Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

Celebration is Pleasantville.

Yes I will add Belfast to my list of likes. I went for work with no expectations and thought it was fabulous and very beautiful.

Celebration OP: quite simply the oddest place on earth, I thought it was like wisteria avenue and expected wind up people to come out of their boxes and get ur away at night. It's spotlessly clean and plays piped music in the streets. Bizarre place

The poster who hated Majorca because they were stuck in Alcudia. Why didn't you hire a car or get on a bus and explore a bit?

Being constantly hassled to buy stuff would ruin a holiday for me, hence I have no desire to go anywhere where this sort of thing is widespread, especially as I would always look very obviously 'foreign' (classic English rose). So I would probably never go to Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco for example.

Looking forward to going to Japan, China, HK, Korea, Cambodia and Vietnam... and India, one day!

Bali had good bits, too, although I would not return. The diving and snorkeling around Gili Air and Gili Meno were breath-taking. Ubud was interesting, but overall Bali was spoiled by the unrelenting hustlers and a horrible hotel in Legian, with rats! The Balinese are charming people generally but we were expecting paradise.

Most hated holiday for me was marmaris Turkey. Constantly hassled to buy things, eat in restaurants or go on excursions! Shouted after us when we refused! Felt consistently like we were being duped out of money (when the currency was in millions and had to count the zeros to make sure paying right price!).
Found people rude in general, I remember crying at the airport home because I just wanted to leave! We promised never to return and stick with the Greek islands! Far nicer in every way!

and I found Bali downright depressing, pretty but depressing. A Recent eye-opener have been Slovenia, pretty, quiet, friendly people, easy to get around.

Salzburg and Munich left me cold and I just did not get Melbourne at all but it was early winter which might have had something to do with it. It made me think of Glasgow, everyone going on about how cultural and beautiful it is and me thinking 'are you daft?' Much of NZ I found terribly dull, including Auckland, but it was years ago. The best think about Sydney was leaving it for the Blue Mountains.

Hated Euro Disney. Nothing else to do for 3 whole days but queue for hours for rides in a theme park. Found the people rude, found it tacky and just didn't feel the magic. Will not be returning!

Loved Tenerife (Costa Adeje) so much so that we have booked again. Also loved staying in Berny Riviere. Was a super cheap break where we stayed in a static home but the boys loved it and we found it really relaxing.

England born, live in Perth...

London - my favourite place on earth. I feel alive there.

Amsterdam - multi cultural, polite people, excellent food, felt safe even when walking through the red light district. Best chips!

Cologne - went for the Christmas markets, loved them. Hated the food, the smoking and the German lady who screamed in our faces that we were English pigs (on a tourist tram in front of children)

Bali - I like it for what it is for us in Australia...an easy to get to place with reasonably priced resorts and restaurants. The Balinese are beautiful people.

Krabi, Thailand - loved this place, great food and the islands tour was fantastic

Singapore - love it for the cleanliness and shopping

KL - I don't mind KL. Cheap 5 star hotels!

Prague - last went there in 2004 so may have changed but loved the people and just walking around the old town.

Venice - terrible over priced food, many rude Italian men. It is magical after the day trippers have left. The islands of Burano and Murano are nice for a wander too.

Place I love in England - Isle of Wight, Bath, Cornwall, Devon (Blackpool Sands rivals many beaches in Australia), Bristol - too many to mention!

For those coming to Western Australia, the south west is nice. Esperance is spectacular. Albany reminds me of England. The only problem is everywhere is so bloody far away!!!

Nowhere I hate, always grateful for a holiday.

I find it difficult to hate anywhere as you only get a snapshot unless you are there for weeks or working there. But, in the spirit of it, places I wouldn't particularly go back to to:
Gibraltar
Tunisia
Cancun (though loved the Mexican coast)
Hong Kong

Countries I was especially bowled over by:
New Zealand (so beautiful, especially the south island). And if you are an Art Deco fan visit Napier - rebuilt in Art Deco style after its 1931 earthquake).
Swaziland - stunning
Zambia (must is a helicopter flight over the Victoria Falls)
Australia (driving across the outback from the Queensland coast to the Gulf of Carpentaria - so vast you see the bend in the horizon)
Croatia
China - Shanghai and Beijing (for a look into the future). Rural China for a look back into the past.

