Holiday destinations that were unexpectedly lovely OR awful.

"but there's certainly no entire country I'd write off"

Exactly. People saying Italy FFS. I have had several lovely holidays there - Adriatic riviera, Lake Garda, Sorrento, Rome, and enjoyed them all.

Of course there have been some negative aspects - too much traffic on the Amalfi coast, the horror of the old terminal in Naples airport, the snootiness of the waiters in one hotel on Lake Garda, but I just love the beauty, the food, the drink and the culture.

We all have preconceived ideas about places we have never been to and I never expected to find so much beauty in Majorca or so much of interest to see in Lanzarote.

Although, having said that, I really didn't like Tunisia.

Oooh oooh I've just remembered another one (and then I need to get on with work, super procrastinatey this morning!). Bucharest in Romania. We were passing through on the train and only had 24 hours there and I loved it. Wish we could have stayed longer and explored more. Gorgeous, gorgeous architecture everywhere, crazily interesting (and tragic) history, really friendly people who love their culture. We were adopted by a young couple on the train who took us on a whirlwind tour of wine bars and historical places of importance. There is this amazing huge museum park that is full of real examples of historical rural architecture which I just loved.

If anyone gets a chance to go there, do it!

Hating Valencia. The Las Arenas area is currently in the process of ending my lifelong love of Spain, bit by bit, day by day. Only a week to go.

Pinky, if you go again, the La Cala area of the Old Town has some really nice hotels and it's a peaceful spot a stone's throw from the beach. It's active but not overwhelming. We stayed at the Gran Hotel Bali, and we were surprised how few Brits were staying there, it seemed to be mainly Spanish visitors.

We're hiring a car when we go next year, so we can get out to Alicante and Altea for day trips, but it's so easy to get around Benidorm by bus and cab. You can still do all the theme parks if you enjoy them (Terra Mitica is about 15km from La Cala), and the beach is lovely and peaceful in the evenings, so great for walking and relaxing. We're big fans, the DC can't wait to go

I'm excited seeing peoples positive reviews about Krakow and Poland. It's a place I'd love to visit but again my partner is a bit 'hmm really?'. I'm just gonna have to remind him how he wasn't into my idea of Northumberland and was proven very wrong.

Someone up-thread described Australian cities as exhibiting a kind of glibness. I had to look up glibness.. and it's a perfect description!

YY Beauty we state at Levante end and it was a good holiday but I would only go again if we stayed at the other end. I was gutted as we only explored the Old Town on our last day wish we hadn't left or so long we could've gone back again!

Bigkidz
I'm thinking of doing the same! I had a shortlist of lanzarote or corfu for our spring 2017 hols and on the basis of this thread lanzarote seems a heck of a lot more promising!

PinkyofPie, I agree about the Old Town in Benidorm - there were some really lovely spots. If you want the noise, the bustle, and lots of lairy Brits being sick, then stay at the Levante end. Poniente beach and neighbouring Finestrat are great, and the mountain landscape is breathtaking in areas. The top floor of the Gran Hotel Bali has some spectacular views.

A couple more loves...

Salzburg - beautiful city, so much to see/do, particularly if you're interested in the Mozart and/or Sound of Music side of it. The summer music festival is totally amazing - wonderful concerts, but also great music going on in the streets.

I loved Kraków when I went as a teenager (20 yrs ago now) - it was what I expected Prague to be like but Prague was much more touristy. Would love to take DH to Kraków for a short break if we can ever get rid of the kids for long enough.

Really interested reading everyones different experiences.

Have recently returned from a camping trip up in Northumberland. I was looking forward to it, my partner was a little dubious but we both LOVED it. Absolutely loved it and I'd go back again, and spend much longer up there. So much to see and do, so beautiful and interesting and super friendly and peaceful.

It takes a lot for me to not like a place, holiday wise, I can usually find something to like about it, however. I really didn't enjoy our stay on the Costa Del Sol. The beach was grubby and the water full of plastic garbage. It was too hot for me, hard to keep toddler daughter entertained during the heat of the day. The food was great if you loved variations of fried or grilled seafood. I was desperate for fresh greens by the end of our stay. I'd be happy to never go back but MIL has flat there (that's why we were there) and she's angling for a return visit. Nerja was pretty though, and going inland there are some lovely towns, peaceful landscapes and we visited some stunning caves. Just the coast is a bit grim!

It's such a shame about Australia. It has so much going for it, and there are so many great people there, but the layer of bigotry, insularity and anti-intellectualism that is woven into the culture really lets it down. I grew up there, but have (happily) called London home for 16 years now. I still get people wondering why on earth I would chose London over Australia. Sure I miss my family and the sunshine but within two of being back there I'm desperate to return to my damp, messy London that's full of interested, engaged people busily getting on with doing all sorts of cool stuff without judgement, all generally rubbing along together fine. And real ale, and four seasons. I love Autumn. Yay UK, yay London!

Great thread.

