The last thing any tourist wants is to buckle up for a boring attraction.
So a new study that reveals ‘the 100 most boring attractions across the globe’ serves a useful purpose for those keen to guarantee a holiday free from the mundane.
America, it seems, needs to up its game on the excitement front, with attractions in the country occupying the top seven spots, beating Shrek’s Adventure London into eighth place. And four Legoland Discovery Centers make the top 25.
The ranking, by Solitaired, was drawn up by an analysis of 66.7million Google reviews of 3,290 popular tourist attractions worldwide, spanning 384 cities across 71 countries. Researchers calculated a boredom score for each site by focusing on 11 keywords indicative of tiresome, lifeless and boring impressions, to determine the least interesting.
Branson Scenic Railway in Missouri takes the undesirable top spot as the world’s least interesting attraction, with a boredom score of five out of five. Departing from an old depot in downtown Branson, the heritage railroad travels through part of the Ozark Mountains on a 40-mile round trip.
While some reviewers on Google praised the ‘beautiful’ foliage and ‘magnificent’ vistas, others were unimpressed by the views’ limited to trees on both sides of the train’ during summertime, with ‘Sheena Youngers’ commenting that they were ‘a little bored after a while of just seeing treetops’.
Illuminarium Atlanta, in the U.S state of Georgia, earns the runner-up spot with a boredom score of 4.5, with Google reviewer ‘Beata Lech‘ saying they ‘left after 40 minutes’ despite paying $144 (£115) for four people and ‘Mardi Graz’ adding that it was ‘cool for about the first 15 minutes’ and ‘after that… just boring’.
But the immersive experience, which plays 4K interactive projections with 360-degree immersive audio and in-floor vibrations, also garners plenty of five-star views, with ‘Sunil Patel’ calling it ‘one of a kind’ and ‘Tiffany Rahming’ saying it’s a ‘must visit location’ with ‘beautiful images’ and ‘wonderful sound effects’.
In third place is Tennessee’s Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride, which scored 3.7 on the boredom scale. The eight-minute boat ride, in Pigeon Forge, takes visitors along an indoor winding river passing jungle scenes with cave sets, waterfalls and mechanical dinosaurs.
Google reviewer ‘M K’ said the $18.99 (£15.25) amusement is ‘not worth it’ as it ‘was not maintained’ with some dinosaur statues ‘held together with tape’ and others with ‘garbage stuffed’ in their mouths. While others awarded it five stars, with one person hailing it an ‘awesome attraction to do with little children’.
In fourth place, with a boredom score of 3.4, it’s the Salem Witch Museum, a museum in Massachusetts based on the 1692 Witch Trials.
Coming fifth, it’s the Lego Discovery Center Atlanta in Georgia (3.4), which features a Lego playground with two rides, Lego build and play zones and a 4D cinema.
Shrek’s Adventure London earns eighth place with a boredom score of 2.9, with The London Dungeon (12th, 2.6) the runner-up in the UK’s list.
This walkthrough experience, featuring 10 fairytale themed live shows, was described by one Google reviewer as ‘very basic’ with actors doing ‘a little performance’ and another saying ‘everything is done at a sub-optimal standard’. While five-star reviewers described it as ‘an amazing experience’ with ‘so many things to see and do’.
Australia’s least interesting attraction, according to the ranking, is the WA Museum Boola Bardip in Perth (16th, 2.5), which tells stories of Western Australia through interactive exhibits.
Among more peculiar sites to make the list are the Netherlands‘ Torture Museum in Amsterdam (18th, 2.4), the U.S’s Health Museum in Texas (36th, 2.2) and the Museum of Death New Orleans, Louisiana (41st, 2.1).
MailOnline Travel has contacted Branson Scenic Railway for comment.
