | Sydney, Australia | 24,381 | 4.5 | 18,174 | 75% |
