Aerial view of Montreal, including the Biosphere and Jacques Cartier bridge.
As Canada's second largest city, Montreal is a prime destination for tourists — no surprise if you've ever tried walking through the Old Port in the summer. In fact, the Great White North is full of picture-perfect landscapes and unmissable landmarks that attract millions of travellers each year.
But some of Canada's most famous tourist attractions are leaving visitors disappointed, according to a study by language learning platform Preply, and Montreal has two spots in the top five.
To compile its list, Preply analyzed more than 130 tourist attractions from 29 cities across Canada, each with at least 1,000 Tripadvisor reviews.
One, two and three star reviews were classified as "disappointing" experiences, while four and five star reviews were classified as "positive" experiences. Preply says it used this ratio to calculate the percentage of disappointing reviews and then compile the rankings.
Topping Canada's 'most disappointing' chart is Ontario's Marineland, a controversial zoo and amusement park in Niagara Falls with 55.36% disappointing reviews. While it's technically only closed for the season, there is speculation that Marineland may soon be shutting down for good after years of animal cruelty allegations, though Marineland has denied those claims.
In second place is Montreal's La Ronde amusement park with 51.86% disappointing reviews.
"Unfortunately, despite its thrilling rides and rollercoasters, this attraction may be perceived as disappointing by some tourists. Reviews often highlight concerns about long wait times and high prices, impacting the overall experience," reads Preply's summary of La Ronde's results.
Unfortunately for our city pride, two more Montreal sights also made the top 10: the Olympic Park (30.80%) and the Biodome (21.86%). Zoom out to the top 20 and Montreal makes the list one more time, with Rue Sainte-Catherine placing 16th.
A list of the 20 'most disappointing' tourist attractions in Canada.Preply
On the flip side, two Quebec spots made the top 10 on Preply's list of "The most worthwhile tourist attractions in Canada," but neither are in Montreal.
Quebec City's Old Quebec area took fourth place while Terrasse Dufferin, also in Quebec City, ranked ninth.
You can see the full list of Canada's 20 most worthwhile tourist attractions on the Preply website.
This article has been updated since it was originally published on Apr 17, 2024.
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