Under-rated and Over-rated Travel Destinations: Countries and U.S. States

I've made various lists of travel experiences before but it's sometimes useful to describe experiences in terms of whether they exceeded whatever expectations you'd formed ahead of time, or fell short. So this is NOT a ranking of absolute pleasantness, but rather how much the pleasantness (for me) differed from my expectations. Example: France is REALLY nice, but has a reputation for rudeness which I find undeserved, so on here it gets a "slightly under-rated." If I had visited Somalia, which I have not, I would expect a nightmarish hellhole but if in the nine square blocks that the "government" in Mogadishu controls I was never shot at and the guides were nice, it would be considered more under-rated than France.)


So that readers may weight this accordingly for optimal usefulness: I like history (of the usual kind as well as scientific), ethnic food, mountain and trails and general outdoor experiences, beaches (though not as much as when I was younger), clear skies, cool temperatures, and road trips, and I live in California.

COUNTRIES (or REGIONS of large countries) (from most under- to most over-rated, excluding U.S. which I will break down by state)

Country/Region	Over/under-rated
Mexico City	The most under-rated region or capital, and the most unique capital I've ever been to with lots of adventures to get into with locals (yes, good ones you'll enjoy and survive.) Fantastic history both pre- and post-Columbian, and of course great food.
Poland	Most under-rated European country and maybe most under-rated on this list. The Spain of Eastern Europe. Fun, genuine and good-looking people, surprisingly good local AND ethnic food, great prices and history, easy to get around in a car, and the Tatra Mountains are awesome.
China-Chengdu	Definitely under-rated. Besides the excellent food, Chengdu also has a lot of attractive people, is really unique with its own sense of culture and history, and has a lot of mountains quite nearby.
Japan-Northern Honshu	Very much under-rated, especially in winter. The nature is great, and Sendai is an awesome city, much better than Tokyo.
Slovakia	Under-rated. Unique, Roman plus medieval plus Holy Roman plus Cold War history, tasty food and beer.
New Zealand-South Island	Under-rated, only because it's not better known. What an amazing outdoors experience on that whole island.
El Salvador	Under-rated. Beaches, mountains, seafood, recent history packed into this small country.
Spain	Still under-rated believe it or not. Prices still haven't caught up to the rest of the E.U. Administratively much better than you'd think. It's a big country with a lot of varied terrain, and some really friendly people.
Hong Kong	Slightly under-rated. A lot more outdoorsy stuff than I expected, on top of all the usual Hong Kong stuff, i.e. food.
Hungary	Under-rated, especially Budapest. Though it seems silly to say, there's a different feel to Hungarian culture that makes you aware that they only showed up in Europe in the early-to-mid medieval period and come from a different language family.
France	Slightly under-rated, believe it or not - because, guys, people in France are NICE, and super-helpful. I don't know where these other ideas came from.
Austria	Slightly under-rated. The cultural marvel that is Vienna is hard to over-state.
Ireland	Slightly under-rated. Each town is its own little gem. Dublin on the other hand is a little boring and over-rated if you don't drink constantly. Who cares about all the pubs?
New Zealand-Auckland	Slightly under-rated. A very nice, interesting city actually with a lot of outdoors stuff to do around it (unlike Wellington.) Ignore non-Auckland kiwis who try to tell you it sucks.
Andorra	Slightly under-rated, just because no one talks about it and it's interesting.
Switzerland	As advertised.
Italy	As advertised.
Japan-Kansai	As advertised.
Canada-Toronto	As advertised.
Mexico-Baja	As advertised.
Guatemala (Peten lowland with Mayan ruins)	As advertised.
Guatemala City and Surrounds	As advertised.
Brazil-Rio	As advertised.
Argentina-Buenos Aires	As advertised.
Paraguay-Asuncion	As advertised.
Canada-Montreal	As advertised.
Thailand	As advertised.
Nepal	As advertised.
Singapore	As advertised.
Australia-Sydney	As advertised.
Australia-Melbourne	As advertised.
Australia-Queensland	As advertised.
Germany	As advertised.
Netherlands	As advertised.
China-Guangzhou	As advertised.
Belgium	As advertised. Feels like the D.C. of Europe for obvious reasons, not always in a good way.
Morocco (Marrakech and Ouazazarte)	As advertised I guess, but we still didn't anticipate how annoyed or limited we'd feel by the realities of life in a North African country.
Czech Republic	As advertised. Prague is maybe slightly over-rated. Outside of the old city, maybe even a little dull.
New Zealand-Wellington	Over-rated. Guys, it's not that great. It's either boring (most of the time) or filled with screaming drunk 20 year olds (Friday and Saturday night) and they definitely don't have a sense of humor about the myth of wonderful Wellington being punctured.
Canada-Vancouver	As advertised, getting over-rated actually - nature still awesome, but just too much money destroying the uniqueness of the place and the traffic really has become a quality-of-life-damaging nightmare.
Japan-Tokyo	Over-rated. Even going there with someone from the country who speaks the language, feels very closed-off and non-spontaneous and "behind glass". I found that good sushi and electronics markets didn't make up for that.
England (London)	Over-rated. People in London are often ruder than they need to be, even compared to New York and Paris. Much more expensive, and less open to visitors having spontaneous experiences than many other capitals (except Tokyo.)

