Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

Really loved:
Seattle
Iceland
Dordogne area in France
North Wales (Prestatyn)

Didn't really like:
Malta
Paris
Washington DC

I would love to go to Lanzarote, Las Vegas and the Yorkshire Dales .

My daughter had her phone nicked in Tossa

Yes to Norway! Most beautiful scenery and fjords and mountains.
Ruddy gorgeous! V V pricey mind!

Loved, loved, loved San Diego and San Francisco.
Not fussed for Cornwall.

Tossa de Mar - no expectations and thought we may have made a mistake on the bus ride from Barcelona - but it is a lovely Spanish resort with great food and we found a secluded little beach - would go back. Love anywhere in Italy, Iceland, Palolem and the Gower! Love London so much I moved there nearly 20 years ago and every day pinch myself for making such a good decision! Don't think I've hated anywhere as always good to experience somewhere else - want to try S America next year as not been - hope I'm not disappointed!

Loved Barcelona the vibe was great. Some people were kinda rude but overall friendly vibe with great restaurants idk where others went but the traditional places were 5/5!

Rome was overrated... Great weather in October but much too touristy for me.. I preferred the traditional areas where locals lived. Colloseum was very overrated (despite learning lots about it before going)...

I would never go back to either Salou or Gran Canaria. Salou was a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin beach resort with no character. Gran Canaria appeared to solely a tourist island- although we did hire a car to the capital Las Palmas and that had some lovely squares and lots of character.

I didn't really take to Vienna. I can't put my finger on why. It looks a bit like a film set. It was so immaculate that it felt as if you were not allowed to touch anything.

Loved Paris, Edinburgh, Krakow, Bratislava and all of France.

Mitzy Thanks - I'm sure it'll be fine! Will take ear plugs.

I'm in agreement with many of these. In particular, I didn't expect to like las Vegas but I loved it. There's simply no other place like it-=a definite place everyone should experience .
Also love somewhere not yet mentioned I don't think - Norway. Both summer and winter - simply stunning. As is Luxembourg.

Hated ( like other people) Jamaica. Went for a honeymoon, but did not feel safe to leave the hotel, so certainly not the holiday of a lifetime.

Malta - loved it. Went with work first of all and then back for a holiday with DH. So much historical stuff crammed in a small island. Valletta is beautiful. Lovely people. Food kind of average, though.

Granada was a bit grim. Loved the Alhambra but it was too crowded. We were then left to our own devices for a few hours. Far, far too hot and we were pestered by gypsies trying to sell heather, etc.

Paid a fortune for a very average hotel on the outskirts of Torremolinos quite a few years ago (school hols). While we were there, a child was killed in the hotel by a falling statue - tragic. Then a large party of teenagers who had managed to get the hotel as a cheap break made everyone's life hell with their noisy partying. Would be willing to try Torremolinos again some time, though.

Agree with posters who hated Disney Land Paris. It was dull, expensive and tiring.
The queues were horrendous.
Agree about Slovenian people being lovely

Really liked
Italian Lakes, Sienna, Lucca, Sorento, Capri, Barbados, Chicago, Sydney, Bath, St Ives Cornwall, Lindos in Rhodes, Budapest, York

Underwhelmed by
Barcelona, Florence, Padstow, San Fransisco, LA, Toronto, Brighton

Really Disliked and would never return
Cap Dadge in S France v tacky and nasty resort not at all what you imagine the S of France to be like more like Blackpool with sun and a few yachts , Olu Deniz Turkey just too hot for me and creepy men

Kent .Garden of England .''s
so pretty' Went in April .All I can say is it might be better in summer.Some nice gardens and not much else. But weather was vile .And Brighton which DH and I visited when we first met was cold ,expensive and horrible .Its true you should never go back .Can't think of anywhere else I found disappointing !And am quite well travelled
Vienna was surprisingly interesting though it took about three days to 'get'the place
Berlin was fabulous .Both above visited at DH request so had no great hopes

Off to Japan in Nov and Cuba in the spring and have great expectations .

Bali .... Absolutely hated it, pretty to look at but filthy dirty and local men tried to grab you. I cried tears of joy when I landed in Australia

Venice ... Not a fan, really smelly, food awful, everything overpriced and threw up on my gondola ride although that may have been more to do with morning sickness

France .... Been lots of times everywhere from Paris to La Rochelle to Bordeaux and Disneyland Paris and have absolutely loved it. The food is great, the countryside is beautiful, the people are friendly and lots to do and see with or without children

Should have said awful start to a holiday.

Thanks NickiFury

To the other poster, sorry I've RTFT and I can't find your post, forgot to bookmark it, you live in AD (snails?)

We normally stay at the BR connected to the AD mall.
As we're frequent visitors we usually get Club Level upgrade which makes us almost AI.
Looking for the 27/8 - 3/9
Flexible in departure from 22/8 need to be back by 4/9.

Sorry for slight derail, thanks!

Oh Ursaminor I was there on a wild girls' holiday about 18 years ago. It may well have changed since then! I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Paris - boring and hostile.

Israel - friendly people, lovely beaches, lots of interesting sites (Jerusalem felt much safer than appears on tv).

... After the I love Mallorca thread, I mean - which I have been stalking for a mention of Santa Ponsa.... hasn't happened...

I must be easily pleased because I've generally had good experiences everywhere I've been. The only place I was slightly underwhelmed by was Northern Cyprus because my husband had bigged it up so much before we went (he went in his teens and had fab memories of the place) and it didn't quite live up to my expectations, but it was still okay.

Had an awful holiday once in Brittany beginning with a terribly rough ferry crossing (both my husband and I were seasick and we had nine month old twins to look after), we arrived on a wet Sunday morning in October when everything was closed, got to our gite and it had been broken into; smashed glass everywhere, puddles all over the bathroom floor from the torrential rain, tv and dvd player nicked and the previous guests hadn't replaced the calor gas so we couldn't even have a cuppa. We ended up having tea at McDonald's (the only thing open) and having a very early night...but we managed to have a fun week after that and it was quite nice snuggling up in bed early instead of watching tv every night!

Mitzy Guess whose booked for Santa Ponsa this October? But to be fair it was cheap, so don't expect much and will be out and about (on the train to Soller after this thread!)

Bosnia! Amazingly beautiful country and Sarajevo should be one of the most visited tourist cities in Europe given all it has to offer and all the charm.

Bosnia wasn't at all what I was expecting, but I can't say enough nice things about it.

Oh yes, Tarttlet we are not a skiing type of family but we went to Bled In Slovenia for Christmas one year. The hotel had an ex communist vibe, the food was not good. But the view to an island in the middle of a lake was stunning. There was snow and we went on a pony sledge ride. The pony was very smelly but it was fun. ds loved snowboarding. I'd recommend it, it's probably much better now!

I have loved many places at home and abroad. I disliked Venice in July as couldn't move for swarms of tourists thought I'd love it. As I loved Rome and many other places in Italy but not Venice. Also really looked forward to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico and it was dreadful such a long flight to get to a place ruined and overtaken by rowdy rude drunken American youths.

Thought I would hate Northumberland when a work colleague used to go several years running but 10 years later with children and a big dog we absolutely love the big skies, empty huge white sandy beaches, brisk winds and pub grub.

Disney Paris - hated it, nothing like the ones in America. It was cold and the staff were miserable!

I love Barcelona and LA is my most favourite place.

I'd love to go to Tokyo next.