I find it fascinating that people have such different ideas about places.

Also agree that Barbados is distinctly underwhelming. Flat as a pancake and very un-scenic. I went there from St Lucia which has an awful lot of problems but is possibly one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.
Also liked Cuba but I was fascinated by the history, I didn't think that it was that pretty a place.
Bahamas was also crap though the beaches there were nice.

Cyprus. We started in Paphos and thought it was a bit rubbish. However, we were cheered by the fact we were heading to Protaras. People had raved about it to us. Oh my God! It was the naffest place we had ever been. It seemed just full of themed bars with names like " Only fools and horses". I don't understand why anybody would go.

I've been to loads of places I'd never return to in a million years but there's certainly no entire country I'd write off.

Athens was a big disappointment. The ancient sites are amazing (but crowded) but can be comfortably done in a day. The rest of the city is just awful. My friend and I had allowed about 5 days there at the end of our inter railing trip around Europe and were sorely tempted to fly home early.

We've had some wonderful holidays. Love Egypt - have been 4 times to various resorts. Wouldn't risk it at the moment though.
Loved Cyprus - have stayed in Paphos twice.
This year due to a friend getting married in the middle of DH's 2 weeks of leave, we couldn't fly anywhere so decided to drive through France staying at Eurocamps sites instead. Tbh, I didn't think it would be a patch on our usual package holidays but I was so wrong. Best holiday ever! Felt like a real adventure and the DCs (3 and nearly 6) had an amazing time.

Agree - I was disappointed by Australia. The weather and beaches are the only things I really 'got' about it, but after two weeks was pretty much done with it.

Loved Doolin lahinch and the burren co clare for the Irish holiday you all hoped for in Dublin (but were disappointed ) and Sligo / Donegal is Ireland's best kept secret - the meat beautiful beaches, lakes, mountains, scenery, food, craic and culture !

Loved Sydney,
Hated New York - loved San Francisco and LA

Really disappointed with Fiji, loved the Cook Islands

Hated Thailand LOVED Cambodia and Laos

Liked Barcelona, disappointed with Paris

Loved Rome though it was a complete tourist trap

Loved Athens and Cyprus though I really was doubtful about the holiday we had booked there :).

I'm not keen on Dublin either. Had a couple of days working there and the food was just dreadful. Like really bad 1950s British cooking - all grey meat and very very overcooked vegetables. It says a lot that the least hideous thing I ate while I was there was McDonalds.

Dublin - boring, grotty, run-down. Actually Ireland in general - I just don't get why people rave about it. Its wet, boring and empty and its almost impossible to get a decent meal or a decent cup of coffee. Greasy spoon? Yup! Cappuccino? You're having a fucking laugh!

Australia - it takes 24 hours to get there, you have horrendous jet lag, the weather's not as nice as Europe, and the beaches are pretty, but the sea can be REALLY rough and scary. The cities are modern and bla. The shops are crap. Everything is really expensive. Not much to do unless you're into hiking and there are loads of bugs, huge spiders, mozzies, etc.

But I loved Orlando! Having had zero interest in going there or to any of the theme parks we went (at my ILs behest), and had a fab week. All four of us really enjoyed it and are already planning to go back and do all the stuff we didn't do the first time.

Lanzarote I grew up thinking it was Lanzagrotty, but we loved it. Okay, its not a sophisticated place, but for sun, sea and enough to amuse our kids for a week it was great. The weather was amazing every day (I realise not everyone gets this - we were lucky), and we liked the stark, volcanic landscape. The capital (Arrecife) was a bit grotty and Puerto del Carmen looked a bit tacky, but we avoided those and had a great time.

Nothing to do in Lanzarote . There's loads to do in addition to the volcano national park. Bus travel round the island is cheap and easy too.

Caves
boat trips to neigbouring islands or just other areas of the island, glassbottom boats etc
visit small inland traditional towns
walking, cycling
Cesar Manrique house
Cactus garden
water park
vineyards
Camel rides
Massive Sunday Market in Teguise, if that's your thing
Eating/drinking/tapas etc
beach and watersports like diving, snorkelling, jetskis
Visit main town Arricife
Kids stuff like playparks etc
Airport museum.

And that's just what I can think of without resorting to google.

Nickname I think the area known to be more European is on the Eastern side of Istanbul - the side where Taksim square is situated.

I know several people who didn't care for the Domican Republic. All for the same reasons stated on this thread. Doesn't sound like much of a destination if you can't leave the compound.

Agree theydontknow. Love Berlin, hate Paris too!

I think it's partly due to standards of hygiene

Also for Benidorm - if egg and chips isn't your thing the Old Town is spectacular. Wonderful Tapas bars, little narrow streets and plenty to see. I would go again and stay in the old town

Places that lived up to expectations were:

New Zealand (the most beautiful place on Earth)
Kenya
Northern Spain (so much nicer than the South when you get good weather)
Tuscany
Cape Town
Maldives
Sri Lanka
San Francisco and northern California