AMERICAN STATES (from most under to most over-rated)

State	Over/under-rated
Pennsylvania	Most under-rated state on the east coast. Mountains. Whitewater rivers. Forests. Maybe the best concentration of history in the country (Independence Hall! Gettysburg! Valley Forge!) Culturally unique (Amish and Dutchmen, that weird accent in Pittsburgh, Slavs and Appalachian Scots-Irish and Italians all mixed in). and some of the tastiest unhealthiest food on this planet.
Oregon	The most under-rated state on the west coast. Yes it's rainy, but Portland is like San Francisco used to be, and the nature can't be beat.
Delaware	Under-rated. People like to make fun of it but the beaches are great, it's small enough that it's easy to run the state pretty well (and they do), and you're far enough south of the 40th parallel that you rarely see snow.
New Mexico	Definitely under-rated. Santa Fe is hands-down the best state capital and historically and culturally you don't feel like you're in the U.S. or any other country, although I think the spirit of the Old West is best preserved here. How many states have two or three of their own cuisines and a dozen native nations ringed around the capital?
North Carolina	Second most-under rated state on the east coast. Excellent beaches, also has great mountains, and some cities with actual intellectual activity in Research Triangle.
Alaska	Under-rated. It's a real frontier. You should go there sometime.
Utah	Under-rated. Yes, Mormons - but it's pleasant, there is GREAT terrain in the south, and great skiing and hiking northeast of SLC.
Georgia	Under-rated. Atlanta is a big city with some nooks and crannies and people forget there's a coastline, which is great and almost deserted.
California	Over all slightly under-rated believe it or not, just for outdoors stuff. San Francisco is starting to get over-rated. L.A. is also a bit under-rated and really is interesting, although the traffic is as bad as you think.
South Dakota	Slightly under-rated. Black Hills are pretty cool and not famous (although Mt. Rushmore is overrated.)
Minnesota	Under-rated. Yes I really enjoyed ice-fishing but I've been there in the dead of winter several times, not even doing fun winter stuff, and people always seem to be enjoying life to an odd degree even then.
Virginia	Slightly under-rated. People forget there's a state separate from D.C. History, mountains, beaches in the southern part.
West Virginia	Slightly under-rated. The only state entirely in the Appalachians, very close to some east coast cities yet rarely visited.
Maryland	Slightly under-rated. Pleasant towns, D.C. suburbs, and eastern shore coastline on the Delmarva.
Alabama	Maybe slightly under-rated, influenced by area around Mobile.
New Hampshire	Slightly under-rated only because it has a lot of nice forests, and like other parts of northern New England a number of people who manage to live deliberately and even experimentally without going off the rails.
Vermont	Slightly under-rated for the same reasons as New Hampshire.
Maine	Slightly under-rated for the same reasons as New Hampshire.
Nebraska	Slightly under-rated. Sand Hills, Carhenge, Scotts Bluff are a bit more interesting than you think anything in Nebraska could be
Tennessee	Slightly under-rated mostly for Smokies.
New Jersey	Slightly under-rated only because New Yorkers like to make fun of it.
Washington	As advertised, which is pretty nice.
Mississippi	As advertised. Don't miss the blues history.
Idaho	As advertised. Pleasant towns, interesting geology, great nature.
Hawaii	As advertised.
Connecticut	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
Rhode Island	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
Kansas	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
Oklahoma	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
Iowa	As advertised.
Missouri	As advertised.
South Carolina	As advertised.
Arkansas	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
Michigan	Minimal experience so far but outdoors seems under-rated.
Wisconsin	Minimal experience so far but seems under-rated. Everyone says Madison is very pleasant with some interesting parks.
Illinois	As advertised.
Indiana	As advertised.
Ohio	As advertised.
Kentucky	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
North Dakota	Minimal experience, but as advertised so far.
New York	NYC is slightly over-rated only because it would be hard not to be. Upstate is as advertised.
Montana	Slightly over-rated. Has become synonymous with "wild" but much of it is privately-owned rolling prairie. The western part is nice.
Colorado	Maybe a little over-rated, just because it's so identified with the Rockies. Lots of other states have Rockies. The San Juans are amazing, Boulder is interesting but has kind of become the San Francisco of Middle America (yeah I said it), but Denver is kind of blah and the eastern third of the state is boring prairie.
Wyoming	Slightly over-rated. Most of the state (outside of the unambiguously mountainous parts) are not very pretty dry ranch and prairie.
Massachusetts	Slightly over-rated. Come on, Boston isn't all that great. The Cape and Islands are pleasant enough but can still be cold in the summer and the crowds are stupid.
Texas	Over-rated, although admittedly not thought of as a tourist destination. The Hill Country is under-rated, as is Fredericksburg. Austin is as advertised. Houston sucks. Dallas is maybe a little more interesting than you'd think. San Antonio is definitely over-rated. (You need more than a Riverwalk and Alamo for a city that size guys.) Gulf Coast is slightly under-rated.
Arizona	Slightly over-rated. Yes it's warm in the winter. In the summer, it has temperatures that if NASA found them on an exoplanet would make them consider it uninhabitable. Tucson is laid back in the way California supposedly used to be, Phoenix is like a poorer, more generic L.A. Flagstaff under-rated and mountains and canyons in the far north are nice.
Louisiana	Over-rated. New Orleans is definitely over-rated. The rest of the state is culturally kind of a weird Southern state with lots of bugs.
Florida	Most over-rated state on the east coast. Yes there are attractive people and some great food in Miami, but a) the people won't talk to you and b) it's a gigantic state full of snakes and bugs and mildew, and those few things are all clustered down near the far end. The beaches are nice and warm. (By the way people on the east coast who visit Florida *during the summer* - why? Waste of airfare! Go in December or March!
Nevada	Most over-rated state in the Pacific time zone and probably west of the Rockies. Main attraction is a city famous for machines that you put money into with only a small chance of it coming back out, though there are a few decent cheap restaurants (because of other people financing your food) and Mt. Charleston is a nice hike. Tahoe is nice but more of Tahoe is in California. Reno only seems like civilization if you've spent the last two days driving across deserts and salt flats on I-80. The rest of the state is quite empty and mostly not that scenic.