Wall Street Journal Chimes in on Travelers vs. Tourists

Yes, but we ETBD tour types are snooty about being on a half-full bus rather than a bus full of 50 people. Most of the tourist groups I run into are in bunches of 50 and not American. So I can't even evesdrop on their guides, since they are usually speaking something other than English.

Thanks for posting the link, Steve. I notice that the picture of the tourist (I'm sure he can't be a traveler!) cuts off below his shorts. In the print version, you can see his feet and he is wearing yellow socks and (you guessed it) white shoes.

I enjoyed reading that article, thanks for the link, Steve.

Unforunately, high school never really ends, and people always have the innate need to do things that they think make them feel cool.

Here is a link to the author's heat maps: http://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/sets/72157624209158632/

Thanks, Chip. I was wondering what heat maps looked like. I was surprised to see one of Pittsburgh.

Not a bad article. When I visit the most popular attractions, I expect tourists.

The places I avoid are those that are purely for tourists. Medieval dinners, folk nights, Hawaiian luaus, etc. aren't real sites, they're invented to entertain throngs of tourists.

To Brads point, the reason many sights are popular with tourists, is that they are significant sights.

I cannot imagine going to Rome, for example, for the first time(or fifth time) and skipping the Vatican, the Pantheon, and the Colosseum (though the maps would show them to be very "hot"). To do so would seem to me to be the definition of "too cool for everyone else", a bit of a snob.

I have done some purely tourist things, only because they are fun or a different experience, and like I said, people make it popular for a reason.

Certainly, ones behavior in the process makes a difference, and I do like my "non-itinerary" time wandering back streets and sitting in small restaurants, but part of travelling is doing the "tourist thing"

On our recent trip to Paris we found that all the museums were full of students getting in the last field trip of the year! I guess teachers in France like here in the States schedule these for the last few weeks of school. :)