I am referring to South of the Border - the attraction. From the linked Wikipedia description: "South of the Border is known for its roadside billboard advertisements, which begin many miles away from and incorporate a mileage countdown to the attraction itself. " Hence my comment that it is a quintessential tourist trap. Back in college, a bunch of us drove to Florida for Spring Break, and a stop at SOTB was on the itinerary - we counted down the miles with each billboard! When we got there, to say we were underwhelmed is an understatement. I’m not sure we even wanted to use the restrooms! The whole thing seemed to be a set up to sell souvenirs and fireworks - lots and lots of fireworks!
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Mackinac Island–it’s a tourist trap by day, but it’s great when all the day trippers leave. Also, stay away from downtown and the tacky fudge shops. I worked there for 5 summers as a hs/college student back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. The last time I was there (about 10 years ago) it hadn’t changed much.
Definitely South of the Border. Somewhat racist advertising too with Pedro the mascot, although they have tried to pull back on that in modern times.
I lump Gatlinburg, Branson , the Wisconsin Dells, and Myrtle Beach all under the same umbrella of tacky tourist traps too.
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Old Faithful is one of those that I personally wouldn’t classify as a tourist trap, but would say that too many tourists have made less appealing. I know, I know, National Parks are for everyone and we should be thrilled they so many people take advantage etc. Well not me.
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We very much enjoyed our time hiking and exploring Yellowstone NP. Just felt very meh about Old Faithful. I feel like there’s a not small percentage of people who go there just to see that.
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I can’t say Old Faithful or any National Park is a tourist trap but Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge right outside The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, definitely is.
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We went one year over Thanksgiving break & we’re almost the only ones there. Truly! We were almost relieved to see another couple at one point while we were wandering! It was awesome to see it that way!
I would have gone up to the stone, but we had only 2 hrs there and the wait was 45 minutes, so not worth it IMO. We found that the grounds and gardens were stunning in early September.
I cringe over the term tourist traps—after all, when I am there, am I not a tourist??? There is a difference between popular places and places that go over the top trying to sell you stuff (South of the Border in NC/SC, etc).
When oldest D was in middle school, one of the mothers of one of her friends organized a mother-daughter weekend by train to NYC. This woman showed up in all black, wearing a beret, and tried to drag everyone away from popular tourist spots to show them ‘the real NY’. Seeing junkies shooting up in Greenwich village was not what wife and D had in mind!! They dragged her kicking and screaming to the Museum of Natural History and Central Park!
I’m probably over examining…but now I see there are two trains of thoughts here, tourist traps AND tourist attractions/landmarks.
(both can be talked about!)
Tourist traps are the places you see on billboards for miles and often are kitchy and costly and crowded!!! (Frankenmuth, South of the Border, etc.??)
Tourist attractions/landmarks are places like Central Park, Museum of Natural History, Mount Rushmore…you may still be disappointed in all the hype of the place as a “must do” tourist stop when visiting a city.
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World of Coke in Atlanta. Absolute waste of money.
Uranus, a tacky souvenir shop in Missouri. DH loves it though.
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So many places on here have given me a fond reminiscing morning catching up. 
There’s very little I don’t like exploring TBH, but like with Niagara Falls, we tend to skip all the “tourist trap” stuff around and enjoy what we’re there for - which is almost always nature or history or similar, pending the place.
Casinos, Ripleys and similar, most gift shops, and things like that wouldn’t exist at all if they depended upon our $$.
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When we went to Plymouth Rock it was raining. There were four of us and two babies. We told our friend “jump out and see if it’s worth it.” He did and returned saying “not worth it”. We sighed a breath of relief.
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I happen to love Nashville. If you ever go again visit the Country Music Hall of Fame and museum–even if you don’t like country music. There is a huge circular room with dome–stand right in the middle and talk or sing–it’s perfect acoustics.
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I think Cape Cod is one big tourist trap. Gift shops,restaurants, everything. It’s especially bad in the summers when all of the kitchy stores are open. Walk down the Main Street in a place like Chatham…and it’s one souvenir store after the next.
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The only thing I like about Cape Cod is the bike trail which is on an old train track. That’s nice!
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The National Seashore beaches are nice too. But the towns…meh.
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Only time I’ve been to Cape Cod was so long ago I think there was only one restaurant there.
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Seen on billboards for miles and miles and miles: the Corn Palace in South Dakota! So very glad we stopped to see it. Totally unique!
For context: the Corn Palace is an old mercantile building that is decorated in a thematic mural with ears of corn every year. The theme changes annually. 
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How about Buc-ee’s!! South-of-the-Border made me think of it.
I live in the south (apparently it exists in some of the deeper southern states) but had never heard of it until recently when a friend posted on social media that their family had made a special trip, just to go to Buc-ee’s. Apparently they have one that is just UofSC vs. Clemson themed (spiritwear, tchotchkes, etc.)
On our last drive from NC to FL, I saw tons of billboards and we even drove by one.
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Literally just stopped at a Buc ees in Alabama last month. Didn’t stop for tourism. Stopped because they have so many gas pumps they are able to keep the gas prices lower than others around them. The bathrooms were spotless and so many grab and go food options that we were able to grab food and not spend time looking for somewhere to eat. One stop saved us so much time on our 14 hour drive.
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