In the UK:
the Yorkshire Dales
the Lake District (out of season)
the Scottish Highlands

Love the pp who said the S. of France was too hot!!!!! Yes because it's south….. in the summer it's very hot.

Barcelona! Had a truly dreadful time with some girl friends- we ended up not going out as we were so sick of the abuse- verbal and gropey- all day long. We weren't wandering around in bikinis even, we were trying to visit a load of art and photography things. It was truly dreadful.
Loved loved loved Amsterdam. Went for a very quick 36 hours- desperate to go back again. Beautiful, interesting, friendly and amazing. Will hire bikes next time too!
Also love Oslo. Truly love that place.

Hated tangiers, felt dangerous and threatening. Marrakech was a bit meh, but perhaps partly because I live in Andalusia so it wasn't really exotic at all for me. Essaouira however I loved, fabulous place.

Loved parts of Australia (not the cities, the towns and national parks were out of this world)

Hated Sharm el sheik. Luckily we were only passing through on our way to a cruise, but it was awful. The airport was hellish, overcrowded and boiling.

Also hated Cairo. So much poverty, begging and little homeless children, it was filthy as well.

Loved parts of Corfu, Paleokastritsa in particular. Picture postcard type place, I would go back tomorrow.

Sydney - it just felt so dull and provincial. Shocked by the casual racism too. Couldn't wait to get back to London, despite the sunshine.

Tokyo - was just a 5 day stopover but absolutely loved it. The one place I've been in the world where concrete actually seemed to work - underpasses that in London would be urine-stained no-go areas actually used, with lighting, people and shops...

Both 20 years ago now so I'm sure much has changed.

Loved...
Edinburgh
West coast of Scotland
Paris
Amsterdam
London
Cologne
Munich
Rome
Savannah, Georgia
Colmar in France, very pretty and the wine road goes through some of the prettiest villages you will ever see.

Hated...
Naples, dirty, crime, rude people
Sardinia, much the same complaints as above but add over crowded in the summer
Stuttgart, the most stand-offish people anywhere.

I think Manchester is maybe one of the cities that works better as somewhere to live rather than somewhere to go for a great weekend. I thought it was okay but maybe I'd have enjoyed it more if there with a local.

I've really enjoyed this thread. Is it ok with you OP if I report it so it can be moved to another topic that doesn't disappear after 90 days? I've never been on a plane or had a passport but would love to travel when my kids are older. Nice to see the love for lanzarote. Would like to go in our first ever holiday there.

To the pp that said Manchester you're wronger than a wrong thing in wrong town. We went one day and had a fab time. Beautiful art galleries, IWM, stunning buildings like the town hall and central library. Very easy to get to each place thanks to the free and frequent shuttle bus. We had a delicious lunch in the northern quarter ultra cheap due to a man handing vouchers out further down the street. Then we spent an hour in Afflecks palace looking at all the weird and wonderful items for sale. Afterwards we got a bit lost trying to find our way to Oxford Rd station but were rescued by a lovely homeless man and his gorgeous chocolate lab. We had a couple of hours to kill so went to Manchester museum to see Stan the T-Rex and the supposedly haunted spinning Egyptian statue. We had a wonderful time. The only downside were the roadworks for the new tramlines. But they'll be gone by the time we return. It was lovely. And didn't rain once. :o

Great thread!

Another vote for Berlin - truly amazing city. Would return in a heartbeat.
Surprised to have really liked Brussels, Dusseldorf, Zaragoza.

I live in Dorset so it's interesting to read people's views on it! Agree with a PP that Brownsea Island is wonderful.

Everything in and about Marrakesh was hard work, so that was a long-time dream shattered. Milan was dull, Bergamo was unpleasant and I have no desire to set foot in Italy again. Warsaw and Krakow (in 1999) were awful - people were universally and inexplicably rude.

I thought I would hate Las Vegas because it is so tacky. Actually I loved it! The tackiness was tacky in a really fun way and there was so much to see and do, and the people watching was immense.

Mitzy - Oh, I am generalising, and you are quite right to pull me up on it. Really, all of the bad stuff happened in those grand old cafes. Outside of that, in the heuriger and more modern restaurants, people were absolutely lovely. One lady even gave me an ice cream because I looked hot.

I should have been clearer about that in my post. Go to Vienna, people, but just avoid those old cafes!

My city is getting a bad press

outofsightoutofmind There are actually Welsh people on this thread, y'know. Your holiday experience isn't representative of the entire country. Obviously!